Huskers Open Homestand Against Baylor

The Nebraska softball team begins an eight-game homestand this weekend, when the Huskers host a two-game series at Bowlin Stadium against the Baylor Lady Bears on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday is a busy day in Husker Athletics, as the Nebraska soccer, football, softball, baseball and volleyball teams all host home events. The parking lot at Haymarket Park will be an open lot that is available throughout the day on a first-come, first-serve basis. The lot is expected to begin filling up in the morning before the spring football game and be nearly or completely full for most of the day.

On Saturday, first pitch between Nebraska and Baylor is set for 3 p.m. and fans with tickets to the Red-White Spring Football Game can bring their ticket stub to softball and receive free admission into the game. Fans with a ticket to the Husker baseball game at 4 p.m. can use that ticket to get into softball for $1.

Sunday’s first pitch is set for Noon and it is Scout Day at the ballpark, as all scouts in uniform and scout masters and girl scout leaders receive free admission. Fans unable to make it out to Bowlin Stadium this weekend can follow both games on Huskers.com. Veteran softball play-by-play announcer Nate Rohr will call all of the action on the radio broadcasts, while Sunday’s game will also feature a free, live video stream.

The Baylor series begins a season-ending stretch for Nebraska, who will play 10 of its final 12 regular-season games at Bowlin Stadium. The Huskers recently completed a successful five-game road trip and are in the midst of 10 consecutive games against Big 12 opponents.

Nebraska went 4-1 on the road stretch after entering the trip winless in true road games this season. The Huskers defeated Creighton on April 7, before posting their first road sweep of a conference opponent since 2006 by winning a pair of games at Texas Tech. NU then shut out Kansas in Lawrence on Wednesday and was close to completing a perfect road trip, before losing in the bottom of the seventh inning at Iowa State on Thursday.

Despite the disappointing loss to the Cyclones, when the Huskers twice battled back from two-run deficits to tie the game, Nebraska has been playing its best ball of the season over the last three weeks.

The Huskers have gone 8-3 during that stretch, including a 4-2 mark in Big 12 play. After starting conference play 0-3, Nebraska has climbed into a tie for fourth place in the league standings. The Huskers have played six of their first eight conference games on the road, but Nebraska plays eight of its final 10 Big 12 games at home, including six games against teams below the Huskers in the league standings.

Baylor, which had been ranked in the top 25 for much of the season, enters play this weekend with a 23-16 record. The Lady Bears are tied for sixth in the conference with a 3-5 mark in league play. BU has lost six of its last eight games overall and is 0-3 on the road in conference play.

A Husker sweep this weekend would give Nebraska a winning record after the first 10 conference games of the season for the first time in three seasons.

Scouting the Baylor Lady Bears (23-16 Overall, 3-5 Big 12)
Baylor is 23-16 on the season and in a tie for sixth place in the Big 12 standings with a 3-5 league record. The Lady Bears have struggled of late, losing six of their last eight games and nine of their last 14. In conference play, Baylor has lost three of its last four, and the Lady Bears have dropped all three of their Big 12 road games. Nebraska and Baylor have played four common conference opponents this season (Kansas, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech), with the Huskers posting a 4-3 record against that group and the Lady Bears posting a mark of 3-3.

Baylor ranks third in the Big 12 in batting average (.306), fifth in ERA (2.18) and fourth in fielding percentage (.964). The Lady Bears have a nice balance of power and speed, as BU boasts a .438 slugging percentage and 107 stolen bases, 53 more than any other Big 12 team. In conference-only games, Baylor ranks fifth in the league in hitting (.238), fourth in ERA (2.40) and seventh in fielding percentage (.953).

Offensively, twin slappers Nicole and Tiffany Wesley boast the top two averages. Nicole Wesley is batting .416 and has not been thrown out in 19 stolen base attempts, while Tiffany Wesley is hitting .360 with eight doubles, two home runs, 21 RBIs and 15 stolen bases in 15 attempts. Three other Lady Bears are batting better than .300, including Jordan Vannatta who leads the team with nine doubles, five home runs and 30 RBIs, and Kayce Walker, who leads the squad with 21 stolen bases.

In the circle, Baylor does not possess much depth after losing 2009 Big 12 Pitcher of the Year Whitney Canion. Canion was 5-3 on the year with three shutouts, a 1.58 ERA and 79 strikeouts in only 48.2 innings before being sidelined with a season-ending arm injury in mid-March. Freshman Courtney Repka has emerged as the ace in Canion’s absence, as she has thrown all but 1.1 innings of Baylor’s eight Big 12 games. Repka is 15-10 on the season with a 2.03 ERA in 172.0 innings. Opponents are hitting only .209 against her, but one-third of the hits she has allowed have gone for extra bases. In Big 12 play, Repka is 3-4 with a 2.33 ERA. Freshman Alicia Vasquez is 3-2 on the season with a 4.55 ERA in 27.2 innings, while Courtney McFarlin (0-1, 0.00 ERA in 5.1 innings), a mid-season addition to the Baylor roster, rounds out the staff.

Husker History vs. Baylor
Nebraska leads the all-time series with Baylor, 31-10. The teams have split the regular-season series in four of the past six years, including 2009. Baylor last posted a sweep in its Women’s College World Series season of 2007, while the Huskers last swept the series in their Big 12 Championship season of 2004. Neither team has won more than two straight games in the series since Nebraska won seven in a row from 2002 to 2005 as part of a string of 23 wins in 24 meetings. Nebraska’s 16-game winning streak against Baylor from 1986 to 2001 is its longest ever against a Big 12 school. Husker Head Coach Rhonda Revelle is 22-7 in her career against Baylor and owns a 13-7 mark against 10th-year Baylor Head Coach Glenn Moore.

The teams split two games in Waco last season and split a doubleheader at Bowlin Stadium in the last meetings in Lincoln. Last year’s series featured a pair of one-run games. In the first game, a key error let Nebraska rally from a 2-0 deficit to score twice in the sixth inning and force extra innings. The Huskers took their first lead with a run in the top of the 10th, before Baylor came back to claim the win with a sacrifice fly and a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the frame. In game two, Molly Hill tossed a three-hit shutout as Nebraska posted a 1-0 victory.

Quick Hitters
The information below provides a quick glimpse of a few statistics and brief notes of interest as the Huskers begin an eight-game homestand with a two-game series against Baylor this weekend:

• The Huskers are 457-219 (.676) all-time in the month of April, including a 5-2 mark this April and an 8-8 record last April.
• Nebraska is just 2-6 this season in one-run games, but has won its last two one-run decisions.
• Nebraska tied the school record by turning three double plays at No. 10 Arizona State on March 14.
• Junior second baseman Julie Brechtel committed her first error of the season on Thursday at Iowa State. The error was her first in 107 chances this season and snapped her career-best 35-game errorless streak. In her career, Brechtel has posted five separate 10-game stretches without an error, including the 35-game streak this season and a 32-game stretch last year.
• Junior Heidi Foland has homered 12 times this season, good for eighth place on the Husker season chart. With her next home run, Foland would become the first Husker to homer 13 times in a season since 2000.
• With a 2-0 shutout at Kansas on Wednesday, Nebraska notched its 10th shutout of the season. The Huskers have recorded 10 shutouts for the first time since 2007, after NU posted at least 10 shutouts in every season from 1998 to 2007.
• Freshman Gabby Banda has drawn 20 walks so far this season. She is the first freshman to walk 20 times in a season since Ashley Guile walked 25 times in 2008. Overall, Banda is only the third freshman to draw 20 walks since 2001.
• Three Huskers have hit five home runs this season, including 12 from junior Heidi Foland, eight from freshman Brooke Thomason and five from junior Julie Brechtel. The last time three Huskers homered five times in a season came in 2006.
• Freshman Brooke Thomason leads Nebraska with three home runs in conference play this season. Her three home runs are already the second-highest total by a Husker freshman in conference-only games since 1999 and rank fourth overall in school history.
• Sophomore Ashley Guile (34 RBIs) and junior Julie Brechtel (31) have already driven in 30 runs this season. Junior Heidi Foland (27 RBIs) and freshman Brooke Thomason (24 RBIs) both have a chance to reach 30 RBIs. Nebraska has not had three players produce 30-or-more RBIs since 2006 and has not had four players all reach the mark since 1996.
• Nebraska has earned three saves in Big 12 play this season, while no other team has a save in conference-only action. Overall, the Huskers’ seven saves lead the league, while sophomore right-hander Ashley Hagemann ranks second in the league with four saves and junior right-hander Robin Mackin is fourth with two saves.
• Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Kansas marked Head Coach Rhonda Revelle’s 675th victory at Nebraska. It also marked the Huskers’ fourth straight Big 12 victory, Nebraska’s longest conference winning streak since 2007.

Double Trouble
Nebraska has already hit 61 doubles this season, as the Huskers are averaging 1.4 doubles per game. The 61 doubles are the most by a Husker team since 2003 (63). The total ranks sixth in school history, while the average of 1.4 doubles per game currently ranks second in school history. In conference-only games, Nebraska leads the Big 12 with 17 doubles. Even though the Huskers have yet to reach the halfway point of the league schedule, the 17 doubles are the most by a Nebraska team in Big 12 play since 2001.

Individually, two Huskers have doubled 10 times this season, including 13 doubles from sophomore Ashley Guile and 10 doubles from freshman Brooke Thomason. The last time two Huskers produced 10-or-more doubles in the same season was in 2007. Junior Heidi Foland has nine doubles and classmate Julie Brechtel has seven. Nebraska has not had three players produce 10 doubles in the same season since 2001. The Huskers have had four players hit 10 doubles in a season only once in the 35-year history of the program (four players in 1996).

Husker Pitchers Coming on Strong
The Nebraska pitching staff has been impressive over the past three weeks. After posting a 17-15 record and a 3.11 ERA over the first six weeks of the season, the staff has gone 8-3 with a 1.90 ERA over the past three weeks. The Huskers have also seen the opponent’s batting average drop from .231 to .165.

Individually, sophomore right-hander Ashley Hagemann is 4-1 with a 1.57 ERA over the past three weeks. She has thrown a shutout in two of her three starts, while adding three saves and 43 strikeouts in only 35.2 innings. Opponents are batting just .150 against Hagemann. Junior right-hander Robin Mackin has started eight games the past three weeks and is 4-2 with a 1.76 ERA in 39.2 innings. Opponents are hitting only .172 against her and she has struck out 53.

Husker Power
Husker Power been on full display this season, as Nebraska has produced impressive extra-base hit totals despite losing six regulars from last year’s lineup. The Huskers lost three of their top five doubles totals and four of their top six home run totals from last season, but have already produced more doubles and triples than they did last season, while equaling their home run total.

In 43 games, Nebraska has produced a total of 95 extra-base hits this season, including 61 doubles, three triples and 31 home runs. The Huskers are on pace to finish with 100 extra-base hits for only the second time since 2004, as the 95 extra-base hits are already the ninth-highest total in the 35-year history of the program.

NU is averaging 2.21 extra-base hits per game, a total that would rank second in school history. A Husker team has not averaged 2.00 extra-base hits per game in a full season since 1998 (2.15).