Huskers Play Final Road Games This Week

The 16th-ranked Nebraska softball team travels to Ames, Iowa, and Lubbock, Texas, this week in its final regular-season road games this year. NU will go to Iowa State on Tuesday before hosting the Cyclones at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Bowlin Stadium. The Huskers will then travel to Lubbock to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday and Sunday.

Following Sunday's game, Nebraska returns home for a season-ending six-game homestand that begins on Tuesday, April 25 and wraps up on Sunday, May 7. The Huskers have plenty of promotions planned for the homestand including: Student Day (April 25), where 100 adidas softball shirts will be handed out to the first 100 students entering Bowlin Stadium; Fan Appreciation Day (April 26) that features free general admission to the public and 250 bags of Colby Ridge popcorn distributed at the gate; Softball Club Day (May 6), where kids wearing their little league jerseys receive free general admission seating; and Senior Night (May 7), where the Huskers' five-player 2006 senior class will be recognized.

Before the home festivities, NU faces a key stretch of games this week as the Huskers remain in the hunt for the Big 12 title. Although Iowa State and Texas Tech rank in the bottom half of the league standings, both teams have proven to be formidable foes and each owns a win over defending regular-season champion Texas A&M, which sits in second place in the league, one spot ahead of Nebraska.

Last Week
Nebraska went through a difficult stretch last week that featured six games in five-day span. NU showed its physical and mental toughness by emerging with a 5-1 record.

The Huskers swept South Dakota State in a three-game series on Tuesday and Wednesday as NU outscored SDSU 21-3. The highlight of the series came when freshman Molly Hill threw the first no-hitter of her career in an 8-0 Nebraska victory in the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader.

Following the sweep of the Jackrabbits, Nebraska played a single game with Drake and Hill tossed a one-hitter and did not allow an earned run in the Huskers' 7-1 win.

NU returned to Big 12 play on Friday and Saturday when the Huskers welcomed the 19th-ranked Baylor Lady Bears to Bowlin Stadium.

Baylor hit three home runs in the second inning and built a commanding 7-0 lead before a late Nebraska rally fell short as the Huskers left the bases loaded trailing 7-2 in the bottom of the seventh of the first game.

The loss snapped the Huskers' season-best 11-game winning streak and also marked NU's first setback in 14 home games this season.

Any question about how NU would respond was answered immediately. After another BU home run gave the Lady Bears a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, NU plated two runs in the bottom of the frame to take a 2-1 lead in game two.

BU rallied to take a 3-2 lead before the Huskers scored two runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth to earn a 7-4 win.

Senior Jessica Yoachim enjoyed an outstanding week, hitting .471 (8-for-17) in the six games, scoring eight runs and adding four stolen bases while recording a .550 on-base percentage.

Freshman Crystal Carwile continued to produce, hitting .350 (7-for-20) on the week, with two doubles, a home run and seven RBIs.

Hill was solid in the circle, posting a 4-0 record with the no-hitter, a 1.96 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 25.0 innings.

Scouting Iowa State (18-20, 2-5 Big 12)
Iowa State is 18-20 on the season, including a 2-5 mark at the Southwest Athletic Complex. The Cyclones are 2-6 in Big 12 play after splitting a doubleheader with 15th-ranked Texas A&M last Saturday, that included a 14-6 run-rule victory in the first game.

The Cyclones are led offensively by Ashley Killeen, who is hitting .345 with six doubles, seven homers and 33 RBIs. Katie Reichling ranks second with a .315 average and .403 on-base percentage. ISU is hitting .244 as a team and is averaging more than four runs per game.

In the circle, Iowa State boasts a team ERA of 2.29, which ranks fourth in the Big 12. Amie Ford and Alyssa Ransom have been the Cyclones' primary pitchers. Ransom is 8-11 with a team-low 2.22 ERA in 116.2 innings. Ford is 10-9 with a 2.33 ERA and has struck out 119 batters in a team-high 129.0 innings.

Last Time We Met
Nebraska defeated Iowa State three times in 2005, including a classic come-from-behind victory in Ames. Ashley DeBuhr tossed a perfect game to lead the Huskers to a 2-0 win at Bowlin Stadium in the first meeting between the teams. DeBuhr's perfect game was just the third in the 31-year history of Nebraska softball.

Game two in Ames took on a much different look. After failing to get a baserunner in the first meeting, Iowa State scored four runs in the first and added another run in the second. Nebraska trailed 5-1 in the fourth before Devin Porter belted the first home run of her career, a three-run shot that pulled the Huskers within one at 5-4. Nebraska added another run in the fifth to force extra innings.

In the top of the eighth, the Huskers exploded for a six-run inning to claim an 11-5 win. Lizzy Aumua hit a three-run triple and Trisha Tannahill added a two-run homer in the frame. Four Huskers recorded a multi-RBI game, while five added a multi-hit game.

Meeting No. 3 came in a first-round elimination game at the Big 12 Tournament. Nebraska jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead after one inning and never looked back in a 6-0 win. DeBuhr tossed a two-hit shutout, while Jamie Waldecker and Jessica Yoachim each drove in two runs.

Nebraska leads the all-time series with Iowa State, 59-14. Nebraska has won 14 straight in the series and 23 of the last 24 meetings. The Huskers are 19-5 all-time in Ames.

Quick Hits....

• NU's 32-7 record marks the second-best 39-game record in the 31-year history of Nebraska softball
• NU is 14-1 at home, matching the most wins in the history of Bowlin Stadium
• Nebraska is 26-1 when out-hitting the opponent
• Nebraska is averaging more than five runs per game
• NU is 28-2 when holding the opponent to two runs or less
• Nebraska has 30 home runs as a team, 11 more than the entire 2005 total (19) over 59 games
• Nebraska is 64of-73 in stolen base attempts
• Lizzy Aumua tied an NU single-game record with a 5-for-5 effort against Illinois
• Devin Porter (2), Jamie Waldecker (1) and Crystal Carwile (1) have each produced 5 or more RBIs in a game
• Prior to this season, a Husker had produced 5+ RBIs four times in the last five years
• KoKo Tacha has already set single-season career highs in hits, doubles, triples, home runs and RBIs
• Right-hander Ashley DeBuhr has thrown seven shutouts in her last nine starts
• Right-hander Molly Hill is 17-1 with a 1.61 ERA in her Husker career
• Nebraska has already bettered its save total (2) from the entire 2005 season
• NU has already hit more than three times as many triples in 2006 (9) than it did in 2005 (3)

Winning Streaks Snapped
Nebraska's season-long 11-game winning streak and 13-game home winning streak were both snapped when 19th-ranked Baylor defeated the Huskers, 7-2, on Friday. The Huskers quickly rebounded with a 7-4 win the next day.

Linke Emerging
Senior Katie Linke emerged in a big way last week, finishing 3-for-4 with three walks and three RBIs in three games, including two starts. Prior to last week, Linke was just 1-for-15 on the season with four walks and no RBIs.

She drew two walks in her only two plate appearances in a start against South Dakota State in the first game of a doubleheader on Wednesday. She followed that performance by recording a two-run, pinch-hit single in the second game.

Linke again came through in a pinch-hitting situation, recording a one-out single that helped Nebraska avoid a shutout with a two-run seventh inning against No. 19 Baylor on Friday. Linke earned a start in the second game against the Lady Bears and finished 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI.

Good Golly, Miss Molly
Freshman right-hander Molly Hill is off to an incredible start to her career. With a complete-game win over 19th-ranked Baylor on Saturday - her second win over a ranked team in as many starts this season - Hill improved to 17-1.

Hill is off to the best start to a season - and career - by any pitcher in the 31-year history of Nebraska softball. Her .940 winning percentage ranks first in NU single-season history, ahead of Husker pitching coach Lori Sippel, who holds the school record with an .870 single-season winning percentage when she went 20-3 in 1987.

Double Trouble
In the stat of the week, Nebraska turned three double plays in two games against Baylor last weekend. Prior to the Baylor series, NU had turned just four double plays in the first 37 games of the season.

Softball Success Mirrored by Baseball
Softball and baseball, in their basic existence, share many similarities. At Nebraska, the two sports share another similiarity: winning. While the 16th-ranked softball team boasts a 32-7 record, the fourth-ranked baseball team is 28-5. Combined, NU boasts a 60-12 record for a winning percentage of .830, which is believed to be the best combined softball-baseball winning percentage in Division I.

Each team has fewer than 10 losses on the season. The only other Division I school that can claim the same is Oregon State. The Beavers have a combined 53-15 record (.770), including a 29-6 record for the softball team, which the Huskers defeated 8-2 on the first day of the season.

In additition to the success in the win column, Husker baseball and softball also boasts tremendous success in drawing fans. On Friday, despite overlapping game times, baseball (8,757) and softball (1,027) combined to draw nearly 10,000 fans to the Haymarket Park complex.

Borg's Career Inning
Junior Jaime Borg enjoyed a career inning in the Huskers' 7-2 loss to 19th-ranked Baylor on Friday. Borg began her day by silencing the powerful Baylor bats by tossing a perfect seventh inning. Then in the bottom of the inning, Borg recorded the first hit of her career, a one-out double. Her double ignited a two-run inning and she also scored the Huskers' first run of the game, helping NU avoid being shutout for just the third time this season.

Huskers Pick up Win No. 30
With a 5-0 win over South Dakota State in the second game of a doubleheader on April 12, Nebraska improved to 30-6 on the season. It marked the ninth consecutive season that the Huskers have posted 30 victories in a season.

It took this year's team just 36 games to reach the 30-victory mark, tying the 2002 squad for the fastest team to 30 wins in school history.

Porter Powering Her Way to Career-Best Numbers
Junior Devin Porter hit two triples in a three-game stretch last week, bringing her season total to three, which is tied for the team lead. Entering this season, Porter had just two triples in her first two seasons. Porter has also hit seven home runs after hitting just one homer in her first two years.

Huskers Among National Leaders
Nebraska was well represented in the first set of NCAA statistical rankings, released on Tuesday, April 11. As a team, Nebraska ranks eighth in the nation in stolen bases per game (1.79), 18th in fielding percentage (.973), 21st in ERA (1.54), 29th in scoring (5.27 runs per game) and 13th in winning percentage (.818).

Several individuals also rank among the national leaders. Senior Lizzy Aumua ranks 19th in average (.442) and 23rd in stolen bases per game (0.55), while fellow seniors Trisha Tannahill (13th in hit-by-pitches per game at 0.24) and Jessica Yoachim (15th in stolen bases per game at 0.58) also rank highly. Freshman Crystal Carwile rounds out the Husker offensive leaders with a No. 24 ranking with 0.30 home runs per game.

In the circle, junior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr ranks 16th in the nation with 10.3 strikeouts per game and 50th in ERA (1.45).

Carwile Producing in Clean-Up Role
Freshman Crystal Carwile drove in seven runs in six games last week to push her season total to 37 RBIs, which leads the team and ties for fifth in the Big 12.

With her game-winning homer at Oklahoma State on April 9, Carwile became the first freshman at Nebraska to produce 30 RBIs in her rookie season since Nicole Trimboli drove in 45 in 2001.

Yoachim Ties Sacrifice Record
Senior Jessica Yoachim recorded her 11th sacrifice of the season against 19th-ranked Baylor on Saturday. She now has 41 in her career, which ranks ties Gloria Von Rentzell's NU career record.

If Yoachim reaches the mark, it would be her second school record. A two-time first-team All-Big 12 selection, Yoachim set a school record with five hits in a single game last season, a feat that was matched by senior Lizzy Aumua this season.

Tannahill Nears Hit-by-Pitch Record
Senior Trisha Tannahill was hit by a pitch in the Huskers' 2-0 win at Kansas on April 4. Tannahill has been hit by eight pitches this season, which ties the NU single-season school record shared by Karla Knicely (1996) and Ellen Middleton (1999).

Tannahill has been hit by 15 pitches in her career, which is just two shy of Jane Kremer's school-record total of 17.

Home Sweet Home
Nebraska is 14-1 at home this season after losing for the first time on Friday against 19th-ranked Baylor. The 13-0 start marked the best home start in the five-year history of Bowlin Stadium. The previous best start was 5-0 by the 2004 squad. In addition to the stellar start, the Huskers' 13-game home winning streak was also the longest in the history of Bowlin Stadium. NU's 14 victories are already a single-season Bowlin Stadium record.

The 13-game home winning streak also marked the second-longest for Nebraska since the 2000 season. In 2000, Nebraska went a perfect 20-0 in the second-to-last year of the Nebraska Softball Complex.

Scoring Clip
A 3-0 win over Florida A&M on March 11 gave the Huskers 100 runs scored in 17 games, making this year's team the fastest squad in school history to score 100 runs. A 7-1 victory over Drake on Thursday gave NU 200 runs scored in just 37 games, one shy of tying the 1996 squad for the fastest team to score 200 runs in program history.

It took NU just seven games to total 50 runs as the 2006 Huskers also tied the school record for the fewest number of games before reaching the 50-run plateau.

This season marks only the fourth year in school history that NU scored 100 runs in fewer than 20 games. It also marks only the second time in school history that Nebraska has scored 200 runs in fewer than 40 games.

Powerful Performances
Juniors Carmen Kier (four home runs) and Devin Porter (seven home runs) have each hit more home runs this season than their career total entering the year. Through 39 games this season, the pair have combined to hit 11 home runs after combining to hit just three home runs in their first two seasons.

Kier last homered against Northern Iowa on March 30 but she has doubled her career total entering this season. Kier belted two home runs in her redshirt freshman season of 2004 and did not hit a homer last season.

Porter, who recorded the first multi-homer game of her career with a pair of solo shots at Oklahoma State on April 8, has seven home runs this season after hitting her first career home run at the end of last season.

Timely Hitting
Nebraska has been prone to producing two-out RBIs this season. Fourteen of the Huskers' 29 RBIs last week came with two outs. This season, NU has produced 177 RBIs and 71 of those have come with two outs (40 percent). Six players have produced at least five two-out RBIs this season, while freshman Crystal Carwile leads the team with 18 two-out RBIs. Senior Trisha Tannahill (13) ranks second and is the only other player in double-figures.

Husker Power
Nebraska's season home run total stands at 30 home runs in 39 games, easily eclipsing the entire 2005 season total (19 homers in 59 games).

Freshman Crystal Carwile leads the way with 11 home runs, including the second multi-homer game of her career at Oklahoma State on April 9. Her first multi-homer game made her the first Husker since Peaches James in 2004 to record a multi-homer game. Carwile's 11 home runs also mark the first time a Husker has hit 10 or more home runs in a season since current volunteer assistant coach Amanda Buchholz hit 12 in the 2003 season.

Junior Devin Porter ranks second on the team with a career-high seven home runs - including the first multi-homer game of her career against Oklahoma State on April 8 - while fellow juniors Carmen Kier and Jamie Waldecker each have four homers. Senior Trisha Tannahill has three homers and fellow senior KoKo Tacha has also added one roundtripper.

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 30-to-16 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 had 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 nine multi-home run games in 2006, after posting just one in 2005 and three in 2004. NU has produced three individual multi-home run games on the year. Prior to this season, NU hitters had produced a total of five multi-homer games in the last five years.

In league games only, Nebraska ranks in a tie for second in the Big 12 with nine home runs, despite playing the second-fewest numer of league games. It took NU just six games to surpass the 2005 team total of six homers in Big 12 play. Furthermore, Porter hit three home runs in the first six games of conference action, surpassing the Huskers' individual leader from the 2005 season.

The Winner's Circle
Both junior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr and freshman right-hander Molly Hill have won at least 15 games this season. After defeating Northern Iowa on March 30, DeBuhr (16-5) joined Hill (17-1) in double-digit win totals. Both posted double-digit win totals in only the first 29 games of the year. Prior to this season, a Nebraska team had not had two 15-game winners on the same squad since Peaches James (23) and Summer Tobias (15) in 2003.

What a Relief
Junior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr earned her second relief victory of the season by allowing just one run in four innings at Oklahoma State on April 9. In five relief appearances this season, DeBuhr is 2-1 with two saves.

In her career, DeBuhr has made 15 relief appearances. In those relief appearances, DeBuhr is 5-2 with three saves. Prior to Thursday's relief victory, DeBuhr's last win in relief came at Wichita State on March 13, 2005, when she pitched five shutout innings. DeBuhr's save against No. 17 Oklahoma on April 1 in the second game of a doubleheader was her second of the season, doubling her career total.

Chasing .400
Senior Lizzy Aumua is chasing a mark that hasn't been reached at Nebraska in eight years. The mark is a .400 season batting average and Aumua, who is currently hitting .412, has a chance to reach it.

Three-time All-American Ali Viola was the last Husker to hit .400 in a season. Viola hit .400 or better three times in her career, including a .424 mark in 1998, which is the last time a Husker hit .400 or better. All-American Anne Steffan chased the .400 plateau last season, finishing with a .388 average, the sixth-best single-season mark in school history and the highest average since Viola's .424 average in 1998.

Aumua is also chasing a .400 career batting average. Her current career average is .393, which ranks second all-time at Nebraska. Only Viola, who hit .418 in her career, has posted a career average of .380 or better in school history.

Nebraska is also chasing a team batting average of .300 for only the third time in program history and the first time since the 1996 squad hit .303. NU currently boasts a .300 team average.

Fastest To 20 Wins in School History
The Huskers owned a 20-4 record through the first 24 games of the 2006 season. That record marked the best start in school history, as it took the team only 24 games to record 20 victories. The previous record was 25 games by the 2002 squad that finished fifth at the WCWS.

Stolen Bases
Nebraska was a perfect 2-for-2 in stolen base attempts last weekend. NU has had successful streaks of 16 and 22 consecutive stolen bases this season. Prior to last week, where the Huskers were thrown out three times in six games, Nebraska had been successful on 35 of its last 37 stolen base attempts.

On the season, NU has been successful on 64-of-73 attempts, a success rate of 87 percent which leads the Big 12 conference. Opponents have stolen just 18 bases in 30 tries (60 percent).

At the current rate, this year's team has an outside chance to become just the fifth squad in school history to record 100 stolen bases in a season. Last year, the Huskers - who were led by All-American Anne Steffan's single-season school-record 32 stolen bases - tallied 91 stolen bases in 108 attempts (.843). The school record is 128 steals set by the 2002 Huskers.

Starting Strong
Nebraska has shown a penchant for taking command of its games in the early innings this season. The Huskers have scored in the first inning in 22 of their 39 games (57 percent), including nine of the last 12. NU is 20-2 this season when plating a run in the first frame.

In addition to the first-inning success, Nebraska has dominated its opponents in the first four innings, as the Huskers have outscored their opponents 150-38 on the year. In innings five, six, seven and eight (NU has played one extra-inning game this season), however, Nebraska has only outscored its opponent by a 61-33 margin.

Carwile Climbing Freshman HR 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 entire 2001 campaign. Carwile has since added eight more homers - including one last week - to give her 11 on the season and the third-highest freshman total in school history. The school freshman record is 13 by Ali Viola in 1995.

Carwile's 11 roundtrippers would have led the 2005 NU squad and her total eclipses the home run total of all freshmen from the 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 seasons combined by two.

Strikeouts Way Down
Nebraska has seen a dramatic decline in its offensive strikeout numbers this season, a product of hard work and increased emphasis on discipline at the plate.

Nebraska hitters have struck out 178 times through the first 39 games, including just 18 times in six games last week. In contrast, NU had struck out 230 times through the first 39 games of the 2005 season, when the Huskers finished with 364 strikeouts in 59 games. So far this year, Nebraska has cut its strikeout total by nearly two per game.

The Huskers' 178 strikeouts are the lowest in the Big 12 Conference. NU is averaging just 4.56 strikeouts per game. The only other league school averaging less than five strikeouts per game is defending regular-season champion Texas A&M (4.57).

NU vs. Ranked Teams
Nebraska is 4-5 against ranked teams this season after splitting a two-game series with No. 19 Baylor last weekend. Although the Huskers are sub-.500 against ranked teams, four of the nine games have come against top-10 foes and five of the nine games have been on the road or at a neutral site.

NU opened the season with a 7-3 loss to then-No. 7 Stanford. The Huskers quickly rebounded with an 8-2 victory over then-No. 15 Oregon State immediately following the loss to the Cardinal.

Stanford has since moved into the top five of the poll with a 24-4 record, while Oregon State has moved up to seventh. The Beavers won 28 straight games after losing to the Huskers, before falling to No. 9 Arizona State last weekend. OSU is currently 28-3 on the season.

NU did not face another ranked opponent after opening day until a three-run home run in lifted then-No. 25 North Carolina to a 3-1 come-from-behind victory over the Huskers on March 10.

Nebraska lost a pair of close games to then-No. 3 and current No.2-ranked Texas to open Big 12 play the weekend of March 25. The Huskers' first four league games came against ranked teams, as NU also swept nationally-ranked Oklahoma before splitting a pair with Baylor.

Big Innings
Nebraska, which has been scoring runs at a record pace, has also been prone to producing big innings this season. The Huskers have scored in 97 of 240 innings this season and have been shutout just twice through the first 39 games of the season. after being shutout 11 times in 2005.

In addition to the overall totals, Nebraska has scored three or more runs in 30 different innings. When the Huskers have scored a run in an inning, they have added at least two more runs in the frame in 30 percent of those innings. Even more impressive is the fact that NU has scored five or more runs in an inning on 10 occasions and seven or more runs a whopping four times. In 2005, Nebraska produced just one inning of seven or more runs.