# Nebraska Cornhuskers softball

The Nebraska Cornhuskers softball team competes as part of NCAA Division I, representing the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the Big Ten Conference. The team has played at Bowlin Stadium since 2002.
The program was founded in 1976 as a club sport and became an officially sanctioned varsity sport the next year. Nebraska has made twenty-seven appearances in the NCAA Division I tournament with eight Women's College World Series berths. Longtime head coach Rhonda Revelle is the school's leader in career victories across all sports.

## History
### Early success

Nebraska's softball program began in 1976 as a club sport and was officially sanctioned as a varsity sport in 1977 in the wake of Title IX. Don Isherwood led the program in its early years but was fired in 1980 as the university wanted a head coach with a college degree. NU hired Nancy Plantz, who led the Cornhuskers to the inaugural NCAA Division I Women's College World Series in 1982 (in its early years the tournament was held in Omaha, longtime host of the College World Series, meaning NU played the WCWS less than fifty miles from its Lincoln campus). Plantz's tenure ended in a disastrous 1983 season that was cut short by the university after player walkouts and a last-place conference finish.
Nebraska was nearly unable to field a team in 1984 before hiring former NAIA Coach of the Year Wayne Daigle to lead the program. Shortstop Denise Day was named the first All-American in program history and led the Cornhuskers to a school record for wins and a return to the WCWS. Daigle's second season saw the breakout of freshman pitcher Lori Sippel, whose no-hitter against Louisiana Tech in the WCWS opener helped Nebraska reach its first title game, where it lost to UCLA. Months later, Nebraska'a national runner-up finish was vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions; according to the committee, Daigle allowed a redshirt player to travel with the team and purchased dinner for a recruit and her family. NU was ineligible for postseason play in 1986, which would be Daigle's last season at Nebraska. He resigned and returned to Texas, where he coached high school softball for the remainder of his career.
Athletic director Bob Devaney named pitching coach Ron Wolforth Daigle's successor. Wolforth led Nebraska back to the WCWS in each of his first two seasons, its fourth and fifth appearances in the event's first seven years. Wolforth's teams were less successful in the later years of his tenure and he grew weary of the NCAA's increasingly stringent rules and guidelines. He resigned in 1992 to start a baseball and softball academy in Vancouver.

### Rhonda Revelle era

Devaney hired former Nebraska pitcher Rhonda Revelle to replace Wolforth in 1993. Revelle inherited a program that hadn't made the NCAA tournament since 1988 but soon returned NU to national relevance. Nebraska did not miss the tournament from 1995 to 2007 and became a fixture in the national top twenty-five. In 1998, Nebraska completed the first undefeated season in Big 12 history and returned to the Women's College World Series – Revelle became the third person to reach the WCWS as a player and a head coach, and the first to do it at the same school. Nebraska won at least fifty games in each of the next three seasons, culminating in another WCWS appearance in 2002. NU's run of twelve consecutive top-twenty-five national finishes ended in 2007, and the following year the program missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1994.
NU reached the WCWS in its second season in the Big Ten, the same year Revelle won her 768th game to pass former baseball coach John Sanders for the most victories by any coach at the university. Nebraska won the Big Ten for the first time in 2014. In 2019, Revelle was placed on paid administrative leave after allegations she harassed and emotionally abused players, but was reinstated after investigation without further punishment. Revelle won her 1,000th game at Nebraska in 2021.

## Conference affiliations

* Big Eight Conference (1977–1995)
* Big 12 Conference (1996–2011)
* Big Ten Conference (2012–present)

## Coaches
### Coaching history

| No. | Coach | Tenure | Overall | Conference |
| 1 | Don Isherwood | 1976–1980 | 106–85 (.555) | 16–24 (.400) |
| 2 | Nancy Plantz | 1981–1983 | 77–53 (.592) | 17–16 (.515) |
| 3 | Wayne Daigle | 1984–1986 | 110–31 (.780) | 26–6 (.813) |
| 4 | Ron Wolforth | 1987–1992 | 188–126 (.599) | 29–25 (.537) |
| 5 | Rhonda Revelle | 1993–present | 1,127–665 (.629) | 366–256 (.588) |

### Coaching staff

| Name | Position | First year | Alma mater |
| Rhonda Revelle | Head coach | 1993 | Nebraska |
| Lori Sippel | Associate head coach | 1990 | Nebraska |
| Olivia Ferrell | Assistant coach | 2024 | Nebraska |
| Diane Miller | Assistant coach | 2009 | Missouri Southern State |

## Venues

Nebraska played its first six seasons at Ballard Ballfield, a public park in Lincoln's Havelock District before moving to the NU Softball Complex.
Bowlin Stadium has served as the program's home venue since it was built as part of Haymarket Park in 2002. It has a listed capacity of 2,796, with nearly 1,000 chairback seats in addition to metal bleachers down the first base line and all-grass berms down both foul lines. Nebraska has ranked in the national top ten in attendance five times and hosted five NCAA Regionals since moving to Bowlin Stadium. On April 27, 2024, a stadium-record crowd of 2,691 saw Northwestern defeat Nebraska 8–1. Bowlin Stadium is adjacent to the larger Hawks Field, which hosts Nebraska's baseball team.

## Championships and awards
### Women's College World Series

* 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1998, 2002, 2013

### Conference championships

Regular season
* Big Eight: 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988
* Big 12: 1998, 2001, 2004
* Big Ten: 2014
Tournament
* Big Eight: 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988
* Big 12: 1998, 2000, 2004
* Big Ten: 2022

### Individual awards

* Honda Sports Award: Denise Day (1985), Lori Sippel (1988), Ali Viola (1998)
* NFCA Catcher of the Year: Taylor Edwards (2014)
* Gold Glove Award – Courtney Wallace (2022)
* Conference player of the year: Ali Viola (1995, 1998), Peaches James (2004)
* Conference pitcher of the year: Tatum Edwards (2013)
* Conference freshman of the year: Ali Viola (1995), Jennifer Lizama (1997), Ava Bredwell (2022)
* Conference coach of the year: Rhonda Revelle (1998, 2001, 2014)

### First-team All-Americans

* Denise Day – 1985
* Lori Richins – 1986
* Ali Viola – 1996, 1998
* Jenny Voss – 1998
* Jennifer Lizama – 1999
* Taylor Edwards – 2014
* M. J. Knighten – 2016

## Seasons

| Regular season champion | Tournament champion | Regular season and tournament champion |
| Year | Coach | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | Final rank |
| Big Eight Conference (1977–1995) |||||||||
| 1977 | Don Isherwood | 12–15 | 1–4 | T–4th | | |
| 1978 | Don Isherwood | 25–14 | 4–3 | 7th | | |
| 1979 | Don Isherwood | 33–18 | 3–8 | 6th | | |
| 1980 | Don Isherwood | 27–23 | 8–9 | 4th | | |
| 1981 | Nancy Plantz | 27–21 | 5–6 | 3rd | | |
| 1982 | Nancy Plantz | 33–14 | 9–3 | 1st | NCAA Division I College World Series | |
| 1983 | Nancy Plantz | 17–18 | 3–7 | 7th | | |
| 1984 | Wayne Daigle | 39–13 | 6–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I College World Series | |
| 1985 | Wayne Daigle | 33–8 | 11–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I Runner-up | |
| 1986 | Wayne Daigle | 38–10 | 9–3 | 1st | | |
| 1987 | Ron Wolforth | 41–11 | 8–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I College World Series | |
| 1988 | Ron Wolforth | 39–20 | 7–3 | 1st | NCAA Division I College World Series | |
| 1989 | Ron Wolforth | 32–28 | 6–4 | 3rd | | |
| 1990 | Ron Wolforth | 31–19 | 3–5 | 5th | | |
| 1991 | Ron Wolforth | 22–18 | 3–5 | 5th | | |
| 1992 | Ron Wolforth | 23–30 | 2–6 | 5th | | |
| 1993 | Rhonda Revelle | 18–23 | 5–11 | 5th | | |
| 1994 | Rhonda Revelle | 21–33 | 5–15 | 6th | | |
| 1995 | Rhonda Revelle | 43–20 | 10–6 | 3rd | NCAA Division I Regional | 18 |
| Big 12 Conference (1996–2011) |||||||||
| 1996 | Rhonda Revelle | 42–23 | 10–8 | 4th | NCAA Division I Regional | 18 |
| 1997 | Rhonda Revelle | 29–24 | 10–6 | 4th | NCAA Division I Regional | 25 |
| 1998 | Rhonda Revelle | 48–12 | 16–0 | 1st | NCAA Division I College World Series | 5 |
| 1999 | Rhonda Revelle | 35–21 | 10–8 | 4th | NCAA Division I Regional | 20 |
| 2000 | Rhonda Revelle | 52–21 | 15–2 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Regional | 14 |
| 2001 | Rhonda Revelle | 51–15 | 16–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I Regional | 14 |
| 2002 | Rhonda Revelle | 50–14 | 11–5 | 2nd | NCAA Division I College World Series | 6 |
| 2003 | Rhonda Revelle | 39–17 | 10–8 | 6th | NCAA Division I Regional | 13 |
| 2004 | Rhonda Revelle | 45–17 | 14–3 | 1st | NCAA Division I Regional | 14 |
| 2005 | Rhonda Revelle | 36–23 | 9–9 | 7th | NCAA Division I Regional | 25 |
| 2006 | Rhonda Revelle | 44–12 | 13–4 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Regional | 15 |
| 2007 | Rhonda Revelle | 37–20 | 10–8 | 5th | NCAA Division I Regional | |
| 2008 | Rhonda Revelle | 25–28 | 4–14 | T–9th | | |
| 2009 | Rhonda Revelle | 35–19 | 9–9 | 5th | NCAA Division I Regional | |
| 2010 | Rhonda Revelle | 30–29 | 7–11 | T–6th | NCAA Division I Regional | |
| 2011 | Rhonda Revelle | 41–14 | 9–9 | 6th | NCAA Division I Regional | 21 |
| Big Ten Conference (2012–present) |||||||||
| 2012 | Rhonda Revelle | 33–23 | 14–9 | 3rd | | |
| 2013 | Rhonda Revelle | 45–16 | 16–6 | 2nd | NCAA Division I College World Series | 8 |
| 2014 | Rhonda Revelle | 44–18 | 18–5 | T–1st | NCAA Division I Super Regional | 16 |
| 2015 | Rhonda Revelle | 35–23 | 17–6 | 3rd | NCAA Division I Regional | |
| 2016 | Rhonda Revelle | 35–21 | 13–9 | 5th | NCAA Division I Regional | |
| 2017 | Rhonda Revelle | 24–29 | 13–10 | 5th | | |
| 2018 | Rhonda Revelle | 31–23 | 9–13 | 9th | | |
| 2019 | Rhonda Revelle | 21–31 | 9–14 | T–8th | | |
| 2020 | Rhonda Revelle | 9–14 | Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2021 | Rhonda Revelle | 22–22 | 22–22 | 6th | |
| 2022 | Rhonda Revelle | 41–16 | 17–5 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Regional | |
| 2023 | Rhonda Revelle | 36–22 | 13–10 | 4th | NCAA Division I Regional | |
| 2024 | Rhonda Revelle | 30–23 | 12–9 | 4th | | |

## Olympians

| Olympiad | City | Player | Position | Country | Finish |
| 1996 (XXXVI) | Atlanta | Lori Sippel | P | Canada | Group stage |
| 2004 (XXVIII) | Athens | Sheena Lawrick | 1B | Canada | Preliminary round |
| 2004 (XXVIII) | Athens | Stephanie Skegas-Maxwell | P | Greece | Preliminary round |
| 2008 (XXIX) | Beijing | Sheena Lawrick | 1B | Canada | Fourth place |
| 2008 (XXIX) | Beijing | Robin Mackin | P | Canada | Fourth place |
| 2008 (XXIX) | Beijing | Lori Sippel | Coach | Canada | Fourth place |