Huskers Open Homestand Against Bison

The Nebraska softball team opens a season-ending nine-game homestand on Wednesday with a doubleheader against the North Dakota State Bison. The doubleheader marks NU’s final non-conference contests of the season, as the Huskers’ final seven games all come against Big 12 Conference opponents.

NU is currently 16-13 in non-conference play this season and one win on Wednesday would secure a winning non-conference record for Nebraska. The Huskers have posted a winning non-conference record for 14 consecutive seasons dating back to 1994 and have finished above .500 in 15 of Head Coach Rhonda Revelle’s 16 seasons.

To secure a winning non-conference record, Nebraska will have to break its current three-game losing streak when it faces a tough North Dakota State squad on Wednesday. The Bison are 33-12 this season, including an 11-6 road mark. NDSU enters a Tuesday doubleheader at Northern Iowa with a season-high nine-game winning streak, as the Bison are in first place in the Summit League standings with a 10-1 conference record.

Nebraska is 10-0 all-time against North Dakota State and 41-0 all-time against members of the Summit League, but Wednesday is sure to poise a greater challenge than past meetings. The Bison own five wins over BCS conference schools this season, including victories over Iowa State and Texas Tech, two teams that Nebraska is a combined 0-3 against this year. NU and NDSU met three times last season at Bowlin Stadium, and although the Huskers won each matchup, they won the three games by a combined total of four runs.

Tickets for Wednesday’s doubleheader - and all remaining home contests - can be purchased online by visiting Huskers.com, over the phone by calling 1-800-8-BIG-RED or at the Bowlin Stadium ticket office 90 minutes prior to first pitch.

Fans can also listen to both games of Wednesday’s doubleheader and the remainder of the season on Huskers.com, courtesy of the Husker Sports Network. Every game will be available for free on Huskers.com, while live streaming video will be available for eight of the nine remaining Big 12 games on HuskersNSide.

In addition to the video streaming, Nebraska will appear on national television for the first time this season on Saturday, when the Huskers host fourth-ranked Texas A&M at 12:30 p.m. in the first game of a two-game weekend series. Nebraska’s battle with the first-place Aggies will air on NET-1 and NET-HD in Nebraska and nationally on CBS College Sports (formerly CSTV). Saturday’s and Sunday’s games will also be video streamed live on Huskers.com at no charge.

Scouting the North Dakota State Bison
North Dakota State has won nine consecutive games entering a Tuesday doubleheader at Northern Iowa. The Bison are 33-12 overall, including a first-place mark of 10-1 in the Summit League. NDSU has gotten off to fast starts this season, as the Bison are 11-0 when scoring in the first inning and 25-1 when scoring first. Nebraska and North Dakota State share four common opponents this season in Iowa State, California, Texas Tech and Creighton. NDSU split a pair of games with the Bluejays and Cyclones, while defeating Texas Tech and falling to Cal. The Huskers, meanwhile, are 0-6 against the same four opponents.

North Dakota State boasts impressive offensive numbers and solid statistics in the circle. The Bison are hitting .306 as a team while scoring five runs per game. NDSU’s pitching staff has compiled a 2.32 ERA while wining 32 of 34 games when given more than two runs of support.

Offensively, Melissa Chmielewski has been a tremendous threat at the plate. Chmielewski has started all 45 games and she leads the team with a .415 average, 10 homers and 47 RBIs, while her .683 slugging percentage and .488 on-base percentage are also tops among all regular players. Laurel Pipkin is hitting .369 and leads the Bison with 62 hits and 37 runs scored. As a team, five players have scored at least 25 runs this season, while three have driven in 24 or more. In contrast, Nebraska has just one player with 25 runs scored or 24 RBIs (Crystal Carwile, 28 runs scored, 26 RBIs).

In the circle, Allison Bakke has been the Bison’s top hurler. Bakke has thrown nearly half of the team’s innings, posting a 21-5 record with a 1.66 ERA in 143.1 innings of work. Bakke has thrown four shutouts for North Dakota State, while striking out 148 and allowing opponents to hit only .211. Bekki Rasmussen has also seen extensive action, compiling an 8-6 record with a 2.65 ERA in 118.2 innings. Andi Padilla (4-1, 3.71 ERA in 39.2 innings) rounds out the Bison staff.

A Look at the Series History
Nebraska took all three meetings from North Dakota State last season at the Big Red Tournament at Bowlin Stadium. Each game was close, as the Huskers pulled out a 1-0 win in the first game, following by a 2-1, eight-inning victory the next day. NU took the third game by a score of 4-2.

Molly Hill was brilliant in both of her starts against the Bison last season. In a pair of complete-game efforts, Hill tossed 14 innings without allowing an earned run, while posting one shutout. She struck out 10 in the two games and North Dakota State hit just .156 against her. Ashley DeBuhr picked up the other victory, as she struck out 11 and did not allow an earned run in her eight-inning, complete-game win. The Huskers did not surrender an earned run to the Bison in 22.0 innings last season and overall, NU enters Wednesday’s doubleheader with a streak of at least 40.0 innings against NDSU without allowing an earned run, totaling all six meetings in the NCAA era.

In the first game last season, an NDSU error led to the only run of the game. The second meeting was just as close, as an eighth-inning, bases-loaded walk gave NU the extra-innings win. In winning the third game by two runs, the Huskers relied on clutch hitting, including a two-run single from Meghan Mullin.

Nebraska leads the all-time series with North Dakota State, 10-0, including six victories in the past three seasons. The Huskers are also a perfect 41-0 all-time against the Summit League, including a 36-0 mark under Head Coach Rhonda Revelle.

Quick Hitters
The information below provides a quick glimpse of a few statistics and brief notes of interest to keep in mind as Nebraska plays its final non-conference games of the season with Wednesday’s doubleheader against North Dakota State:

• Nebraska has scored in the first inning in 12 of its 17 wins this season. Scoring in the first inning has proven to be a precursor to success for NU, as it is 12-2 this season when doing so and 88-14 over the last five years.
• NU is 17-2 when out-hitting its opponent this season, but is 0-21 when being out-hit or when the hits are even.
• The Huskers have been successful on 55-of-66 stolen base attempts (83 percent) through the first 40 games of this season. Nebraska has exceeded last year’s total, when NU swiped 51 bases in 71 tries (72 percent).
• Not only has NU played just four one-run games this year, the Huskers have played 26 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 270-4 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.
• The Huskers are 0-17 this season when trailing after three innings of play and only once this season has Nebraska come back to win a game it had trailed at the end of any complete inning (second game of a doubleheader with South Dakota State on April 2).
• NU boasts an all-time record of 448-214 (.677) in the month of April. It has historically been Nebraska’s most successful month, as the Huskers’ win total and winning percentage are higher in April than any other month.
• Despite five home losses this season, Nebraska has still won 46 of its last 53 regular-season home games dating back to 2005.
• Nebraska allowed more runs in the first 33 games of this season (122) than it did in 57 games a season ago (120). In conference play, the Huskers surrendered more runs through the first seven games of Big 12 Conference play (42) than they did in 18 league games a season ago (41). So far this season, Nebraska has allowed 135 runs, its most since 2005.

Carwile Nearing Exclusive Club
Junior Crystal Carwile went 5-for-9 with two home runs, four runs scored and three RBIs in three games last week. The strong performances left Carwile on the verge of joining an exclusive club of Huskers who have produced 100 career hits, 100 career runs scored and 100 career RBIs. The list includes only six players and Carwile not only has the chance to become the seventh, but she could also join three-time All-American Ali Viola as the only players in school history to reach all three milestones prior to their senior season.

After last week’s totals, Carwile now boasts 135 career hits, 95 runs scored and 95 RBIs.

Mullin Records 100th Hit
Junior Meghan Mullin beat out a bunt single in the first inning of Sunday’s game at Oklahoma State to mark her 100th career hit. Mullin, who currently ranks 12th in school history with a .318 career average, joined fellow junior Crystal Carwile as the lone members of this year’s team to reach the milestone. The duo became the first non-senior tandem to record 100 career hits in the same year since 2005 (Trisha Tannahill and Jessica Yoachim).

Saturday Game Time Changed for Television
In a change to the original schedule, Saturday’s Big 12 game between Nebraska and Texas A&M will start at 12:30 p.m. The change was made so the game could air live nationally on CBS College Sports (formerly CSTV). In addition to the national coverage, fans in the state of Nebraska can see all of the action live on NET-HD or NET-1.

Carwile Moving Up Big 12 Home Run Chart
Junior Crystal Carwile hit two home runs in three Big 12 Conference games last week, marking the Huskers’ first home runs of the conference season. Carwile has now hit nine career Big 12 home runs, the most of any Husker since Jennifer Lizama, who completed her playing career in 2000. Her nine career Big 12 home runs rank sixth in NU history, behind Lizama (16), Jamie Fuente (14), Ali Viola (12), Jenny Smith (10) and Christie McCoy (10).

On the conference level, Carwile’s nine roundtrippers rank as the fourth-highest total among all active players. Missouri senior Jen Bruck is the active leader with 14 career Big 12 homers, followed by Oklahoma senior Savannah Long (10) and Baylor junior Brette Reagan (10). Active players joining Carwile with nine career conference home runs are Missouri senior Amanda Renth and Oklahoma junior Traci Dickinson.

Huskers Trying to Finish Games
After leading only once in its first seven Big 12 Conference games combined, Nebraska has put itself in a better position to win of late, as the Huskers have scored first in three of their last four Big 12 games. While NU has seemingly moved past its slow starts, the next step for the young squad is to hold its early leads and close out games.

In its first seven Big 12 games, Nebraska was outscored 17-1 over the first three innings, putting the Huskers in a difficult position to win. In its four most recent games, the Huskers have only been outscored 6-5 after the first three innings and just 13-10 through the first five innings. Recently, the late innings have cost Nebraska, as the Huskers have been outscored 11-2 in the sixth and seventh frames.

Nebraska Nearing Hit-by-Pitch Record
Although no official record is kept for most hit batters in a game, Nebraska surely came close to setting a school record on March 8, 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. Against BYU six days later, junior Darcy Rutherford was plunked two times as NU was hit four times.

After being hit by one pitch in its last game, Nebraska has now been hit by 37 pitches through the first 40 games of the season. The 37 hit batters already rank second in school history. The Huskers have established a new school record in each of the past two seasons and are just three shy of breaking last year’s record total of 39 hit-by-pitches.