Huskers Travel to Tulsa This Weekend

The 17th-ranked Nebraska softball team hopes for better weather and continued great play this weekend when it travels to Tulsa, Okla., for the Best Western Airport Festival, Friday, March 3 through Saturday, March 5.

The 2006 Nebraska radio schedule begins this weekend, as Nebraska's games with Notre Dame (Friday at 3 p.m.), Tulsa (Saturday at 5 p.m.) and Northern Iowa (Sunday at 9 a.m.) will be aired live on the Pinnacle Sports Network. Those three games can be found on 1400 AM in Lincoln while all five games will also be streamed live on Huskers.com for free. Kyle Doperalski will call the action.

Nebraska took advantage of unseasonably warm weather and scheduled a Wednesday doubleheader with Division II Missouri Western at Bowlin Stadium in an effort to make up for some games lost to weather. The Huskers swept the Griffons (3-1, 9-1 [6]) to push their winning streak to eight in a row.

NU continued to hit well as a team, pounding out 20 hits in the two games, while the Husker pitching staff held its opponent to two runs or less for the seventh and eighth straight games.

Last weekend, NU posted two victories on the opening day of the NFCA Leadoff Classic before the remainder of the tournament was cancelled due to inclement weather.

Nebraska opened the event in grand fashion, pounding Illinois 21-1 in five innings. The Huskers' 21 runs were the second-most in school history, while marking only the second time in the history of the program NU produced 20 or more runs in a game.

The Huskers followed that victory with a 5-0 shutout of Florida Atlantic. Nebraska hit six home runs in the two games combined and finished with a team batting average of .421 (24-for-57). In the circle, NU allowed just one run in 12 innings, while posting 19 strikeouts against just three walks.

Scouting the Field
Nebraska will face five teams at the Best Western Airport Festival this weekend, including its first look at a Big 12 opponent, when the Huskers face Kansas in non-conference action on Saturday.

Nebraska owns a 65-58 all-time mark against the five schools.

Stephen F. Austin (5-6)
Stephen F. Austin is 5-6 this season after losing to Northwestern State on Wednesday.

The Jacks are led offensively by Lara Lee, who is hitting .417 with three homers and seven RBIs.

In the circle, the Jacks have used five pitchers. Kari Hugie has tossed the most innings and is 1-1 with a 3.69 ERA.

Nebraska is 3-0 all-time versus Stephen F. Austin, outscoring the Jacks by a combined 13-2 margin. The schools have not met since 1995.

Notre Dame (5-4)
Notre Dame is 5-4 in 2006 and was crowned the Florida International Tournament champion last weekend, finishing with a 3-1 record in the rain-shortened tournament. The Irish and Huskers share one common opponent, Oregon State. NU defeated OSU 8-2, while Notre Dame fell to the Beavers, 5-0.

Notre Dame is led offensively by Linda Kohan, who is hitting .357 with three homers.

In the circle, Heather Booth is 2-3 with a 2.76 ERA and has struck out 39 in 33.0 innings.

NU leads the all-time series, 7-4, but Notre Dame has won three of the last four meetings.

Kansas (5-9)
Kansas is just 5-9 on the season, but the Jayhawks have faced a very challenging schedule. KU has faced five ranked teams, compiling a 1-4 record. The Jayhawks have lost three straight.

Destiny Frankenstein leads the Kansas offense with a .405 average, six home runs and 12 RBIs. KU is hitting just .218 as a team this season.

Kassie Humphreys is 3-5 and has compiled a 2.68 ERA in 47.0 innings in the circle, while Serena Settlemier is 2-3 with a 1.55 ERA in 31.2 innings.

Kansas leads the all-time series with Nebraska, 50-44. The teams split two meetings in 2005.

Tulsa (6-2)
Tulsa is 6-2 after winning its home tournament last weekend. Nebraska and Tulsa share two common opponents, Illinois and Cal State Northridge. Tulsa went 3-0 against those teams, while Nebraska went 2-0.

Tulsa is batting .330 as a team, led by Kelli McGlasson who is hitting a team-high .500.

In the circle, Maren Genow is 3-0 with a 1.67 ERA in 21.0 innings, while Julie Fennell has tossed a team-high 27.0 ininings, compiling a 3-1 record and 2.85 ERA.

Nebraska leads the all-time series, 2-0, but the teams have not met since 1996.

Northern Iowa (3-5-1)
Northern Iowa is 3-5-1 on the season and has won two of its last three games.

The Panthers are led offensively by Stephanie Aguero, who is hitting .360 with two triples, a home run and six RBIs, while slugging .680. UNI is hitting .244 as a team and is averaging better than four runs per game.

In the circle, Monica Wright is 1-3 with a 2.90 ERA in 31.1 innings, while Uju Ibekwe is 2-1 with a 2.13 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 23.0 innings.

Nebraska leads the all-time series 12-1 and has won five straight meetings dating back to 1994. The teams have not met since 1997.

Leading Off

• Nebraska has won eight straight games since a season-opening loss to then-No. 7 Stanford
• The Huskers have outscored their opponents 59-9 during their winning streak
• Nebraska is 7-0 when out-hitting the opponent
• The Huskers are 7-0 when leading after four innings
• Nebraska is averaging nearly seven runs per game
• Nebraska is hitting .370 as a team
• Seven Huskers are hitting .320 or better
• Six Huskers have homered through the first nine games
• Six Huskers hit a home run in the entire 2005 campaign
• Nebraska has 12 home runs as a team, seven shy of the entire 2005 total over 59 games
• Nebraska is 16-for-18 in stolen base attempts
• NU hit .421 at the Leadoff Classic last weekend
• NU outscored its two opponents 26-1 at the NFCA Leadoff Classic
• NU had back-to-back homers in consecutive games last weekend
• Lizzy Aumua leads the team with a whopping .697 average (23-for-33)
• Aumua tied an NU single-game record with a 5-for-5 effort against Illinois
• Aumua has a season-opening nine-game hitting streak, including seven multi-hit efforts
• Freshman Crystal Carwile has five home runs in her last seven games
• Carwile boasts a 1.069 slugging percentage on the season
• Jamie Waldecker produced a career-high 6 RBIs vs. Illinois, including her first career grand slam
• Carwile and Devin Porter each have a five-RBI game this season
• KoKo Tacha is hitting .550 with a home run, three doubles and 10 RBIs
• The Huskers have held their opponent to two runs or less in their last eight games
• Right-hander Ashley DeBuhr boasts a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 12.5-to-1 (50 Ks, 4 BB)
• Right-hander Molly Hill is 5-0 with a 1.15 ERA in her first two weekends as a Husker
• Nebraska has already matched its save total (1) from the entire 2005 season

Scoring Clip
Through its first nine games, Nebraska has produced 62 runs, aided by a 21-run outburst in a five-inning game with Illinois last Friday.

It took NU just seven games to total 50 runs as the 2006 Huskers tied the school record for the fewest number of games before reaching the 50-run plateau. The 1995 squad finished with 51 runs in seven games.

This season marks only the fifth year in school history that NU scored 50 runs in fewer than 10 games. In contrast, twice in the 31-year history of Nebraska softball the Huskers have taken 20 or more games before they scored 50 total runs on the season.

The Producers
Through the first nine games, three Huskers have already produced double-figure RBI totals. Freshman Crystal Carwile and junior Jamie Waldecker each have 11 RBIs, while senior KoKo Tacha has driven in a career-high 10 runs.

Since 2000, three total players have produced 10 or more RBIs through the first 10 games prior to this season. In 2005, Sheena Lawrick totaled 12 RBIs through the first 10 games. In 2003, Lisa Wangler produced 17 RBIs in 10 games and in 2000 Jennifer Lizama drove in 12 runs in the first 10 games. No player had 10 or more RBIs through the first 10 games of the season in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

Carwile Climbing Freshman Home Run Chart
Freshman Crystal Carwile's three home runs in the first five games of the season were already the most home runs by a Husker freshman since Nicole Trimboli hit eight in the 2001 campaign. Carwile added two more homers in two games last weekend to give her five on the season. The school-record is 13 by Ali Viola in 1995.

Carwile's five roundtrippers would have ranked third on the 2005 NU squad and her total matches the home run total of all freshmen from the 2004 and 2005 seasons combined.

Husker Power
Nebraska exploded for six home runs in two games last weekend and have 12 homers in nine games this season. NU hit just 19 dingers in 59 games a year ago.

Freshman Crystal Carwile leads the way with five home runs - including two last weekend. She also has a two-home run game, becoming the first Husker since Peaches James in 2004 to hit more than one home run in a game. Junior Jamie Waldecker has two home runs, while seniors KoKo Tacha and Trisha Tannahill and juniors Devin Porter and Carmen Kier each have one roundtripper on the year.

NU totaled 12 home runs in only seven games in 2006, after taking 32 games in 2004 and 33 games in 2005 to reach the mark. The Huskers enjoy a 12-to-6 advantage in home runs over their opponents. After the first weekend, NU enjoyed a 6-to-5 advantage, marking the first time since April 18, 2004, that Nebraska has more home runs than its opponents at any point during the season.

Furthermore, Nebraska homered in seven straight games to open the season, the longest stretch since NU homered in 10 consecutive games March 10 through March 17, 2002. The Huskers also have produced three multi-home run games in 2006, after posting just one in 2005 and three in 2004.

Huskers Explode for 21 Runs in Five Innings
After a 12-day layoff, the Huskers exploded for seven first-inning runs, eight more in the second and five more in the third en route to a 21-1 rout of Illinois on the first day of the NFCA Leadoff Classic on Feb. 24

The 21 runs were the second-most in school history (23 is the school record) and marked only the second time in program history that Nebraska scored 20 or more runs in a single game. The Huskers batted around in each of the first three innings and finished with 16 hits.

NU also pounded out four home runs by four different players. The four-homer game marked the first time since March 13, 1998 against Bowling Green - a span of 484 games - that the Huskers had four players hit a home run in the same game.

The 21 runs and 20-run margin of victory were both the largest in the history of Illinois softball, while the Huskers also set and tied several NFCA Leadoff Classic records in the 11th year of the annual prestigious event.

Nebraska's 21 runs were a new Leadoff Classic record, as were the Huskers four home runs. Junior Jamie Waldecker established a new tournament record with six RBIs in the win, while senior Lizzy Aumua also earned a spot in the record book with five hits.

Tacha Off to Career-Best Start
Senior KoKo Tacha is having a career year in her final season as a Husker. While that may sound premature with the season only nine games old, consider that Tacha has already surpassed some career highs and is approaching her single-season career highs in nearly every offensive category.

Tacha is hitting .550 in seven starts this season. She has hit three doubles and produced 10 RBIs, both of which are new career bests. She also boasts one home run and 11 hits, which ties her single-season career best in both categories. Tacha has also stolen one base while her career high for a season is three.

RBIs Aplenty
Junior Jamie Waldecker produced eight RBIs in two games at the NFCA Leadoff Classic last weekend. She drove in a career-high six runs - including her first career grand slam - against Illinois to fall just one shy of the Nebraska single-game record. She followed that performance with two RBIs against Florida Atlantic in the next game.

In two games at the Leadoff Classic, Waldecker hit .500 with a pair of home runs.

In the Zone in the Circle
Since surrendering a season-high seven runs to Stanford in the season opener, right-handers Ashley DeBuhr and Molly Hill have allowed two or fewer runs in each of the past eight games, all Husker victories.

Excluding the Stanford game, DeBuhr and Hill have posted a combined 8-0 record with two shutouts and a 1.21 ERA. In 52 innings, the duo has surrendered just nine runs and 39 hits, holding opposing hitters to a meager .201 average. The pair have also combined to strike out 75, while walking just 14.

DeBuhr in Control
Junior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr has been in control in the circle this season. She has shown great command of the strikezone, registering a whopping 50 strikeouts against just four walks to post a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 12.5-to-1.

Back-to-Back in Back-to-Back
Nebraska hit back-to-back home runs in consecutive games on the first - and only - day of the NFCA Leadoff Classic Feb. 24.

In a 21-1 rout of Illinois, freshman Crystal Carwile and senior Trisha Tannahill belted back-to-back home runs in the top of the first inning. Then in the bottom of the first in the second game of the day against Florida Atlantic, junior Jamie Waldecker and Carwile hit back-to-back solo shots.

Tannahill and Carwile were the first Huskers to hit back-to-back home runs since Katie Linke and Peaches accomplished the feat on March 27, 2004 at Oklahoma State.

Carwile Opens Career with a Bang
Freshman Crystal Carwile not only got off to a tremendous start to the 2006 season, but an incredible start to her Husker career in the first tournament of her rookie season.

Carwile went 1-for-6 with an RBI in her first day, before exploding onto the scene on day two, and finished the tournament as the Huskers' cleanup hitter and boasting a .375 average, three home runs, seven RBIs and a 1.000 slugging percentage.

The Chino, Calif., native opened the second day of her career with a 1-for-3 effort against Cal State Northridge that included her first career home run. Carwile then put together possibly the greatest single-game performance by a freshman hitter in school history.

Hitting in the No. 4 spot for the first time, Carwile quickly produced with an RBI double in the first inning against Utah State. Following a ground out in her next at bat, Carwile belted a solo home run in the fifth inning and secured a Husker victory with a three-run shot in the seventh. She finished the game 3-for-4 with five RBIs.

Carwile closed her first weekend at Nebraska on a three-game hitting streak, finishing 1-for-3 against Nevada in the final game of the Kajikawa Classic.

Hill Brilliant in Career Debut
While Crystal Carwile was making an immediate impact at the plate as a freshman during the season-opening Kajikawa Classic Feb. 10-12, Molly Hill stepped into the circle and produced in her first career tournament as well.

Hill appeared in four games at the tournament - including two starts - and posted a 3-0 record with a 1.53 ERA. In the first start of her career, Hill tossed a complete game and allowed just two runs in an 8-2 victory over 15th-ranked Oregon State. The Wayne, Neb., native then earned a win by tossing four innings of one-hit relief against Cal State Northridge and followed that performance with a victory against Utah State. Hill was the pitcher of decision in three straight games, earning the victory in each of those contests.

Hill allowed just four earned runs in 18.1 innings in her first weekend of competition. She also averaged nearly one strikeout per inning, striking out 18, while walking just five.

Freshmen Contributions
While Crystal Carwile and Molly Hill have made the biggest impact of Nebraska's six-player freshman class, all six newcomers made their career debuts in their first weekend as a Husker.

Meghan Mullin has also made a significant impact, starting two games and hitting .286 with three runs scored. Catcher Brittany Pascale has earned three starts and is 1-for-7 at the plate.

Kimberly Fuller and Darcy Rutherford have not earned a start, but both have seen action. Fuller has appeared in three games and is 0-for-2 with a walk. Rutherford has appeared in six games and has scored two runs while going 0-for-2 at the plate.

DeBuhr Eclipses 400-Strikeout Mark
Junior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr struck out nine in a five-inning victory over Illinois on Feb. 24. Her fifth strikeout of the game was the 400th of her career, making DeBuhr the fifth player in school history to reach the mark. DeBuhr set the NU sophomore record with 335 strikeouts in 2005. In 2006, DeBuhr has struck out 50 batters in 28.2 innings, against only four walks.

Multi-Hit Games Boost Team Average
Nebraska has opened the 2006 season by posting a .370 team batting average and recording double-figure hits in five of its first nine games.

Senior Lizzy Aumua (.697 average) leads a contingent of seven Huskers who are hitting .320 or better. Fellow senior KoKo Tacha (.550) ranks second on the team, while freshman Crystal Carwile (.448) ranks third. Senior Trisha Tannahill is batting .370 and junior Devin Porter is hitting at a .333 clip, along with freshman Meghan Mullin. Senior Jessica Yoachim is also hitting .320.

Seven Huskers have produced 23 multi-hit games through the first nine contests of the 2006 season. Aumua leads the way with seven multi-hit efforts, while Tacha has four and Waldecker and Carwile have each produced three multi-hit games.

Revelle Reaches Another Milestone
Head Coach Rhonda Revelle reached another career milestone on the second day of the Huskers’ season-opening Kajikawa Classic on Feb. 11. When Nebraska defeated Utah State 7-3 in its fourth game of the weekend, it marked Revelle’s 800th game as head coach of the Huskers. Revelle, who pitched for NU from 1981-83, also played in 128 career games a Husker and has currently been associated with 930 of Nebraska’s 1,537 all-time games (61 percent).

Statistical Anomaly
Except in rare instances, a player's on-base percentage is higher than their batting average. Senior Lizzy Aumua's phenomenal opening weekend provided one of those rare occasions.

Aumua is currently hitting .697 and boasts a .694 on-base percentage. The reason for the lower on-base percentage? Sacrifices, which Aumua knows well as she set a school-record with 27 in 2005.

Aumua is 23-for-33 in official at bats that make up her .697 average. On-base percentage, which looks at total plate appearances instead of at bats, counts sacrifices against the on-base percentage, whereas batting average does not account for sacrifices at all.

Aumua has three more plate appearances than official at bats and she has drawn two walks and recorded a sacrifice fly in those three appearances. While the walk helps her on-base percentage, the sacrifice fly does not and the .667 mark in these two extra plate appearances lowered her overall on-base percentage to .694, or .003 lower than her batting average.

Five Times the Fun
In a span of three games at Kajikawa Classic, junior Devin Porter and freshman Crystal Carwile each drove in a career-high five runs.

Porter produced five RBIs in consecutive at bats against 15th-ranked Oregon State in the second game of the season. She hit a two-run single in the top of the third inning and belted her second career home run - a three-run shot - one inning later.

Carwile matched the feat the next day when she drove in five against Utah State. Carwile had an RBI double in the first inning, a solo home run in the fifth and a three-run homer in the seventh to give her five RBIs in the game.

Prior to Porter's performance, Nebraska had not had a player produce a five-RBI game in 109 games. Porter and Carwile are also the first Husker teammates to have a five-RBI day in the same season since Nicole Trimboli and Amber Burgess accomplished the feat 29 games apart in the 2002 season.

Junior Jamie Waldecker added a six-RBI game against Illinois at the NFCA Leadoff Classic on Feb. 24, two games after Porter's performance.

Keen to Redshirt
Sophomore right-hander Jordan Keen is expected to redshirt this season in an effort to rehab a nagging back injury. Keen posted solid numbers in her freshman season, going 9-2 with a team-best 1.57 ERA last year. She also ranked second on the team with two shutouts, eight complete games, 89.0 innings pitched and 68 strikeouts.

The Nebraska Circle
With Florida native Jordan Keen redshirting this season, the Huskers have three active pitchers on their 2006 staff, and each player is a home-grown talent as a native Nebraskan.

Returning All-Big 12 performer Ashley DeBuhr hails from Beatrice, while fellow junior Jaime Borg is a Lincoln native. Freshman Molly Hill comes to Lincoln from Wayne, Neb.

The 17-player Nebraska roster boasts a total of five natives of the Cornhusker State, with three of those players working in the circle.

NU Features Returning All-Big 12 Talent
The 2006 Nebraska softball team boasts plenty of talent and experience, but the Huskers also feature four players who have garnered six combined All-Big 12 accolades in their careers.

Senior Jessica Yoachim highlights the decorated returnees, as she has earned first-team All-Big 12 honors in each of the past two seasons and aims for her third consecutive accolade in 2006. Fellow senior Trisha Tannahill has also earned a pair of nods to the All-Big 12 squad in her career. Tannahill earned first-team honors as a sophomore and was a second-team pick last season.

The junior battery of catcher Jamie Waldecker and right-hander Ashley DeBuhr have also been recognized as two of the best in the league. One of the best batteries in the league and perhaps the nation, Waldecker burst onto the Big 12 scene as a freshman in 2004 and took home second-team All-Big 12 honors. After tossing only 36.2 innings as a freshman behind second-team All-American Peaches James in 2004, DeBuhr was a second-team All-Big 12 pick last year, throwing the third perfect game in school history and becoming just the second pitcher in school history to strikeout more than 300 batters in a single season.

NU Picked to Finish Fifth in Big 12
In a preseason vote of the Big 12 coaches, Nebraska was picked to finish fifth in the league in 2006.

Texas A&M, which claimed the regular-season crown in 2005, was the coaches' pick to win the league. Texas, last season's Big 12 Tournament champion, was tabbed as the No. 2 team in the league. Baylor and Oklahoma, respectively, rounded out the schools picked to finish ahead of the Huskers.

Each of the schools picked to finish ahead of Nebraska advanced past regional play in the 2005 NCAA tournament and is ranked in the top 15 of the 2006 NFCA/USA Today preseason top 25 poll.

Nebraska finished seventh in the Big 12 in 2005 with a 9-9 record after being picked to finish fifth in the coaches 2005 preseason poll.

Revelle Adds Title to R?sum?
Head Coach Rhonda Revelle added the title of Senior Woman Administrator to her resume in January when she replaced the Dr. Barbara Hibner - who hired Revelle to coach the Huskers - following Hibner's retirement at the end of 2005.

With the administrative role, Revelle becomes the only coach in any sport in the Big 12 Conference to serve as an athletic administrator in addition to his or her coaching duties.

Revelle was also re-named president of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association in December after Mona Stevens stepped down as head coach of the Utah Utes. NFCA rules state that the organization's president much also be a current head coach. When Stevens stepped down as coach, she subsequently relinquished her position as NFCA president. NFCA rules also state that in the event an NFCA president is removed, the former president will take over the title of NFCA President. Revelle, who served as NFCA President from 1999 to 2002, was appointed the new president since she was the last president prior to Stevens' appointment.

Sixteen NCAA Bids and Counting
Nebraska softball is in an elite class when it comes to postseason play. The Huskers are one of nine teams to appear in the past 11 NCAA Tournaments. Nebraska also has a strong history of earning high seeds in the tournament. In the eight seasons prior to the format switch that occured in 2005, Nebraska earned a No. 2 seed or higher in the NCAA Regional every season. The only other teams that accomplished the feat were Arizona, Michigan, Oklahoma and Washington.

Overall, NU has earned 16 NCAA Tournament bids, tying Texas A&M for the most NCAA berths of any Big 12 school. The Huskers have also advanced to the College World Series seven times.

Nebraska also has a strong history of hosting regionals at Bowlin Stadium. The Huskers have been awarded an NCAA Regional in each of the last three seasons and four of the last five years overall.

Tough Schedule Again
Nebraska has grown accustomed to playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation and 2006 will be no exception. NU will play at least 22 games - more than one-third of the total schedule - against teams that earned 2005 NCAA Tournament bids.

The Huskers will also play at least 12 regular-season contests against teams that advanced to Super Regional play in 2005, including a pair of games at Texas, which advanced to the Women's College World Series.

Finally, Nebraska will play at least 12 regular-season games against teams ranked in the top 20 of the 2005 USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll. The Huskers will also play 10 contests against top 15 teams.

Through its first five games, Nebraska has already faced a pair of top-25 teams, defeating No. 15 Oregon State and falling to seventh-ranked Stanford.

Big 12 Dominance
By capturing both the Big 12 regular-season and tournament crowns in 2004, the Nebraska softball program is tied with Texas, the 2005 tournament champ, for the most conference championships of any of the 10 league schools.

NU has won a league-high three regular-season championships and three tournament titles.

Nebraska is also the only school to boast a perfect record in league play since the Big 12 was formed in 1996. The Huskers went 16-0 in 1998.

Ranking Near the Top
Nebraska finished the 2005 season with a No. 25 final ranking in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll. The final ranking marked the 10th consecutive season the Huskers finished the year among the top 25. Nebraska is one of only six teams in the nation - and one of only two in the Big 12 Conference - to be ranked in the final poll in each of its 11 years of existence.

Huskers Excelling in the Pros
Three former Huskers were named all-stars in the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) league last summer. The Huskers’ total of three players in the game trailed only UCLA for the most selections among all colleges and universities in the nation.

Former Huskers Peaches James (2001-04), Nicole Trimboli (2001-04) and Anne Steffan (2002-05) were each named all-stars.

Trimboli's Akron Racers and Steffan's Chicago Bandits met for the NPF title, with Akron winning 5-4 led by an RBI from Trimboli.

Olympic Connections
Associate Head Coach Lori Sippel was named Head Coach of Team Canada in March of 2005 and will lead Canada in the 2008 Olympic Games.

In her short tenure as head coach of Team Canada, Sippel has already guided the Canadians to great success. At the World Cup of Softball in July of 2005, Sippel led the Canadians to a 2-1 upset of the United States, handing the Americans their first loss in international play since 2002.

Sippel aslo guided Canada to a second-place finish at the 2005 Pan-American Qualifying Tournament that guaranteed the Canadian National Team a spot in the 2006 World Championships.

One of Sippel's star players is former Husker player and current undergraduate assistant coach Sheena Lawrick. Lawrick was selected to the 2004 Canadian Olympic Team despite recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament when the team was announced. A native of Calgary, Alberta, Lawrick started two games for the Canadians, who finished the 2004 Olympics with a 3-4 record, which tied for the country's best showing ever. Lawrick also produced both RBIs in Canada's upset victory over Team USA.

At the 2004 Olympics, Sippel joined Lawrick in Athens as a broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Sippel was a member of the 1996 Canadian National Team that also went 3-4 in the inaugural softball competition at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga.

Head of the Class
Nebraska leads all Division I softball programs with 22 CoSIDA Academic All-America awards won by 15 players.

NU is the only school with more than 20 academic All-America awards, and the only Big 12 school ranked in the top 10. The College of New Jersey boasts 18 selections to rank second in the nation.

Revelle Wins 500th Games
Head Coach Rhonda Revelle posted her 500th career victory and 500th win at Nebraska during the 2005 season. Revelle is only the third coach in school history to record 500 career victories and the first female coach to reach the milestone.

In addition to her coaching duties, Revelle was chosen by Athletic Director Steve Pederson to replace Dr. Barbara Hibner as Nebraska's Senior Woman Administrator, making Revelle the lone coach/administrator in the Big 12 Conference.

Approaching 1,000 All-Time Wins
In the official record book, Nebraska's 8-1 start leaves the program with an all-time record of 992-547. The Huskers need just eight victories to reach the 1,000-win milestone, which would be another accomplishment for a highly decorated program that ranks among the nation's best.