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Softball Updates: 2025 Roster & Schedule News – University of Nebraska

Softball Updates: 2025 Roster & Schedule News – University of Nebraska

The Nebraska softball team has added 10 newcomers to its roster for the 2025 season. The 10 additions come after the Huskers lost 10 players to last year’s roster, including eight who exhausted their eligibility. Nebraska also announced a portion of its non-conference tournament schedule for the 2025 season.

The Huskers’ 2025 roster was down to 24 players as of July 15. The 13 returning players are joined by six transfers and four freshmen.

Nebraska Selection Highlights

  • NU has 13 letter winners from 2024, including six players who started at least 17 games.
  • The Huskers also welcome back Abbie Squier, a two-year starter who missed the 2024 season due to midseason surgery.
  • Other players returning from injuries sustained last year that kept them out of the season include Jordyn Bahl, Dakota Carter, Caitlin Olensky and Talia Tokheim.
  • Four of the returning Nebraska players – Squier, Bahl, Ava Bredwell and Katelyn Caneda – have been recognized as all-regional artists during their careers.
  • Four of the Huskers’ six transfers – Olivia DiNardo (Arizona), Hannah and Lauren Camenzind (Arkansas) and Ava Kuszak (Wisconsin) – were selected to the all-conference or all-region teams at their former schools.
  • In total, Nebraska’s roster features eight players who have earned all-conference or all-region honors at some point in their careers.
  • The Huskers also have two other players – Samantha Bland (Nebraska) and Kylee Magee (Arizona State) – who are entering their second full seasons and were drafted by the team as freshmen in their first years.
  • NU’s six transfers were all starters for major conference programs (Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas and Wisconsin).
  • Four of the six transfers came from teams ranked in the top 20 of the latest 2024 coaches poll.
  • Nebraska’s four freshmen include two home-state players (Blair’s Nessa McMillen and Lincoln’s Kennadi Williams) and two players from California (Natalia Hill and Macie Vickers).

On the scheduling front, Nebraska has announced four of the five non-conference tournaments it will play in the first five weeks of the season. The Huskers travel west for tournaments in New Mexico and California in weeks two and three, respectively. Nebraska returns to the Midwest for a tournament at Wichita State in week four before closing out the tournament portion of the regular season with a home tournament March 7-9 at Bowlin Stadium.

In 2025, the Big Ten will welcome Oregon, Washington and UCLA to the conference (USC does not have a softball program). The addition of these three programs, each of which were ranked in the final poll of the 2024 season, will lead to a new conference schedule, which the Big Ten is expected to announce later this summer.

Nebraska’s Non-Conference Tournament Schedule (as of July 15)

  • February 14-16: Troy Cox Classic – Las Cruces, NM
  • February 20-23: Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic – Cathedral City, California.
  • Feb 28 – March 2: Wichita State Tournament – ​​​​Wichita, Kansas.
  • March 7-9: Big Red Spring Fling – Bowlin Stadium

A Brief Look at Nebraska’s Newcomers

  • Olivia DiNardo has been one of the Pac-12’s best hitters over the past two seasons at Arizona. DiNardo was a second-team All-Pac 12 and second-team All-West Region selection as a freshman in 2023, when she posted the eighth-highest batting average (.382) by a freshman in Arizona history. She repeated her all-region selection as a sophomore in 2024, helping the Wildcats to an NCAA Regional title. DiNardo batted .340 over her two seasons at Arizona with 103 hits, 15 doubles, 20 homers and 74 RBIs in 106 games.
  • Hannah Camenzind was able to excel as both a hitter and pitcher in the SEC during her two seasons at Arkansas. In the circle, the left-hander went 14-3 with one save in her two seasons. Camenzind was a second-team All-SEC selection as a freshman in 2023, when she posted a 2.52 ERA in conference play. As a sophomore in 2024, Camenzind went 9-1 as Arkansas earned the No. 12 seed for the NCAA Tournament. Offensively, Camenzind hit .308 in her two seasons as a Razorback.
  • Lauren Camenzind has been a versatile and valuable player for Arkansas over the past two seasons. She was the Razorbacks’ starting catcher as a freshman in 2023 before becoming the starting shortstop in 2024. Camenzind batted .292 as a freshman, earning a spot on the All-South Region third team. She started 79 games with the Razorbacks, producing 47 hits, 29 runs and 28 RBIs.

  • Natalia Hill comes to Nebraska as one of the nation’s top high school recruits. While leading her team to a state championship as a senior, Hill was named the CIF Southern Section Division 2 Player of the Year and the Long Beach Press-Telegram Player of the Year. Hill batted .549 as a senior with 46 hits, seven homers and 33 RBIs. She was invited to play in the 2023 All-Star Jennie Finch Classic and earned a spot on the All-World team while playing for Spain in the 2023 International Challenge.

  • Kacie Hoffmann showcased a powerful left-handed bat while spending three seasons at Arkansas. She was a starter as a freshman in 2022 and a sophomore in 2023 before sitting out the 2024 season after undergoing midseason surgery. Hoffmann produced 16 doubles, 15 homers and 47 RBIs as a Razorback. She played a key role in Arkansas winning the SEC Tournament and an NCAA Regional as a freshman in 2022. Hoffmann earned a spot on the SEC All-Tournament team and hit two home runs in three games during the NCAA Regional.

  • Ava Kuszak was one of the best players in the Big Ten Conference last season as Wisconsin’s starting shortstop. Kuszak was a second-team All-Big Ten and third-team all-region selection in 2024, when she hit .318 with 15 doubles, nine homers and 32 RBIs. Kuszak, a Colorado native who plays for Nebraska Gold in the summer, ranked sixth in the Big Ten in doubles last season.
  • Kylee Magee adds a talented arm to Nebraska’s pitching staff after spending the past two seasons at Arizona State. Magee, who appeared in 27 games with 24 starts as a Sun Devil, earned a spot on the Pac-12 All-Freshman team in 2023 before an injury limited her to just six games in 2024. Magee posted an impressive 2.82 ERA in Pac-12 play as a freshman, which ranks sixth in the league in ERA. Though she suffered a season-ending injury in 2024, she didn’t allow a run in four of her six outings last season and was 1-1 with two saves and a 2.86 ERA.

  • Nessa McMillen was a four-time draft pick at Blair High School. McMillen was one of the top hitters in the state, hitting above .400 in each of her four high school seasons. She hit .419 as a freshman, .469 as a sophomore, .451 as a junior and .538 as a senior, when she was selected to the All-Nebraska first team. McMillen produced more than 50 doubles, 20 home runs and 100 RBIs in her prep career.

  • Macie Vickers brings an impressive athletic resume to Nebraska after excelling in three sports at Escalon High School in California. A nominee for the 2023 PGF Futures All-American game, Vickers hit .604 as a junior, .500 as a sophomore and .451 as a freshman. An injury kept her out of the lineup for much of her senior season. Vickers was a three-time all-league selection in softball and was an all-league pick in volleyball and an all-district selection in basketball.

  • Kennadi Williams was a three-sport standout at Lincoln Southwest High School and will also play basketball at Nebraska. The Lincoln Journal Star 2022 High School Female Athlete of the Year, Williams was a winner for the Silver Hawks. She helped Southwest to four straight state tournament appearances in softball, basketball and soccer, including a state championship in softball and a runner-up finish in basketball. A two-time All-State selection on the track and field, Williams was named to the All-Nebraska team as a senior after hitting .450 and leading Class A in runs scored.