Huskers Restored Tradition in 2009

A return trip to the NCAA Tournament highlighted a successful season for the 2009 Nebraska softball team. After qualifying for 13 consecutive NCAA Tournaments from 1995 to 2007, NU missed out on the postseason in 2008. But led by the largest senior class in program history, the Huskers made it back into the NCAA Tournament in 2009.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Along the journey back to the postseason, Nebraska posted its best single-season turnaround since 2000, winning 10 more games in 2009 than it did in 2008. The Huskers also recorded their 1,000th win of the NCAA era, making Nebraska one of only 10 programs nationally to win 1,000 games since softball became an officially sanctioned NCAA sport in 1982. Head Coach Rhonda Revelle, who completed her 17th season at Nebraska in 2009, also picked up her 650th career victory during the season and the Huskers’ opening win the NCAA Tournament marked Revelle’s 650th win at her alma mater.

 

The postseason berth capped a season-long quest to restore the tradition of a proud program that ranks in the top 10 all-time in NCAA Tournament wins (51), NCAA Tournament appearances (19) and Women’s College World Series appearances (seven). In getting back to the postseason, several school records fell while Nebraska added to its nation-leading total of CoSIDA Academic All-Americans.

 

Four Huskers earned All-Big 12 recognition, including first-team selection Molly Hill and second-team honorees Crystal Carwile, Amanda Duran and Meghan Mullin. Hill, Carwile and Mullin were all repeat all-conference selections, while Carwile became the eighth Husker to be a four-time All-Big 12 pick since the conference was formed in 1996. Sophomore Julie Brechtel was also honored as a Big 12 Championship all-tournament selection and added Nebraska’s lone Big 12 Player-of-the-Week award in 2009. In the circle, Hill was a two-time Big 12 Pitcher-of-the-Week selection, while freshman Ashley Hagemann earned the same honor following the first weekend of her career.

 

The Huskers also excelled off the field. Hill was named a first-team CoSIDA Academic All-American, giving Nebraska a national-best 26 all-time selections. Hill became NU’s seventh first-team honoree and sixth repeat selection. Mullin joined Hill as a first-team academic all-district selection and at the conference level, seven Huskers were named to the academic All-Big 12 team. The seven selections were the most for Nebraska since 1999, while six Huskers earned first-team accolades, the most since 2002.

 

Back on the diamond, Nebraska posted impressive offensive totals while returning to its proud tradition of pitching success. Under the direction of first-year hitting coach Diane Miller, Nebraska showed more patience and power at the plate. The Huskers slugged 31 home runs in 2009 after combing for only 29 home runs the previous two seasons combined. Ten Huskers homered on the season, marking the highest total in the 34-year history of the program.

 

Nebraska established three team offensive records in 2009. In addition to totaling a school-record 15 sacrifice flies, the Huskers were hit by a school-record 48 pitches and NU’s average of 3.35 walks per game was easily the highest in school annals. The hit batters and walks helped Nebraska post the third-best on-base percentage (.382) in school history to go along with the sixth-best batting average (.277). More baserunners combined with increased power meant more runs for Nebraska. The Huskers scored 251 runs on the season, totaling 250 runs scored for just the second time in the last five years. NU averaged 4.65 runs per game, the fifth-highest total in program history.

 

In the circle, Nebraska rebounded from a sub-par 2008 campaign to finish with the second-best ERA in the Big 12 in 2009 (1.95). The Huskers allowed 89 fewer runs in 2009 than they did in 2008 while holding opponents to a meager .218 batting average. Nebraska also surrendered just 20 home runs on the season, including only two in Big 12 play, which is believed to be a conference record. Hill’s first-team All-Big 12 selection carried on the rich tradition of Husker pitchers earning postseason accolades. With Hill’s selection, Nebraska increased its Big 12-leading total to 16 all-conference pitchers over the first 14 years of the league. Hill was also Nebraska’s 12th first-team All-Big 12 pitching selection, which is the highest total in the conference.

 

Hill was one of seven seniors for Nebraska in 2009, the most in program history. That came as a stark contrast to 2008 when the Huskers were without a single senior for the only time in the 34-year history of Nebraska softball. The leadership of the senior class and its desire to restore the program’s tradition fueled the Huskers’ return trip to the NCAA Tournament.

 

The season began indoors on an Astroturf football field at the UNI-Dome Classic in Cedar Falls, Iowa. After an offseason of work with Coach Miller, the Husker hitters were anxious to step into the box and once they did, the results did not disappoint. Nebraska totaled 34 runs while going 4-0 at the tournament, tying a school record in the process by scoring at least 10 runs in three straight games. As good as the offense was, Hagemann was the star of the weekend, as she threw a one-hitter in her career debut, striking out 19 batters, a Nebraska record for a seven-inning game. For her efforts, she became the first Husker freshman pitcher since 2001 to earn the honor of Big 12 Pitcher of the Week.

 

Nebraska then got a step up in competition two weeks later, when the Huskers traveled to California to compete in the prestigious Cathedral City Classic. NU played four of its five games that weekend against NCAA Tournament teams, opening with a run-rule victory over NCAA Tournament qualifier UNLV to start a season 5-0 for the first time since 2003. The Huskers would finish the tournament with a 2-3 record however after losing a pair of games to No. 12 Northwestern and eventual national champion Washington on the final day of the tournament.

 

The Huskers dropped a third straight game to a ranked team at the NFCA Leadoff Classic, falling to UMass, 3-0. Nebraska rebounded to close the month of February with a 5-2 victory over Penn State to conclude the rain-shortened classic. The win came with somber news however, as All-American transfer pitcher Robin Mackin elected to undergo season-ending surgery after throwing her first ? and only ? 2.0 innings of the season against the Nittany Lions.

 

Even without Mackin, the Huskers rolled through the month of March. Nebraska entered March with a solid 7-4 record, but by the time the month was complete, the Huskers had already matched their 2008 victory total by boasting an impressive 25-7 record. That marked the second-best 32-game record in school history and was fueled by an 18-2 March record that included three separate six-game winning streaks and a nine-game winning streak at Bowlin Stadium.

 

The impressive month began on the road, as Nebraska swept through the Wichita State Shocker Invitational, posting a 4-0 record. The Huskers earned two run-rule victories in the event while outscoring their opponents 38-7.

 

NU then wrapped up its tournament travels back in California at another prestigious event, the Judi Garman Classic. The Huskers finished an impressive 4-1 at the tournament, tying for the best record among the 17-team tournament field that included nine ranked teams and four top-10 squads. Brechtel stole the show in her return to her hometown of Fullerton, as she earned Big 12 Player-of-the-Week honors for her effort at the tournament. In five games at the classic, Brechtel led all hitters in the tournament with a .583 average, while adding seven RBIs and five runs scored.

 

Riding the momentum of a terrific weekend, the Huskers opened the home portion of their schedule with a pair of hard-fought, extra-inning wins over a North Dakota State squad that went on to win the NCAA Norman Regional. The Huskers then swept a doubleheader from South Dakota that capped the second six-game win streak and gave NU 13 wins in 14 games. In game two, Mullin walked four times to tie the school record for walks in a game. Overall, she drew walks in six consecutive plate appearances, which is believed to be a school record.

 

The Huskers opened Big 12 play at 19th-ranked Texas A&M, losing a heartbreaker in game one before rallying for an extra-inning victory in game two that marked NU’s first win at College Station since 2000. In game two, Nebraska trailed 1-0 with two outs and nobody on in the top of the seventh inning before senior Brittany Pascale got the rally started with a walk on a 3-2 pitch. Junior pinch-hitter Alex Hupp followed with a single before sophomore pinch-hitter Kelli Linke scored freshman pinch-runner Nikki Haget with an RBI single to tie the game. In the ninth, Brechtel led off with a single before fellow sophomore Heidi Foland followed with a double. Pascale brought Brechtel home with a sacrifice fly and Foland scored on a squeeze from Hupp to cap the 3-2 win.

 

Nebraska ventured back into non-conference play in the midweek, sweeping a doubleheader from South Dakota State by the combined score of 16-0 in two run-rule wins. The next day was more difficult for the Huskers as they managed to get by a scrappy Drake squad. In game one, Nebraska trailed 2-0 in the fifth inning before the Huskers scored four runs off three home runs in the span of four batters. In game two, Drake led 4-3 heading into the sixth inning before Nebraska rallied for four runs to earn its 18th win in 20 games.

 

The Huskers closed March with a doubleheader split with Oklahoma State at Bowlin Stadium. Nebraska again needed a late rally in game one, scoring four times in the sixth inning to rally for a 6-3 win. In game two, Oklahoma State broke a scoreless tie with two six-inning runs that proved to be the only runs of the game.

 

The loss to the Cowgirls started a four-game losing streak for the Huskers that included a pair of one-run losses at 12th-ranked Oklahoma in the only Big 12 series of the season where Nebraska was swept. The Huskers got back in the win column at Kansas on April 8, winning game one of a doubleheader. But in game two, Nebraska lost a seventh-inning lead for just the fourth time in six years, losing by one on a walk-off, two-run single.

 

The Huskers bounced back from that defeat with a two-game sweep over No. 20 Texas on Easter weekend. Freshman Jamie Gay was the sparkplug in game one, as she made her Big 12 career debut as she doubled and scored the game-tying run. In game two, Linke stepped up, finishing with a career-high five RBIs in Nebraska’s 5-2 win.

 

 

That would be the Huskers’ only sweep of the conference season however. Nebraska split with Iowa State, winning 10-0 in five innings before losing 4-3 two days later. Two weeks later against Texas Tech, the Huskers won 8-0 in five innings before again falling 4-3 in the second meeting. In between those two unusual series was a contest at NCAA Regional champion Baylor, where the Huskers lost 4-3 in 10 innings in game one before winning 1-0 in game two in an outstanding performance from Hill.

 

Nebraska’s final three midweek games all came against teams from the Missouri Valley Conference. The Huskers split a doubleheader with Northern Iowa, as a season-high five errors allowed the Panthers to win game two. One week later, the Huskers traveled to Omaha and topped Creighton 3-1.

 

The Huskers closed the regular season at Missouri against a Tiger squad that was the Big 12’s lone representative at the Women’s College World Series. Nebraska opened the series by handing Missouri its worst loss of the season, 6-1, behind the only home runs of the season from Linke and junior Whitney Barrett. The Tigers came back to win 5-0 in game two, despite recording only three hits.

 

Postseason play began at the Big 12 Championship, where the Huskers earned the No. 5 seed and faced a rematch with Texas. After limiting the powerful Longhorn offense to only three runs in the two regular-season meetings, Texas exploded for 10 runs in Oklahoma City to win a 10-5 slugfest. Brechtel and Foland highlighted the loss with back-to-back home runs, as Brechtel finished 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs to earn a spot on the all-tournament team.

 

NU was sent to Knoxville, Tenn., for its 19th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance. The Huskers opened the regional with a 4-2 nine-inning win over eventual regional champion Jacksonville State. Nebraska led Tennessee 1-0 in its next game, before the Lady Vols rallied for a 5-2 win. The Huskers then saw their season come to a close with a 4-1 loss to Jacksonville State. Duran ended her career in style in Knoxville, going 5-for-10 with two RBIs in the three postseason games.

 

Nebraska finished the season with a 35-19 record, including a 9-9 mark in Big 12 play that led to a fifth-place finish. Nine of the Huskers’ losses came by just a single run, including eight of NU’s nine conference defeats. Nebraska scored 121 more runs than its opponents in only 54 games, winning by an average of more than two runs per game. Along the way, Nebraska posted 11 run-rule victories after combining for only six run-rule wins over the previous two seasons.

 

With the season complete, Nebraska said goodbye to the largest senior class in program history. The seven-player group combined for 141 wins, three NCAA Tournament appearances and two Big 12 runner-up finishes over the last four years. Individually, the seniors combined to earn a total of nine All-Big 12 awards and two CoSIDA Academic All-America certificates. But collectively, they helped restored the tradition of Husker softball.