The Nebraska softball team won in a way that Rhonda Revelle has won before, early and often. Grand Canyon head coach Shannon Hays, who took on the Huskers twice and scored zero runs against them, is very familiar with how the Huskers HC operates. In fact, after the Cornhuskers beat the Lopes on Sunday to advance to the Super Regionals, Hays said he’s copied Revelle, and that’s one of the reasons GCU has had so much success under his leadership.
Meeting with the media after the Lopes lost the final game of the regional, 1-0, Hays made it clear that he’s been quite impressed with how Revelle has managed to get the most out of a small pitching staff. This year might be the best ever for NU with Jordy Frahm and Alexis Jensen.
“Oh, I've copied from her,” Hays said about the Nebraska softball coach. “You know, when I was at Texas Tech, I've said this before in some of these interviews: she had two good pitchers. I wouldn't say they were top dominant. This was probably in 2010 or 2011 and it seemed like every time we were getting on that first pitcher she would always put in that second pitcher, she was never afraid to make the move.”
He then went on to say that he definitely noticed how Revelle managed her pitching staff,, and that he’s also tried to do the same for GCU.
Grand Canyon HC Shannon Hays has won 40+ games 10 times in his coaching career
— randysilvertv (@randysilvertv) May 17, 2026
After the Lopes fell to Nebraska in the Regional Final, he praised Huskers Coach @RhondaRevelle
“I’ve copied from her. There is a lot to learn from her.”
One thing he said is what we saw happen👇 pic.twitter.com/13OT18lm6z
Rhonda Revelle has Nebraska softball leaning on the staff strategy Grand Canyon tried to copy
“Most of the big games they won were, you know, she would stack her pitching together, which is what we've done all year long. This year and so I kind of picked that up from her, 16 or 17 years ago, so I always admired what her and, Diane and Lori have done, and enjoy seeing them recruiting. So yeah, there's a lot to learn from her.”
Hays approach to his pitching staff allowed the Lopes to upset their way through the Lincoln regional until they ran into the juggernaut that was the Cornhuskers’ pitching staff. That run included beating the second-seeded Louisville Cardinals 5-1 on Friday and then outlasting another upstart in the 4th-seeded South Dakota in extra innings.
Grand Canyon’s pitching was plenty strong on Sunday as well. Oakley Vickers (who finished the season 16-5 with a 1.99 ERA) allowed just one earned run in 5.1 innings. She was then relieved by Taryn Batterton, who threw a hitless 2/3 of an inning.
Unfortunately for Hays, the one-two punch of Jensen and Frahm did what they’ve done all season. Jensen threw five shutout innings while allowing just one hit. And then, just when the Lopes hoped the starting pitcher was tiring, Frahm entered the game and shut down the game for the final two innings, notching her 12th save of the season.
The Nebraska softball team only scored a total of three runs in their final two games of the regionals, beating Grand Canyon 2-0 and 1-0. While their offense will need to pick things up a bit starting Thursday in the super regional against Oklahoma State, Shannon Hays certainly believes Rhonda Revelle is one of the best of the best in finding a way to manage a pitching staff.
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