Oklahoma softball ace Jordy Bahl leaving for Nebraska

Jordy Bahl, one of the top pitchers in college softball who has helped lead Oklahoma to national championships during each of her two seasons on campus, announced Monday that she's leaving school to "return home" to Nebraska. 

A sophomore and two-time All-American, Bahl grew up in Papillion, which is less than an hour's drive from the Nebraska campus. She originally committed to the Cornhuskers as a high school freshman before reopening her recruitment and signing with Oklahoma.

In a statement posted to social media on Monday, Bahl said she has decided to "play the game I love, closer to the things that have made me who I am and that have always been more important to me than this game." 

A hard-throwing righty with a fiery personality in the pitcher's circle, Bahl is 44-2 in her career with 15 shutouts and five saves. Her career ERA is 1.00.

Oklahoma won its third straight national championship last Thursday, and its sixth championship in the last 10 years.

The Sooners, who will enter next season riding an NCAA-record 53-game winning streak, will be without their two starting pitchers during the championship series -- Bahl and Alex Storako, a former Michigan transfer who went 18-0 with a 1.15 ERA.

Bahl, a former Gatorade National Player of the Year and consensus No. 1-ranked recruit, joins a Nebraska program that has never won a national championship and last reached the Women's College World Series in 2013.

Oklahoma returns much of its core from last season, including pitchers Nicole May (18-0, 0.91 ERA) and Kierston Deal (3-0, 0.77 ERA).