Edwards Twins Lead NU to Eighth Straight Win

Denton, Texas - Freshman Tatum Edwards tossed a two-hit shutout while her sister Taylor set an NCAA record, as the twins powered the 21st-ranked Nebraska softball team to its eighth straight victory with a 6-0 shutout of Tennessee Tech on Sunday.

Each sister also homered in the game, as Tatum's three-run blast in the second inning gave her all the run support she would need and Taylor's solo shot in the seventh broke an NCAA record. Taylor had homered in five straight games entering Sunday, a total that tied for the longest streak in NCAA history.

After getting one hit in her first three trips to the plate against Tennessee Tech, Taylor blasted a solo shot over the scoreboard in left center with one out in the top of the seventh inning. By homering in her sixth straight game, Taylor broke the previous NCAA record of five consecutive games with a home run, set by Northwestern's Tammy Williams in 2009.

"It's an honor to break the record, but my mentality when I go up to the plate is to see the ball and hit the ball hard," Taylor Edwards said. "My goal is to just help the team win and have fun."

Taylor finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while Tatum was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a pair of runs scored. The twins have combined for 11 home runs in Nebraska's first 11 games. At least one of the sisters has homered in nine of the Huskers' 11 games, while both Edwards twins homered in the same game for the second time this season.

Not to be overshadowed was Tatum Edwards' pitching performance. Edwards tossed Nebraska's second straight shutout, firing a two-hitter with a career-high seven strikeouts. She polished off her first career shutout by retiring the final 11 batters she faced.

The performance of the twins led Nebraska to its eighth straight victory, as the Huskers have opened the season with a 10-1 record. Holly Thomas (1-2) took the loss for Tennessee Tech, which fell to 1-6 on the season after losing by more than run for the first time. Thomas went 3.0 innings, allowing three runs on four hits.

"I loved the fact that we finished the last two games with shutouts," Head Coach Rhonda Revelle said of Nebraska's perfect weekend. "I also liked the fact that in most every game we got to the opponent's bullpen and that shows that we're doing some good things offensively.

"I just felt like we had a really solid weekend."

On Sunday, Nebraska jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the second. After the first batter was retired, sophomore Brooke Thomason and senior Heidi Foland drew back-to-back walks. Tatum Edwards then fouled off three two-strike pitches before lining a 2-2 offering over the fence in center for a three-run homer.

Tennessee Tech helped the Huskers score two more runs in the top of the fourth. Tatum Edwards and sophomore Megan Southworth reached on consecutive one-out singles. Sophomore Gabby Banda then put down a sacrifice bunt and wound up safe at first when the pitcher was unable to field the ball. That left the bases loaded, when another error allowed Edwards to score and give Nebraska a 4-0 lead.

After the Golden Eagles recorded the second out of the inning at home plate, Taylor Edwards ripped an RBI single to left field to increase the lead to 5-0. She then added her NCAA record-breaking homer in the seventh to close out the scoring.

Nebraska takes its eight-game winning streak to California next weekend, when the Huskers will play four games in five days at the Cathedral City Classic.

2011 Nebraska Softball
#21 Nebraska vs Tennessee Tech
Feb 20, 2011 at Denton, Texas (Lovelace Stadium)

Nebraska 6 (10-1)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Haget, Nikki cf.......... 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Brechtel, Julie 2b....... 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 2
Edwards, Taylor c........ 4 1 2 2 0 0 5 2 0
Wright, Saige pr........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Guile, Ashley 1b......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 11 0 3
McCann, Morgan pr....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Thomason, Brooke rf...... 3 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0
Foland, Heidi 3b......... 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 2 0
Edwards, Tatum p......... 4 2 2 3 0 0 0 3 2
Southworth, Megan lf..... 3 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 0
Banda, Gabby ss.......... 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 0
Hagemann, Ashley dp...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 30 6 9 5 2 3 21 11 7

Tennessee Tech 0 (1-6)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Christian, Melody 3b..... 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 0
Spalding, Brittney 3b... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Spalding, Chanelle 1b.... 3 0 2 0 0 1 8 1 0
Butts, Stacey 1b........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coquerille, Lacie 2b..... 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 0
Leff, Megan 2b.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Schmidt, Callie c........ 3 0 0 0 0 2 4 1 3
Cummings, Whitney dp/p... 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0
Floyd, Kayla pr......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gates, Kaleigh cf........ 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
McNew, Tabitha cf....... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Zdroik, Anna lf.......... 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0
Everett, Samantha ss..... 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 1
Basten, Brooke rf........ 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Thomas, Holly p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Harke, Claudia p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 23 0 2 0 2 7 21 12 4

Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
Nebraska............ 030 200 1 - 6 9 1
Tennessee Tech...... 000 000 0 - 0 2 3
-----------------------------------------

E - Banda(3); Coquerille; Schmidt; Everett. DP - Huskers 1. LOB - Huskers 7;
Eagles 4. HR - Edwards, Tay(7); Edwards, Tat(4). HBP - Guile. SH - Banda(1).
CS - Brechtel(1).

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
Edwards, Tatum...... 7.0 2 0 0 2 7 23 25 109

Tennessee Tech IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
Thomas, Holly....... 3.0 4 3 3 2 1 12 14 55
Harke, Claudia...... 2.0 3 2 0 0 1 10 11 31
Cummings, Whitney... 2.0 2 1 1 0 1 8 9 37

Win - Edwards, Tat (2-0). Loss - Thomas (1-2). Save - None.
HBP - by Cummings (Guile). Pitches/strikes: Edwards, Tat 109/69; Thomas 55/32;
Harke 31/24; Cummings 37/23.
Umpires -
Start: 9:57 am Time: 1:55 Attendance:
Game: NU11