Huskers Advance to Championship Game

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Oklahoma City, Okla. ? A 10-run fourth inning fueled the 14th-ranked Nebraska softball team to a 10-1 five-inning win over 19th-ranked Baylor on Saturday in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament. With the win, Nebraska advances to the 6 p.m. championship game to face the winner of the Missouri-Oklahoma game. The game will be aired live on Fox Sports Midwest (Time Warner Cable Channel 37 in Lincoln).<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

“We kept putting pressure on them,” Head Coach Rhonda Revelle said. “We set the table with our one and two hitters and I felt like we were knocking on the door. Our speed forced them to make a couple of errors.”

 

Senior right-hander Peaches James (33-7) picked up her third straight victory of the tournament for NU (41-15), allowing one run on two hits. Lisa Ferguson (15-6) took the loss for Baylor (46-15), allowing 10 runs (one earned) on 13 hits in four innings of work.

 

The Huskers sent 15 batters to the plate in the fourth inning, totaling 10 runs on eight hits. The 10-run inning tied a season-high for most runs scored in an inning. NU also produced a 10-run fourth inning on March 27 at OklahomaState.

 

James led off the inning with a single and redshirt freshman Carmen Kier laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance James. Kier reached first safely on an error by the first baseman and senior Liz Lawhorn moved the runners up a base with a sacrifice bunt of her own.

 

Junior pinch-hitter Jocelyn Evans then singled to score James and Kier came home when the center fielder misplayed the ball. Leading 2-1, junior Anne Steffan reached on an infield single. Sophomore Jessica Yoachim then sacrificed freshman Devin Porter to third and Steffan to second, before reaching safely on an error by the third baseman.

 

Senior Nicole Trimboli came up with the bases loaded and put the Huskers up 4-1 with a two-run single. Sophomore Trisha Tannahill followed with an RBI bunt single and stole second. With two outs, James came up for the second time in the inning and recorded an RBI single, her second hit of the inning. Kier followed with an RBI single and Lawhorn drew a walk to load the bases for Porter.

 

Porter, a true freshman from Lakewood, Calif., hit her first career triple, a bases-clearing shot to right field that put NU up 10-1. Steffan drew a walk before Yoachim struck out to end the inning.

 

The Lady Bears had one runner reach base in the top of the fifth, but were unable to score. The game was called after the top of the fifth due to the mercy rule.

 

Every Husker hitter finished with at least one hit. Steffan (3-for-3) and James (2-for-3) each had multi-hit games for Nebraska. The Big Red pounded out 13 hits as a team, the third-highest hit total this season.

 

Baylor grabbed an early lead in the game, scoring the first earned run off James in the tournament in the top of the third inning. Melissa Maler sent one-out grounder to second, but a bad hop allowed the ball to end  in right field for the first hit off James in 11.1 innings. Harmony Schwethelm took Maler’s place, reaching on a fielder’s choice and stealing second base. She scored when Leerberg sent a blooper to left field that barely avoided the glove of a diving Trisha Tannahill.

 

NU will be looking for its third Big 12 Tournament championship this evening. Nebraska has played in the championship game a league-high five times, posting a 2-3 record in the title game. A title would tie Texas for the most Big 12 Tournament championships in league history.