Huskers Open Big 12 Play at Texas

After playing seven games in four days in Las Vegas, the Nebraska softball team wraps up its nine-game, 10-day road trip this weekend by traveling to Austin, Texas, to open Big 12 Conference play against the Texas Longhorns on Friday and Saturday at McCombs Field.

Nebraska went 5-2 in Las Vegas, posting wins over BYU, Utah Valley State and UNLV in the Rebel Round Robin before sweeping a doubleheader from Southern Utah. The win over Utah Valley State marked the 600th victory at Nebraska for head coach Rhonda Revelle. The solid performance also got the Huskers above .500 for the first time this season, as NU will enter Big 12 play with a record of 13-10 after winning 12 of its last 16 games.

The Huskers showed signs of improvement in all phases of their game on the opening part of their road trip. Offensively, Nebraska hit .306 in its seven games, while improving its overall season average by .011. The Huskers are currently hitting .287 as a team.

In the circle, NU continued to lower its team ERA as the Huskers entered the road trip with a staff mark of 3.32 and lowered it to 2.67. Nebraska posted two shutouts and the Huskers have now thrown six shutouts in their last 11 games while adding another contest where the staff did not allow an earned run.

The defense did its part to help the pitching staff, especially in the doubleheader sweep of Southern Utah. The Huskers committed only one error in the two games against the Thunderbirds, while turning three double plays, including a season high two in the second contest. Overall, Nebraska fielded at a .966 clip in Las Vegas after entering the week with a mark of .953.

Individually, several Huskers excelled in the desert. Junior Meghan Mullin was especially impressive, finishing the first seven games of the road trip with a .500 average. Mullin went 12-for-24 in Las Vegas after entering the week with only 10 hits in her first 45 at bats.

Freshman Ashley Guile also enjoyed a breakout performance at the plate. Guile, who entered the trip to Las Vegas hitting only .214, finished with a .444 average in the desert. Guile went 8-for-15 on the week after entering the road trip 9-for-42. Guile also produced five RBIs in the seven games with a .600 on-base percentage.

In the circle, junior right-hander Molly Hill continued to round back into form a little more than a month removed from knee surgery. Hill earned starts in four of the seven games and tossed four complete games while finishing with a 3-1 record and a 0.78 ERA. Hill was especially solid in the doubleheader sweep of Southern Utah, winning both games by throwing 240 pitches in 14.0 innings and allowing only one earned run.

NU hopes Hill and the Huskers continue to get even better, as Nebraska once again faces a tough Big 12-opening series. The Huskers will face a talented Texas team that has been in and out of the polls this season.

Nebraska will be looking to take at least one game from Texas, as the Huskers have been swept in their opening Big 12 series in each of the past three seasons.

Scouting the Texas Longhorns
The matchup with Texas pits two of the three co-leaders in Big 12 regular-season titles, as Texas and Nebraska (along with Oklahoma) have each won three titles. Similar to Nebraska (13-10), Texas enters a midweek game with Texas State with a 14-10-2 record after tying for the tournament championship in Hawaii last weekend.

The Longhorns are averaging just under four runs per game, while allowing a little more than three runs. UT enjoys a big power advantage over Nebraska as the Longhorns have hit 25 home runs to the Huskers’ five, but Nebraska boasts more speed having stolen 17 more bases in three fewer games.

Offensively, returning All-Big 12 hitter Tallie Thrasher has again been a force at the plate. The sophomore is hitting .333 with four homers and 15 RBIs, while Loryn Johnson is hitting .325 and leads the team with six home runs and 17 RBIs. Kacie Gaskin is the top speed threat, as she has stolen a team-high seven bases while hitting .325 and scoring 15 runs.

In the circle, returning All-Big 12 hurler Meagan Denny is 11-3 on the season with a 1.62 ERA. Denny has thrown four shutouts in 86.1 innings of work, while also striking out 145 and holding opposing hitters to a paltry .176 average. Freshman Brittany Barnhill has been the Longhorns’ No. 2 pitcher, posting a 2-5 record with a 3.64 ERA in 57.2 innings. Erin Tresselt (0-2, 2.49 ERA in 19.2 innings) and Torrey Schroeder (1-0, 4.81 ERA in 16.0 innings) have also seen action in the circle for Texas.

A Look at the Series History
Nebraska swept the season series against 11th-ranked Texas last season, winning a 5-4, 11-inning thriller in the first game, before posting a 2-0 victory in game two. The Huskers’ two wins last season snapped a five-game losing streak to the Longhorns. Overall, NU boasts a 16-12 all-time record against UT, including a 7-5 mark in Austin.

In game one last season, Nebraska led 3-1 going into the top of the sixth inning before a two-run home run by Tallie Thrasher tied the game at 3-all. Neither team would score again until Texas used the international tie breaker to score one run in the top of the 11th inning. In the bottom of the frame, the Huskers had two runners on for Jamie Waldecker, who promptly tied the game with a single to left. Texas’ left fielder then misplayed the ball to allow the winning run to score.

Game two was a much different story, as Molly Hill and Ashley DeBuhr combined on a five-hit shutout. Hill earned the start and allowed four hits but struck out five over the first five innings, before DeBuhr picked up the save by allowing only one hit over the final two innings. Offensively for Nebraska, Meghan Mullin recorded two hits and an RBI, while Whitney Barrett added Nebraska’s other RBI.

Mullin boasts the best average of Nebraska’s returning hitters against Texas, as she is 4-for-8 in her career. Only Crystal Carwile (0-for-7) and Brittany Pascale (0-for-6) earned at bats in the Huskers’ last trip to Austin, where NU was shut out in back-to-back games against three-time National Player of the Year Cat Osterman.

In the circle, Hill is 1-0 in her career against the Longhorns with a 1.68 ERA in 8.1 innings. In addition to throwing five shutout innings against UT in Lincoln last season, Hill earned the Sunday start in Austin in 2006, allowing two runs on two hits in 3.1 innings.

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 Austin, Texas, to open Big 12 Conference play against the Texas Longhorns:

• Nebraska has proven to be a clutch hitting team so far this season, as 39 of Nebraska’s 85 RBIs have come with two outs (46 percent). The Huskers, who are hitting .287 as a team, are batting .296 with runners in scoring position and .344 with the bases loaded.
• The Huskers have scored in the first inning in 10 of their 13 victories this season. Scoring in the first inning has proven to be precursor to success for Nebraska, as they are 10-1 this season when doing so and 86-13 over the last five years.
• The Huskers have been successful on 42-of-46 stolen base attempts this season. Nebraska has stolen 16 straight bases and 30 of its last 32 overall.
• Nebraska played its first - and only - one-run game of the season last Saturday in a 2-1 loss to BYU. The Huskers had not played a one-run game through the first 17 games of the season, the longest season-opening streak without a one-run contest in school history. Each of the Huskers’ first three games last season - and 11 of the first 17 - were decided by a single run.
• Not only has NU only played a single one-run game this year, the Huskers have played 14 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 266-4 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 376-222 (.629) in the month of March, including a 10-4 mark this year, with all four losses coming to ranked teams, or teams having received votes in the poll.
• After opening its home schedule in dominating fashion 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 a March 9 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 repeated the feat in the first game of a doubleheader with Southern Utah on March 17. The 2006 squad also had two games where it did not strike out a single time, although one of the games was against Division II foe Missouri Western.
• Both Haley Long and Darcy Rutherford have already produced enough RBIs this season to equal their career totals entering the year. Long has driven in 13 after also tallying 13 RBIs in her first season in 2007. Rutherford, meanwhile, has driven in three this season after totaling three RBIs in her first two seasons combined.

What a Difference a Year Makes
Despite a young offense that is without the presence of two All-Big 12 hitters, more balance throughout the lineup has helped Nebraska post much betters offensive numbers through the first 23 games of this season compared to the same stretch last season.

Overall, the Huskers are hitting .035 points better while scoring 34 more runs, despite hitting fewer home runs. In the most important category, this year’s team is averaging 1.5 more runs per game.

Strengthening the Top of the Order
Nebraska has gotten plenty of production from its first five hitters this season, despite some surprisingly slow starts from junior Meghan Mullin and freshman Ashley Guile, who have been the Huskers’ primary No. 2 and 3 hitters. Mullin and Guile, who had still found plenty of ways to contribute, began to hit stride in Las Vegas, further strengthening an already potent top of the batting order.

Combined, the duo hit a whopping .476 (20-for-42) in Las Vegas, while drawing six walks and only striking out twice. Mullin had 12 hits in seven games last week after recording only 10 hits through her first 16 games, while Guile had eight hits after recording nine hits entering the week. Below is a look at how each hitter’s numbers in Las Vegas compared to what they had done through the first four weeks of the season:

Nebraska in Big 12 Conference Openers
Nebraska is 7-5 all-time in Big 12 Conference opening games, including a 4-5 mark on the road. The Huskers have not won a league opener since 2004, which is also the last time NU claimed a conference championship.

NU has been swept in each of the last three years on the opening weekend of league play, falling at 12th-ranked Texas A&M in 2005, at No. 3 Texas in 2006 and at 17th-ranked Baylor last season. Each of those three teams went on to win the regular-season title. While the league opener is only one game, history shows that the first conference game of the season could provide a glimpse of how Nebraska will finish in the final league standings.

When winning their first Big 12 game, the Huskers have never finished lower than fourth and have gone on to win three league titles, while winning an average of 13 games. When Nebraska has lost its conference opener, the Huskers have only finished higher than fourth once (second in 2006) while winning an average of only 10 games.

Shutout Streak Snapped Just Shy of School Record
A late two-out, two-run home run in a 2-1 loss to BYU last Saturday snapped the Nebraska pitching staff’s streak of five consecutive shutouts. Huskers hurlers had thrown 37.0 consecutive scoreless innings before the homer, including streaks of 21.0 for sophomore Alex Hupp and 19.0 for junior Molly Hill.

The five consecutive shutouts were the most by Nebraska since All-American Peaches James tossed seven consecutive shutouts in 2004. James’ streak marked the longest consecutive shutout streak against Division I opponents in the history of Nebraska softball.

The Huskers’ streak of five shutouts marked their first five shutouts of the season. NU had gone the first 12 games of the season without tossing a shutout, while going a total of 23 consecutive games without a shutout dating back to last season. The season-opening streak of 12 games without a shutout was Nebraska’s longest drought since 1993, while the 23 consecutive games without a shutout marked the Huskers’ longest streak without a shutout since 1997.

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