Huskers Upset No. 7 Sooners at Big 12 Championship

Oklahoma City - The Nebraska softball team scored five runs over the first three innings and added a crucial insurance run in the seventh and held off a late Oklahoma rally to defeat the second-seeded and seventh-ranked Sooners, 6-5, in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championship at Hall of Fame Stadium.

The win marked only the second time in the 13-year history of the Big 12 Championship that the No. 10 seed has defeated the No. 2 seed. The victory was also Nebraska's first against a top-10 opponent in 186 games dating back to an April 9, 2005 win at ninth-ranked Baylor.

Junior right-hander Molly Hill (14-16) earned the victory with a gutty performance. Hill worked around seven walks and a pair of homers to fight through a complete-game effort in which she allowed five runs on eight hits in seven innings of work. Behind her, Nebraska used timely hitting to score six runs on only five hits, highlighted by an RBI triple from junior Darcy Rutherford, a two-run double from freshman Ashley Guile and an RBI single from junior Haley Long.

Nebraska (24-27) advanced to Saturday's 4:30 p.m. semifinal against sixth-seeded Texas Tech, which defeated third-seeded Missouri, 5-3, while NU was wrapping up its upset victory.

Oklahoma fell to 43-12 with the loss, while the defending champion Sooners exited the tournament without a victory for the first time ever. Jadyn Smith took the loss, allowing three runs on two hits in only 1.1 innings of relief work. Lauren Eckermann earned the start and was tagged with two runs (one earned) on two hits over the first 1.2 innings. D.J. Mathis closed out the game by allowing one unearned run in four innings of one-hit relief.

Head Coach Rhonda Revelle was ecstatic about her team's fifth win over a Big 12 team in its last seven games.

"This team has a lot of fight and a lot of pride," Revelle said after the victory. "They're playing for the name on the front of their jersey. We have a lot of history and pride in this program and this team lived up to that tradition today. I'm very proud of how hard they fought to win this game."

Nebraska jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to the speed of its slappers. Junior Meghan Mullin led off with a single up the middle before junior Darcy Rutherford tripled on a ground ball to the gap in right center. Rutherford then scored on a failed safety squeeze when OU catcher Lindsey Vandever threw wildly in an attempt to throw back to third and retire Rutherford in a rundown.

Oklahoma answered right back in the bottom of the first when Samantha Ricketts lifted a 2-2 offering from Hill over the wall in left for a one-out, three-run homer to put OU in front, 3-2. Hill was hurt by her control in the frame, as she walked three and threw only 14 of her 34 first-inning pitches for strikes.

The Huskers continued to swing a hot bat despite coming up empty in the second. Freshman Heidi Foland drew a one-out walk before sophomore Whitney Barrett whistled a line drive off the third baseman that deflected to short where Savannah Long was able to throw to second in time to force out Foland. Sophomore Alex Hupp then ripped a pitch to the wall in center, where Krystle Huey made a nice running catch.

In the third, a hit batter and a walk put Mullin and Rutherford on first and second with no outs. After recording an out, Guile ripped a 3-2 pitch to the gap in right center for a two-run double that put Nebraska in front, 3-2. Long then ripped a 2-0 pitch back up the middle to score freshman pinch-runner Sammi Liegl from second.

Neither team mounted much of a threat again until the Sooners plated one run in the bottom of the fifth. Huey led off the inning with a triple and scored one batter later on a sacrifice fly from Susan Ogden to cut the Huskers' lead to 5-4. OU then loaded the bases with only one out and had a 3-0 count on the batter. Hill responded with a strike before Chana'e Jones lined a ball right to Foland at third who tagged out the runner to complete an inning-ending double play.

The Huskers added an insurance run in the top of the seventh. Barrett led off the inning with a single, advanced to second on a sacrifice and was at third with two outs. She then came home when Vandever committed her second throwing error of the game while trying to pick Barrett off of third.

In the bottom of the frame, Ricketts led off with her second homer of the game to cut the Huskers' lead to 6-5. Vandever then reached on a perfectly-placed infield single where NU was late covering the bag. The Sooners had the tying runners on base with no outs before Hill retired the final three hitters of the game to seal the victory.

Box Score Nebraska Softball Nebraska vs #7 Oklahoma May 10, 2008 at Oklahoma City, Okla. (Hall of Fame Stadium)

Nebraska 6 (24-27)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Mullin, Meghan cf........ 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 Rutherford, Darcy lf..... 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 Carwile, Crystal 1b...... 3 1 0 0 0 2 6 0 0 Guile, Ashley c.......... 3 0 1 2 0 1 5 0 0 Liegl, Sammi pr......... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Long, Haley rf........... 3 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 Brechtel, Julie 2b....... 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 0 Foland, Heidi 3b......... 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 1 1 Barrett, Whitney ss...... 3 1 1 0 0 0 3 2 0 Hupp, Alex dp............ 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Hill, Molly p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals................... 25 6 5 4 2 6 21 7 2

Oklahoma 5 (43-13)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Flores, Amber 2b......... 3 0 1 0 1 0 4 0 0 Huey, Krystle cf......... 4 2 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 Ogden, Susan rf.......... 3 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 2 Dobbs, Dani pr.......... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ricketts, Samantha 1b.... 3 2 3 4 1 0 8 0 0 McDonald, Iver pr....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Vandever, Lindsey c...... 1 0 1 0 3 0 5 1 0 Long, Savannah ss........ 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 Trott, Wendy dp.......... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Jones, Chana'e ph/dp.... 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 Legendre, Jessica 3b..... 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 6 2 Anderson, Haley lf....... 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 Eckermann, Lauren p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Smith, Jadyn p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Mathis, D.J. p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 Totals................... 27 5 8 5 7 4 21 12 10

Score by Innings R H E ----------------------------------------- Nebraska............ 203 000 1 - 6 5 0 Oklahoma............ 300 010 1 - 5 8 2 -----------------------------------------

E - Vandever 2(8). DP - Huskers 1. LOB - Huskers 2; Sooners 10. 2B - Guile(6); Ricketts(7). 3B - Rutherford(2); Huey(2). HR - Ricketts 2(12). HBP - Mullin; Long. SH - Hupp(2). SF - Ogden(2). SB - Huey(10).

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Hill, Molly......... 7.0 8 5 5 7 4 27 36 134

Oklahoma IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Eckermann, Lauren... 1.2 2 2 1 1 1 7 8 38 Smith, Jadyn........ 1.1 2 3 3 1 0 6 8 31 Mathis, D.J......... 4.0 1 1 0 0 5 12 13 44

Win - Hill (14-16). Loss - Smith (3-3). Save - None. HBP - by Smith (Mullin); by Hill (Long). Pitches/strikes: Hill 134/73; Eckermann 38/20; Smith 31/16; Mathis 44/29. Umpires - HP: Dustin Douglas 1B: Terry Hix 3B: Patti Gunst Start: 11:00 am Time: 2:33 Attendance: Game: NU51