Huskers Embark on Nine-Game, 10-Day Road Trip

The Nebraska softball teams travels to Las Vegas, Nev., this weekend to kick off a 10-day road trip with five games at the UNLV Rebel Round Robin on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Huskers will then take advantage of Spring Break by staying in Las Vegas to play two contests against Southern Utah before traveling to Texas to open Big 12 play with a two-game series beginning on Friday, March 21.

Fans will be able to follow NU on its lengthy road trip, as Huskers.com will provide free audio coverage of all nine games. Nate Rohr will handle play-by-play duties for the broadcasts, while select games will be available on the Husker Sports Network.

Nebraska will face stiff competition on the road, as the Huskers will play a total of six games against teams that have either earned a top-25 ranking this season or received votes in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll. Following the road trip - Nebraska’s longest since 2004 - the Huskers travel to Creighton on March 26 before returning home to play 16 of their final 21 games at Bowlin Stadium, where the Huskers have enjoyed a tremendous home-field advantage the past three seasons.

Nebraska got a taste of the home cooking last weekend, sweeping a four-game series from Northern Colorado by a combined score of 28-0. The Huskers posted three run-rule victories, with each win coming by a score of 8-0. NU posted back-to-back run-rule victories in Saturday’s doubleheader, marking Nebraska’s first consecutive run-rule victories since 2006.

The Huskers were led by their pitching, as the right-handed combination of junior Molly Hill and sophomore Alex Hupp combined to toss 24.0 scoreless innings in the series. Each pitcher threw two shutouts, as Nebraska tossed four consecutive shutouts, marking the Huskers’ longest shutout streak since NU posted seven consecutive shutouts during the 2004 season.

Hupp was especially impressive, allowing just one hit in 11.0 innings of work, as Northern Colorado batters were just 1-for-33 against her (.030). She tossed her first career no-hitter with a six-inning masterpiece in her first start against UNC, surrendering just one walk while striking out a career-high 12. In her second start, Hupp allowed only an infield single while striking out seven and facing just one batter over the minimum in a five-inning complete game.

Hill meanwhile continued to round into form barely a month removed from knee surgery. She tossed a pair of two-hit shutouts and the reigning Big 12 ERA champion has not allowed an earned run in three of her first five starts this season.

Offensively, NU received contributions up and down the lineup, but it was the newcomers who were especially impressive while playing in front of the home fans for the first time.

Freshman Julie Brechtel began the weekend 5-for-5 as part of a larger stretch where she recorded a hit in seven straight at bats. Fellow freshman Heidi Foland posted her first career extra-base hit while producing five RBIs in a single game, an individual high for Nebraska this season. Junior Amanda Duran, a transfer from Pima (Ariz.) Community College, also excelled, finishing 6-for-9 with four RBIs.

Overall, NU’s eight newcomers combined to post an impressive .368 average with six doubles, nine runs scored and 15 RBIs.

Scouting the BYU Cougars
BYU is 12-10 this season, as the Cougars have cooled off of late, losing five of their last six games, including three games to ranked foes. Nebraska and BYU have faced three common opponents this season in No. 1 Arizona State, No. 18 Louisiana-Lafayette and Northern Colorado. The Huskers are 5-1 against those teams, while the Cougars are 1-2.

BYU boasts solid numbers across the board, including a .287 team average with 26 home runs and a team ERA of 2.37, while averaging more than nine strikeouts per game. Offensively, Angeline Quiocho has been on a tear at the plate. Quiocho leads the team with a .429 average, 24 runs, 10 home runs, 11 walks, a .952 slugging percentage and a .520 on-base percentage. Despite the 10 homers, she has just 16 RBIs to rank second on the team.

In the circle, Christina Gwyn Trice is 6-3 with a 1.29 ERA. In 65.1 innings of work, Gwyn Trice has held opposing hitters to a .172 average while striking out 102. Gwyn Trice is familiar with the Huskers after making three appearances against Nebraska as a freshman at Texas in 2004. In those outings, she started two games and finished with an 0-2 record and a 4.20 ERA. In 10 total innings, Gwyn Trice surrendered 11 hits and was tagged for six runs, while walking eight, although no current Huskers remain from that team. Paige Affleck (3-2, 2.17 ERA in 29.0 innings) and Christie Zinanti (3-5, 3.47 ERA in 42.1 innings) have also seen extensive action in the circle this season for BYU.

Nebraska leads the all-time series with BYU, 4-1, although the Cougars beat the Huskers, 9-7, in the last meeting in 2002.

Scouting the Utah Valley State Wolverines
Utah Valley State enters the weekend with a 4-12 record and faces host UNLV twice before meeting Nebraska. The Wolverines have dropped three straight games, including a pair of losses to Iowa. NU and UV share one common opponent in Northern Colorado. The Huskers swept the Bears in four games last weekend, while Utah State dropped a 5-4 decision to Northern Colorado in the Wolverines’ season opener.

The Wolverines have struggled statistically, as they are giving up more than six runs per game while scoring less than four. The pitching staff has a combined ERA of 5.52, but defensive errors have led to 20 unearned runs so far this season.

Offensively, Utah Valley State is hitting just .237, but four starters are hitting .318 or better with a fifth batting .296. Alli Bramwell is hitting a team-best .346 with a team-high four stolen bases, while Meghan Woodworth has been the top slugger, posting a .318 average with one triple, two home runs and 10 RBIs.

In the circle, Bramwell has started half of UV’s 16 games, compiling a 4-3 record and a 4.51 ERA in a team-high 40.1 innings. Behind her, Heidi Stocks leads the team with a 3.95 ERA, but she is 0-4 this season. Natalie Nance (0-3, 7.00 ERA in 16.0 innings) and Abby Bowcutt (0-2, 14.61 ERA in 7.2 innings) have also seen action.

Saturday’s game will mark the first-ever meeting between Nebraska and Utah Valley State on the diamond.

Scouting the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels
UNLV, the host of this weekend’s Rebel Round Robin, enters the weekend with a record of 15-12-1 after dropping five of its last seven games against quality competition. Nebraska and UNLV share two common opponents in No. 1 Arizona State and California. The Rebels are 2-0 against those teams, handing the Sun Devils their only loss of the season, while NU is 0-2 after being outscored 15-1.

UNLV has shown plenty of power at the plate, while posting solid numbers in the circle. Although the Rebels are hitting just .243 as a team, a nice mix of power (16 home runs) and speed (31 stolen bases) has helped UNLV average more than four runs per game. Defensively, UNLV boasts a 2.35 ERA, although the Rebels are giving up an average of more than 1.5 unearned runs per game.

Offensively, Jaci Hull has been tremendous at the plate, posting a team-best .357 average, while also leading the team with 19 runs scored, eight home runs, 23 RBIs and 20 walks. She boasts a .757 slugging percentage with a .516 on-base percentage and is also perfect in five stolen base attempts.

In the circle, Stephanie Bregante has thrown more than 60 percent of the innings, compiling an 8-7 record with a 2.35 ERA. In 116.0 innings, Bregante has struck out 96 while allowing 109 hits. Traci Odegard has tossed 44.0 innings, going 5-3 with a 2.07 ERA, but opponents are hitting .295 against her. Heather Slettvet (1-2, 3.32 ERA in 19.0 innings) and Ashley Arnett (1-0, 1.56 ERA in 9.0 innings) round out the Rebel staff.

Nebraska leads the all-time series, 8-2, and the Huskers have won four straight in the series, including 8-0 and 10-8 victories in 2004. NU is a perfect 3-0 all-time on the Rebels’ home field.

Scouting the Southern Utah Thunderbirds
Southern Utah is 4-16 after losing both games of a doubleheader at Utah on Tuesday. SUU will open Summit League action this weekend with a three-game series against South Dakota State before traveling to Las Vegas to take on Nebraska on Monday. The Huskers and Thunderbirds share two common opponents in Idaho State and Northern Colorado. Both NU and SUU found success against those teams, as NU posted a 5-0 record, while Southern Utah went 2-0.

The Thunderbirds have struggled recently, as they have lost eight straight games to date, while dropping 13 of 14 overall.

Offensively, no starter is hitting .300, as Brittany Henderson leads the team with a .278 average, while Norian James ranks second at .255 and leads the team with eight stolen bases. Rodeo Carli has been the top power threat, as she boasts two home runs and a team-best seven RBIs to go along with her .228 average.

In the circle, Kristina Brooks has earned the majority of the work. In 83.0 innings, Brooks is 4-11 with a 4.39 ERA. Opponents are hitting .279 against her and have homered 14 times, while striking out only 50 times. Meghan Wilson is the Thunderbirds’ No. 2 pitcher, having compiled an 0-2 record with a team-best 3.78 ERA in 29.2 innings. Katie Kearns (0-3, 8.17 ERA in 12.0 innings) rounds out the Southern Utah staff.

NU leads the all-time series with Southern Utah, 3-0, including a 5-2 win last season in Las Vegas. Nebraska is 37-0 all-time against members of the Summit League, including a 32-0 mark under head coach Rhonda Revelle.

Double Trouble
Nebraska has proven to be a formidable foe in doubleheaders the past few seasons, a trend the Huskers hope to continue on Monday with a rare neutral site doubleheader in Las Vegas against Southern Utah. After sweeping two doubleheaders from Northern Colorado last weekend, Nebraska has now swept 21 consecutive doubleheaders from non-conference opponents dating back to a split with Wichita State in 1999 (the streak does not include tournaments where Nebraska may have played the same team twice in the same day). Oddly enough, the Huskers were last swept in a non-conference doubleheader in 1998 at Drake, NU’s only two losses in a 27-game span before Nebraska went on to set the record for the best winning percentage in school history.

The Huskers have not only posted a 42-0 record in their last 21 doubleheaders against non-conference competition, but Nebraska has dominated each game. NU has won by a combined score of 253-34, good for an average margin of victory of more than five runs per game. The Husker pitching staff has tossed 25 shutouts - including five in a row - in the 42 games, allowing more than one run just four times.

Overall, including games against Big 12 Conference foes, Nebraska has swept 14 of its last 15 doubleheaders, with the lone exception coming last season with a pair of 1-0 losses at fourth-ranked Texas A&M. Prior to that sweep, NU had not been swept in a doubleheader since another pair of 1-0 losses at Missouri in 1999.

Quick Hitters
The information below provides a quick glimpse of a few statistics and brief notes of interest to keep in mind as Nebraska travels to Las Vegas for five games at the UNLV Rebel Round Robin, before playing a doubleheader against Southern Utah:

• NU is no stranger to Las Vegas, as the Huskers are participating in a UNLV-hosted tournament for the second straight year and for the seventh time in the past eight seasons. During that stretch, Nebraska boasts an overall record of 20-13 in Las Vegas, including a 3-2 mark last season.
• Nebraska has proven to be a clutch hitting team so far this season, as 29 of Nebraska’s 62 RBIs have come with two outs (47 percent). The Huskers are hitting .275 with the bases empty, .280 with runners on base, .304 with runners in scoring position and .320 with the bases loaded.
• The Huskers have scored in the first inning in six of their eight victories this season, including twice last weekend. Scoring in the first inning has proven to be precursor to success for Nebraska, as they are not only 6-0 this season when doing so, but 83-12 over the last five years.
• The Huskers have been successful on 24-of-27 stolen base attempts this season, with one of the caught stealings coming as the result of a runner trying to advance on a potential wild pitch.
• Nebraska has yet to play a one-run game through the first 16 games of the season. Each of the Huskers’ first three games last season - and nine of the first 12 - were decided by a single run. The current streak marks Nebraska’s longest season-opening streak without playing a single one-run game. The previous long was 10 games in 1995.
• Not only has NU not played a one-run game yet this season, the Huskers have played 11 games decided by four runs or more. Last season, a total of 11 of Nebraska’s 57 games were decided by four or more runs.
• Nebraska is 262-4 since 2000 when leading after six innings of play. The Huskers had won 106 consecutive games when taking a lead into the seventh inning before losing a 9-6 lead at No. 4 Oklahoma last April.
• Nebraska boasts an all-time record of 371-220 (.628) in the month of March, including a 5-2 mark this year, with both losses coming to ranked teams.
• After opening its home schedule in dominating fashion last weekend with a four-game sweep of Northern Colorado, Nebraska has now won 43 of its last 47 regular-season home games dating back to 2005.
• Nebraska hitters went the entire game without striking out in game two of last Sunday’s doubleheader with Northern Colorado. That marked the first time since April 12, 2006 against South Dakota State that NU had not been struck out in a game, a streak totaling 92 games.
• The Huskers enter this weekend having thrown a season-high 25.1 consecutive scoreless innings. The streaks is Nebraska’s longest since NU tossed 30.1 scoreless innings in March of last year.

Shutout Streak
Nebraska tossed four shutouts in four games last weekend, snapping a streak of 12 consecutive games without a shutout, NU’s longest drought to open a season since 1993. The shutout also snapped a larger streak of 23 consecutive games without a shutout dating back to last season, which marked Nebraska’s longest drought since 1997.

Riding the wave of four consecutive shutouts and 24.1 straight scoreless innings, Nebraska is now in the midst of its longest consecutive shutouts streak since the 2004 Huskers rode the arm of All-American Peaches James to seven straight shutouts.

Duran Driving in Runs
Junior Amanda Duran has made an immediate impact at the plate in her first season at Nebraska following a standout two-year career at Pima (Ariz.) Community College. Duran is currently hitting .375 and leads the team with six doubles while ranking second with 12 RBIs.

Although Nebraska has not traditionally relied upon transfers, Duran is already making a name for herself among the best Husker transfers ever. That list also includes fellow junior Haley Long, who earned all-conference honors last season in her first season following one year at Blinn (Texas) College. Long finished with 13 RBIs last season, while Duran currently has 12 RBIs just 16 games into the season.

Duran’s 12 RBIs are believed to already rank as the fifth-highest total by a first-year transfer. Duran is currently on pace to finish with at least 40 RBIs this season, a total which would surpass Christie McCoy’s believed first-year transfer record of 37 set in 1997.

Brechtel’s Streak
Freshman Julie Brechtel got off to a slow start offensively, but she has found her groove of late. Brechtel began her career just 3-for-27, but in a testament to her terrific approach, she still tallied five RBIs while coaxing six walks. Her hitting luck began to change on the final day of the NFCA Leadoff Classic, where she began an incredible run of recording seven hits in seven straight at bats while reaching base safely in 10 consecutive plate appearances. Brechtel’s streak had a chance to stretch even further as her streak ended on a diving snag of a hard-hit grounder at third before she lined out directly to the left fielder in her next at bat.

Before the streak began, Brechtel’s average was just .111 but by the end of her seven straight hits, her average had risen to .294. Brechtel now has seven hits in her last 10 at bats, while she has also drawn two walks and added her first two career doubles to go along with three RBIs during that span.

Carwile Crossing the Plate
Junior Crystal Carwile scored seven runs in four games last weekend, including tying her career high by scoring three times in both games of Saturday’s doubleheader. Carwile, a middle-of-the-order hitter known more for her power than her speed, has scored 15 runs through the first 16 games of the season. No other Husker has scored more than nine, while four of her runs have come courtesy of the long ball, as she has belted four of Nebraska’s five home runs. Last season, Carwile hit just three home runs and she now has 19 career homers, needing one more to enter the Nebraska career top 10 chart.

Hit Me
Although no official record is kept for most hit batters in a game, Nebraska surely came close to setting a school record last Saturday, as the Huskers were plunked five times in game two of a doubleheader with Northern Colorado. Junior Crystal Carwile was hit twice, as Nebraska was drilled by a total of nine pitches in the first three games of the series.

Overall, Nebraska has been hit by 16 pitches through the first 16 games of the season. The Huskers have established a new school record in each of the past two seasons and NU is on pace to top last year’s record total of 39 hit-by-pitches.

Run-Rule Wins
Nebraska posted three run-rule victories in four games last weekend, including consecutive run-rule wins in both games of Saturday’s doubleheader. Nebraska had not posted back-to-back run rule victories in nearly two years, while the Huskers’ four run-rule wins this season have already exceeded last year’s total of one.

Hupp Tosses First Career No-Hitter
Alex Hupp tossed her first career no-hitter in game two of Nebraska’s doubleheader sweep of Northern Colorado last Saturday. Hupp was nearly perfect in the circle, tossing a six-inning no-hitter and facing just one batter over the minimum.

Hupp was perfect through 4.1 innings until walking Katelyn Landorf in the top of the fifth. The only other Bear to reach base was Jessie Schopeflin, who reached on an error but was promptly caught stealing with two outs in the top of the sixth.

Hupp’s no-hitter was the 34th no-hitter in Nebraska softball history, as she became the 16th pitcher to toss a no-hitter for the Huskers.