Rohr of the Crowd - Feb. 9, 2011

Rohr of the Crowd is the official blog of Nate Rohr, the play-by-play announcer for Husker softball. Nate has called Nebraska softball games since 2004 and will call every game of the 2010 season. Nate is not employed by the University of Nebraska and the opinions and content of this blog are his own. Look for new blog entries weekly.

Stat of the Week The Huskers return 93% of last year's home runs and 85% of last year's hits.

Welcome back to Rohr of the Crowd! Since my last entry, a lot has happened both to me and to Nebraska Softball. The Huskers competed in the Seattle Regional, sat through a three-hour rain delay (at least those that didn't choose to slide on the tarp), and defeated North Dakota State, before losing the following day to North Carolina to end the season. Less than three weeks later, the University of Nebraska announced it was moving to the Big Ten Conference, effective July, 2011. Four months later, the NU Softball program retired Peaches James' #42 and the Huskers faced the NPF All-Stars. Also last October, the University of Nebraska Board of Regents approved plans to build an indoor practice facility for both baseball and softball behind the right-field fence at Bowlin Stadium, and work on the facility began soon thereafter. <?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

As for me personally, nothing as impactful as shifting to a new conference or building a new facility happened, but I was whacked in the stomach with a hot dog from Der Weiner Schlinger while working a Nebraska Football game with the Husker Sports Network (audio of the hot dog launch). I was working the Western Kentucky game, watching the game through binoculars as part of my duties as a spotter and statisician for our broadcasts. Just before a second-quarter play, I felt a blow to my stomach. I'd taken advantage of the pregame spread in the press box, so it wasn't hunger hitting me. I looked toward Matt Davison, thinking he'd hit me in the stomach to get my attention, but he was sitting in his seat, too far away to reach. But then, on the counter in front of me laid a cylinder, encased in foil and at least a third of a roll of clear packing tape. A Fairbury hot dog. The Der Weiner Schlinger technician stood proudly on field level behind the west sideline, pleased with his markmanship as he hit a target (albeit, a fairly large one) six floors above him. Like I said, nothing nearly as impactful as building fieldhouses or moving conferences, but still, it was a pretty big shock. And, it goes without saying, I enjoyed that hot dog a quarter later after unraveling it from its foil-and-packing-tape cocoon.

 

Speaking of shots to the stomach with a potentially tasty finish, the Huskers were picked to finish eighth by the Big 12 softball coaches. It's understood that preseason polls, whether at the national or conference level, are for entertainment purposes only. While some care is taken into a coach's ballot for these polls, the underlying assumption is that ballots for preseason polls start with last year's standings, with minor adjustments for players lost and gained, and then the vote is sent in. Nebraska finished last season tied for sixth with Texas Tech, with Baylor finishing eighth. The Red Raiders return nine starters after a breakout season in Shanon Hays' first campaign as Tech head coach, while the Bears finished eighth but return 2009 Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year Whitney Canion, who missed most of last year with an arm injury.

 

Still, with a program that has made regionals in 15 of the last 16 seasons and returned all but one full-time starter from a regional team, it's a shot to the gut to hear that the rest of the league believes you'll finish third to last, and in a conference standings spot that leaves you just shy of NCAA Regionals, at best.

The good news is that this team has already displayed a great focus during the summer, according to coach Rhonda Revelle, and the team was already well on its way to significant improvement long before those preseason rankings were released.

 

But it never hurts to be floating under the radar entering a year and every piece of motivation helps, especially as the Huskers embark on this long, tough road which hopefully leads to regionals and beyond, and a tasty (or at least satisfying) finish.

Roadmap for the Final Go-Round in the Big 12
One thing making the Big 12 tough this year is that so much of the talent in the conference returns. Of the 19 players named 1st-team All-Big 12 last season, only four were seniors. Meanwhile, six were freshmen and five were sophomores, so more than half of those in the conference's top tier of players not only return, but in fact have at least two seasons left, so the skill level in the league is high, and it will only grow.

 

The usual suspects are at the top of the preseason polls: Oklahoma (ranked No. 9 in the NFCA preseason poll), No. 7 Missouri and No. 15 Texas. But don't fall asleep on the middle-third of this league. No. 21 Texas A&M brings back Meagan May, a second-team All-American catcher as a freshman, while adding a pair of players who missed last season: Lindsay Sisk, a pitcher who transfered from Arizona to A&M, and Natalie Villareal, who won the 2009 Defensive Player of the Year at second base for the Aggies. Those two additions plus the return of seven starters will keep the Aggies in the conference title mix.

 

Speaking of returns, Baylor brings back left-handed pitcher Whitney Canion, who stormed onto the stage as a freshman in 2009 with a 27-17 record and a 1.80 ERA while striking out 410 batters. If she can pitch near that level this season, the Bears also push their way into the mix for the Big 12 crown.

 

Perhaps the quietest of this middle-third is Oklahoma State. The Cowgirls don't have a star like May or Canion. Yet, the Cowgirls return seven starters from last year's team which tied for third in the Big 12. The pitching staff had a team ERA of 2.18 on the year, good for second in the conference behind Oklahoma. Anna Whiddon and Kat Espinosa split time in the circle last year, and while Whiddon graduated, Espinosa returns and looks to build on a promising freshman season. With a good pitching staff and a typically solid lineup, OSU could be as tough as any team in the Big 12. The Huskers play their final two regular-season softball games as a member of the Big 12 Conference May 14 and 15 at Bowlin Stadium against the Cowgirls.

 

Of course, the rest of the Big 12 is tough as well. Texas Tech is expected to continue to improve, thanks to nine returning starters in Shanon Hays' second year in Lubbock. Iowa State defeated Nebraska last season and returns veteran pitcher Rachel Zabriskie. Kansas begins year two under Megan Smith and while the Huskers swept KU in 2010, it was the Huskers' first perfect year against the Jayhawks since 2000. Still, if the Huskers are to exceed the predicted finish of eighth in the league, it will take strong play against the middle-third of the league to push them up the Big 12 standings.

 

Weekend Warmup-Kajikawa Classic, Tempe, Ariz.
The Huskers open the 2011 season Thursday night against Portland State, coached by former Husker Tobin Echo-Hawk. The two-time All-American third baseman played for NU from 1993 to 1996 and was a freshman when Rhonda Revelle took over as the Huskers' head coach. Echo-Hawk currently holds the single-season records for batting average (.439 in 1994), runs scored (61, 1996), and doubles (22, 1995) and the career hits record with 266. The Vikings finished last year 30-27, losing in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference Championship Game after winning the conference title and a bid to regionals in 2009. The Vikings return pitchers Anna Bertrand and Nichole Latham, along with Arielle Wiser, a three-year starter at shortstop.

 

On Friday, the Huskers start a two-game day by taking on San Jose State, the school at which Rhonda Revelle was an assistant for four years before taking over as Nebraska's head coach in 1993. The current Spartans are extremely young, as fifth-year coach Peter Turner has 12 freshmen on his roster. San Jose State was 34-25 last season but returns just two position-player starters from last year.

 

No. 1 Arizona and Nebraska square off Friday night. The Wildcats return all but one starter (shortstop K'Lee Arrendondo) from last year's national runner-up team that finished with a 52-14 record. Sophomore Kenzie Fowler looks to build on a debut season that saw her go 38-9 with a 1.53 ERA while striking out 371. Her sister, Mattie, signed a letter-of-intent to play softball at Nebraska in Oct. Mattie is a two-time all-state shortstop for Canyon del Oro High School in Tuscon, Ariz. Catcher Stacie Chambers headlines the Wildcats' lineup after hitting 52 home runs the last two years. She enters this season 24 homers from setting a new NCAA record for career home runs. Two-time All-American outfielder Brittany Lastrapes is another offensive catalyst, hitting .413 while slugging .720 last season. The matchup with top-ranked Arizona is Nebraska's first game against a No. 1 team since falling 10-1 in five innings to No. 1 UCLA in 2004. This is the first meeting between the Huskers and Wildcats since the 2002 Women's College World Series, a 1-0 Arizona win. In 2000, Nebraska traveled to the Tucson regional and lost to Arizona twice to close its season at 52-21.

 

On Saturday, the Huskers tangle with Cal State Fullerton. The Titans look to bounce back from a disappointing 14-39 season in 2010 that brought an abrupt end to a streak of five years in NCAA Regionals. The Titans are led by Ari Cervantes, who hit .303 with three homers last season while pitching to a 6-19 record with a 4.68 ERA. In 2009, Cervantes pitched to a respectable 20-13 mark with a 2.87 ERA. Cal State Fullerton is picked to finish sixth in the Big West. Cal State Fullerton coach Michelle Gromacki caught Nebraska associate head coach Lori Sippel on ASA national championship teams in the 1990s.

 

Nebraska's second game Saturday is against No. 20 Stanford. The sister of Vikings RB Toby Gerhart, sophomore pitcher Teagan Gerhart returns after going 22-7 with a 1.65 ERA, as does Ashley Chinn, the other regular pitcher for the Cardinal. But Stanford must replace a gaping hole in the lineup after the graduation of four-time All-American outfielder Alissa Haber, who hit .446 last year with six home runs and 35 RBI. The Cardinal also lost All-Pac-10 third baseman Shannon Koplitz and Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year, catcher Rosey Neill.

 

The Huskers close their competition at the Kajikawa Classic against Oregon State on Sunday. The Beavers return all but one starter from last year's 24-31 squad. Leading the offense for OSU is second-team All-Pac-10 catcher Audrey Roderfeld, who hit 14 home runs and 12 doubles last season, and sophomore Lea Cavestany, who slugged .575 last season.

 

That's all for now...we'll talk to you Thursday from Tempe!

 

Go Big Red!

 

Nate