Huskers Finish Off Weekend Sweep

Lincoln ? After tossing a no-hitter on Saturday, sophomore right-hander Alex Hupp secured a scoreless weekend for the Husker pitching staff, tossing a one-hit shutout as the Nebraska softball team finished off a four-game sweep of Northern Colorado with an 8-0, five-inning win in game two of Sunday’s doubleheader at Bowlin Stadium.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Hupp capped off a dominating weekend by striking out seven and facing just one batter over the minimum. In winning her fourth straight start, Hupp improved to 4-3 this season. On the weekend, Hupp tossed 11.0 innings and allowed just one hit and walked two while striking out 19.

 

Hupp’s work in the circle highlighted a stellar performance from the pitching staff in the four-game sweep. Combining with junior right-hander Molly Hill, NU tossed 24 scoreless innings, allowing just five hits and striking out 39.

 

“We pitched really, really well this weekend and our defense played great,” Head Coach Rhonda Revelle said. “It seems like pitching really gets it going for this team and you saw that happen this weekend.”

 

Nebraska posted a 4-0 record on the weekend to even its record at 8-8 on the season. Three of the wins were 8-0 run-rule victories, as NU has posted four run-rule wins this season after recording just one all of last year.

 

Hillarie Van Otterloo (2-6) lost for the second time this weekend, although she did not surrender an earned run. In four innings of work, Van Otterloo allowed six hits, but four Northern Colorado errors led to a pair of big innings.

 

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska jumped in front 3-0 in a strange bottom of the first inning that featured two errors and two ground balls where Northern Colorado attempted to cut down the lead runner, but ended up getting no one out. Junior Darcy Rutherford scored the first run on an error, before fellow junior Meghan Mullin scored on an RBI ground out from freshman Ashley Guile. Sophomore Whitney Barrett, who ran for Guile, scored the inning’s final run on another error by Northern Colorado (6-20).

 

After going quietly in the second and third innings, Nebraska batted around and scored five runs with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. With the bases loaded and two outs, Guile coaxed an RBI walk to bring home the first run. Juniors Amanda Duran and Crystal Carwile then ripped consecutive two-run doubles to put the Huskers in front 8-0.

 

Guile recorded her first multi-RBI game of her career, finishing with two RBIs despite not recording a hit. Hitting in the No. 3 spot, Guile was followed by Duran and Carwile, who also tallied two RBIs each. In the leadoff spot, Rutherford set the table for the middle of the order by finishing 3-for-3 and scoring twice.

 

After four straight home games, Nebraska hits the road for the next two weekends. The Huskers travel to Las Vegas next weekend, before heading to Austin, Texas, to open Big 12 play against the Texas Longhorns.

Box Score Nebraska Softball Northern Colorado at Nebraska (Game 2) Mar 09, 2008 at Lincoln, Neb. (Bowlin Stadium)

Northern Colorado 0 (6-20)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Schoepflin, Jessie cf.... 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 Johns, Kelly 3b.......... 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 Van Otterloo, Hillar p... 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 Barrett, Mackenzie ss.... 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 Landorf, Katelyn 1b...... 2 0 0 0 0 1 7 0 0 Maihi, Courtney rf....... 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 Turner, Abby dp.......... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 James, Kaylyn lf......... 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 Dahlman, Morgan c........ 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 Buckley, Heather 2b...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 Totals................... 15 0 1 0 1 7 12 8 1

Nebraska 8 (8-8)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Rutherford, Darcy lf..... 3 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mullin, Meghan cf........ 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Linke, Kelli ph......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Guile, Ashley dp......... 2 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 Duran, Amanda c.......... 2 1 1 2 1 0 6 3 0 Carwile, Crystal 1b...... 3 0 1 2 0 0 5 0 0 Brechtel, Julie 2b....... 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Hughes, Abby ph......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Long, Haley rf........... 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 Foland, Heidi 3b......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 Hupp, Alex p............. 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 Barrett, Whitney ss...... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals................... 19 8 6 6 3 0 15 4 4

Score by Innings R H E -------------------------------------- Northern Colorado... 000 00 - 0 1 4 Nebraska............ 300 5X - 8 6 0 --------------------------------------

E - Barrett, M 2(8); James, K(2); Buckley, H(7). LOB - Bears 1; Huskers 4. 2B - Duran(6); Carwile(2). SH - Mullin(3); Foland(1). SB - Long(3). CS - Schoepflin(2).

Northern Colorado IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Van Otterloo, Hillar 4.0 6 8 0 3 0 19 24 80

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Hupp, Alex.......... 5.0 1 0 0 1 7 15 16 65

Win - Hupp (4-3). Loss - Van Otterloo (2-6). Save - None. Pitches/strikes: Van Otterloo 80/46; Hupp 65/49. Umpires - Start: 2:10 pm Time: 1:22 Attendance: 318 Game: livegame