Huskers Host Creighton in Mid-Week Action

After seeing its 12-game winning streak snapped on Sunday, the Nebraska softball team looks to get back on the winning track when the Huskers wrap up a seven-game homestand by hosting in-state rival Creighton at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 21 at Bowlin Stadium.

Tickets for the game can be purchased on Wednesday at the ticket window located behind home plate. Reserved tickets are $6, while general admission tickets are $4 for adults and $2 for children.

As a reminder to those fans attending the game, Sun Valley Blvd. from Charleston to N. 10th St. will be closed. Detour routes will be marked on Charleston to N. 1st St. then east on Cornhusker Highway.

Fans unable to make it to the ballpark can still follow all of the action live. The NU-Creighton game will air on select Husker Sports Network stations in Nebraska, as well as worldwide on Huskers.com. The in-state matchup will also be video streamed on HuskersNSide (subscription required).

The battle of the state’s only two Division I softball programs promises to be a good one, as each of the last 10 meetings have been decided by two runs or less and three of the last four contests have gone to extra innings.

Wednesday’s game also pits two streaking squads against each other. Creighton has won nine of its last 10 contests, while Nebraska has won 12 of its last 13.

The Huskers have been playing their best ball of late, as NU is now 20-8 on the season after ending the first day of the NFCA Leadoff Classic with a 4-5 record on Feb. 23. Nebraska has lost only three times since that day, compiling a 13-3 record in the month of March.

Last weekend, the Huskers opened the home portion of their schedule by hosting the Big Red Tournament at Bowlin Stadium.

Sophomore Molly Hill was brilliant in leading NU to a 5-1 record at tournament over the weekend. With an injury to senior Ashley DeBuhr, Hill stepped up and threw three complete games in a span of 24 hours to open the tournament.

She posted her first shutout of the season in the first game of the tournament, allowing just two hits against North Dakota State.

Hill posted a scoreless stretch of 13.2 innings over the weekend ? a new career high ? while tossing a pair of shutouts to nearly match her entire 2006 total of three. Hill also ended the weekend on a streak of 16.1 innings without allowing an earned run. On the weekend, opponents hit just .153 against her while managing only one earned run in 29 innings.

Scouting Creighton
Creighton is off to a solid start this season, entering Wednesday’s game with a 17-5 record after sweeping Missouri State last weekend in its opening Missouri Valley Conference series. The Bluejays have won nine of their last 10 contests.

Creighton has been a complete ballclub this season, excelling both offensively and defensively. The Bluejays are hitting .304 as a team while averaging 5.5 runs per game. In the circle, Creighton has compiled a staff ERA of 1.38. The defense has also been solid, boasting a .975 fielding percentage while holding opponents to just 1.7 runs per game.

Jamie Reiss leads the Bluejay regulars with a .419 average. Reiss has started every game for Creighton this season and is tops on the team with 31 hits and two triples. She has also added 14 RBIs as CU boasts four players with double-digit RBI totals through the first 22 games of the season. In contrast, Nebraska has just two players with 10 or more RBIs despite having played six more games.

Creighton also brings plenty of power to the plate, as the Bluejays have belted 23 homers and are averaging more than one home run per game. Nebraska, on the other hand, has gone six games without a home run and has just seven on the season, while averaging just 0.25 home runs per game. TJ Eadus, a transfer from Oregon, leads CU with seven homers and 15 RBIs, while Lincoln native Bailey Dawson has recorded a team-high 19 RBIs.

In the circle, Wednesday’s contest could pit a pair of Beatrice natives against each other. Freshman Tara Oltman hasn’t missed a beat while moving to the Division I level, compiling a 10-2 record with a 0.91 ERA. For Nebraska, senior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr ranks as one of the top pitchers in the country.

As good as Oltman has been, Creighton has used a true team effort in the circle. Oltman is the only pitcher to have thrown a shutout this season, as she has three, but the staff has combined for seven other shutouts. Amanda Hess (6-3, 1.82 ERA) has been the Bluejays’ No. 2 pitcher, while Laura Fonda (1-0, 1.34 ERA) has also thrown well in limited action.

Last Year vs. the Bluejays
After Creighton swept a season series for the first time ever in 2005, the Huskers responded last season by sweeping a pair of games from the Bluejays. As has been the norm of late, neither victory came easily, as each of the last 10 meetings have been decided by two runs or less and three of the last four contests have gone to extra innings.

In the first meeting in Omaha, Nebraska posted a 3-1 victory despite recording just a single hit. Molly Hill was brilliant in the circle, allowing just one run while tossing a complete-game three-hitter and adding 10 strikeouts. Jamie Waldecker had the lone NU hit - a double - to produce NU’s only RBI. Two of the Huskers’ three runs scored on wild pitches.

In game two at Bowlin Stadium, Nebraska rallied with runs in the seventh and eighth innings to post a 4-3 victory. Brittany Pascale had the big hit, pinch hitting in the seventh inning and belting a game-tying solo home run that forced extra innings. Katie Linke capped the victory with her second hit of the game, a two-out RBI single in the eighth that gave the Huskers the victory. Hill and Ashley DeBuhr teamed up in the circle and did not allow an earned run as three NU errors led to all of Creighton’s runs.

Nebraska has won 17 of the last 19 meetings and leads the all-time series with Creighton, 72-31. Nebraska has played more games and posted more wins against CU than any other program in school history. The Huskers are 35-11 against the Bluejays at home, including a 7-1 mark at Bowlin Stadium.

Clutch Hits Finally Coming
After struggling with missed opportunities through the first three tournaments, the Nebraska offense has been much more productive over the last two weekends despite fewer opportunities. The Huskers have produced 44 runs in their last 11 games after scoring just 45 runs in their first 17 games.

As the numbers show, despite a significant drop in on-base percentage and fewer at bats, hit, doubles and walks, Nebraska was able to score nearly 1.5 more runs per game. Even with fewer base runners and fewer scoring chances, the addition of a few timely hits made all the difference for a Husker offense that had been on the verge of big performances all season.

NU had been leaving an average of nearly eight runners on base through the first three tournaments, but in the last two tournaments, NU stranded just 64 runners in 11 games for an average of less than six per game.

In addition to timely hitting, Nebraska has increased its slugging percentage of late. NU has hit four homers in its last 11 games despite not recording a home run in six games before the surge. Two of the Huskers’ last four home runs have come with runners on base. Prior to those blasts, Nebraska had homered just three times in its first 17 games and each homer had been a solo blast.

Another factor that has helped NU get more production out of its lineup has been the drop in strikeouts. Nebraska has struck out only 37 times in its last 11 games after striking out 105 times through its first 17 contests.

Errors Proving Costly
Nebraska’s defense has again been solid in 2007, compiling a .963 fielding percentage while featuring new starters at five positions. Despite the respectable fielding percentage - NU has the fourth-lowest error total in the Big 12 Conference - the errors the Huskers have committed have come back to haunt them.

Unearned runs have been the difference in four of NU’s eight losses and are the difference between the Huskers’ current 20-8 record and a possible 24-4 record that would rank third in the Big 12 Conference. Unearned runs have also cost Nebraska five potential shutouts, including three for sophomore Molly Hill and two for senior Ashley DeBuhr.

Nebraska has already allowed more unearned runs through the first 28 games of 2007 than it did in 56 games last season. In fact, the Huskers’ 22 unearned runs this season are already more than they had surrendered in three of the last five years.

While these numbers may seem astounding, the Huskers have not been a poor defensive team; opponents have just been able to capitalize frequently on NU miscues so far this season. The Huskers have a .963 fielding percentage this season, but 38 percent of the runs they have allowed have been unearned. Since 2000, an average of only 19 percent of Nebraska’s runs have been unearned when the Huskers fielding at a .960 clip or better.

Double Trouble
Despite the high number of unearned runs, the Nebraska defense has still been solid this season. In addition to their respectable fielding percentage, the Huskers have already turned 13 double plays this season, their highest total since the 2004 season.

Nebraska has turned nearly twice as many double plays as its opponents and the Huskers are averaging 0.46 double plays per game, more than double their average from the past two seasons.

A Look at the Expected Lineup
1. Meghan Mullin, RF (28 starts, .345, 0 HR, 7 RBIs)
Mullin saw limited action as a freshman in 2006, but showed good patience and bat control in the box. As a regular starter this season, Mullin has already surpassed her freshman totals in nearly every category and she leads the team with 30 hits, a .345 average, nine stolen bases and four game-winning RBIs.

2. Darcy Rutherford, LF (20 starts, .265, 0 HR, 2 RBIs)
Rutherford is arguably the Huskers’ most improved player. Primarily a pinch runner in 2006 when she appeared in 25 games and scored four runs, Rutherford went 2-for-4 in the first weekend to post her first career hits. After not recording a hit last season, she has 13 this season, while recording her first RBI and walk.

3. Devin Porter, SS (28 starts, .293, 2 HRs, 9 RBIs)
Porter has made great progress as a player through her first three seasons in the Husker program. She has been named the Huskers’ Most Improved Player in each of the last two years and enjoyed her best season in 2006, when she earned second-team All-Big 12 honors after leading the Huskers with a .360 average in league play.

4. Crystal Carwile, 1B (28 starts, .292, 1 HR, 15 RBIs)
Carwile burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2006, homering three times in her first weekend en route to finishing with 12 home runs, one shy of the NU freshman record. Carwile began the 2007 season slowly after missing the offseason with shoulder surgery, but has emerged recently and has 11 RBIs in her last 11 games.

5. Brittany Pascale, C (26 starts, .280, 0 HR, 4 RBIs)
Pascale showed continued improvement throughout 2006 and emerged as one of NU’s most clutch hitters. Pascale had three seventh-inning, pinch-hit at bats that resulted in the game-tying run. In 2007, she has drawn a team-high 14 walks and has filled in at catcher for the injured Jamie Waldecker.

6. Haley Long, DP (24 starts, .288, 0 HR, 10 RBIs)
Long was a late find for the Huskers as she was brought in this past summer to add depth to the outfield. Long has appeared in 25 of NU’s 28 games and ranks fourth on the team with a .288 average. She has also recorded four doubles and 10 RBIs, while striking out only twice and drawing five walks.

7. Alex Hupp, RHP/DP (4 starts, 2-0, 1.98 ERA, 12 Ks, 17.2 IP; 15 starts, .116, 1 HR, 4 RBIs)
A two-time NFCA High School All-American, Hupp is a solid pitcher who can also hit. She tossed a one-hit shutout in her first career start and boasts an ERA under 2.00. Her offense has continued to improve, as she hit .286 with a double, a homer and an RBI in five games at the Shocker Invitational March 9-11.

8. Carmen Kier, 3B (28 starts, .179, 0 HR, 7 RBIs)
Kier is in her second season as the everyday starter at third after belting a career-high five homers and driving in a career-high 19 in 2006. Known as a patient hitter, Kier has drawn 45 career walks, including seven this season to rank third on the team. She also boasts power as nearly 30 percent of her career hits have gone for extra bases.

9. Kimberly Fuller, INF (16 starts, .146, 1 HR, 7 RBIs)
In limited action in 2006, Fuller went 2-for-11, but drew three walks to post a .357 on-base percentage. She is currently engaged in an ongoing battle with Whitney Barrett for the starting job at second, although Fuller has improved her offensive numbers and has been rewarded with 12 straight starts at second.

10. Ashley DeBuhr, RHP (12 starts, 9-4, 1.53 ERA, 115 Ks, 91.2 IP; 10 starts, .200, 1 HR, 4 RBIs)
DeBuhr continued to be more dominant in the circle, following her second-team All-Big 12 and All-Midwest honors from 2005 with first-team selections in 2006. One of 50 players named to the 2007 USA Softball Preseason Player of the Year Watch List, she has two shutouts and has four starts against ranked teams (3-1 record).

Whitney Barrett, INF (13 starts, .115, 0 HR, 1 RBI)
Barrett earned 13 starts at second base through the first 22 games of the season. After recovering from an eye problem early on, Barrett is now dealing with an arm injury that has kept her out of the last six games.

Jaime Borg, OF (1 start, .000, 0 HR, 0 RBIs)
Borg moved back to the outfield after being the Huskers’ No. 3 pitcher in each of the past two seasons. She recorded her first career hit and stolen base last season and added a career-high 10 runs and two walks.

Crystal Gonzalez, CF (18 starts, .239, 0 HR, 0 RBIs)
Labeled as "probably the best defensive prospect in Southern California" by the Los Angeles Times, Gonzalez is perfect in the field this season and has shown great range and a strong arm.

Jamie Waldecker, C (9 starts, .214, 1 HR, 2 RBIs)
A clutch hitter with power, Waldecker is also one of the best defensive catchers in the Big 12 Conference. A broken hand suffered forced her to miss 18 games, but she returned in NU’s last game and went 1-for-3 with an RBI.

Molly Hill, RHP (12 starts, 9-4, 0.86 ERA, 96 Ks, 90.0 IP)
Hill is the Huskers’ No. 2 pitcher, but has the credentials to be the ace of nearly any staff. As a freshman, Hill went 18-2 to establish a school-record .900 winning percentage. She is 9-4 this year with a league-low 0.86 ERA.

Fielding Their Position
Nebraska’s three-pitcher staff has not only combined to post a collective 1.26 ERA - the lowest in the Big 12 Conference - but the staff has also done an excellent job of fielding its position.

Senior Ashley DeBuhr, sophomore Molly Hill and freshman Alex Hupp are perfect in the field in a combined 42 chances. In 2006, the staff had a .935 fielding percentage, committing five errors in 77 chances. Hill has shown great improvement, as she is perfect in 23 chances this year after committing four errors in 28 chances in 2006.

Streaks Snapped
With a 5-4 loss to Arkansas on the final day of the Big Red Tournament last weekend, the Huskers saw a pair of impressive streaks come to an end. The loss not only snapped a 12-game winning streak for Nebraska, but also marked NU’s first loss at Bowlin Stadium in 12 games.

Even though those streaks have been snapped, Nebraska has still won 16 of its last 19 games overall and 26 of its last 28 at home.

Mirroring 2004?
Through the first 28 games of 2007, comparisons can be made between this year’s Huskers and the 2004 squad. That year, Nebraska was led by a dominant pitching staff, was challenged by a tough early-season schedule and got hot in the month of March, similar characteristics of this year’s team.

Through the first 15 games of the season, NU had an 8-7 record in both 2004 and 2007. This season, the Huskers used a 12-game winning streak from March 4-18 to post a 20-8 record through 28 games. In 2004, Nebraska was 17-11 at the 28-game mark and lost once more before building a 12-game winning streak.

In 2004, Nebraska had already played in five extra-inning contests through the first 28 games, while this year’s Huskers have also gone to extra frames five times in 28 contests.

So far this season, Nebraska has played 10 of its 28 games against teams that have appeared in the national rankings at some point during the year. In 2004, nine of the Huskers’ first 28 contests came against ranked foes.

From an individual standpoint, the 2004 squad was led by All-American Peaches James, who was 13-4 with a 0.82 ERA through the first 28 games of the season. In 2007, Molly Hill is 9-4 with a 0.86 ERA as part of a deeper staff. The Huskers’ No. 2 pitcher in 2004 boasted a 1.50 ERA, while Ashley DeBuhr ranks second on the team this season with a 1.53 ERA.

Both squads also had an identical .963 fielding percentage, while the 2004 Huskers posted slightly better offensive numbers (a .263 average compared to this year’s .251) and the 2007 squad has posted slightly better numbers in the circle (a 1.26 ERA compared to the 2004 staff’s 1.56 ERA).

While this may all be coincidence and the 2007 Huskers desire to make their own mark, they wouldn’t mind following in the 2004 team’s footsteps in at least one way - in 2004, the Huskers captured both the Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles.

Oh, So Close
While Nebraska has posted a solid 20-8 record against a tough schedule that has featured 10 games against opponents that have appeared in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll at least once this season, the Huskers have come very close to posting an even more outstanding record.

NU has lost five one-run games and the Huskers have dropped four contests when they led after the third inning, matching the entire 2006 total. NU has led in 24 of its 28 games this season.

Let’s Play Extras
After going to extra innings just five times in 56 games a year ago, Nebraska had already played five extra-inning contests through the first 28 games of the 2007 season. The Huskers were a perfect 5-0 in extra innings last season and are 4-1 this season after defeating North Dakota State, 2-1, in eight innings on March 17.

Nebraska had won eight consecutive extra-inning affairs before falling to No. 20 Florida State on Feb. 23 and has won three straight since that setback.

A big part of the reason for Nebraska’s success in extra-innings - especially this season - has been the work of the pitching staff. The Husker hurlers have thrown a total of seven extra frames this season, with each inning subject to the international tie-breaker rule, where a runner is automatically placed on second to start the inning. In those seven innings, the NU staff has allowed the runner placed on second to score only once.

Nebraska vs. Ranked Teams
Nebraska has played a challenging schedule in 2007 and the Huskers have responded against the best competition, posting a 4-1 record against ranked teams, while going just 16-7 against foes outside of the top 25. Four of the five games - and three of the four wins - have been decided by one run, with the game coming down to the winning teams’ last at bat.

Three of the five contests have gone extra-innings, including a 2-1 nine-inning loss to No. 20 Florida State that stands as NU’s lone loss to a ranked foe. Nebraska has had a lead in each of the five games and the Huskers have produced the game-winning run in the seventh inning once and in the eighth inning twice.

The Huskers have outscored their top-25 opponents 10-5 in the five games after defeating No. 18 California, 5-2 in eight innings on March 4 in the final game of the UNLV Invitational.

Offensively, NU has been better than its ranked counterparts, but runners-left-on-base has kept each of the games close.

Husker Hurlers Excelling Against Ranked Teams
While Nebraska is 4-1 against ranked teams, the pitching staff has been especially stellar against ranked competition, compiling a 0.37 ERA. Senior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr and sophomore right-hander Molly Hill have combined to allow just two earned runs in 38.1 innings, as they have thrown two shutouts in five games, while not allowing an earned run in two other contests. In fact, the staff has not surrendered an earned run to a ranked team through the first seven innings in any of the five games this season and no ranked team has recorded more than four hits in a game, despite receiving additional at bats with three extra-inning affairs.

In the lone loss to the No. 24 Florida State, DeBuhr was two outs away from tossing her third straight two-hit shutout against a ranked foe. Before giving up back-to-back ninth-inning homers to FSU, DeBuhr had thrown 23.1 scoreless innings against top-25 opponents, including two international tie-breaker frames where a runner was placed on second to begin the inning. She had also allowed just six hits in those 23 innings. DeBuhr is now 3-1 with a 0.45 ERA against ranked teams this season. A native of Beatrice, Neb., DeBuhr has stymied opposing hitters, holding them to a meager .122 average while striking out 38.

Hill matched DeBuhr in her lone start against a top-25 team, tossing a three-hitter and not allowing an earned run against 18th-ranked Georgia. She was tagged for just one unearned run while striking out six.

Sophomores Stepping Up
While it’s not unusual for players to show great improvement from their freshmen to sophomore seasons, the statistical improvement of this year’s sophomore class has been remarkable, especially considering where they rank on the team and how little the majority of the class played as freshmen.

Meghan Mullin leads the team with a .345 batting average and sophomores claim five of the top six batting averages on the team.

In addition to Mullin, Crystal Carwile (.292), Haley Long (.288), Brittany Pascale (.280) and Darcy Rutherford (.265) have all posted totals higher than the team’s collective .251 batting average. Those five are hitting a combined .297 while the entire sophomore class has posted an impressive .283 average.

To put these totals in perspective, the sophomore class is hitting 117-for-414 in 28 games this season after going a combined 72-for-284 (.254) as freshmen in 2006.

The impact of the sophomore class is also felt in the circle, where Molly Hill is 9-4 with a Big 12 Conference-low 0.86 ERA. Opponents are hitting just .171 against Hill, a number that ranks third in the league.

Pencil Me In
Nebraska has used a different batting lineup in each of the first 28 games of the season after having a fairly set lineup for most of 2006. Most of the starters have been set, with the exception of second base and designated player.

Even with the majority of the position starters settled upon, head coach Rhonda Revelle has done a lot of shifting in an attempt to maximize the strengths of the lineup. After beginning the year with senior Devin Porter leading off, the Huskers appear to have returned to their proven pattern of having a slapper lead off.

Waldecker Out With Injury
Nebraska suffered a big blow at the NFCA Leadoff Classic when senior catcher Jamie Waldecker went down with an injury. In the second game of the day on Feb. 23 against Florida State, Waldecker suffered a broken hand while tagging out a runner. Although she attempted to play the next day, she was only able to catch for one inning.

Waldecker is scheduled to remain in the cast until next week. Once the cast is removed, Waldecker will wear a splint for two weeks, as she is not expected to be back to 100 percent until the Huskers travel to preseason league favorite Texas A&M the first weekend of April.

Despite the cast, Waldecker was in the lineup in the Huskers’ last game against Arkansas. She did not appear comfortable, however, mainly swinging with one hand, but she did go 1-for-3 with an RBI.

Huskers Well Represented on Big 12 Honor Roll
The Nebraska softball team was well represented on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Fall 2006 Honor Roll, with a total of 10 current and former players earning a spot on the list.

Sophomore pitcher Molly Hill and former Husker KoKo Tacha highlighted the list by posting a perfect 4.0 grade-point average. To be eligible for the honor roll, student-athletes must have maintained a GPA of 3.0 or higher. In all, 270 Nebraska student-athletes were honored, including 33 with a 4.0 GPA.

Tacha made the list for a ninth time, as she has been named to the honor roll every semester. Senior Jaime Borg earned a spot on the list for the seventh time in seven semesters, while Hill and fellow sophomore Meghan Mullin each made it a perfect 3-for-3. Other repeat selections included senior Ashley DeBuhr (fourth honor) and former Husker Jessica Yoachim (eighth selection), who is in her fifth year at Nebraska after earning an undergraduate degree in Communication Studies in May of 2006.

Newcomers to the honor roll were freshmen Alex Hupp, sophomores Brittany Pascale and Darcy Rutherford and senior Jamie Waldecker.

DeBuhr Taken in First Round of 2007 NPF College Draft
Senior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr was selected by the Philadelphia Force in the first round of the 2007 National Pro Fastpitch College Draft, held on Feb. 14 in Denver, Colo.

DeBuhr was the eighth overall pick and the third pitcher selected. A native of Beatrice, Neb., DeBuhr was one of eight Big 12 players drafted among the 27 total picks.

Players selected in the NPF draft will be permitted to pursue any available roster spot on their assigned team after completing their college season. To be eligible for the draft, each player had to be a senior however being does not affect a player’s remaining collegiate eligibility.

Tough Schedule
Nebraska has grown accustomed to playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation, and 2007 will be no exception. NU will play at least 18 games against teams that earned 2006 NCAA Tournament bids.

The Huskers will also play at least four regular-season contests against teams that advanced to Super Regionals, including a pair against Women's College World Series participant Texas.

Nebraska is also scheduled to play at least 13 regular-season games against eight teams ranked in the USA Today/NFCA preseason top 25 poll. Through the first 17 games this season, Nebraska played a total of 10 contests against teams that made an appearance in the top 25 at some point this year.

Revelle Nears 600th Wins
Head Coach Rhonda Revelle boasts a career record of 581-299, including a 573-283 mark at Nebraska. Already the first women’s coach of any sport in school history with 500 career wins, Revelle ranks third all-time among all coaches in NU history with her 573 wins at Nebraska.

Revelle is approaching another milestone this season, as she needs just 19 victories to reach the 600-win milestone and 27 victories to record her 600th win at Nebraska.