NU Seeks 1,000th Victory in Sunshine State

The 15th-ranked Nebraska softball team wraps up its road tournament schedule this weekend and searches for the program's 1,000th all-time victory when the Huskers travel to Tallahassee, Fla., for the Florida State Invitational Friday, March 10 through Sunday, March 12.

NU is in Pool B along with No. 24 North Carolina, Florida A&M and St. John's. The Huskers and Tar Heels are the only ranked teams among the 16-team field. The top two seeds from each pool will advance to the gold bracket, while the remaining teams will be seeded in the silver bracket. Each bracket will be single elimination with a consolation bracket, guaranteeing each team at least two games in bracket play.

Nebraska enters this weekend's tournament with a 12-2 overall record after posting a 4-1 mark in five games at the Best Western Airport Festival in Tulsa, Okla. NU opened the tournament with a pair of come-from-behind victories on the first day that extended the Huskers winning streak to 10 straight.

Junior Devin Porter belted a sixth-inning solo home run to lift Nebraska past a pesky Stephen F. Austin squad. In the next game, the Huskers rallied from a 2-1 seventh-inning deficit to force extra innings, where senior Trisha Tannahill hit a two-out, bases-loaded triple to give NU a 5-2 win over a solid Notre Dame team.

Nebraska faced its first Big 12 foe in the next game. The Husker offense was shutout for the first time in 2006 and held to a season-low hit total as the Kansas Jayhawks snapped NU's 10-game winning streak with a 4-0 victory. The Huskers quickly bounced back with a strong performance in a 5-2 win over host Tulsa.

NU concluded the tournament on a high note, routing Northern Iowa 11-2 in five innings.

Scouting the Field
Nebraska is competing in the Florida State Invitational for the fourth time in six years. The Huskers own an all-time record of 17-1 at the Florida State Invitational. Nebraska is 5-0 all-time against its pool play opponents, including a 3-0 mark at the Florida State Invitational.

No. 25 North Carolina (14-4)
North Carolina is off to a great start at 14-4. The Tar Heels are led by outstanding pitching and a solid offensive lineup.

Ashley Oxendine leads the team with a .371 average and is one of five Tar Heels batting .348 or better. As a team, UNC is hitting .279 and has hit 15 home runs, including a team-high five from Jennifer Jacobs.

In the circle, each of North Carolina's three pitchers have seen extensive work. Crystal Cox (5-3) is the ace, compiling a microscopic 0.50 ERA, allowing only four earned runs in 56.1 innings.

NU leads the all-time series with UNC, 2-0, and defeated the Tar Heels 10-0 at the 2004 FSU Invitational in the last meeting.

St. John's (3-7)
St. John's is just 3-7 on the season and has lost four straight games. The Red Storm is averaging five runs per game, but is allowing nearly eight.

Offensively, SJU is led by Jo Sherlock, who is hitting .457 with team-high totals of 10 runs, four doubles, two home runs and 10 RBIs.

In the circle, Kimberly Lerch has thrown the most innings, compiling an 0-3 record with a team-low 5.40 ERA. Lisa Geer (1-1, 5.91 ERA, 21.1 IP) and Jessica Foley (2-3, 8.40 ERA, 20.0 IP) have also seen extensive action.

Nebraska and St. John's will meet for the first time ever on Friday.

Florida A&M (6-10)
Florida A&M is 6-10 in 2006 and has lost five of its last six games. The Rattlers have been outscored 107-57 on the season.

Nakendra Jones leads the offensive attack, hitting .347 with two doubles, a triple and nine RBIs.

Danielle Brown (3-5) is FAMU's top pitcher and has allowed 31 earned runs in 38.0 innings for a 5.71 ERA.

NU leads the all-time series with Florida A&M, 3-0, and defeated the Rattlers 8-0 at the 2004 FSU Invitational in the last meeting.

Approaching 1,000 All-Time Wins
In the official record book, Nebraska's 12-2 start leaves the program with an all-time record of 996-548. The Huskers need just four victories this weekend to reach the 1,000-win milestone, which would be another accomplishment for a highly decorated program that ranks among the nation's best.

Softball would become the first woman's program and only the third program overall at Nebraska to reach the 1,000-win milestone.

Leading Off

• Nebraska had its season-high 10-game winning streak snapped last weekend
• Nebraska is 10-0 when out-hitting the opponent
• The Huskers are 10-0 when leading after four innings
• Nebraska is averaging more than six runs per game
• Nebraska is hitting .346 as a team
• Eight Huskers are hitting .310 or better
• Six Huskers have homered through the first nine games
• Six Huskers hit a home run in the entire 2005 campaign
• Nebraska has 16 home runs as a team, three shy of the entire 2005 total over 59 games
• Nebraska is 23-for-27 in stolen base attempts
• Lizzy Aumua leads the team with a whopping .580 average (29-for-50)
• Aumua tied an NU single-game record with a 5-for-5 effort against Illinois
• Devin Porter has hit three home runs in her last five games
• Porter had just two home runs in her previous 125 career games
• Porter has produced both a 5-RBI and 6-RBI game this season
• Jamie Waldecker produced a career-high 6 RBIs vs. Illinois, including her first career grand slam
• Crystal Carwile also has a five-RBI game this season
• KoKo Tacha has already set single-season career highs in hits, doubles, home runs and RBIs
• The Huskers have held their opponent to two runs or less in 14 of their first 16 games
• Right-hander Ashley DeBuhr boasts a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 17.5-to-1 (68 K, 9 BB)
• Right-hander Molly Hill is 7-1 with a 1.18 ERA in her Husker career
• Nebraska has already matched its save total (1) from the entire 2005 season
• Nebraska has already hit more triples this season (3) than it did in the entire 2005 season (2)

Scoring Clip
Through its first 14 games, Nebraska has produced 85 runs, aided by a 21-run outburst in a five-inning game with Illinois on Feb. 24.

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.

This year's team is also on pace to become the fastest Husker squad to reach 100 runs in a season. If NU scores 15 runs in its next four games it would break the record. It would tie the mark if it took five games to score 15 runs.

The Producers
Through the first 14 games, four Huskers have already produced double-figure RBI totals. Junior Jamie Waldecker leads the team with 16 RBIs, while fellow junior Devin Porter has 14. Freshman Crystal Carwile boasts 13 and senior KoKo Tacha has tallied a career-high 10.

In the past five seasons (2001 through 2005) a grand total of four Huskers drove in 10 or more runs in the first 15 games of a season. This year marks the first season in that stretch that more than one Husker drove in 10 or more runs in the first 15 games of a season. In 2005, Sheena Lawrick was the lone player, in 2004 it was Nicole Trimboli, in 2003 it was Lisa Wangler and in 2001 it was Amber Burgess. No player produced double-figure RBI totals through the first 15 games of the 2002 season.

Husker Power
Nebraska belted four home runs in five games last weekend and has 16 homers in 14 games this season. NU hit just 19 dingers in 59 games a year ago.

Freshman Crystal Carwile leads the way with five home runs. 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 Devin Porter hit three home runs last weekend and ranks second with four home runs, while fellow junior Jamie Waldecker has three homers. Seniors KoKo Tacha and Trisha Tannahill and junior Carmen Kier each have one roundtripper on the year.

NU had 12 home runs through seven games to open 2006, after taking 32 games in 2004 and 33 games in 2005 to reach the mark. The Huskers enjoy a 16-to-7 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.

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 four multi-home run games in 2006, after posting just one in 2005 and three in 2004.

Carwile Climbing Freshman Home Run Chart
Freshman Crystal Carwile's three home runs in the first five games of the season were the most home runs by a Husker freshman since Nicole Trimboli hit eight in the whole 2001 campaign. Carwile has since added two more homers to give her five on the season. The school freshman 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.

Porter Produces Career Weekend
Junior Devin Porter had a career weekend in helping lead the 17th-ranked Huskers to a 6-1 record last week, including a 4-1 mark at the Best Western Airport Festival in Tulsa, Okla. At the Tulsa tournament only, Porter hit .385 (5-for-13) with a double, three home runs and eight RBIs.

Her three home runs in five games were one more than her previous career total in 125 games. She posted a 1.154 slugging percentage at the tournament and was perfect in the field at shortstop. For her effort, she was named to the all-tournament team.

On the week, Porter hit .389 (7-for-18) with a double, a triple, three home runs and nine RBIs. She also posted a .450 on-base percentage and a 1.056 slugging percentage. Porter drove in the game-winning run in three of the Huskers' six wins.

Winning Streak Snapped
Nebraska saw its 10-game winning streak snapped last weekend by Big 12 foe Kansas in non-conference action. The Huskers ran off 10 straight wins after a season-opening loss to then-No. 7 Stanford, before the Jayhawks shutout NU, 4-0.

The Huskers committed a season-high two errors in the loss, while the four runs allowed were the most since the loss to Stanford. At the plate, Nebraska failed to score at least two runs for the only time this season and the Huskers were held to a season-low three hits.

NU quickly responded by winning its next two games by a combined 16-4 score.

Triple Your Pleasure
Nebraska hit two triples in seven games last week to push its season total to three triples. In 2005, the Huskers produced a total of three triples in 59 games.

Both triples also proved to be timely. Junior Devin Porter hit her first triple of the season to drive in the game-winning run against Missouri Western. Senior Trisha Tannahill then laced a two-out three-run triple in the eighth inning of Nebraska's 5-2 come-from-behind victory over Notre Dame.

Big 12 Team Statistical Rankings
Nebraska's effort to be the best team that it can be in all three phases of the game is off to a great start according to the latest Big 12 Conference statistics. NU ranks first in the league with a .346 team batting average and leads second-place Baylor by .014. The Huskers also lead the league in runs per game and slugging percentage.

In the circle, the Huskers rank third with a 1.73 ERA. NU's staff ranks second by holding opposing hitters to a .219 average while Nebraska also ranks second in strikeouts per game.

Defensively, NU again finds itself near the top of the chart, ranking second with a team fielding percentage of .979. The Huskers have committed a Big 12-low eight errors and are the only league school with less than 11 errors and one of only two teams with less than 20 errors.

Pascale Shines in Tulsa
Freshman Brittany Pascale had burst onto the scene at last weekend's Best Western Airport Festival in Tulsa, Okla. The catcher earned two starts behind the plate, one at designated player and appeared in all five games. She finished the weekend 7-for-10 (.700) with her first career double and first career RBI. She was also perfect behind the plate in 17 chances and threw out 1-of-4 would-be base stealers.

One of her best at bats came in a pinch-hitting situation. Pascale was called on to step in and hit with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh inning when the Huskers trailed Notre Dame, 2-1. In a great at bat, Pascale fell behind in the count, before working it full and lifting a fly ball to deep right field for a sacrifice fly. Her effort sent the game into extra innings, where the Huskers pulled out a 5-2 victory.

Hill Suffers First Setback Since 2003
Freshman right-hander Molly Hill suffered the first loss of her career in a 4-0 setback against Kansas last weekend. Hill had started her career 6-0. Hill also finished with a perfect record in her senior year of high school and had not lost a game (excluding travel ball) since 2003.

Hill quickly bounced back by earning a win in her next start. She is 7-1 on the season with a team-low 1.18 ERA in a team-high 47.1 innings.

Kimbie Comes Through
Freshman Kimberly Fuller earned the first start of her career against Northern Iowa last Sunday as the designated player. Although she did not record a hit, she made the most of her first career start, drawing a pair of bases-loaded walks to finish with two RBIs, the first RBIs of her career.

Fuller is 0-for-4 at the plate this season, but has drawn three walks to post a .429 on-base percentage. She has also scored one run in addition to her three RBIs.

Huskers Explode for 21 Runs
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 .355 in 11 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.

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 12 of the last 13 games.

Excluding the season opener, DeBuhr and Hill have posted a combined 12-1 record with two shutouts and a 1.47 ERA. In 86.0 innings, the duo has surrendered just 18 earned runs and 66 hits, holding opposing hitters to a meager .207 average. The pair have also combined to strike out 114, while walking just 27.

DeBuhr in Control
Junior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr has been in control in the circle this season. She has shown great command of the strike zone, registering a whopping 68 strikeouts against just nine walks to post a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 7.5-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 six games and hitting .250 with four runs scored. Catcher Brittany Pascale has earned three starts and is hitting .429.

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 three walks and a pair of RBIs. Rutherford has appeared in 13 games and has scored three runs while going 0-for-3 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 68 batters in 43.2 innings, against only nine walks.

Multi-Hit Games Boost Team Average
Nebraska has opened the 2006 season by posting a .346 team batting average and recording double-figure hits in six of its first 14 games.

Senior Lizzy Aumua (.580 average) leads a contingent of eight Huskers who are hitting .310 or better. Freshman Brittany Pascale ranks second with a .429 average, while senior Jessica Yoachim (.405) is also hitting better than .400.

Freshman Crystal Carwile is fourth on the team with a .372 average, while senior KoKo Tacha (.355) and junior Devin Porter (.353) rank fifth and sixth, respectively. Senior Trisha Tannahill (.317) and junior Jamie Waldecker (.310) are also hitting better than .300.

Eight Huskers have produced 35 multi-hit games through the first 14 contests of the 2006 season. Aumua leads the way with nine multi-hit efforts, while Yoachim and Waldecker each have five and Tacha and Carwiel have each produced four.

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 934 of Nebraska’s 1,541 all-time games (61 percent).

RBIs in Bunches
In only 14 games, a Husker has produced five or more RBIs in a single game on four occasions. Prior to this season, a total of four Huskers had produced five or more RBIs in a game in the past five years.

Junior Devin Porter has a five- and six-RBI game to her credit, while fellow junior Jamie Waldecker also has a six-RBI game. Freshman Crystal Carwile has also produced a five-RBI game. The school record for most RBIs in a single game is seven, set by Jenny Smith in 1996.

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.

Against Northern Iowa on March 5, Porter drove in six runs in consecutive at bats. She hit her first career grand slam in the third inning, then belted a two-run double in the fourth.

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 NU history to strike 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.