Huskers Head to Texas Tech This Weekend

The 17th-ranked Nebraska softball team wraps up its regular-season road schedule this weekend when it travels to Lubbock, Texas, for a pair of games with the Texas Tech Red Raiders. NU, which is 33-8 on the season and in third place in the Big 12 Conference with a 7-4 record, is 1-1 this week after splitting a pair of games with Iowa State.

The Huskers dropped a 6-5 game at Iowa State on Tuesday, before rebounding with an 8-0 run-rule victory over the Cyclones on Thursday that gave NU a 15-1 home record, marking the most wins in the five-year history of Bowlin Stadium.

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), when 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), when kids wearing their little league jerseys receive free general admission seating; and Senior Night (May 7), when the Huskers' senior class will be recognized.

Before the home festivities, NU faces a key series this weekend as the Huskers remain in the hunt for the Big 12 title. Although Texas Tech ranks in the bottom half of the league standings, Texas Tech has proven to be a formidable foe, as Tech owns victories over 15th-ranked and defending Big 12 champions Texas A&M and 22nd-ranked Oklahoma.

Scouting Texas Tech (18-29, 4-9 Big 12)
Texas Tech is 18-29 overall and 4-9 in the Big 12 Conference this season and has lost five games in a row, all in conference play.

The Red Raiders were swept at Kansas last weekend and dropped a doubleheader to Oklahoma State on Tuesday. TTU then fell 6-0 to second-ranked Texas on Thursday, before the second game of the doubleheader was canceled due to rain.

Despite their record, the Red Raiders boast impressive victories over then-No. 18 Missouri (8-3), then-No. 15 Oklahoma (4-2) and then-No. 15 Texas A&M (3-2).

Texas Tech is hitting just .236 as a team while averaging three runs per game. Montana Patin leads the team with a .290 average. Ashley Parker boasts a Big 12-best 31 stolen bases in only 33 attempts, while Jennifer Bowers is the Red Raiders' top slugger, hitting a team-high seven home runs and producing 25 RBIs.

In the circle, Texas Tech has compiled a 2.80 team ERA. Erin Crawford (11-15) has seen the majority of the action, allowing 53 earned runs in 160.2 innings, en route to a team-low 2.31 ERA.

Last Time We Met
Nebraska swept Texas Tech at Bowlin Stadium last season, defeating the Red Raiders, 7-1, in the first game before earning a 3-2 victory in game two.

The Husker slappers wreaked havoc in the two-game set. Lizzy Aumua and Jessica Yoachim combined to go 9-for-10 with eight runs scored, three sacrifices and a walk in the series.

In game one, six Texas Tech errors helped Nebraska produce seven runs. Yoachim was 2-for-2 with a pair of runs, a walk and a sacrifice, while Aumua was 2-for-2 with three runs, an RBI and two sacrifices.

Devin Porter also enjoyed a good day, going 1-for-2 with a double, a pair of RBIs and she was also hit by a pitch.

In the circle, Ashley DeBuhr tossed a complete-game and surrendered just five hits while allowing just one unearned run.

Game two proved to be much closer. Nebraska built a 3-0 lead after three innings, before hanging on for the 3-2 win.

Aumua (3-for-3) and Yoachim (2-for-3) led the way again, combining to score all three Husker runs.

DeBuhr earned the victory in the circle for the second straight day, allowing two runs on four hits in her second complete-game effort in as many days.

Nebraska leads the all-time series, 22-3, including a perfect 8-0 mark at Texas Tech. The Huskers have won 10 straight in the series.

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 April 14. NU quickly rebounded with a 7-4 win the next day.

Quick Hits....

NU's 33-8 record marks the second-best 41-game record in the 31-year history of Nebraska softball

NU is 15-1 at home, marking the most wins in the history of Bowlin Stadium

Nebraska is 27-2 when out-hitting the opponent

Nebraska is averaging more than five runs per game

NU is 29-2 when holding the opponent to two runs or less

Nebraska has 33 home runs as a team, 14 more than the entire 2005 total (19) over 59 games

Nebraska is 66-of-77 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 eight shutouts in her last 12 starts

Right-hander Molly Hill is 17-2 with a 1.69 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)

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.

This week, Linke went 2-for-3 with her second career home run at Iowa State on Tuesday and added a pair of walks in the rematch on Thursday. In her last six games, Linke boasts an on-base percentage of .769.

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 April 15 - her second win over a ranked team in as many starts this season - Hill improved to 17-1. Hill suffered just her second loss of her career at Iowa State on Tuesday.

Hill is off to the best start to a season - and career - by any pitcher in the 31-year history of Nebraska softball. Her .895 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 33-8 record, the fourth-ranked baseball team is 30-5. Combined, NU boasts a 63-13 record for a winning percentage of .820, 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 55-16 record (.770), including a 30-6 record for the softball team, which the Huskers defeated 8-2 on the first day of the season.

In addition to the success in the win column, Husker baseball and softball also boasts tremendous success in drawing fans. Last 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 April 14. 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 second set of NCAA statistical rankings, released on Tuesday, April 18. As a team, Nebraska ranks 14th in the nation in stolen bases per game (1.64), 18th in fielding percentage (.973), 24th in ERA (1.66), 26th in scoring (5.41 runs per game), 30th in batting average (.300) and ninth in winning percentage (.821).

Several individuals also rank among the national leaders. Senior Lizzy Aumua ranks 48th in average (.412), while fellow senior Jessica Yoachim (13th in stolen bases per game at 0.59) also ranks highly. Freshman Crystal Carwile rounds out the Husker offensive leaders with a No. 30 ranking with 0.28 home runs per game.

In the circle, junior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr ranks 22nd in the nation, while freshman right-hander Molly Hill ranks 29th with 17 victories.

Carwile Producing in Clean-Up Role
Freshman Crystal Carwile drove in seven runs in six games last week to push her season total to 38 RBIs, which leads the team and ranks seventh 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 April 15. She now has 41 in her career, which ties Gloria Von Rentzell's NU career record.

The sacrifice record marks the second school record for Yoachim. 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 Sets Hit-by-Pitch Record
Senior Trisha Tannahill was hit by a pitch in the Huskers' 6-5 loss at Iowa State on Tuesday. That marked the ninth time this season that Tannahill had been hit by a pitch, breaking a three-way tie and giving her sole possession of the NU single-season record.

Tannahill has been hit by 16 pitches in her career, which is just one shy of Jane Kremer's school-record total of 17.