Huskers Host 11th-Ranked 'Horns This Weekend

The Nebraska softball team will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak to ranked opponents when the Huskers welcome 11th-ranked Texas to Bowlin Stadium for a two-game weekend series.

First pitch for Saturday’s contest is set for 2 p.m. and fans attending the Red-White Spring Football Game will receive free admission into the game by presenting their Spring Game ticket stub at the gate. Sunday’s game will be televised by ESPNU and is slated for a Noon start. Both games can also be heard worldwide on Huskers.com.

Although Nebraska has lost four straight to top-25 foes, NU is still 4-5 against ranked squads this season, with four of its losses coming on the road. The Texas contest will mark the Huskers’ first home game against a ranked opponent this season.

NU’s last home game against a ranked opponent came on April 29, 2006 when the Huskers beat 15th-ranked Texas A&M, 3-2. Nebraska hosted a total of six games against ranked foes at Bowlin Stadium last year, compiling a 5-1 record.

Overall, the Huskers have won 33 of their last 36 home games, including a 13-2 mark this season following a doubleheader sweep of South Dakota State on Monday. Against the Big 12 Conference, Nebraska has been just as good, winning eight in a row and 10 of its last 11 dating back to the start of the 2006 season, including a 4-1 mark against ranked teams.

The pitching staff has been especially stellar, holding its league counterparts to one run or less in seven of the last 11 Big 12 games at Bowlin Stadium, including five shutouts (two straight).

Nebraska was 20-1 at home last season, with its lone loss coming in a 7-2 setback to 17th-ranked Baylor on April 14. That game was carried nationally by CSTV as the Huskers have struggled recently in televised contests, losing five of their last six televised games, including three in a row at home.

The Huskers have also lost five straight to the Longhorns, marking NU’s second-longest losing streak to a conference opponent in the Big 12 era (1996-present).

While Nebraska may have struggled recently against Texas, the Huskers have excelled over the last two weeks, winning 10 of their last 12 games.

NU began March 4th with an 8-7 record before posting win streaks of 12 and seven games to improve that record to 27-11 just one month later after the Huskers defeated Kansas, 3-0 on April 4.

Nebraska has currently won three in a row after erupting for a season-high-tying seven runs in a 7-2 victor at Creighton on Thursday.

Scouting the Texas Longhorns
Texas is 28-11 on the season and 3-5 in the Big 12 Conference after falling to Baylor, 6-0, in Austin on Wednesday. The Longhorns have lost four of their last six games, but immediately prior to the recent skid, UT posted back-to-back victories over then-No. 4 Oklahoma, 5-4, and then-No. 2 Texas A&M, 5-0, in the final week of March.

Texas has been held to two runs or less in four of its last five games, while being shut out in three of its last six contests. That could bode well for the Huskers, who rank fourth nationally in ERA but have struggled to score of late, scoring more than two runs just twice in their last five games while being shut out twice.

Despite the recent struggles, the Longhorn offense has been solid this season, boasting a .275 team average, 34 home runs and scoring an average of 4.4 runs per game. UT has also been solid in the circle as it has compiled a collective 1.70 ERA while holding opponents to just over two runs per contest.

At the plate, Shannon Thomas leads a contingent of five Longhorns hitting .300 or better. Thomas is batting a team-high .356, adding 29 runs scored and 28 stolen bases. Tallie Thrasher and Kacie Gaskin have been the Longhorn’s top power threats, as both are tied for the team lead with 10 homers and 25 RBIs.

In the circle, right-hander Meagan Denny is the UT ace, although Erin Tresselt leads the league with a 1.00 ERA. Denny has posted a respectable 18-10 record that includes nine shutouts and a 1.62 ERA. She also leads the conference with 259 strikeouts in only 168.2 innings. Denny has struggled of late, however, as she is 0-4 in her last four Big 12 starts. Over that stretch, she has allowed 14 earned runs in 22 innings for an ERA of 4.45.

Tresselt has thrown only 28 percent of the team’s innings - compared to Denny’s 62 percent - but has posted an excellent 8-1 record with a 1.00 ERA in 77.0 innings of work.

The Longhorn defense has done a solid job of backing up the pitchers. Texas has compiled a .965 team fielding percentage and boasts one of the top catchers in the nation in Megan Willis. Willis, the 2006 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, calls all of the pitches for UT and her presence has slowed opponents’ running game, as she has thrown out 11 of 23 would-be base stealers, despite allowing three steals in three attempts to Baylor.

A Look at the Series History
Nebraska leads the all-time series with Texas, 14-12, although the Longhorns have won five straight from the Huskers to mark the longest winning streak in series history. Three-time National Player of the Year and 2004 Olympic Gold medalist Cat Osterman was the winning pitcher in each game of the current UT win streak, as she finished her Texas career with a 7-1 record against Nebraska, including one save.

Like virtually every other team in the nation, NU was happy to see Osterman play her final game in a Texas uniform last season. After the Huskers defeated Osterman and tagged her for four earned runs on 10 hits the first time they faced her, Osterman finished her career by tossing 50.2 scoreless innings against the Big Red, surrendering only 15 hits and striking out 101 while winning seven straight decisions.

Last season, the Huskers and Longhorns met on the Big 12’s opening week and Texas swept Nebraska in what proved to be a key series. NU finished in second place in the final league standings, two games behind the conference champion Longhorns.

Osterman tossed a three-hit shutout with 14 strikeouts in a 2-0 Texas victory in the series opener. NU starter Ashley DeBuhr pitched well, allowing only two runs on five hits while striking out six. In game two, current UT ace Meagan Denny gave up four runs (three earned) on five hits in five innings of work, but Texas twice rallied from two runs down to post a 5-4 come-from-behind victory.

DeBuhr took the loss, allowing three runs (three earned) in 2.1 innings of relief. Molly Hill started the game and allowed a pair of runs on just two hits in 3.1 innings of work. Osterman pitched the final two innings and allowed just one hit and struck out four to earn the save.

Jamie Waldecker led the Husker offense by finishing 3-for-5 in the series with a walk, a double and two RBIs.

Nebraska is 4-3 all-time against Texas in Lincoln, but is just 1-3 against the Longhorns at Bowlin Stadium. UT swept the 2005 series at Bowlin Stadium, winning game one, 6-0, and taking game two, 3-1.

NU Boasts Nation’s No. 4 ERA
In the first NCAA statistical rankings released on Tuesday, the Husker pitching staff ranked fourth in the nation with a 1.25 team ERA. Sophomore right-hander Molly Hill ranked 14th individually with her 1.03 ERA, while senior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr ranked 40th with a 1.37 ERA.

DeBuhr also came in at No. 22 on the strikeouts-per-seven-innings chart with an average of 9.4.

The Nebraska defense also ranked in the top 50 in fielding percentage (50th) and double plays per game (42nd), while sophomore Meghan Mullin currently ranks 23rd in the nation with an average of 0.33 sacrifice hits per game.

Breaking Out?
The Nebraska offense has struggled for most of the season, but it hopefully showed signs of breaking out at Creighton on Thursday. Facing the same pitcher that held the Huskers without an earned run on just two hits in the teams’ first meeting, NU erupted for a season-high-tying seven runs on eight hits, handing Creighton starter Tara Oltman the worst defeat of her career.

A pair of key veteran bats in seniors Jamie Waldecker and Devin Porter enjoyed breakout performances against the Bluejays, something that could hopefully ignite what has been a struggling offense. Waldecker, who is beginning to look more comfortable at the plate after missing 21 games with a broken hand, went 2-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs against Creighton, matching her season total in home runs and RBIs. Porter meanwhile went 1-for-3 with a pair of runs scored and two RBIs.

Porter and Waldecker entered the season as the Huskers’ most experienced hitters and they also ranked 1-2 among this year’s roster for highest career batting averages in Big 12 play.

Both returning All-Big 12 performers, Porter and Waldecker were a combined 2-for-31 with no RBIs through the first seven conference games of the season. While their performances on Thursday did not come against a league foe, they both broke out of recent slumps and can hopefully carry the momentum into the weekend.

In 13 total games since the Huskers entered the conference portion of their schedule, Waldecker was hitting just .174 prior to Thursday’s contest, while Porter had posted just a .129 average. In Big 12 play, Waldecker and Porter are hitting just .071 and .059, respectively. Waldecker hit .273 in conference action last year, while Porter hit .360 with four home runs.

Home Cooking
Nebraska has been a tough team to beat at Bowlin Stadium this season. The Huskers are 13-2 at home this season after posting a 20-1 mark in 2006. Overall, NU has won 33 of its last 36 home games.

Playing in front of the home crowd in familiar surroundings have helped the Huskers post solid numbers in every category. As a team, Nebraska is hitting .031 better at home than on the road, while average nearly one more run per game even after the Huskers tied a season high by scoring seven runs at Creighton on Thursday.

The pitching staff has also posted an ERA under 1.00 in 15 home games, while compiling an ERA above 2.00 in nine true road games.

April Being Good to Pitchers
Nebraska boasts one of the top pitching staffs in the nation and currently leads the Big 12 Conference with a collective 1.23 ERA. While the right-handed duo of senior Ashley DeBuhr and sophomore Molly Hill have been consistently solid all year, they have stepped up their play in the month of April.

In eight April games - including five against Big 12 opponents, four on the road and two versus top-five foes - DeBuhr and Hill have been incredibly tough, posting a 6-2 record.

The staff has been even better against league foes this month, despite a 3-2 record and two games at No. 4 Texas A&M. In five league games, the staff has allowed only two earned runs in 34.1 innings for a miniscule ERA of 0.41, while allowing just 15 hits and holding opposing hitters to a paltry .135 average. DeBuhr (two) and Hill (one) have combined for three shutouts during that stretch, while Hill was scoreless for 7.1 innings of a fourth contest.

Even with the stellar start to April against Big 12 competition, the Huskers’ success against league foes hasn’t been limited to this month.

Hill currently ranks second in the Big 12 with a 1.03 ERA and in addition to the Huskers’ league-leading 1.23 team ERA, NU also leads the league with 360 strikeouts and a .190 opponent batting average. In conference-only action, Nebraska ranks second in the Big 12 with a 0.91 ERA, and leads the league with three shutouts and a 9.12 strikeouts-per-seven-innings average.

A Look at the Expected Lineup
1. Whitney Barrett, 2B (25 starts, .215, 0 HR, 4 RBIs)
Barrett earned 13 starts at second base through the first 22 games of the season, before being limited by a hand injury. Barrett has returned to start the last 11 games at second and had eight hits in six-game stretch immediately following her return from the inury after entering that stretch with only three career hits.

2. Meghan Mullin, CF (43 starts, .328, 0 HR, 8 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 43 hits, a .328 average and 12 stolen bases, while recording her first career extra-base hit.

3. Crystal Carwile, 1B (43 starts, .291, 1 HR, 19 RBIs)
Carwile burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2006, homering three times in her first weekend en route to finishing with 12 homers, one shy of the NU freshman record. Carwile began the 2007 season slowly after missing the offseason with shoulder surgery, but leads the team with 10 doubles, 19 RBIs and a .403 slugging percentage.

4. Jamie Waldecker, C (20 starts, .224, 2 HRs, 10 RBIs)
A clutch hitter with power, Waldecker is also one of the best defensive catchers in the Big 12 Conference. A broken hand forced her to miss 18 games overall and 25 at catcher. Has started eight of the last nine games at catcher and is finding her groove as she matched her season totals of one homer and five RBIs in her last game alone.

5. Devin Porter, SS (43 starts, .256, 2 HRs, 14 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.

6. Brittany Pascale, DP (40 starts, .238, 1 HR, 8 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 22 walks to become the first Huskers since 2005 to draw 20 walks in a season.

7. Haley Long, RF (35 starts, .291, 0 HR, 11 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 36 of NU’s 43 games and ranks second among all starters with a .291 average. She has also recorded five doubles and 11 RBIs, while striking out only eight times, drawing six walks and being hit by three pitches.

8. Carmen Kier, 3B (43 starts, .189, 0 HR, 9 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 to work the count, Kier has drawn 47 career walks, including nine this season to rank second on the team. She also boasts power as nearly 30 percent of her career hits have gone for extra bases.

9. Alex Hupp, LF (27 starts, .115, 1 HR, 4 RBIs; 4 starts, 2-0, 1.98 ERA, 12 Ks, 17.2 IP)
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. Hupp has moved to the outfield so her bat can be in the lineup. She is hitting just .115 this year but has three doubles, a homer and four RBIs.

10. Ashley DeBuhr, RHP (20 starts, 15-6, 1.34 ERA, 200 Ks, 146.2 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 four shutouts and has six starts against ranked teams (3-3 record).

Jaime Borg, OF (5 starts, .273, 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 has three hits this season after having only one career hit entering her senior season.

Kimberly Fuller, INF (19 starts, .130, 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 has split time at second with Whitney Barrett this season, earning 19 starts and posting six hits and seven RBIs.

Darcy Rutherford, OF (21 starts, .250, 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.

Molly Hill, RHP (19 starts, 13-7, 1.03 ERA, 148 Ks, 136.1 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 13-7 this year with a 1.03 ERA.

Crystal Gonzalez, OF (23 starts, .214, 0 HR, 0 RBIs)
Gonzalez was the Huskers’ top defensive outfielder and was also possibly the fastest player on the team. She tore her ACL prior to an April 1 doubleheader with Texas Tech and is out for the season.

Defense Stepping Up
Pitching is not the only facet of the game the Huskers have improved on lately. Defensively, NU has committed just three errors in its last 11 games. Nebraska has posted eight errorless games over that stretch and had a season-high errorless streak snapped at 100 chances in game one of an April 6 doubleheader at No. 4 Texas A&M. NU currently has a streak of 91 chances without committing an error.

Before the current streak, the Huskers had gone an entire game without an error only nine times through the first 32 contests. NU has also turned two double plays in the last 11 games and thrown out 6-of-13 would-be base stealers after allowing opponents to successfully steal nine bases in their previous 10 attempts.

Nebraska vs. Ranked Teams
Nebraska has played a challenging schedule in 2007 and the Huskers have been respectable against the best competition, posting a 4-5 record against ranked teams, while going 26-8 against foes outside of the top 25. Six of the nine games - and three of the four wins - have been decided by one run, with six games coming down to the winning teams’ last at bat.

Four of the nine contests have gone extra-innings, including a 1-0 loss at fourth-ranked Texas A&M last weekend. Nebraska, which had won four of its first five games against ranked foes this season, led in each of its first five games, but has lost four in a row to ranked teams while being shutout in each of those four losses (all on the road to top-15 teams).

In their four wins, the Huskers have produced the game-winning run in the seventh inning once and in the eighth inning twice.

Husker Hurlers Excelling Against Ranked Teams
While Nebraska is 4-5 against ranked teams, the pitching staff has been stellar against ranked competition, compiling a 0.88 ERA. Senior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr and sophomore right-hander Molly Hill have combined to allow just eight earned runs in 63.2 innings, as they have thrown two shutouts, while not allowing an earned run through seven innings in a total of five contests. The numbers were even more astounding before No. 17 Baylor scored five runs (four earned) on 10 hits in posting two victories.

In fact, Baylor is the only ranked team to produce more than four hits against the Huskers this season, as NU has held three of nine top-25 foes to two hits or less, including No. 4 Texas A&M, which was no-hit through 7.1 innings before converting its first and only hit into the game’s lone run in a 1-0 eight-inning victory.

In a loss to 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 3-3 with a 0.65 ERA against ranked teams this season. A native of Beatrice, Neb., DeBuhr has stymied opposing hitters, holding them to a meager .142 average while striking out 51.

Waldecker Returns
Senior Jamie Waldecker had the cast removed from her broken left hand the final week of March and not only received some at bats, but also started at catcher in the second game of a March 28 doubleheader against Colorado State, marking her first start behind the plate since Feb. 24, covering a stretch of 25 games.

Waldecker, a returning two-time All-Big 12 selection, should prove to be a big addition to the lineup, as she is NU’s current career home run and RBIs leader. But her presence has immediately been felt behind the plate.

Waldecker has been able to catch for the last nine games and has started eight of those contests behind the plate. In those eight starts, Nebraska has committed only three errors and the Huskers have allowed more than one earned run only once (on Thursday at Creighton).

Keeping Things Close
With the nation’s fourth-ranked ERA, Nebraska can count on its pitchers keeping most games close and they have done just that. Before allowing only two earned runs at Creighton on Thursday, NU had allowed one earned run or less in 10 consecutive starts. The Huskers have now allowed one earned run or less in 23 of their last 28 games, with sophomore Molly Hill accomplishing the feat in 15 of her last 17 starts and senior Ashley DeBuhr posting one earned run or less in eight of her last 11 starts.

Creighton’s two runs also snapped Nebraska’s streak of allowing one run or less at seven straight games, the longest such streak at NU since 2004.

DeBuhr Records 200th Strikeout of 2007
When senior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr struck out 11 at Creighton on Thursday, her final strikeout marked her 200th of the season. One of only two pitchers in the Big 12 with 200 or more strikeouts this season, DeBuhr has now posted three consecutive seasons with at least 200 strikeouts.

DeBuhr is just the second pitcher in school history to post three 200-strikeout seasons in a career. The only other pitcher to accomplish the feat was former All-American Leigh Ann Walker, who struck out at least 200 batters from 2000 to 2002. DeBuhr also passed Walker for second place on the NU career strikeout chart against Creighton.

DeBuhr, who is the only Husker pitcher to post more than one 300-strikeout season, has struck out 10 or more batters in six of her last seven starts and in eight consecutive starts when she has thrown at least 7.0 innings.

Streaks Snapped
Nebraska saw several team and individual streaks snapped with a tough pair of 1-0 losses at fourth-ranked Texas A&M last weekend. The loss in game one snapped the Huskers’ seven-game win streak and NU’s streak of nine consecutive doubleheader sweeps. The game two loss also marked the first time since 1999 that Nebraska had been swept in a doubleheader - a span of 30 doubleheaders.

The pitching staff, despite outstanding performances from senior Ashley DeBuhr and sophomore Molly Hill, also saw several impressive streaks come to an end. When the Aggies’ scored the game-winning run in the eighth inning of game one, it marked the first run the Huskers had allowed in 30.0 innings, also breaking a streak of three consecutive shutouts.

Hill saw her career-high streaks of three consecutive shutouts, 8.0 hitless innings and 26.2 scoreless innings snapped. DeBuhr saw her season-high totals of two straight shutouts and 18.2 scoreless innings come to an end, as well as her career-best string of four consecutive starts with 10 or more strikeouts.

The Huskers were also shut out in back-to-back games for the second time in two weeks. Prior to that, Nebraska had not been shut out in consecutive games since 1999 and had not been held scoreless in back-to-back games twice in the same season since 1997.

Porter Sets School Record
Senior Devin Porter was hit by a pitch in game two of an April 1 doubleheader with Texas Tech, marking the fourth time this season Porter has been hit by a pitch. That hit-by-pitch gave Porter 18 in her career, breaking the previous school record of 17, set by Trisha Tannahill just last season.

DeBuhr Reaches Milestones
When senior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr struck out the first batter of what proved to be a 16-strikeout performance in game two of a March 28 doubleheader with Colorado State, the strikeout marked the 800th of her career.

DeBuhr is one of only four pitchers in Nebraska history to record 800 or more career strikeouts and the Beatrice native passed her pitching coach, Lori Sippel, for third place on the NU record list with a 13-strikeout performance at Kansas on April 4.

DeBuhr claimed sole possession of second-place with an 11-strikeout performance at Creighton on Thursday and she now has 868 strikeouts in her career, just 78 strikeouts away from the NU career record.

Pencil Me In
Nebraska has used a different batting lineup in 40 of its 43 games this season after having a fairly set lineup for most of 2006. The Huskers used an identical lineup in consecutive games on March 27 and 28 to mark the first time this season - a total of 33 games to that point- NU had utilized the same lineup.

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.

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 .328 batting average and sophomores claim five of the top six batting averages on the team (minimum of 25 at bats).

In addition to Mullin, Haley Long (.291), Crystal Carwile (.291) and Darcy Rutherford (.250) have all posted totals higher than the team’s collective .241 batting average, while hitting a combined .297.

To put these totals in perspective, the entire sophomore class is hitting 157-for-575 (.273) in 43 games this season after going a combined 72-for-284 (.254) as freshmen in 2006.

The impact is also felt in the circle, where Molly Hill is 13-7 with a team-low 1.03 ERA.

Sophomores Bidding for History
With sophomores claiming the three highest batting averages on the team and Molly Hill posting an ERA 0.31 points lower than senior Ashley DeBuhr, it is highly probable that a sophomore will lead the team in both average and ERA this season.

The last sophomore to lead the Huskers in batting average was Anne Steffan in 2003. Steffan not only turned into an All-American at Nebraska but is a two-time National Pro Fastpitch All-Star who ranked second in the league last summer with a .400 average.

Underclassmen have led NU in both average and ERA in the same season only twice in the last 10 seasons and a pair of sophomores have not led the Huskers in both categories in the same year since Lori Sippel and Margie Ogrodowicz last accomplished the feat in 1986.