Huskers Prepare for Difficult Stretch of Games

After posting a perfect 6-0 record in a trio of doubleheaders at Bowlin Stadium last week, the Nebraska softball team hopes for continued success as the Huskers head on the road to begin a trecherous portion of their schedule that features seven road games and six contests against top-10 foes in a span of 18 days.

Nebraska travels to Lawrence, Kan., for a mid-week matchup with the Kansas Jayhawks this Wednesday, April 4 at 3 p.m. After returning to Lincoln, the Huskers will immediately head south to College Station, Texas, for a two-game showdown with second-ranked Texas A&M on Friday and Saturday.

Should the Aggies’ hold the No. 2 spot when the new poll is released later this week, they would be the highest ranked opponent the Huskers have faced since opening the 2004 season against top-ranked UCLA.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier from there, as NU will play three games in three days next week in mid-week action before welcoming No. 9 Texas to Bowlin Stadium for a two-game weekend series. The gauntlet wraps up with a trip to third-ranked Oklahoma for a two-game series April 21 and 22.

As the Huskers enter the toughest stretch of their schedule, they do so having put together their most complete games of the season last week to cap an up-and-down three-week stretch that saw Nebraska win 12 in a row, then lose four in a row before posting its current six-game win streak.

The Huskers snapped the losing streak by sweeping a doubleheader from Drake last Wednesday in what would be the first of three doubleheader sweeps last week.

Nebraska rallied from a 3-0 deficit to force extra-innings before freshman Whitney Barrett capped a three-hit day with a walk-off double in the bottom of the eighth.

In game two, sophomore right-hander Molly Hill tossed what would be her first of three shutouts on the week, as NU claimed a 3-0 win.

The very next day, Hill blanked Colorado State and sophomore Brittany Pascale’s first home run of the year lifted NU to a 1-0 win. Senior Jamie Waldecker then hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning in game two to give the Huskers the sweep.

The Huskers then picked up their first Big 12 Conference victories of the season by sweeping Texas Tech, 6-0 and 4-0, on Sunday.

Hill picked up shutout No. 3 in game one, while senior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr tossed her third career no-hitter in game two.

Scouting Kansas
Kansas enters a Tuesday doubleheader with Arkansas with a nearly identical record as NU. The Jayhawks are 25-11-1 in 2007, including a 2-2 mark in league play, while the Huskers are 26-11 and 2-2.

The Jayhawks were swept by 16th-ranked and Big 12 leader Baylor in league play last weekend, but had won four in a row and eight of nine prior to that series.

KU is led by a solid offense and defense. At the plate, Kansas is hitting .258 as a team and the Jayhawks have belted 30 home runs while averaging nearly four runs per game. In the circle, returning All-Big 12 pitcher Kassie Humphreys highlights a staff that has posted 11 shutouts while compiling a collective 1.94 ERA.

Offensively, Stevie Crisosto leads the team with a .354 average, while Amanda Jobe (.305) is the only other Jayhawk hitting .300 or above. Crisosto also leads the team with digit doubles, 10 stolen bases and 29 runs scored. Elle Pottorf has been KU’s top slugger, leading the team with eight home runs, 33 RBIs and a .615 slugging percentage.

In the circle, Humphreys is 12-5 with a 1.99 ERA, but opponents are hitting just .185 against her, managing only 74 hits in 116.0 innings. Valerie George has been the Jayhawks’ top pitcher statistically, compiling an 8-2 record with a 1.66 ERA in 80.0 inings of work. Sarah Vertelka (5-4, 2.25 ERA) has also seen action in the circle.

A Look at the Series History
Kansas leads the all-time series with Nebraska, 52-46, but the Huskers are 26-22 against the Jayhawks under Coach Revelle. The series has been a close one, especially recently as the teams have split the last 10 meetings dating back to the 2004 season.

The Huskers won two of four from KU last season, sweeping the regular-season league meetings before the Jayhawks eliminated the Huskers in the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship en route to winning the first Big 12 title in school history. NU also fell to Kansas, 4-0, at the Tulsa Tournament in early March, prior to the start of league play.

Pitching dominated each of the three Big 12 meetings, especially the regular-season tilts, as each side posted a no-hitter in its home stadium. In the first game in Lawrence, KU’s Kassie Humphreys tossed a no-hitter but lost, as Trisha Tannahill scored twice on a passed ball and a wild pitch for the lone runs in the Huskers’ 2-0 victory. Ashley DeBuhr tossed a four-hit shutout for NU and added 11 strikeouts.

DeBuhr was the star of the show again three weeks later in Lincoln, as she tossed a no-hitter in the Huskers’ 1-0 win. In picking up her second career no-hitter, DeBuhr surrendered just two walks and struck out 16. Katie Linke provided the only run of the game as she singled home Crystal Carwile in the bottom of the fourth.

At the Big 12 Championship in Oklahoma City, Kansas used four Husker errors to finally get to DeBuhr in a 2-0 victory. DeBuhr tossed a two-hitter and did not allow an earned run while striking out 10, but Humphreys kept the Huskers off the scoreboard by tossing a three-hit shutout.

DeBuhr Notches Third Career No-Hitter
Senior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr tossed the Huskers’ first no-hitter of the season - and the third of her illustrious career - in game two of a doubleheader with Texas Tech last Sunday. DeBuhr hit three batters and surrendered one walk, but she did not allow a ball to leave the infield while striking out 13, including the final four batters of the game.

By throwing her third career no-hitter, DeBuhr moved into a four-way tie for second place on the NU career chart. Each of DeBuhr’s three no-hitters have come at Bowlin Stadium against Big 12 competition in the month of April, including one in 2005 against Iowa State and one last year against Kansas.

Her no-hitter against the Cyclones also marked only the third perfect game in school history.

Streaking Huskers
The Huskers have been a streaky team of late, posting a winning streak of 12 games before losing four straight and then rebounding with their current six-game win streak. The 12-game winning streak tied the program’s longest since 2002, while the four-game losing streak tied NU’s longest since 1996.

Nebraska’s streaky play has not been limited to results only, however. During the losing streak, the Huskers went 23.0 innings without scoring a run although the NU pitching staff currently boasts a scoreless innings streak of 15.2. In fact, in its first Big 12 Conference series, the Huskers were shut out twice and last weekend against Texas Tech, Nebraska shut out the Red Raiders twice.

In Control in the Circle
Nebraska boasts one of the top pitching staffs in the nation and currently leads the Big 12 Conference with a collective 1.30 ERA. While the duo of senior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr and sophomore right-hander Molly Hill have been consistently solid all year, they stepped up their play last week to lead NU to a six-game win streak.

In six games last week, DeBuhr and Hill combined to post a 0.68 ERA while tossing four shutouts. The pair held opponents to a paltry .170 average, highlighted by DeBuhr’s no-hitter against Texas Tech. The duo also posted a whopping 66 strikeouts in only 41.0 innings.

Hill stretched her career-high scoreless innings streak to a current 19.1 innings while not allowing a run last week and tossing three shutouts. DeBuhr currently owns a 8.2-inning scoreless streak. DeBuhr has also posted 10 or more strikeouts in each of her last three games and five or her last seven contests overall.

Hill currently leads the Big 12 with a 1.03 ERA and in addition to the Huskers’ league-leading 1.30 team ERA, NU also leads the league with 307 strikeouts and a .195 opponent batting average. In conference-only action, Nebraska leads the league with a 1.08 ERA, two shutouts and an 8.35 strikeouts-per-seven-innings average.

Defense Stepping Up
Pitching is not the only facet of the game the Huskers have improved on lately. Defensively, NU committed just three errors in its six games last week. Nebraska has posted four errorless games in its last five contests and has not committed an error in its last 57 chances.

Before the current streak, the Huskers had gone an entire game without an error only nine times through the first 33 contests. NU also turned one double play and threw out 3-of-10 would-be base stealers after allowing opponents to successfully steal nine bases in their previous 10 attempts.

Hitting Stride
With the pitching and defense performing the best it has all season, the Husker offense came around last week to give NU the missing piece of the puzzle. With all three facets of the game beginning to click, the Huskers are playing their best ball of the season entering their most difficult stretch of the season.

After being held scoreless for 23 innings - including being shut out in back-to-back games for the first time since 1999 - the Nebraska offense increased its hits and runs output last week. The Huskers hit .268 as a team in six games last week and produced back-to-back game with 10 or more hits after recording a double-digit hit total only three times through the first 34 games.

Even when the Huskers weren’t pounding out a lot of hits, they were maximizing the hits they did get. In a 1-0 victory against Colorado State, Nebraska was out-hit 6-1 and the Huskers had only one baserunner the entire game. That lone baserunner was sophomore Brittany Pascale, who hit a solo home run to lift the Nebraska to the victory.

Not surprisingly, the Huskers’ strong overall play led Nebraska to post its largest and second-largest margins of victory this season against Texas Tech in its last two games.

Let’s Play Two
Nebraska swept each of its three doubleheaders last week and the Huskers have now swept nine consecutive doubleheaders - including two against Big 12 foes - dating back to 2003. NU has split only once in its last 11 doubleheaders with that coming against fourth-ranked Oklahoma at Bowlin Stadium in 2003.

The Huskers, meanwhile, haven’t been swept in a doubleheader since losing a pair to Missouri in 1999. Overall, Nebraska has gone 30 consecutive doubleheaders without being swept.

In its current streak - which covers 18 contests - the games have rarely even been close. The Huskers’ two one-run victories in doubleheader sweeps of Drake and Colorado State last week were as many one-run games as NU had played in its last six doubleheaders (12 games).

Overall, Nebraska has outscored its opponents 98-15 during its current streak and the pitching has been especially stellar, posting eight shutouts, including four during last week’s three sweeps.

A Look at the Expected Lineup
1. Whitney Barrett, 2B (19 starts, .234, 0 HR, 3 RBIs)
Barrett earned 13 starts at second base through the first 22 games of the season, before being limited by a hand injury. Barrett returned to start all six games last week, and has moved into the leadoff role in the order. Barrett returned last week and had eight hits in six games after entering the week with only three career hits.

2. Meghan Mullin, RF (37 starts, .336, 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 38 hits, a .336 average and 10 stolen bases, while recording her first career extra-base hit.

3. Crystal Carwile, 1B (37 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 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 15 RBIs in her last 18 games.

4. Jamie Waldecker, C (14 starts, .200, 1 HR, 4 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, but she made a dramatic return, starting her first game at catcher in 25 games against Drake on March 27 and finishing with two RBIs, including a walk-off RBI single.

5. Brittany Pascale, DP (35 starts, .255, 1 HR, 7 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 20 walks to become the first Huskers since 2005 to draw 20 walks in a season.

6. Devin Porter, SS (37 starts, .263, 2 HRs, 10 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.

7. Alex Hupp, LF (21 starts, .113, 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 .113 this year but has three doubles, a homer and four RBIs.

8. Haley Long, CF (29 starts, .271, 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 30 of NU’s 35 games and ranks third among all starters with a .271 average. She has also recorded four doubles and 11 RBIs, while striking out only twice, drawing six walks and being hit by two pitches.

9. Carmen Kier, 3B (37 starts, .190, 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 as a patient hitter, Kier has drawn 46 career walks, including eight 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.

10. Ashley DeBuhr, RHP (16 starts, 12-5, 1.46 ERA, 160 Ks, 119.2 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 five starts against ranked teams (3-2 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 recorded has three hits this season after having only one career hit entering her senior season.

Kimberly Fuller, 2B (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 base with Whitney Barrett, earning 19 starts this season.

Crystal Gonzalez, OF (23 starts, .214, 0 HR, 0 RBIs)
Labeled as "probably the best defensive prospect in Southern California" by the Los Angeles Times, Gonzalez has shown great range and a strong arm. She suffered a knee injury that has kept her out of the last two games.

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 (17 starts, 12-6, 1.03 ERA, 135 Ks, 122.0 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 12-6 this year with a Big 12-low 1.03 ERA.

Porter Sets School Record
Senior Devin Porter was hit by a pitch in game two of Sunday’s doubleheader with Texas Tech, marking the fourth time this season Porter has been hit by a pitch. Porter has now been hit by 18 pitches in her career, breaking the previous school record of 17, set by Trisha Tannahill just last season.

DeBuhr Reaches Milestone
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 needs just 11 more strikeouts to pass her pitching coach, Lori Sippel, for third place on the NU charts. DeBuhr is 117 strikeouts away from tying Peaches James’ school record and has an outside shot to reach James’ mark.

Barrett Boosts Huskers
Returning to the lineup for the first time in 10 games, freshman Whitney Barrett enjoyed a tremendous week, as she surpassed her career totals in hits, runs and RBIs in only six games last week. Barrett went 3-for-4 against Drake in her first start in two weeks and added a walk-off double in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift Nebraska to a 4-3 victory that snapped a season-high four-game losing streak for the Huskers. Entering the game, Barrett was just 3-for-26 with one RBI in her career.

Barrett then moved into the leadoff spot in the order in the next game and started the next five contests in that spot. In those five games, she hit .296 after all of the Huskers’ previous leadoff batters had combined for just a .200 average through the first 32 games. Barrett’s move to the leadoff spot sparked a Husker offense that had been shut out in two of its last three games, as Nebraska scored 17 runs in five games with Barrett batting leadoff, including five runs from Barrett.

In her first game at the leadoff spot, Barrett went 1-for-2 with a walk and scored a career-high two times. In fact, entering the game Barrett had scored just three times in her first 21 career games.

Barrett then saw the first at bats of her Big 12 career on Sunday and responded in a big way, finishing 4-for-8 in a doubleheader sweep of Texas Tech. Barrett went 2-for-4 in each game and totaled an RBI and two runs scored.

On the week, Barrett was 8-for-21 (.381) with a pair of RBIs and five runs scored while leading Nebraska to six straight victories. Barrett nearly tripled her career hit total (8-to-3) on the week, while doubling her career RBI total (2-to-1) and nearly doubling her career runs scored total (5-to-3). Barrett also finished with three multi-hit games, the first of her career, while adding the first game-winning RBI of her career and establishing a career-best two-game hitting streak on two occasions.

Barrett was also outstanding defensively, playing error-free ball while making several outstanding plays, including a spectacular diving catch that preserved an eventual no-hitter for Ashley DeBuhr on Sunday against Texas Tech.

Waldecker Returns
Freshman Whitney Barrett was not the only welcomed addition to the Husker lineup last week. Senior Jamie Waldecker had the cast removed from her broken left hand and not only received some at bats, but also made her first start behind the plate since Feb. 24.

Waldecker, who suffered the broken hand against Florida State on Feb. 23, had been available to hit the past two weeks, although her effectiveness was limited by her cast.

Waldecker made her initial return against Arkansas on March 18, but was able to only swing with one hand. She did go 1-for-3 with an RBI, however.

The second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader with Colorado State marked her full return, as she was not only in the lineup but was behind the plate as well. She immediately made her presence felt as she went 1-for-3 with a pair of RBIs while delivering a walk-off, RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Waldecker’s return should not only be a big boost to the Husker offense, but her presence behind the plate could be just as big. One of the top defensive catchers in the conference, Waldecker boasts a strong and accurate throwing arm and is tough to steal against. Opponents have stolen only four bases in eight tries in Waldecker’s 12 games behind the plate. In contrast, opponents have stolen 35 bases in 43 attempts against the Huskers without Waldecker behind the plate.

A Consistent Winning Combination
Nebraska’s homegrown pitching duo of senior Ashley DeBuhr and sophomore Molly Hill have each posted at least 10 victories for the second straight season. DeBuhr - who has won at least 10 games for three consecutive seasons - has 11 victories this season, while Hill - who won 18 games as a freshman last season - also boasts 11 wins.

With both pitchers reaching double-figures in wins, it marks only the second time in the Big 12 era - dating back to the 1996 season - that the same pair of Husker pitchers have both posted 10 or more victories in consecutive seasons.

DeBuhr and Hill join exclusive company, as Jenny Voss and Leigh Ann Walker accomplished the feat in 1999-2000 and Walker teamed up with Peaches James to accomplish the feat in 2000-01. Voss, Walker and James were each a first- or second-team All-American hurler for the Huskers.

Hill and DeBuhr have combined for six straight victories, including three consecutive shutouts. The pair have also held their opponents scoreless in four of their last six games.