Voss No-Hitter Lone Bright Spot On 1-2 Day

Sacramento, Calif. -- Senior All-American Jenny Voss threw the third no-hitter of her career Friday morning before the Nebraska softball team dropped an afternoon and evening contest at the Capital Classic played at the Sacramento Softball Complex. Voss and company cruised to a 7-2 win over S.E. Missouri State before falling, 2-1, to Sacramento State and, 5-1, to Utah. The Huskers closed out the second day of competition at the Capital Classic with a 1-3 record and 13-14 mark for the season.

Nebraska's bats were as hot as Voss' arm against Southeast Missouri State. The Huskers opened the game with five runs in the first inning off four hits. Jennifer Lizama led off with a walk and immediately stole second. Kim Ogee then singled to right field scoring Lizama for the first run of the game. Amber Burgess continued the hitting with a single to left and safely executed a steal with Ogee to put runners at second and third. A missed catch on a pick off attempt at third brought in Ogee from third. A few plays later, a walk and a wild pitch again put runners on second and third. Voss helped her own cause with a single to right scoring Burgess from third. The final two runs of the inning came when Heather Martin doubled to center, scoring Voss and Jamie Fuente. In the top of the second, Nebraska added another run on the bat of Burgess, who hit a solo homer to left with one out. The homer is the second of the season for Burgess, a freshman from Littleton, Colo. Nebraska added a hit in the fourth in fifth, but each were left stranded. In the sixth, Nebraska tacked on its final run when Burgess hit a sacrifice fly to score Lizama from third. Voss brought a perfect game into the bottom of the sixth and got the first batter of the inning to line out to second. She broke the perfect game up with a walk to Cari Cook. Cook then advanced to second on an fielding error by Husker third baseman Alice Brewer. A fielder's choice then put runners at second and third with two outs. Brewer again committed an error, this time allowing two SMS runners to score to make it 7-2. Voss got the final batter of the inning to ground out to end the rally. Voss finished the game with perfect innings in six of the seven, striking out six batters and walking just one. Voss becomes just the second Husker pitcher to throw three no hitters in a career, joining pitching coach Lori Sippel who had six from 1985-1988.

The second game of the day was a matter of missed opportunities for the Huskers. Nebraska left eight baserunners stranded to fall, 2-1, to host school Sacramento State. The Huskers left a pair of runners stranded at second and third in the first inning. The Hornets, on the other hand, were able to convert as Maureen Whitney stole home on a double steal attempt in the bottom of the first to make it 1-0. In the top of the third, Fuente grounded out to end the inning with Lizama and Jill Baker on second and third, respectively. The Hornets, again, followed up Nebraska's effort with a run. Meghan Cunningham hit a chopper to NU shortstop Leigh Suhr that was mishandled, allowing Veronica Rodrigues to score from third. Nebraska finally brought a runner home in the top of the fourth. Jenifer Williams was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. A sacrifice by the designated player, Jenny Voss advanced Williams to second and a single by Suhr moved Williams to third. The lone Husker run came in junior pitcher Penny Cope's second at bat of her career. Cope singled to right center to score Williams from third. The Huskers couldn't get another runner across in the inning, which ended with a Lizama fly out with runners on second and third. Nebraska also left two runners on in the fifth and one in the seventh, and ended the game on a double play off the bat of catcher Amber Burgess. Cope surrendered six hits in 4.1 innings pitched before Leigh Ann Walker no hit the Hornets in the final 1.2 innings.

In the final contest of the day, Nebraska again surrendered some early runs. The Utes scored one run in the top of the first when Lyndsey Trevis singled in Lisa Hashimoto-Hall from second. The Huskers answered with one run in the bottom half of the inning. Lizama hit a leadoff single and stole second before Ogee reached base on a walk. Burgess hit into a fielder's choice that left runners on first and second and one out. After a Fuente strikeout, Williams doubled to right center to score Ogee from second to tie the game at 1-1. In the bottom of the second, Nebraska left three runners stranded, including Brewer, who broke a 0-for-33 streak with a two-out single to right field. Utah took the lead for good in the top of the third when Niki Hayhurst recorded an infield single that scored Molly McLean from third. Utah collected 11 hits in the game, including three in the fifth that were left stranded on the basepaths. The Utes did punch a few more across in the seventh when Hayhurst and Angie Kenney each hit an RBI double. The final run of the game came when Voss threw a wild pitch that allowed Kenney to score from third. Nebraska made a final run at Utah in the bottom of the seventh with Brewer's second single of the game, but it wasn't enough as the Huskers fell, 5-1. Walker took the loss in 2.1 innings of work to fall to 5-4 on the year. Lizama, Ogee and Brewer each collected a pair of hits.

Nebraska will begin tournament play on Saturday against a team yet to be announced.