Huskers Head to Oklahoma City for Big 12 Championship

The Nebraska softball team returns to Oklahoma City this weekend for the Big 12 Championship at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. The Huskers are the No. 6 seed in the single-elimination tournament and will face third-seeded and 19th-ranked Texas A&M on Saturday at 11:30 a.m.

With a win, the Huskers would advance to Saturday’s 5 p.m. semifinal. The Championship Game is set for Sunday at Noon and will be televised by FSN. The 2010 event marks the 15th anniversary of the Big 12 Championship, which is being contested for the final time this season.

Fans can follow all of the action from the final Big 12 Championship on Huskers.com. A free radio broadcast of all Nebraska games will be available on Huskers.com, with veteran softball play-by-play announcer Nate Rohr calling all of the action. If the Huskers advance to Saturday’s semifinal, a live video stream of that game will be available through Big12sports.com.

Nebraska has enjoyed much success in the 14-year history of the Big 12 Championship. The Huskers have advanced to the championship game a league-high seven times, most recently in 2008. Nebraska ranks second in the league in tournament titles, victories and games played, while its four runner-up finishes are a league high.

The Huskers hope that success continues this weekend as Nebraska attempts to position itself for postseason play. The winner of the Big 12 Championship automatically receives a spot in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, but Nebraska still has an outside chance of earning an at-large selection into the NCAA Tournament. ESPN.com college softball writer Graham Hays listed Nebraska as one of the first four teams left out of his 64-team bracket, but the Huskers have a chance to impress the selection committee this weekend.

It will not be an easy task however, as the Huskers must face a streaking Texas A&M squad that climbed to No. 19 in this week’s USA Softball/ESPN.com top-25 poll. The Aggies are fresh off a sweep at then-No. 11 Oklahoma State last weekend, and Texas A&M brings a six-game winning streak into the tournament. The Aggies have won nine of their last 11 games overall, including an 8-2 record against Big 12 opponents during that stretch.

Nebraska rose to the occasion in a similar challenge last weekend when No. 14 Missouri came to town to close out the regular season. The Tigers brought a seven-game winning streak into the series and had won 16 of their last 17 games, including a 7-1 record against Big 12 opponents. But sophomore Ashley Guile launched a three-run homer three batters into the bottom of the first inning in game one and the Huskers led the rest of the way in a 5-2 victory. That win clinched a sixth-place finish for Nebraska in a Big 12 Conference that currently has five teams ranked in the top 20.

The win over the Tigers can certainly give the Huskers confidence against Texas A&M, but Nebraska can also draw on its success in a two-game split with the Aggies in early April. The Huskers led by two runs in the sixth inning of game one before Texas A&M, aided by seven Nebraska walks, rallied for a 6-3 win. Nebraska then hit three home runs in a six-run sixth inning in game two to turn the tables on Texas A&M and rally for an 8-3 win.

Scouting the Texas A&M Aggies (41-13, 12-6 Big 12)
Texas A&M earned the No. 3 seed at the Big 12 Championship by sweeping a doubleheader at No. 11 Oklahoma State last Saturday. The Aggies are 41-13 on the season and finished 12-6 in Big 12 play. A&M brings a six-game winning streak into Saturday’s game and the Aggies have won nine of their last 11 overall, including eight of 10 against conference opponents.

The Aggies are batting .289 as a team and average 5.6 runs per game. Texas A&M leads the Big 12 with 81 doubles and has hit 55 home runs, as the Aggies are one of only four Big 12 teams with 40 home runs this season. A&M has also drawn a league-high 233 walks this season, while striking out a league-high 401 times.

Offensively, Texas A&M has arguably the conference’s top hitter in freshman Meagan May. May made a run at the Big 12 regular-season triple crown, as she leads the league with 21 homers - six more than any other player - and 59 RBIs, while ranking second with a .412 batting average. May has also been walked a league-high 48 times to post a Big 12-best .567 on-base percentage. She also leads the conference in total bases (140) and slugging percentage (.946), while ranking second in doubles (16) and eighth in runs scored (42). Aside from May, Rhiannon Kliesing is batting .386 with 10 doubles, 11 homers and 51 RBIs. Alex Reynolds is the only other Aggie hitting .300, as she boasts a .313 average with 11 doubles, 31 RBIs and 36 walks.

In the circle, Melissa Dumezich has been beaten only once in her freshman season, as she is 16-1 with a team-low 2.03 ERA in 113.2 innings. Rebecca Arbino, a travel ball teammate of NU juniors Julie Brechtel and Tori Tyson with the Corona Angels, has started a team-high 28 games and thrown 186.0 innings. Arbino boasts a 19-9 record with a 2.33 ERA and 142 strikeouts. Kliesing (6-3, 4.48 ERA in 64.0 innings) rounds out the staff.

Husker History vs. Texas A&M
Texas A&M leads the all-time series with Nebraska, 33-24. The teams split a doubleheader at Bowlin Stadium on April 3 and split the season series in 2009. Despite the recent splits, the Aggies have still won 10 of the last 12 meetings. At the Big 12 Championship, Nebraska has won three of the five meetings, but Texas A&M has won the last two, including a 5-0 win over the Huskers in the 2008 title game.

Husker Head Coach Rhonda Revelle is 20-19 against Texas A&M, including a 20-18 mark against Aggie Head Coach Jo Evans. Over the past 32 meetings dating back to 1998, 21 of the games have been decided by two runs or less, including 16 one-run games and eight extra-inning contests.

The two meetings this year saw each team rally late for a come-from-behind victory. In game one, Nebraska jumped out to an early 3-0 lead before the Aggies scored six unanswered runs. The Huskers led 3-1 in the sixth before Texas A&M scored five times. NU out-hit A&M 9-6 and all six Aggie hits were singles, but Texas A&M drew seven walks. In game two, Texas A&M led 3-2 in the sixth inning before the Huskers used three home runs to score six times and rally for an 8-3 victory.

Individually, sophomore right-hander Ashley Hagemann earned a complete-game victory in game two and in the doubleheader, Hagemann tossed 8.2 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, while striking out seven and walking two. Offensively, Nebraska’s Nos. 1-5 hitters did most of the damage, combining to go 14-for-33 (.424) with two homers, four doubles, eight RBIs and nine runs. Senior Alex Hupp, junior Heidi Foland and freshman Brooke Thomason all homered in the sixth inning of game two.

Quick Hitters
The information below provides a quick glimpse of a few statistics and brief notes of interest as the Huskers travel to Oklahoma City for the final time to participate in the Big 12 Championship:

• 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 in a 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 (40 RBIs), freshman Brooke Thomason (38) and junior Julie Brechtel (36) have all driven in 35 runs this season. The three players producing 35-or-more RBIs are a first for Nebraska since 1995. Junior Heidi Foland (27) has a chance to give Nebraska four players with 30 RBIs for the first time since 2003.
• Nebraska played solid defense during the Big 12 portion of its schedule. The Huskers ranked fourth in the league in fielding percentage in conference-only games, committing 18 errors in 18 games. Nebraska also turned seven double plays in conference play, tying Missouri for the Big 12 lead in that category.
• Sophomore Ashley Guile has hit 15 doubles this season - the highest total ever by a Husker sophomore - while freshman Brooke Thomason slugged her 14th double of the season on Saturday against Missouri. Entering this season, only four Huskers had ever recorded 15 doubles in a season.
• Sophomore Nikki Haget ranks third in the Big 12 with 60 hits this season, while junior Heidi Foland and sophomore Ashley Guile both rank sixth with 59 hits. Haget is the first Husker to record 60 hits in a season since Lizzy Rock in 2006 and Nebraska hasn’t had three players record 60 hits in a season since 2002, when NU last played in the Women’s College World Series.

Guile Chasing .400
Sophomore Ashley Guile is batting .396 this season and is bidding to become the first Husker to hit .400 since Ali Viola batted .424 in 1998. Overall, Viola and Tobin Echo-Hawk are the only Huskers to ever hit .400, as Viola reached the mark three times (1995, 1996 and 1998) and Echo-Hawk hit .400 twice (1994 and 1995). Guile’s .396 average currently ranks sixth in school history and is the highest average by a Husker since 1998.

Guile already joined one exclusive list when she batted .404 during Big 12 Conference play. Her .404 average was the fifth-highest mark by a Husker in the Big 12 era (1996 to present). Guile was the first Husker to hit .400 during a Big 12 season since Anne Steffan batted .405 in 2003.

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 sixth and seventh 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.

Brechtel Bidding for Near-Perfect Season
With only one guaranteed game remaining this season, junior second baseman Julie Brechtel is looking to finish off a near-perfect defensive season. Brechtel has committed only one error in 149 chances this season. She did not commit an error over the season’s first 35 games before mishandling a ball at Iowa State on April 15. Since then, Brechtel has gone 12 straight games without an error, marking the sixth double-digit errorless streak of her career.

Husker Power
Junior Heidi Foland ranks third in the Big 12 with 105 total bases this season. She is the first Husker to record 100 total bases since Lisa Wangler (102) in 2003. Freshman Brooke Thomason is ninth in the league with 97 total bases. With three more total bases, Nebraska would have two players reach 100 total bases in the same season for the first time since 2000, but the Huskers played a school-record 73 games that season. NU has had two players both total 100 total bases in the same season only four times in program history and the Huskers played at least 60 games in each of those seasons. Nebraska’s game with Texas A&M on Saturday will be its 56th game of the year.