Huskers Soar Past Golden Eagles, 11-1

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Columbus, Ga. ? The return of Molly Hill also marked the return of winning ways for the Nebraska softball team, as the Huskers gave Head Coach Rhonda Revelle her 600th career victory with an 11-1 win over Tennessee Tech on Friday at the NFCA Leadoff Classic.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

The milestone win snapped a five-game losing streak for Nebraska (2-6), while also putting a halt to Tennessee Tech’s five-game winning streak. After the game, Revelle wanted to talk more about the effort of her team than her 600th victory.

 

"I'm really more excited about win No. 2 and what this team is doing than the 600 victories," Revelle said. "I was really pleased that when they came out and scored a run that we didn't panic. Then I was even more pleased that we mounted that four-run first inning with a two-out rally. I really felt like the offense came up big for Molly."

 

Hill, the reigning Big 12 ERA champion, was outstanding in her first action just four weeks removed from knee surgery. In a complete-game effort, Hill (1-0) tossed a one-hitter and allowed just one unearned run while striking out seven.

 

"I thought Molly came out with a tremendous amount of presence and she made it very calming for our defense," Revelle said. "It was really nice to have her back there and I think she had a lot of fun."

 

Behind Hill, Nebraska’s offense erupted for a season-high 11 runs, while pounding out a season-high 13 hits. Five different Huskers produced multi-hit games to lead the attack. Freshmen Heidi Foland (2-for-2) and Julie Brechtel (2-for-2) each recorded the first multi-hit game of their career, while junior Meghan Mullin went 2-for-3 to mark her first multi-hit contest of the season.

 

Junior Crystal Carwile homered and tied her season high with three RBIs, while Brechtel also added a career-high-tying two RBIs. Juniors Amanda Duran and Haley Long also added two RBIs of their own.

 

The Huskers' offensive explosion came at the expense of Tennessee Tech starter Sarah Street. Street (3-7) allowed 11 runs on 13 hits in only four innings of work for the Golden Eagles (6-9).

 

Although she was dominating, Hill’s first appearance of the season got off to an unfortunate start, as a dropped fly ball eventually led to a run as Tennessee Tech jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.

 

Nebraska answered right back in the bottom of the first, scoring four runs with two outs. After the first two batters were retired, the Huskers loaded the bases on singles by Duran and Carwile and a walk to freshman Ashley Guile.

 

Brechtel then recorded an RBI infield single to score Duran and tie the game. Long then gave Nebraska the lead when she lined a 3-2 pitch into right field. Long’s single brought Guile and Carwile home and after Long was caught in a rundown at first, Brechtel was able to score to make it 4-1 NU.

 

Nebraska added to its lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Mullin led off with a single, stole second and scored when Guile laced an 0-2 pitch into right field for an RBI single. Freshman Abby Hughes came in to run for Guile and stole second before scoring on a single from Brechtel that put the Huskers in front 6-1.

 

The Huskers wrapped up the run-rule victory by batting around in the bottom of the fourth and producing five runs. Duran got the scoring started with a two-run double before Carwile drilled a three-run homer two batter later.

 

Nebraska returns to action at approximately 5:30 p.m. (Central), when the Huskers face 16th-ranked Louisiana-Lafayette, which remained undefeated on the season with a 7-1 victory over No. 23 North Carolina earlier on Friday.

 

Box Score Nebraska Softball Tennessee Tech vs Nebraska Feb 29, 2008 at Columbus, Ga. (South Commons Cmplx)

Tennessee Tech 1 (6-9)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Coquerille, Lacie 2b..... 3 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 Speiser, Katie 3b........ 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 Glover, Amanda dp........ 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Gates, Kaleigh lf........ 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 Fischer, Stephanie 1b.... 2 0 1 1 0 0 3 0 0 Boden, Beth ss........... 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 Castonzo, Kristyn c...... 2 0 0 0 0 1 4 2 0 Zdroik, Anna rf.......... 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 Horseman, Taylor cf...... 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Street, Sarah p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals................... 17 1 1 1 2 7 12 6 3

Nebraska 11 (2-6)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Rutherford, Darcy lf..... 3 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 Mullin, Meghan cf........ 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 Duran, Amanda c.......... 3 2 2 2 0 0 4 3 0 Guile, Ashley dp......... 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 Hughes, Abby pr......... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Carwile, Crystal 1b...... 3 2 2 3 0 0 7 0 0 Brechtel, Julie 2b....... 2 1 2 2 1 0 1 1 0 Long, Haley rf........... 2 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 1 Linke, Kelli ph......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Foland, Heidi ss......... 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 Liegl, Sammi pr......... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Barrett, Whitney 3b...... 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 Hill, Molly p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals................... 23 11 13 10 2 2 15 6 2

Score by Innings R H E -------------------------------------- Tennessee Tech...... 100 00 - 1 1 0 Nebraska............ 402 5X - 11 13 1 --------------------------------------

E - Long(1). LOB - Eagles 3; Huskers 2. 2B - Duran(2). HR - Carwile(2). SB - Mullin(5); Hughes(2). CS - Long(1).

Tennessee Tech IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Street, Sarah....... 4.0 13 11 11 2 2 23 25 98

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Hill, Molly......... 5.0 1 1 0 2 7 17 19 84

Win - Hill (1-0). Loss - Street (3-7). Save - None. Pitches/strikes: Street 98/63; Hill 84/45. Umpires - HP: Joe Squires 1B: Debbi Lauderback 3B: Ed Rado Start: 1:28 pm Time: 1:37 Attendance: 80 Game: livegame