Huskers Enter Postseason Play on Strong Note

Fresh off its most successful week of the conference season, the Nebraska softball team enters the postseason with newfound momentum, as the Huskers travel to Oklahoma City to battle for the Big 12 Championship this weekend.

NU’s quest for a league-best fourth tournament title begins on Friday night, when the 10th-seeded Huskers face the seventh-seeded Kansas Jayhawks in a play-in game. Friday night’s winner will move on to meet the No. 2 seed Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday morning, while the loser will be eliminated from the single-elimination tournament. Should the Huskers win their first two games, they would advance to Saturday’s first semifinal, which would be televised live by Fox Sports Net at 4:30 p.m. The Big 12 Championship game is set for Noon on Sunday, and will also be televised nationally on Fox Sports Net.

Nebraska play-by-play veteran Nate Rohr will call all of the action live from the Big 12 Championship for the Husker Sports Network. Rohr, who will call his fifth consecutive Big 12 Championship, can be heard worldwide on Huskers.com.

Nebraska and Kansas will open the tournament on Friday at Hall of Fame Stadium, the home of the United States Olympic Softball team as well as the Women’s College World Series. The Huskers and Jayhawks will be squaring off for the third time in 10 days on Friday, as the teams split a doubleheader last Wednesday at Bowlin Stadium.

Both games were close, as the Huskers continually had to fight from behind in each end of the doubleheader. Nebraska erased a pair of deficits - including a two-run, sixth-inning deficit - to rally for a 5-4 win in game one, before Kansas pulled out a 6-3, eight-inning victory in the nightcap. In the second game, NU again erased two deficits - including a one-run, seventh-inning deficit - to force extra innings, but the Huskers could not complete the comeback.

The doubleheader split with the Jayhawks highlighted a strong 3-2 showing last week by the Huskers in five conference games. Nebraska opened the week with its best offensive showing of the conference season to that point with a 6-4 win over Iowa State. The Huskers then scored 11 runs in splitting a two-game weekend series with a third-place Missouri squad.

On the week, Nebraska posted impressive offensive numbers while setting conference highs in hits in a game, hits in an inning, runs in a game and runs in an inning. In the five Big 12 games last week, Nebraska hit .345 as a team while averaging five runs per game. The Huskers produced three games with 10 or more hits, while slugging three of their five conference home runs.

The emergence of the Husker offense has given NU confidence heading into the postseason, where the Huskers need four straight wins this weekend to claim the Big 12 Championship and earn the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. Entering this season, the Huskers were one of only nine schools nationally - and one of only two Big 12 programs - to appear in each of the last 13 NCAA Tournaments.

Scouting the Kansas Jayhawks
Kansas is 37-18 this season and the Jayhawks finished 7-11 in the Big 12 Conference to earn the No. 7 seed for the Big 12 Championship. KU split each of its final three conference series, losing the first game each time before coming back to win game two. The Jayhawks were also the seventh seed for the 2007 Big 12 Championship, where KU won a 2-1, eight-inning decision against Iowa State in the play-in game, before losing a 5-0 outcome to eventual champion Oklahoma in the first round.

KU boasts a powerful offense, as the Jayhawks have slugged 41 home runs this season. Kansas is hitting .260 as a team this year, but the Jayhawks hit only .220 in conference play, the lowest of any Big 12 team. Despite the low conference average, Kansas still managed to average nearly 3.5 runs per game. In the circle, KU boasts a 2.40 team ERA, although the Jayhawks allowed 85 runs in 18 conference games while allowing opponents to hit at a healthy .305 average.

Offensively, Dougie McCaulley is one of two Jayhawks hitting better than .300. McCaulley leads the team with a .380 average, while her .333 mark in league play tied Betsy Wilson for team-high honors. Val Chapple ranked second on the squad with a .304 average, while pacing the Jayhawks with 39 runs scored, nine homers, 37 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. Along with Chapple, Amanda Jobe has been a power threat, as she has homered eight times, while Liz Kocon and Stevie Crisosto have each totaled five home runs.

In the circle, Valerie George has thrown nearly half of the team’s innings. George is 18-10 this season, although she has lost two straight decisions, including one to Nebraska last week. In 175.2 innings, George has struck out 183 while compiling a 1.91 ERA. George’s ERA jumped to 3.47 in conference play, as she was just 4-8 in the league. Sarah Vertelka and Allie Clark round out the Jayhawk staff. Vertelka is 10-5 this season with a 2.54 ERA in 93.2 innings. Clark has emerged over the latter half of the season. She is 9-3 this year with a 3.15 ERA in 95.2 innings. In league play, Allie threw three times as many innings as Vertelka, finishing with a 2-1 record, including a victory over the Huskers.

A Look at the Series History
Nebraska and Kansas split the regular-season series for the second straight year, and for the seventh time in the past eight years. Overall, the teams have split the last 10 meetings, while the Huskers hold a slim 11-9 advantage over the last 20 meetings. Kansas won the most recent meeting by taking the nightcap of a doubleheader last week, and the Jayhawks will be looking to win two consecutive games against the Huskers in the same season for the first time since 1994.

In the two meetings this year, Kansas led for most of both games. The Jayhawks scored in the first inning of both meetings, but Nebraska managed to tie or take the lead in the middle frames. In game one, both teams scored three runs in their half of the sixth inning, as NU rallied for a 5-4 win. In game two, Nebraska tied the game in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings, where the Jayhawks scored three in the eighth to win the game.

The Huskers and Jayhawks have met 102 times, with Kansas holding a 54-48 edge in the all-time series. KU is one of only three Big 12 teams with a winning all-time record against Nebraska. Head Coach Rhonda Revelle is 28-24 in her career against Kansas, including a 23-12 mark against Jayhawk head coach Tracy Bunge. Nebraska and Kansas have met five times in the Big 12 Championship. The Huskers won the first four meetings before Kansas won the most recent meeting in 2006 en route to winning its lone conference title.

NU at the Big 12 Championship
Nebraska has enjoyed tremendous success in the 12-year history of the Big 12 Championship, claiming three titles and three more runner-up finishes. NU, which is currently in its longest drought (three tournaments) of not advancing to the title game, will be participating in a play-in game for just the second time ever. The previous time was 2005, when the seventh-seeded Huskers started 2-0 before losing two straight to finish in fifth place.

Below is a look at how Nebraska has fared all-time at the Big 12 Championship:

Year

Seed

Record

Last Game

Finish

1996

No. 4

3-2

Oklahoma (L, 0-1)

Runner-Up*

1997

No. 4

1-2

Oklahoma (L, 0-1)

Fifth Place

1998

No. 1

4-0

Oklahoma (W, 3-0)

Champion

1999

No. 4

3-1

Texas (L, 2-4)

Runner-Up*

2000

No. 2

4-1

Texas A&M (W, 2-1)

Champion

2001

No. 1

2-2

Oklahoma (L, 2-10)

Fourth Place*

2002

No. 3

3-1

Texas (L, 0-1)

Runner-Up*

2003

No. 6

2-2

Texas (L, 0-2)

Fourth Place*

2004

No. 1

4-0

Missouri (W, 1-0)

Champion

2005

No. 7

2-2

Missouri (L, 1-5)

Fifth Place

2006

No. 2

2-2

Kansas (L, 0-2)

Fourth Place*

2007

No. 5

0-1

Texas A&M (L, 1-3)

Fifth Place

*lost to eventual Big 12 Champion

All-Time Big 12 Championship Records
Nebraska boasts a .652 winning percentage at the Big 12 Championship, the second-highest of any school (NU had been the league leader in winning percentage prior to Oklahoma winning the title last season). The Huskers’ 30 wins also rank second among all schools, while NU’s 16 losses are the third-fewest. Below is a breakdown of the all-time Big 12 Championship record of every conference team:

Rank

Team

Record (Winning Pct.)

1st

Oklahoma

34-16 (.680)

2nd

Nebraska

30-16 (.652)

3rd

Texas

21-13 (.618

4th

Missouri

21-19 (.525)

5th

Kansas

15-18 (.455)

6th

Texas A&M

15-20 (.429)

7th

Oklahoma State

16-23 (.410)

8th

Texas Tech

11-17 (.393)

9th

Baylor

9-19 (.321)

10th

Iowa State

4-15 (.211)

NU’s Big 12 Championship Records by Seed
Nebraska will be the No. 10 seed at the Big 12 Championship for the first time in school history this week. Overall, NU has earned the No. 1 and 3 seeds three times each, while also entering the tournament as the No. 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 seeds. Below is a breakdown of how the Huskers have fared as each seed:

Seed

Years Seed Earned

Record (Winning Pct.)

Titles

Runner-Up Finishes

No. 1

1998, 2001, 2004

10-2 (.833)

2

0

No. 2

2000, 2006

6-3 (.667)

1

0

No. 3

2002

3-1 (.750)

0

1

No. 4

1996, 1997, 1999

7-5 (.583)

0

2

No. 5

2007

0-1 (.000)

0

0

No. 6

2003

2-2 (.500)

0

0

No. 7

2005

 2-2 (.500)

0

0

No. 8

None

N/A

0

0

No. 9

None

N/A

0

0

No. 10

2008

N/A

0

0

Big 12 Championship Records by Seed
One of the top three seeds has won every Big 12 Championship but one, as sixth-seeded Kansas defeated fifth-seeded Oklahoma to win its first-ever Big 12 softball crown in the 2006 event. The Jayhawks are the lowest seed to ever win the tournament, while Texas Tech became the lowest seed to reach the title game last season, when the eighth-seeded Red Raiders fell to second-seeded Oklahoma in the title game.

NU enters this year’s event as the No. 10 seed and the 10th seed is 4-14 all-time in the tournament. All but one of those four wins have come in the play-in game against the No. 7 seed. Only Baylor in 2003 posted a victory outside of the play-in game as a No. 10 seed, as the Lady Bears won a losers’ bracket game to finish 2-2.

The No. 10 seed has never defeated the No. 2 seed in the 12-year history of the Big 12 Championship (0-3), while only one team participating in a play-in game has ever advanced to the championship game (Texas Tech, last season). Below is a look at how each seed has fared all-time at the Big 12 Championship:

Recapping the 2007 Big 12 Championship
Nebraska failed to win a game for the first time ever at the 2007 Big 12 Championship, which also marked the first year the event switched from a double-elimination format in favor of the current single-elimination format. The Huskers drew a tough opening-round opponent, as fifth-seeded Nebraska squared off against fourth-seeded Texas A&M.

The Huskers scored a run in the top of the first inning to take a quick 1-0 lead. Nebraska would continue to hold the one-run advantage into the fifth inning before Texas A&M tied the game at one. The Aggies then scored two runs in their final at bat to post a 3-1, come-from-behind victory that kickstarted their postseason run that would eventually lead A&M back to Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series.

Molly Hill took the loss for NU, allowing just one earned run in 5.2 innings. Offensively, Meghan Mullin scored the Huskers’ lone run on an RBI single from Devin Porter, while Crystal Carwile and Haley Long also singled.

NU vs. the Big 12 Championship Field
Nebraska is 30-16 all-time at the Big 12 Championship. Below is a breakdown of how NU has fared against the field this season, all-time and in Big 12 Championship history:

Opponent

2008

All-Time (Win Pct.)

All-Time Big 12 Championship (Win Pct.)

Baylor

1-1

30-10 (.750)

3-0 (1.000)

Iowa State

1-1

63-16 (.768)

4-0 (1.000)

Kansas

1-1

48-54 (.471)

4-1 (.800)

Missouri

1-1

49-32 (.605)

4-2 (.667)

Oklahoma

0-2

38-33 (.535)

5-6 (.455)

Oklahoma State

0-2

41-43 (.488)

4-2 (.667)

Texas

0-2

16-14 (.533)

2-4 (.333)

Texas A&M

0-2

22-29 (.431)

3-1 (.750)

Texas Tech

0-2

26-5 (.839)

1-0 (1.000)

Totals

0-2

333-236 (.585)

30-16 (.652)

Quick Hitters
The information below provides a quick glimpse of a few statistics and brief notes of interest to keep in mind as the Huskers seek their fourth Big 12 tournament championship this weekend in Oklahoma City:

• NU is 21-2 when out-hitting its opponent this season, but is 1-25 when being out-hit or when the hits are even.
• The Huskers have been successful on 67-of-80 stolen base attempts (84 percent) this season. Nebraska has exceeded last year’s total, when NU swiped 51 bases in 71 tries (72 percent).
• Nebraska is just 3-3 in one-run games this season. Not only has NU played only six one-run games this year, the Huskers have played 30 games decided by four runs or more. Last season, the Huskers were 15-10 in one-run games while only 11 of Nebraska’s 57 games were decided by four or more runs.
• Nebraska is 275-4 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 just 2-21 this season when trailing after three innings of play, but both of those two victories came last week (Iowa State and Missouri).
• 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 205 runs, allowing 200 runs scored for the first time since 1996 (230).
• NU has played 15 consecutive games against teams with a winning record, including four games against 2008 conference champions and six contests against teams ranked in the top 25 at one point this season. Five more came against teams that have received at least one vote in the polls this season. The Huskers, who will face another winning team on Friday night against Kansas, are 6-9 in their current stretch against teams with a winning record.
• Four Huskers have hit their first career triple this season, while Nebraska has legged out six triples as a team this season. Last year, NU hit just two triples all season.

Coming Back
In its five games last week, Nebraska showed a great ability to come from behind. The Huskers trailed in all five games last week, but NU rebounded to win three of those games while rallying to tie a fourth before falling in extra innings. Entering the week, Nebraska had come from behind to win a game it trailed at the end of any complete inning only once all season.

The Huskers’ comeback ability started last Tuesday with a come-from-behind victory over Iowa State. Trailing 1-0 in the fourth, Nebraska exploded for six runs in the inning to win for the only time this season when trailing after three innings of play. The Huskers had been 0-19 entering the game when trailing after three innings.

NU then erased a pair of one-run deficits in rallying for a 5-4 victory over Kansas the next day. The Jayhawks led 1-0 after the first inning before Nebraska tied the game in the second and took a 2-1 lead after five. KU scored three runs in the top of the sixth to take a 4-2 lead, but NU answered with three two-out runs in the bottom of the frame to post the 5-4 win.

The Huskers nearly rallied for another comeback victory in the nightcap of the Kansas doubleheader. KU led 2-1 after the first inning before the Huskers pulled even in the fourth. Kansas then led 3-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh before freshman Ashley Guile’s first career home run sent the game to extra innings. The Huskers were unable to complete the comeback, however, as KU scored three runs in the eighth to post a 6-3 victory.

On the weekend, Nebraska trailed Missouri, 3-1, after two innings of play. The Huskers were still down by a run after three before scoring five unanswered runs to roll to a 7-3 victory. In game two of the series, the Tigers erupted for seven runs over the first four innings and although the Huskers were never able to catch up, NU did score four unanswered runs to cut into the deficit, while Nebraska even brought the tying run to the plate in the fifth inning.

Offense Coming Alive
Led by five strong performances last week, the Nebraska offense has emerged with its best outputs in the final week of the regular season. NU’s recent five-game stretch has come against solid competition as well, as every team the Huskers have faced in that stretch has had a winning record, including two games against a Missouri squad that finished third in the Big 12 standings and has moved in and out of the top-25 polls this season, and two more contests against a Kansas team that has been among the list of teams receiving votes in the polls this season.

Even before the five-game surge, the Huskers started to emerge by producing three runs off Texas A&M All-American Megan Gibson on the final Sunday of April. NU finished that game with eight hits, marking the most hits Gibson allowed to any Big 12 opponent this season. The Huskers then recorded six runs on 11 hits against Iowa State to open the week, before scoring eight runs on 20 hits in the two games against Kansas the next day. On the weekend, Nebraska totaled 10 runs on 20 hits in two games against Missouri.

Overall, the Huskers easily scored more runs over their last five conference games than they did in their first 13 games combined. Nebraska also averaged more than 10 hits per game over its last five games, while averaging less than five over its first 13 games.

Long Breaks Out
Junior Haley Long broke out of a recent slump in a big way last week. Long snapped an 0-for-17 skid with a bunt single in her final at bat against Iowa State last Tuesday. That hit ignited a stretch where Long recorded hits in five consecutive at bats, including slugging two doubles. Long has also reached base safely in nine of her last 11 plate appearances.

In four games last week, Long hit .583 (7-for-12) while scoring three runs. Nebraska was 3-1 with Long in the lineup, as a migraine forced Long to sit out the regular-season finale against Missouri. Long also slugged two doubles against Kansas to mark her second game this season with at least two doubles.

Bottom’s Up
Leading the way for Nebraska’s strong offensive finish to the regular season was the play of sophomore Whitney Barrett and freshman Heidi Foland, the Huskers’ primary No. 8 and 9 hitters. In leading Nebraska to 25 runs and a .345 team average in five Big 12 Conference games last week, Barrett hit .438 (7-for-16) while scoring four runs and adding five RBIs. Foland was even better, hitting .538 (7-for-13), scoring five times and driving in four. Combined, Foland and Barrett produced 18 of Nebraska’s 25 runs last week. For her efforts, Foland became the first Husker freshman since Nicole Trimboli in 2001 to earn Big 12 player-of-the-week honors.

Their recent hot streaks have highlighted strong finishes from both players, as each player’s statistics are noticeably higher during the second half of the season when compared to the first half of the year.

Carwile Records Second Double-Digit Home Run Season
Junior Crystal Carwile has homered six times in her past 12 games to give her 11 roundtrippers on the season. After hitting 12 homers as a freshman, Carwile has now recorded two double-digit home runs seasons through her first three years. Carwile joins three-time All-Americans Ali Viola and Jennifer Lizama as the only players in the 33-year history of Husker softball to produce two double-digit home run seasons in a career.

Carwile Joins Exclusive 100-100-100 Club
Junior Crystal Carwile hit her 26th career home run against Missouri last Saturday, in the process scoring the 100th run of her career. The homer allowed Carwile to join an exclusive club of Huskers who have produced 100 career hits, 100 career runs scored and 100 career RBIs. The list includes only seven players and Carwile joined three-time All-American Ali Viola as the only players in school history to reach all three milestones prior to their senior season.

After completing the third category last weekend, Carwile now boasts 146 career hits, 102 RBIs and 101 runs scored. Below is a look at the list of Huskers who are members of the 100-100-100 club (listed in the order they joined the club):

Name (years)

Hits

RBIs

Runs

Tobin Echo-Hawk (1993-96)

266

134

168

Ali Viola (1995-98)*

263

213

157

Jennifer Lizama (1997-2000)

254

135

199

Amanda Buchholz (2000-03)

184

115

127

Kim Ogee (2000-03)

263

113

182

Nicole Trimboli (2001-04)

232

126

173

Crystal Carwile (2006-present)*

146

102

101

*only players to reach the 100-100-100 club prior to their senior season

Hill Records 500th Strikeout
Junior right-hander Molly Hill struck out the side in the seventh inning against Missouri last Sunday and her first punch out of the frame marked her 500th career strikeout. Although she already ranks sixth on Nebraska’s all-time strikeout list, Hill still has a long ways to go to catch Jenny Voss in fifth place, who struck out 708 in her career.

Huskers on Home Run Binge
Led by junior Crystal Carwile, Nebraska has enjoyed a recent power surge. The Huskers have homered in eight of their last 14 games, including six home runs from Carwile. Freshman Kelli Linke got the streak started by belting her first career home run against Creighton on April 9. Freshman Ashley Guile also hit her first career homer during the recent hot streak, while Carwile hit Nebraska’s last homer in the first inning against Missouri last Saturday.

Overall, the Huskers have slugged eight home runs in their past 14 games after totaling just six home runs through the first 34 contests. With the recent surge, Nebraska has now homered 14 times this season to equal last year’s season total. The Huskers matched last year’s total in nine fewer games.

Nebraska Sets Single-Season Hit-by-Pitch Record
Nebraska was hit by its 40th pitch of the season last Sunday against Missouri, establishing a new school record for most hit-by-pitches in a season. The Huskers set the record by being hit by 39 pitches last season and NU was stuck on 39 for more than four games before eclipsing the mark against the Tigers. The new record marks the third consecutive season the Huskers have set a new team record.

Leading the way has been junior Darcy Rutherford and freshman Julie Brechtel. Rutherford has been hit by a team-high eight pitches this season, a total that ranks second in Nebraska single-season history. Brechtel is right behind with seven hit-by-pitches to rank seventh in the record book.

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.