Nebraska Set to Play First-Ever Games in Alabama

The Nebraska softball team heads south this weekend for the program’s first-ever games in the state of Alabama, as the Huskers travel to the Tiger Invitational, hosted by Auburn University.

Nebraska takes a three-game winning streak into a doubleheader with Central Michigan on Friday, before facing Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and host Auburn on Saturday. The Huskers close their schedule with a morning matchup against Ohio on Sunday.

Huskers.com will have complete coverage of all five games in the tournament. Free audio will be available for every game on Huskers.com, with Nate Rohr calling all of the action. Live stats will also be available for every game and new this season is a live chat feature where fans can receive updates from the games, post questions or comments and chat with other fans.

The Huskers are 3-3 on the season, winning their final three games of the season-opening Hotel Encanto Tournament last week, after dropping their first three games of the season. Nebraska had the lead in five of its six games last weekend and two of its three losses were by only one run, including one extra-inning loss in which the Huskers were ahead by two with two outs in the top of the seventh inning.

A young Nebraska offense was the highlight of the opening weekend, as the Huskers hit .298 as a team and produced 12 doubles and five home runs in six games, while averaging nearly six runs per game. The Husker lineup was heavy on freshmen and sophomores, as those two classes combined for 30 starts and 91 at bats, while the juniors and seniors combined for only 28 starts and 80 at bats, including five starts and 14 at bats from junior Tori Tyson, a converted pitcher who had earned only one at bat in her career prior to this season.

The young lineup struggled on the first day of the season, as Nebraska dropped both games of a doubleheader at New Mexico State, falling 4-2 and 2-1. The Huskers missed scoring chances in both games, going 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position in each contest. The opening-game lineup featured four players who had started one game or less in their Nebraska careers, while seven of the nine hitters in the game two lineup had 15 or fewer at bats last season.

After gaining experience and playing outside for the first time on opening day, the Husker bats came alive over the final four games of the tournament. Nebraska scored at least six runs in its final four games of the tournament, averaging eight runs and 10 hits per contest. The Huskers also began to show their power, homering in each of the four games and five times total, while also producing 12 doubles.

Junior Heidi Foland and sophomore Ashley Guile led the offensive charge. Foland batted .474 with two home runs and four RBIs, with an .842 slugging percentage and a .583 on-base percentage. When moved to the leadoff spot, Foland went 6-for-14 with two homers and three RBIs. Guile hit .500 with four doubles and eight RBIs, while also adding four walks, and she did not strike out in 23 plate appearances.

Scouting the Central Michigan Chippewas (0-0)
Central Michigan is opening its 2010 season this weekend with a pair of games against the Huskers on Friday. The Chippewas return eight letterwinners from last season’s 12-31 squad. Central Michigan is coached by Margo Jonker, who is in her 30th season and owns 979 career Division I wins, a total that ranks ninth all-time. Jonker is also a NFCA Hall of Fame selection, pitting a pair of hall of fame coaches against each other, as Husker Head Coach Rhonda Revelle was selected for induction into the NFCA Hall of Fame last December.

In 2009, Central Michigan was outscored by an average of 1.5 runs per game. The Chippewas hit .235 as a team with 17 home runs and a .309 on-base percentage. CMU lost its only .300 hitter from last season, while Katie Greenman (.288, 3 HR, 18 RBIs) returns as the Chippewas’ top hitter. Christina Novak returns as the top power threat after leading CMU in runs (21), home runs (5) and RBIs (19) in 2009.

In the circle, the Chippewas used a four-pitcher staff to post a 3.11 ERA in 2009. But only two pitchers return from the staff and those hurlers combined for only 20.2 of the team’s 286.0 innings last season (7 percent). Courtney King was 0-3 with a 4.20 ERA in 11.2 innings, while Greenman was 0-2 with a 9.33 ERA in 9.0 innings. Returning to the staff is Kari Seddon, who was 10-9 with a 1.91 ERA in 2008, but missed all of 2009 with an injury.

Nebraska leads the all-time series with Central Michigan, 4-3, but the teams have met only once since Revelle took over as head coach in 1993. The most recent meeting was a 4-2 Central Michigan win in 1994.

Scouting the Southern Illinois-Edwardsville Cougars (1-2)
Southern Illinois-Edwardsville is in its second year of reclassifying to the Division I level. SIUE fared well in its first transitional season in 2009, posting a 40-10 record and receiving votes in the top 25 polls. The Cougars went 1-2 at the South Alabama Tournament last weekend, and SIUE plays at Jacksonville State on Thursday prior to participating in the Tiger Invitational.

In its first three games of the season, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville was outscored 14-9, but 10 of the runs the Cougars allowed came in a 10-6 loss to Samford. SIUE held its other two opponents to only four runs, although the Cougar offense hit just .203 and averaged only three runs per game.

Ellese Lawrence went 2-for-6 in the opening weekend, while leading the team with two doubles and tying three other players for team-high honors with two RBIs. Megan Murphy batted .429, scored twice and also drove in two runs, while every other Cougar hit .250 or below.

In the circle, SIUE posted a 3.50 ERA despite allowing the 10 runs to Samford. Erika Taylor went 1-1 and threw 13.0 of a possible 20.0 innings, striking out 10 and posting a 2.15 ERA. In her final outing she threw a two-hit shutout against Western Kentucky. Ali Downing (0-1, 5.83 ERA in 6.0 innings) and Lindsey Coleman (0-0, 7.00 ERA in 1.0 inning) also saw action in the circle.

Nebraska and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville will be meeting for the first time on Saturday.

Scouting the Auburn Tigers (3-2)
Nebraska will play its third road game of the season when it plays the host Auburn Tigers. Auburn is 3-2 on the season after winning its final three games at the Kajikawa Classic last weekend. The Tigers’ only two losses came to top-five squads Washington and Arizona State, while all five of Auburn’s games have been against BCS Conference teams, including a 6-1 win over Big 12 foe Texas Tech.

Auburn has been outscored 22-20 on the season, but that number is misleading, as the Tigers dropped a 14-2 five-inning decision at Arizona State in their second game of the season. Auburn pitching has given up seven homers in five games, while the Tigers have only recorded five extra-base hits (three doubles, two home runs).

Offensively, three Tigers are hitting better than .300 this season. Kelsey Cartwright leads the team with a .400 average, as she went 4-for-10 with a double and three RBIs last week. Amber Harrison is hitting .364 and leads the team with one double, one home run and six RBIs. Kelley Smiley is batting .308, while Krista Clyde has homered once and driven in five runs.

In the circle, veteran Anna Thompson is 1-0 on the season with a 2.33 ERA. Thompson ranks sixth nationally among all active Division I pitchers in career strikeouts, but she threw only 9.0 innings the opening weekend. She allowed just four hits, but two of those were home runs. Lauren Schmalz saw the most action, posting a 1-0 record and a 4.06 ERA while appearing in four games, including one start and one save. Jenee Loree (1-1, 4.67 ERA in 6.0 innings) and Angel Bunner (0-0, 5.25 ERA in 6.2 innings) also pitched at least 1.0 inning at the Kajikawa Classic.

Nebraska leads the all-time series with Auburn, 3-0. The teams met twice at the Paradise Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 2007, with Nebraska winning 1-0 in both games, including an eight-inning victory in the first meeting. Thompson made her career debut against the Huskers in the first meeting, tossing all 8.0 innings and allowing only one unearned run on five hits, while striking out 11.

Scouting the Ohio Bobcats (0-5)
Nebraska closes the tournament with a contest against Ohio. The Bobcats are 0-5 on the season after dropping all five games at the Kajikawa Classic last weekend. The record could be better as Ohio lost a pair of one-run games, including a 4-3 setback to No. 1 Washington.

Ohio hit just .183 as a team last weekend and the Bobcats allowed more than twice as many runs (25) as they scored (12). Ohio also committed nine errors.

Deanna Hartsough led the Bobcats with a .308 average during the opening weekend, going 4-for-13. No other starter hit better than .286, while only four players produced an RBI. Emily Wethington and Caitlin Colvin each homered and drove in two runs to tie for team-high honors in both categories.

In the circle, Wethington and Melissa Bonner split the majority of the innings. Wethington posted an 0-2 record and a 2.77 ERA in a team-high 13.0 innings, including the Bobcats’ only two complete games. Bonner was 0-2 with a 2.25 ERA in 12.0 innings. Candace Saucedo (0-0, 2.45 ERA in 3.2 innings) and Colvin (0-1, 10.80 ERA in 3.1 innings) also saw action at the Kajikawa Classic.

Nebraska and Ohio will be meeting for the first time on Sunday.

Quick Hitters
The information below provides a quick glimpse of a few statistics and brief notes of interest as the Huskers travel to Auburn, Ala., for the Tiger Invitational.

• The Huskers are 122-71 (.632) all-time in the month of February, including a 7-4 record last season.
• NU has posted a winning month of February in seven of the last eight seasons (3-6 in 2008).
• Under Revelle, Nebraska is 113-68 (.624) in February. She has posted a winning month of February 12 times in 16 seasons (the Huskers did not play a game in February of 1993, Revelle’s first season).
• The Huskers will play a true road game at Auburn on Saturday. Nebraska is 0-2 on the road this season after losing a doubleheader at New Mexico State last Thursday. NU posted a 9-7 road record last season, snapping a two-year streak of losing road records. Prior to that, the Huskers posted a winning road record every year from 1995 to 2006.
• Junior Robin Mackin enters play this weekend with 97 career hits, including 95 at Fresno State during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. She could reach the 100-hit milestone this weekend, and she is the only Husker with more than 75 career hits.
• Junior Heidi Foland has started 100 games in her career, after earning her first career start at second base against Penn State last Sunday.
• Nebraska committed at least one error in all six games last week, finishing with a total of 12 errors. Last season, the Huskers didn’t commit their 12th error of the season until the 18th game of the year.

Huskers Put up Offensive Numbers in Opening Weekend
The Nebraska offense hit .298 and scored 35 runs in six games last weekend. After being held to only three runs and 11 hits on the first day of the season, Nebraska averaged eight runs and 10 hits per game over the final four contests.

The Huskers also slugged 12 doubles and hit five home runs to post a .456 slugging percentage, while coaxing 18 walks and nine hit-by-pitches to post a .388 on-base percentage.

Other highlights from the offensive weekend include:

• Nebraska scored at least six runs in its final four games, tying for the longest such streak at NU since 1996.
• Sixteen of the Huskers’ 35 total runs scored with two outs, as the lineup produced 16 two-out RBIs.
• NU scored at least one run in 17 of 41 innings last weekend (41 percent). Over the final three games of the tournament, Nebraska scored at least one run in 11 of 19 innings (58 percent).
• Nebraska scored first in five of the six games last weekend, including scoring five times in the first inning.
• The Huskers have homered in each of their last four games, marking only the second time that has happened over the past four seasons.
• Freshmen Gabby Banda and Brooke Thomason each homered last weekend, after no freshman homered in 2009. In fact, during the 2007, 2008 and 2009 seasons, a grand total of two freshmen hit home runs. Banda and Thomason are the first pair of freshmen to homer in the same season since Crystal Carwile and Brittany Pascale in 2006. The last time more than two freshmen homered in the same season was when three freshmen (Ali Viola, Jenny Smith and Angela Blackwood) combined for 24 home runs in 1995.

Foland Continues Trend of Fast Starts
Junior Heidi Foland has been a fast starter in each of her first two seasons as a Husker. That trend continued last weekend at the Hotel Encanto Tournament in Las Cruces, N.M., when Foland went 9-for-16 with a double, two home runs and four RBIs.

In her career, Foland is a .367 hitter in the month of February, and five of her eight home runs have come during the opening month of the year.

Guile Makes a Triumphant Return
After redshirting last season, sophomore Ashley Guile made an impressive return to the field in the opening week of the 2010 season. Guile went 9-for-18 in six games at the Hotel Encanto Tournament, producing four doubles and eight RBIs, while setting single-game career highs for hits (3), runs (2), doubles (2), walks (2) and RBIs (5). She also coaxed four walks and did not strike out in 22 total plate appearances.

In the final game of the tournament, Guile led Nebraska to a comeback win over Penn State with a 3-for-4 day that included two doubles and a career-high five RBIs. Her two-run double in the sixth inning erased a one-run deficit and proved to be the game-winning hit.

Guile reached base safely in her first four plate appearances of the season, coaxing three walks and adding a double and an RBI. She then picked up her first multi-hit game of the season with a 2-for-4 day that included a double and a career-high two runs scored against UTSA. The next day against UTEP, Guile picked up her second RBI of the season, before setting a career high in hits with a 3-for-4 effort against Colorado State that included an RBI. She concluded her tournament with her career day against Penn State, as she closed the weekend 5-for-6 with two doubles, two walks and six RBIs in her final two games.

Mackin Returns to the Circle
Junior right-hander Robin Mackin made her first collegiate start in exactly 1,000 days in the season opener at New Mexico State last Thursday. Mackin went on to appear in four of the Huskers’ six games at the Hotel Encanto Tournament, finishing with a 2-1 record and a 2.14 ERA in 16.1 innings.

In the season opener, Mackin took the loss, allowing four runs (three earned) in a complete-game effort. After getting that first start under her belt, Mackin allowed only two runs over her final 10.1 innings of the weekend, posting a 2-0 record with one save.

Slew of Career Firsts on Opening Weekend
A young Nebraska lineup saw several players have career firsts at the Hotel Encanto Tournament last weekend. Overall, three players made their Nebraska debut, while six position players earned their first career start. Recording a hit for the first time in their Nebraska careers were junior Tori Tyson, a converted pitcher, sophomores Nikki Haget and Kirby Wright and freshmen Gabby Banda, Megan Southworth and Brooke Thomason. Wright, Banda and Thomason also hit their first career home runs in New Mexico, while Haget, Banda, Southworth and Thomason each produced their first career RBI.

Stat of the Week
Junior Heidi Foland moved to the leadoff spot for the final four games of the Hotel Encanto Tournament last weekend and went 6-for-14 with a double, two home runs, three RBIs and six runs scored, while stealing two bases and reaching base at a .556 clip. She homered in her first at bat in the leadoff spot in the bottom of the first inning against UTSA, marking Nebraska’s first home run to lead off a game since Kim Ogee led off the game with a home run in a Big 12 tournament contest against Texas A&M on May 3, 2003.

Nebraska has primarily utilized a slapper in the leadoff role over the past several seasons. In fact, Foland’s total of three extra-base hits in only four games in the leadoff spot already ranks favorably to Nebraska’s season totals over the past few years. The leadoff spot - including pinch-hitters - has produced more than five extra-base hits only once since 2004 and Foland’s three extra-base hits this year are already one more than the leadoff spot produced in the entire 2007 season.

Start Me Up
Nebraska has been a fast starting team so far this season, as the Huskers scored in the first inning in five of their six games last weekend, leading after one inning of play each time. Nebraska scored a total of nine runs in the first inning, highlighted by a five-run outburst against UTSA.

Mackin Ranks Among Nation’s Best
According to statistics provided by the NCAA, junior right-hander Robin Mackin ranks in the top 10 nationally among all active Division I pitchers in career strikeouts and victories. Mackin ranks seventh nationally with 778 career strikeouts and ninth with 66 career wins. Among non-seniors, Mackin ranks second nationally in strikeouts and victories. Mackin is also one of only two active Division I pitchers with Olympic experience and one of 13 returning All-America pitchers.

Creighton senior right-hander Tara Oltman is also in the top 10 among active pitchers in both wins and victories, as Nebraska is the only state in the country that features two pitchers ranked in the top 10 in both categories.