Hill Pitches Huskers Past Baylor

Waco, Texas - In a battle of two of the top pitchers in the Big 12 Conference, Husker ace Molly Hill out-dueled Baylor's Whitney Canion in the Nebraska softball team's 1-0 victory over the Lady Bears on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Getterman Stadium.

After allowing a career-high 14 hits in a 10-inning loss on Saturday, Hill tossed a three-hit shutout against Baylor on Sunday. Each of the hits Hill allowed was a single, including one infield single. With the win, Hill improved to 20-9 on the season, joining Canion as two of the Big 12's three 20-game winners this season.

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Canion (21-13) pitched well in defeat, as she struck out 11 and allowed only one run in a four-hit performance.

 

With the win, Nebraska evened its Big 12 record at 7-7 while improving to 30-13 overall. Baylor fell to 33-17 with the loss and the Lady Bears dropped to 9-5 in conference play.

 

Husker Head Coach Rhonda Revelle was pleased with the way her team bounced back from Saturday's 10-inning loss, especially with the way Hill pitched.

 

"Molly pitched an outstanding game today," Revelle said. "We played solid defense behind her and Darcy came up with a clutch hit. I was just really proud of the way the team fought and competed today."

 

With the pitchers in control in the circle, scoring chances were hard to come by. Nebraska had its first scoring chance in the top of the second. A leadoff hit batter and a one-out walk put Huskers at first and second with one out before a double play ended the inning.

 

The Huskers took a 1-0 lead one inning later. Freshman Jamie Gay got things started with a one-out double to the wall in left. Senior Meghan Mullin then hit a grounder back to the pitcher, but Canion threw high to first base. Mullin was originally ruled out but after the umpires met, it was ruled that Canion's throw pulled the first baseman off the bag and Mullin was ruled safe. Mullin then stole second before senior Darcy Rutherford lined an RBI single to left to score Gay with the game's only run.

 

After retiring nine in a row, Hill ran into some trouble in the bottom of the fourth. A one-out single and a four-pitch walk put runners at first and second. Nicole Wesley was then retired on a nice sliding catch by Mullin in center before Hill escaped the jam by getting an inning-ending ground out on the next pitch.

 

A seemingly harmless two-out infield single in the bottom of the fifth nearly turned into disaster for the Huskers. After reaching on the infield hit, Tiffany Wesley then stole second. On her steal, the ball bounced away allowing her to move up to third. Shortstop Whitney Barrett tracked down the ball for NU and tried to get Wesley at third, but her throw was wild. Wesley then attempted to score and she actually beat Gay's throw home but missed home plate on her slide and was tagged out to end the inning.

 

Nebraska missed a golden opportunity to add an insurance run in the top of the seventh. Sophomore Kelli Linke led off the inning with a double to right before freshman pinch-runner Nikki Haget moved up to third on a sacrifice bunt from senior Haley Long. With Haget on third and only one out, the Huskers were unable to bring her home as a strikeout and a fly out ended the inning.

 

In the bottom of the seventh, Hill retired the first two batters on three pitches before walking the next two batters to put the tying

runner in scoring position for the top of the Baylor order. Nicole Wesley then grounded to Gay at third to end the game.

Gay was one of four Huskers to record a hit in the game, while she scored the game's lone run. Rutherford added the only RBI of the game, her 10th of the season.

 

Following the two-game series at Baylor, the Huskers host their final home games next week, beginning with a Wednesday doubleheader against Northern Iowa.

 

Box Score

                             2009 Nebraska Softball

                               Nebraska at Baylor

                Apr 19, 2009 at Waco, Texas (Getterman Stadium)

 

Nebraska 1 (30-13,7-7 Big 12)

 

Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB

------------------------------------------------------

Mullin, Meghan cf........  3  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0

Rutherford, Darcy lf.....  3  0  1  1   0  1  1  0   0

Duran, Amanda c..........  3  0  0  0   0  3  4  0   0

Carwile, Crystal 1b......  2  0  0  0   0  1 11  0   2

Brechtel, Julie 2b.......  3  0  0  0   0  2  1  3   0

Linke, Kelli dp..........  2  0  1  0   1  1  0  0   0

 Haget, Nikki pr.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0

Long, Haley rf...........  2  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   1

Barrett, Whitney ss......  2  0  0  0   0  2  2  4   1

 Foland, Heidi ph........  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0

Gay, Jamie 3b............  3  1  1  0   0  0  1  5   1

Hill, Molly p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0

Totals................... 24  1  4  1   1 11 21 13   5

 

Baylor 0 (33-17,9-5 Big 12)

 

Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB

------------------------------------------------------

Wesley, Tiffany lf.......  4  0  2  0   0  0  0  0   2

 Lujan, Sophia lf........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0

Walker, Kayce rf.........  2  0  0  0   1  0  1  0   0

 Wilson, Sydney ph.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0

Reagan, Brette dp........  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0

Colyer, Alex 1b..........  3  0  1  0   0  0  2  1   0

Oberg, Courtney c........  2  0  0  0   1  1 11  0   3

Wesley, Nicole cf........  3  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0

Turk, Megan 3b...........  3  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   2

Weldon, Meagan 2b........  2  0  0  0   1  0  6  0   0

Hanafin, Bree ss.........  2  0  0  0   1  0  0  1   0

Canion, Whitney p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0

Totals................... 22  0  3  0   4  2 21  2   7

 

Score by Innings                  R  H  E

-----------------------------------------

Nebraska............ 001 000 0 -  1  4  1

Baylor.............. 000 000 0 -  0  3  1

-----------------------------------------

 

E - Duran(6); Canion. DP - Lady Bears 1. LOB - Huskers 5; Lady Bears 7. 2B -

Linke(5); Gay(3). HBP - Carwile; Regan. SH - Long(8); Regan. SB -

Mullin(19); Rutherford(11); Wesley, T.

 

Nebraska               IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP

--------------------------------------------------

Hill, Molly.........  7.0  3  0  0  4  2 22 28  83

 

Baylor                 IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP

--------------------------------------------------

Canion, Whitney.....  7.0  4  1  1  1 11 24 27 110

 

Win - Hill (20-9).  Loss - Canion (21-13).  Save - None.

HBP - by Hill (Regan); by Canion (Carwile). Pitches/strikes: Hill 83/47; Canion

110/76.

Umpires - HP: Steve McCown  1B: Terry Holt  3B: Larry Nagel

Start: 11:59 am   Time: 1:50   Attendance: 1076

Game: NU43