Huskers Open Fall Season This Weekend

The <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska softball team opens its fall season this weekend with four games at the Bluejay Softball Round Robin tournament at the Creighton Sports Complex in Omaha.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

The Huskers open the tournament on Saturday with a 10:30 a.m. contest against North DakotaState before facing South DakotaState at 12:30 p.m. NU has a rematch with North Dakota State at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, before concluding the tournament with a 5:30 p.m. showdown with Creighton.

 

Nebraska is coming off a terrific 2006 season that saw the Huskers finish with a stellar 44-12 final record. Highlighting the outstanding season was the program’s 12th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, a second-place finish in the competitive Big 12 Conference, a No. 14 national ranking and the fourth-best winning percentage in school history.

 

The Huskers return seven starters, but are faced with the challenge of replacing the top three batting average leaders as well as replacing the entire starting outfield from last season. Gone are Lizzy Aumua, Katie Linke, KoKo Tacha, Trisha Tannahill and Jessica Yoachim, who combined to start 237 games last season, including Aumua, Tannahill and Yoachim, who each started all 56 games. The group also combined to produce six All-Big 12 awards, as well as a pair of CoSIDA Academic All-America accolades.

 

Easing the transition will be the return of the pitching staff. All three Husker hurlers return in 2006 and talented right-handed freshman Alex Hupp is also added to the rotation. Led by two-time All-Big 12 selection Ashley DeBuhr, the staff of DeBuhr, Jaime Borg and Molly Hill ranked as one of the top staffs in the nation last year.

 

The trio combined to post a 1.65 ERA and threw a total of 17 shutouts in only 56 games, while striking out 476 batters in just 377.2 innings.

 

Head Coach Rhonda Revelle is excited for the chance to get a look at the pitching staff this weekend.

 

“I think the first thing we’re looking at this weekend is we’re really trying to establish that we have as good as a pitching staff as we can,” Revelle said. “We’re going to build this team around our pitching staff.”

 

The entire staff is expected to be utilized this weekend.

 

Offensively, Nebraska returns the bulk of its power production, which led to 39 home runs last season, the most since the 2002 season. With a near-complete returning infield, the most competitive spots on the team lie in the outfield, where the Huskers lost all three starters at the end of the 2006 season. Sophomore Meghan Mullin is the only NU player with game-time experience in the outfield, while fellow sophomores Darcy Rutherford and transfer Haley Long will enter the mix, along with talented freshman Crystal Gonzalez.

 

On the infield, the Huskers lost only Yoachim, the starting second baseman. Despite the large number of returning starters, the fall season will give all 15 players a chance to gain valuable experience and kick start their drive for playing time in the spring.

 

Some of the newcomers and non-starters should see extensive time this weekend as several Huskers could miss games this weekend with nagging injuries. Sophomore Crystal Carwile, who led NU with 12 home runs and 41 RBIs as a freshman in 2006, will miss the entire fall slate as she recovers from off-season surgery. She is expected to be at full-strength when the Huskers travel to Hawaii in February to open the regular season.

 

Revelle expects that many players will get the chance to shine this weekend.

 

“A lot of people are going to get an opportunity to swing the bat with a lot of key people out,” Revelle said. “That’s another reason why it’s so important to show that our pitching staff can really carry us.”

 

Following the Creighton tournament, the Huskers will have a week off before hosting the Big Red Fall Classic at Bowlin Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 7 and Sunday, Oct. 8. Games start at 10 a.m. both days and attendance is free.