Huskers Host 13th-Ranked Sooners This Weekend

The Nebraska softball team wraps up its stretch of 10 consecutive games against Big 12 opponents this weekend, when the Huskers welcome the 13th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners to Bowlin Stadium for a two-game series on Saturday and Sunday.

Tickets for both games can be purchased online at Huskers.com, over the phone by calling 1-800-8-BIG-RED or on the day of the game at the ticket window located behind home plate at the main entrance to Bowlin Stadium.

Fans unable to make it out to the ballpark can follow both games on Huskers.com. Both games will feature a free video stream, accompanied by the radio call of veteran softball play-by-play announcer Nate Rohr.

Oklahoma has won eight of its last 10 games, all against conference opponents. The Sooners, one of five ranked Big 12 teams this week, are 34-10 on the season, and OU sits in third place in the conference standings with an 8-3 league record. Oklahoma has been especially good on the road in conference action, as the Sooners are 6-1 in Big 12 road games this season. OU is a perfect 4-0 in weekend road series, including an impressive two-game sweep at No. 21 Texas A&M two weeks ago.

Nebraska is 27-20 on the season and is tied with 15th-ranked Missouri for fifth place in the Big 12 standings. The Huskers are 6-6 in conference play after splitting a pair of games this week. NU had lost three of its last four conference games - including two straight - before defeating Kansas on Thursday. That win gave Nebraska a season sweep of the Jayhawks, marking the Huskers’ second Big 12 sweep this month. NU has now swept two conference opponents this season after posting only one Big 12 sweep over the past two seasons combined.

This weekend’s series will pit two of the league’s top offenses against each other. Both teams are hitting .276 in conference play and Oklahoma ranks second in the league with a .460 slugging percentage, while Nebraska ranks third with a mark of .451. NU’s 22 doubles in conference-only games lead the league, while OU leads the Big 12 with 16 home runs in conference play.

Nebraska is putting together one of its best offensive seasons in school history. The 2010 Husker offense currently ranks second in NU history in slugging percentage (.436), extra-base hits per game (2.2) and doubles per game (1.4), third in batting average (.292) and fourth in doubles (66) and home runs per game (0.8).

The Huskers are also poised for a pair of individual firsts this season. Junior Heidi Foland leads the league with 58 overall hits, while sophomore Ashley Guile leads the conference with 16 hits in Big 12 play. Since the Big 12 was formed in 1996, a Husker has never led the league in overall hits or hits in conference-only games.

Scouting the Oklahoma Sooners (34-10, 8-3 Big 12)
Oklahoma is ranked 13th in this week’s USA Softball/ESPN.com poll, as the Sooners are 34-10 on the season. The Sooners have won eight of their last 10 games - all against conference foes - as Oklahoma sits in third place in the Big 12 standings with an 8-3 league record. OU is 6-1 on the road in Big 12 play this season.

Oklahoma is again one of the top hitting teams in the Big 12. The Sooners are averaging 6.0 runs per game and rank second in the conference with 59 home runs, 180 walks and a .486 slugging percentage. All-American Amber Flores, the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year, leads the team with a .390 average. She is the Big 12 leader in runs scored with 49 through 44 games and she has added nine doubles, 11 homers and 28 RBIs. A tough out, Flores has been walked 25 times and been hit by 18 pitches while striking out only 12 times. Fellow senior Lindsey Vandever is batting .364 with eight doubles, 10 homers and 35 RBIs. Freshman Jessica Shults has made an immediate impact, as she is batting .346 and leads the team with 13 homers and 54 RBIs. Brianna Turang is batting .324 and leads OU with 20 stolen bases, while Haley Nix is the fifth Sooner batting above .300 with a mark of .302. In conference play, Oklahoma has homered a league-high 16 times in 11 games and is batting .276 while averaging 5.5 runs per game. Both Shults (.406) and Flores (.405) are batting better than .400 in league play.

In the circle, freshman Keilani Ricketts has carried the bulk of the workload for the Sooners. Ricketts is 21-8 on the season with a 1.51 ERA in 176.2 innings. Opponents are hitting just .159 against her and she has struck out 229 batters. Michelle Gascoigne has seen the most action behind Ricketts, posting a 5-0 record with a 2.29 ERA in 55.0 innings. Kirsten Allen (6-1, 1.70 ERA in 45.1 innings) and Allee Allen (2-1, 1.26 ERA in 16.2 innings) round out the Sooner staff. Oklahoma leads the league with a 1.67 ERA and ranks third with 331 strikeouts. In conference-only games, OU ranks third with a 1.91 ERA, but opponents are hitting only .173 against the Sooners.

Husker History vs. Oklahoma
Nebraska leads the all-time series with Oklahoma 39-35, but the Sooners have won six of the last seven meetings, including regular-season sweeps in each of the last three years. Nebraska’s last regular-season win against OU came when the Huskers swept a doubleheader from the Sooners at Bowlin Stadium in 2006. Husker Head Coach Rhonda Revelle is 19-23 against Oklahoma in her career. She is 19-22 against Oklahoma Head Coach Patty Gasso, as Gasso is the only Big 12 coach with a winning record against Revelle, while the pair rank 1-2 in Big 12 winning percentage. Nebraska owns an 11-7 advantage in Lincoln, but was swept by a combined score of 17-1 in a 2008 doubleheader in the most recent meetings at Bowlin Stadium. Nebraska came back to beat Oklahoma 6-5 at the Big 12 Championship that season to mark its last win in the series.

Oklahoma swept a two-game series from Nebraska in Norman last season. The Sooners won both games by a score of 3-2, including an eight-inning victory in game one. In game one, Nebraska led 1-0 and 2-1, but in both cases, Oklahoma answered with a run in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. All three of the Sooners’ runs scored with two outs, including a walk-off RBI single from Samantha Ricketts with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. In game two, Nebraska never led as Oklahoma scored single runs in each of the first three innings to take a 3-0 lead. Nebraska answered with runs in the fourth and the sixth to pull within 3-2, but the Huskers were unable to tie the game as they stranded eight base runners.

Quick Hitters
The information below provides a quick glimpse of a few statistics and brief notes of interest as the Huskers continue an eight-game homestand with a two-game weekend series against 13th-ranked Oklahoma:

• The Huskers are 459-221 (.675) all-time in the month of April, including a 7-4 mark this 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.
• The Huskers have recorded 10 shutouts this season 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 22 walks so far this season. She is only the third Husker freshman to draw 20 walks since 2001 and the first since Ashley Guile in 2008 (25).
• Sophomore Ashley Guile (38 RBIs), junior Julie Brechtel (33) and freshman Brooke Thomason (30) have driven in 30 runs this season. The three players producing 30-or-more RBIs are a first for Nebraska since 2006. Junior Heidi Foland (27 RBIs) has a chance to give Nebraska four players with 30 RBIs for the first time since 1996.
• In conference-only games, a Husker freshman or sophomore leads the league in hits (Ashley Guile, 16), home runs (Brooke Thomason, 5) and doubles (Nikki Haget, 4), while ranking second in average (Guile, .421), runs scored (Haget, 9) and total bases (Thomason, 29).
• NU has hit 11 home runs through the 12 conference games of the season, including four in two games this week. That total ranks fourth in the Big 12 and is the highest Husker total since 2006 (15).

Rare Air
Junior Heidi Foland and freshman Brooke Thomason have joined an elite group of Huskers by producing double-digit totals in both doubles and home runs. Foland and Thomason are only the fifth and sixth players in the 35-year history of the program to produce at least 10 doubles and 10 home runs in a season. Together, the duo are the first teammates to accomplish the feat in the same season since 1996 (Jenny Smith and Ali Viola) and only the second duo ever. Foland and Thomason are also the first Husker teammates to each homer 10 times in a season since 2000 (Jamie Fuente and Jennifer Lizama) and only the fourth duo to accomplish the feat in school history.

Underclassmen Driving Productive Husker Offense
Husker Power been on full display this season, as Nebraska has produced impressive offensive production under the direction of second-year hitting coach Diane Miller. The Huskers are enjoying one of the best offensive seasons in school history after entering the year with questions about how productive the offense could be.

Nebraska lost seven of its top eight hitters from last season, as junior Julie Brechtel (.313) was NU’s only returning hitter in 2010 who batted better than .220 last season. But the Huskers have already eclipsed last year’s doubles, triples and home runs totals while raising their team batting average .015 and their slugging percentage .048 points. The lost production has been more than made up for by the production of Nebraska’s underclassmen, as the regular Husker lineup features four freshmen and sophomores batting in the top six spots in the lineup.

The sophomore class is batting .335 collectively, while Nebraska’s freshmen have combined for a .481 slugging percentage. Together, the underclassmen (10 players) have combined to bat .309 with 42 doubles, one triple, 16 home runs and 107 RBIs. Nebraska’s junior and senior classes (seven players) have combined for a .273 average, 24 doubles, two triples, 20 home runs and 86 RBIs.

Thomason Putting Together Fine Freshman Season
Brooke Thomason’s outstanding freshman season has continued into the Big 12 Conference portion of the schedule. Thomason is batting .347 on the year, while ranking second on the team with 10 doubles and 10 home runs and third with 30 RBIs. In Big 12 play, Thomason is batting .333 and has hit five of Nebraska’s 11 home runs, while producing a team-high nine RBIs.

Among the highlights of Thomason’s freshman season:

• Thomason has hit five home runs during Big 12 play, tying Crystal Carwile’s NU freshman record for most home runs in a conference season (Big Eight or Big 12). Her season total is currently tied for the fourth highest by a freshman in Big 12 history (1996-present).
• Thomason’s 10 home runs this season rank fourth on the Husker freshman chart and are the most since Crystal Carwile homered 12 times in 2006. She is just the second NU freshman to homer 10 times since 1998.
• Thomason hit two home runs against Pacific on March 13. She is only the sixth Husker freshman to hit two home runs in a game and just the second since 1998.
• Thomason is only the third Husker freshman to reach double digits in both doubles and home runs.
• Thomason has produced 20 extra-base hits this season, the fourth-highest total by a freshman in NU history.
• Thomason leads Nebraska with a .669 slugging percentage. Her slugging percentage currently ranks second among all freshmen in NU history, as she is on pace to become only the third NU freshman to slug .550.
• Thomason is bidding to join three-time All-American Ali Viola as the only Husker freshmen to finish with a .300 batting average, 10 doubles and 10 home runs.
• Thomason is on pace to become only the eighth NU freshman to hit .300 and the first since Kim Ogee in 2000.
• Thomason ranks sixth in the Big 12 in home runs (10), eighth in slugging percentage (.669) and total bases (83) and 10th in doubles (10).
• In conference-only games, Thomason leads the league in home runs (5), ranks second in total bases (29), third in slugging percentage (.806), fifth in RBIs (9), ninth in hits (12) and 10th in runs scored (7).

Foland Hitting Home Runs at Record Rate
Junior Heidi Foland is the Big 12 leader with 58 hits and leads Nebraska with 12 home runs. She has set career highs in every offensive category while batting .358 with 27 RBIs and leading Nebraska with 19 multi-hit games. Among Foland’s highlights this season:

• Foland’s 12 home runs this season are tied for eighth place in Nebraska history.
• Foland homered 10 times in the months of February and March, joining three-time All-American Ali Viola (11 in 1998) as the only Huskers to ever hit 10 home runs before April 1. Foland was only the fourth Husker to hit even seven home runs before April 1 and the other three players (Viola, Christie McCoy and Jennifer Lizama) each earned All-America honors in the season when they reached the mark.
• Foland set her offensive career highs quickly this season, as she established a new career best for home runs in only 19 games, for hits and runs in only 22 games, for RBIs in only 34 contest and for doubles in only 36 games.
• Foland homered seven times in her first 63 at bats this season after homering seven times in 242 career bats entering this year.
• Foland has homered in Nebraska’s first at bat of the game five times this season. That is believed to be a season record for most leadoff home runs by an individual and a team in Husker history.
• Each of Foland’s 10 doubles and 12 home runs have come when she was the leadoff hitter in the Husker lineup. Foland’s 22 extra-base hits are more extra-base hits than the total production of the leadoff hitters from the 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 seasons combined.
• Foland leads the Big 12 with 58 hits this season, two more than Iowa State’s Heidi Kidwell. Since the Big 12 was formed in 1996, a Husker has never led the league in hits.

Huskers Hitting Well in Big 12 Play
Nebraska ranks fourth in the Big 12 with a .276 batting average in conference-only games. The Huskers have not hit .270 in a conference season since 2000 (.270) and have finished above .270 only once (.277 in 1998). NU has also reached double figures in hits in three league games this season after failing to record more than nine hits during 18 conference games in 2009.

Among other offensive highlights from Big 12 play:

• Nebraska’s current .276 average is on pace to rank as the Huskers’ second-highest total in Big 12 history.
• The Huskers lead the league with 22 doubles. The total ranks third in Nebraska history - just three shy of the school record - and is the highest total since 1997, the second year of the conference. Nebraska has never led the Big 12 in doubles in conference-only games.
• NU is on pace to finish the conference season with 33 doubles. The Big 12 record for doubles in a season is 32, set by Texas last season.
• Nebraska owns a .451 slugging percentage in league play, a total that currently ranks second in Nebraska history. The Huskers haven’t recorded a slugging percentage above .383 since 2000.
• Nebraska’s 33 extra-base hits (22 doubles, 11 home runs) lead the league and mark the Huskers’ highest total since recording 38 extra-base hits in 2000. NU’s average of 2.75 extra-base hits per game is on pace to better the school record of 2.69 set in 1996, when the Huskers posted the only undefeated conference season in Big 12 history.
• The Huskers have homered 11 times in 12 games after homering 11 times the past two seasons combined (36 games). The 11 home runs mark Nebraska’s highest total since homering 15 times in 2006.
• Several Husker underclassmen are in the running to lead the league in several offensive statistical categories. Sophomore Ashley Guile currently leads the league in hits (16), ranks second in batting average (.421) and fifth in total bases (23), while classmate Nikki Haget ranks second in hits (15) and runs scored (9). Freshman Brooke Thomason leads the league in home runs (5) while ranking second in total bases (29) and third in slugging percentage (.806).
• Freshman Gabby Banda has doubled three times in conference play. She is only the fourth Husker freshman to produce three doubles in a Big 12 season. The NU freshman record is six doubles by Amber Burgess in 2000, while Amanda Buchholz (also 2000) is the only other Husker freshman to record four doubles in a conference season.

Huskers Set School Hit-by-Pitch Record
Nebraska has been hit by a school-record 50 pitches this season, passing the previous record of 48 hit-by-pitches in 2009. Junior Heidi Foland and sophomore Ashley Guile have been hit by nine pitches each, while junior Julie Brechtel has been plunked by eight pitches. Overall, Foland and Guile are tied for second on the Nebraska season chart for most hit-by-pitches, while Brechtel currently ranks fifth.

Brechtel has also been hit by 22 pitches in her career, as she moved into a tie for second place on the Husker career chart after being hit by a pitch on Thursday against Kansas. Brechtel is just one hit-by-pitch shy of tying Crystal Carwile’s school record. Foland has been hit by 16 pitches in her career, a total that is tied for sixth place on the NU career charts, while Guile is tied for 10th place after being hit by 14 pitches in her career.

Double Trouble
Nebraska has hit 66 doubles this season, as the Huskers are averaging 1.4 doubles per game. The 66 doubles are the most by a Husker team since 2001 (74). The total ranks fourth 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 23 doubles. The total is just two shy of the Husker record of 25 doubles set in 1996. NU is currently on pace to finish the Big 12 season with 33 doubles, which would be a conference record after Texas doubled 32 times in 2009. Among the seven team offensive categories tracked by the Big 12 since the league’s inception in 1996, doubles is the only category in which Nebraska has never led the league in conference-only games.

Individually, three Huskers have doubled 10 times this season, including 13 doubles from sophomore Ashley Guile and 10 doubles from freshman Brooke Thomason and junior Heidi Foland. The last time three Huskers produced 10-or-more doubles in the same season was in 2001. Junior Julie Brechtel has added seven doubles. Nebraska has had four players hit 10 doubles in a season only once in the 35-year history of the program (four players in 1996).

Tough at the Top
Nebraska’s primary No. 1-5 hitters in the lineup ? Heidi Foland, Nikki Haget, Ashley Guile, Julie Brechtel and Brooke Thomason ? are batting a combined .359 (246-for-685) with 47 doubles, one triple, 30 home runs, 139 RBIs and 138 runs scored. Collectively, the group boasts a .562 slugging percentage and a .439 on-base percentage. Each of the five players have at least 41 hits this season, while no other Husker has more than 23, and the five rank occupy the top five spots on the team in RBIs. The group is averaging 5.2 hits per game, 3.0 RBIs per contest and 2.9 runs per game. Perhaps even more impressive is that the group consists of two juniors, two sophomores and one freshman.