NU Travels to Florida for Final Tournament

After setting a program record with 14 victories in the month of February, the 16th-ranked Nebraska softball team opens the month of March with five games in three days this weekend at the Under Armour Showcase in Clearwater, Fla.

The Huskers are 14-2 this season, matching the best start in school history. A win on Friday morning over Radford would give Nebraska a 15-2 record for the first time ever. Nebraska can also lay claim to the best 20-game start in school history this weekend. Only eight teams in Husker history have won 15 of their first 20 games, and the best 20-game start in program history is 16-4 by both the 2003 and 2006 Huskers. This year's team would match those starts with wins in two of its first four games this weekend and a 3-1 record to open the tournament would give the 2011 Huskers the best 20-game record (17-3) in school history.

Achieving the best start in school history will not be easy, however, as three of Nebraska's first four opponents this weekend - Radford, Maryland and No. 1 Florida - made the 2010 NCAA Tournament. The Gators will mark the fifth ranked team Nebraska has faced this season. After losing to then-No. 1 Arizona in the third game of the season, the Huskers have won three straight against ranked teams, including one victory over a top-10 squad (3-0 over then-No. 10 Hawaii).

Nebraska is in a position to record the best start in school history thanks to a terrific month of February. NU used a 10-game winning streak to post a 14-2 record in the month, tying the 2003 Huskers for the best 16-game record in school history. Nebraska's hot start came against strong competition, as Nebraska faced four ranked teams, two top-10 squads and six teams that made the 2010 NCAA Tournament, including a pair of Women's College World Series qualifiers.

Nebraska went a perfect 4-0 against 2010 NCAA Tournament teams at the Cathedral City Classic the final week of February, before taking last weekend off. At the Cathedral City Classic, Nebraska opened the tournament with wins over No. 25 BYU and a 10th-ranked Hawaii team that advanced to the 2010 Women's College World Series. Those two victories extended Nebraska's winning streak to 10 games - the program's longest ever in the month of February - and gave the Huskers two wins over ranked teams in the same day for the first time since 1998.

Nebraska's winning streak was snapped the next day in a loss to Nevada, but the Huskers rebounded in impressive fashion. On the final day of the tournament, NU outscored Ohio State and Long Island by a combined 16-1 score, despite having only nine turns at bat.

Junior right-hander Ashley Hagemann led the way at the Cathedral City Classic, posting a 4-0 record with a 0.60 ERA. The highlight of her weekend was a one-hit shutout of Hawaii.

Offensively, senior Julie Brechtel hit .467 with two doubles, a homer and five RBIs, while sophomore Brooke Thomason drove in six.

Scouting the Radford Highlanders (8-6)
Radford has won its last six games and takes an 8-6 record into a Wednesday doubleheader against Toledo in Clearwater, Fla. The Highlanders went 5-0 at the Under Armour Invitational in Clearwater last weekend. Nebraska and Radford share no common opponents this season, and the Highlanders dropped a close 2-0 decision to Virginia Tech in their only game against a BCS conference member this season.

Radford has scored at least three runs in its last six games. The Highlanders are batting .252 as a team and are averaging nearly four runs per game. Radford also boasts plenty of speed, as the Highlanders are averaging 2.4 stolen bases per game and have been thrown out only six times in 40 attempts. Taylor Cunningham leads the team with a .325 average and five doubles, while Nichole Beall has produced team-high totals of three home runs, seven RBIs and 11 walks, while batting .216.

In the circle, Radford is allowing 2.6 runs per game and boasts a 2.01 team ERA. The Highlanders average just 2.9 strikeouts per game, but have walked only 16 batters in 14 games. Stephanie Dameron and Chelsea Kelley have seen the majority of the action. Dameron has appeared in 11 games and is 3-2 with a 1.32 ERA in 42.1 innings. Kelley is also 3-2 with a 2.00 ERA in 35.0 innings. Jackie Jenkins (1-0, 2.33 ERA in 12.0 IP), Kellie Snooks (0-2, 5.48 ERA in 7.2 IP) and Natalie Parsons (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.2 IP) round out the Highlander staff.

Nebraska and Radford will meet for the first time on Friday.

Scouting the Maryland Terrapins (8-7)
Maryland enters a Wednesday home doubleheader against East Carolina with an 8-7 record. Nebraska and Maryland do not share a common opponent this season, but the Terrapins have faced a challenging schedule that includes losses to Iowa (1-0), Georgia (8-2), Illinois (3-1) and Notre Dame (5-3), as well as a 5-4 win over Pittsburgh.

Offensively, the Terps are led by Bree Hanafin, who is in her first season at Maryland after spending the past two years as a starting middle infielder at Baylor. Hanafin leads the team with a .417 average, two doubles, four home runs and 11 RBIs. As a team, Maryland is averaging 3.4 runs per game.

In the circle, the Terrapins are allowing 3.1 runs per game and are averaging 9.2 strikeouts per seven innings. Kerry Hickey has appeared in 11 of Maryland's 15 games, compiling a 3-3 record with a 3.82 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 37.2 innings. Kendra Knight has started a team-high seven games, posting a 2.88 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 34.1 innings. Ashley Czechner tossed a one-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts in Maryland's last game, and she is 3-1 on the year with a 2.50 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 28.0 innings.

Nebraska leads the all-time series, 1-0. The Huskers defeated Maryland, 3-1, on Feb. 12, 1999, in the only previous meeting between the programs.

Scouting the La Salle Explorers (1-5)
La Salle is currently competing at the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimee, Fla. The Explorers lost twice on Monday to fall to 1-5 on the season with two more games scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday before play at the Under Armour Showcase begins on Friday. La Salle's lone victory this season was a 5-0 shutout of Lafayette.

Offensively, La Salle is hitting just .201 as a team while averaging 2.2 runs per game. DJ Guinn is the Explorers' top hitter, as she leads the team with a .333 average. She has also hit one of La Salle's two home runs this season. Jackie McBride leads the team with five RBIs, while batting .267.

Defensively, La Salle boasts a .970 fielding percentage and a staff ERA of 4.56. Guinn is also the Explorers' top pitcher, having thrown more than half of La Salle's total innings. Guinn is 0-3 on the season with a 4.01 ERA in 22.2 innings. Laura Beth McCreesh owns La Salle's lone victory, as she is 1-0 with a 3.05 ERA in 10.0 innings. Kristen Paoletti (0-2, 8.64 ERA in 5.2 IP) rounds out the staff.

Nebraska and La Salle will meet for the first time on Saturday. 

Scouting the No. 1 Florida Gators (19-0)
Top-ranked Florida has opened the 2011 season with 19 straight wins after advancing to the Women's College World Series each of the last three years. The Gators will put their perfect 19-0 record on the line on Wednesday, when they open Southeastern Conference play with a doubleheader at No. 21 LSU. Florida and Nebraska share one common opponent this season in Long Island. The Gators defeated the Blackbirds 9-2, while the Huskers earned a 6-1 win in six innings.

Florida excels in all phases of the game. The Gators average 8.5 runs per game, allow only 1.1 runs per contest and have committed just nine errors in 19 games.

Offensively, Florida has homered 36 times and scored 162 runs in only 19 games. The Gators boast a .358 team batting average and have three players batting better than .400 and five more hitting above .300. Michelle Moultrie leads the way with a .500 average and seven stolen bases. Aja Paculba ranks second with a .485 average and is the Gators' top power hitter, as she leads the team with seven doubles, seven home runs and a .909 slugging percentage.

In the circle, Florida's duo of senior All-American Stephanie Brombacher and talented freshman Hannah Rogers have been dominant, combining for 11 shutouts in 19 games. Brombacher has continued to put up impressive numbers in 2011, compiling an 11-0 record with a 0.74 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 66.0 innings. With her 11-0 start to this season, Brombacher owns an 88-8 career record. Rogers has also impressed in her rookie season, posting an 8-0 record with a 0.69 ERA in 50.2 innings. Ensley Gammel (0-0, 8.40 ERA in 66.0 IP) rounds out the staff.

Florida leads the all-time series, 1-0. The Gators defeated the Huskers, 3-1, in Houston in 2004.

Scouting the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (5-5-1)
Central Connecticut State is 5-5-1 this season, and the Blue Devils' unbeaten streak is at five games. CCSU had won four straight games before tying Brown, 2-2, in its last game. The win streak began during a doubleheader with Coppin State on March 3. The Blue Devils lost the first game 3-1, then rebounded for a 22-2 five-inning victory in game two.

CCSU's strength is its offense, which is averaging 5.3 runs per game, thanks in part to that 22-run outburst against Coppin State. The Blue Devils are hitting .271 as a team, led by four starters batting above .300. Arielle Bruno leads the team with a .379 average and four doubles, while Kelsey Barlow owns team-high totals of three home runs and 11 RBIs to complement a .353 average.

In the circle, Central Connecticut State owns a 4.70 ERA and opponents are batting .350 against Blue Devil pitching. Those numbers are somewhat inflated after CCSU allowed 17 runs to No. 2 Alabama and 14 runs to Temple in its opening weekend. Julie Marks is the staff ace, posting a 2-2 record with a 2.16 ERA in 32.1 innings. Jordan Tingley has also seen extensive action, compiling a 2-1 record with an 8.27 ERA in 22.0 innings. Liz Montemurro (1-2, 5.53 ERA in 12.2 IP) rounds out the staff.

Sunday's contest will mark the first meeting between Nebraska and Central Connecticut State in any sport.

Quick Hitters
The information below provides a quick glimpse of a few statistics and brief notes of interest as the Huskers continue their 2011 season at the Under Armour Showcase.

• The Huskers finished February with a 14-2 record, posting the most victories in the month in school history. NU also posted a 10-game winning streak in February - the longest for the month in school history - and finished with a winning February record for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons.
• Nebraska owns an all-time record of 406-240 (.628) in the month of March. The Huskers have posted a winning month of March in each of the last 15 seasons dating back to 1994.
• Freshman Taylor Edwards saw her 11-game hitting streak snapped in Nebraska's last game, a 6-1 win over Long Island. Edwards was due up in the sixth inning of that game, but she never got a final chance to extend the streak as the game was shortened due to the Huskers' travel plans. The 11-game hitting streak is the longest of any current Husker and Edwards was hit by a pitch against the Blackbirds to extend her streak to 12 consecutive games reaching base safely.
• NU has allowed a total of 31 runs in 16 games this season, an average of 1.9 runs per game. That total could be even lower, as 18 of the 31 runners who have scored (58 percent) reached base via a walk or hit-by-pitch.
• Senior Julie Brechtel and sophomore Brooke Thomason each hit their first home run of the season two weeks ago at the Cathedral City Classic. The home runs were also the first two home runs by a returning player who had homered last season. Nebraska returned 38 home runs from the 2010 season, the second-highest total in school history.
• With one victory this weekend, Head Coach Rhonda Revelle will win her 695th game at Nebraska and pass former Husker volleyball coach Terry Pettit for second place on the Nebraska all-time coaching victories chart.

What a Difference a Year Makes
After posting a 9-7 record in February last season, the 2011 Huskers have matched the best start in school history with a 14-2 record heading into March. With nine returning starters from last year's team, Nebraska has shown improvement offensively and defensively. In comparing the statistics from NU's 16-game February schedule the past two seasons, Nebraska is hitting .044 better this season, while averaging nearly one more run per game and allowing 1.4 fewer runs per game.

Hagemann Continues Impressive Start
Junior right-hander Ashley Hagemann is enjoying the best start of her career, as she is already nearing her season high of 15 wins. Hagemann has appeared in 14 of Nebraska's 16 games, posting an 11-1 record with a 1.21 ERA in 69.2 innings. She continued her strong play with an outstanding performance at the Cathedal City Classic, posting a 4-0 record with a 0.60 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 23.1 innings. She defeated a pair of ranked teams in back-to-back games at the tournament, including a one-hit shutout of 10th-ranked Hawaii.

Hagemann ranked highly in the Big 12 statistics after her performance in California. Before the Huskers took last weekend off, Hagemann led the Big 12 in wins (11), appearances (14) and innings pitched (69.2), while ranking second in starts (9) and strikeouts (93), third in ERA (1.21), shutouts (2) and opponent batting average (.152) and fifth in complete games (5).

Brechtel Posts Big Homecoming Weekend
Senior Julie Brechtel helped Nebraska match the best start in school history (14-2) by posting a 4-1 record at the Cathedral City Classic in her return to her native state of California two weeks ago. Brechtel batted .467 (7-for-15) at the tournament, collecting seven hits, including three that went for extra bases. She had two doubles and one home run to post an .800 slugging percentage, and Brechtel also drove in five runs and scored five times from the No. 2 spot in the Husker batting order.

She helped fuel the Huskers' 3-0 upset of 10th-ranked Hawaii with a 2-for-3 day that included a home run, an RBI and two runs scored. Brechtel then closed the tournament in impressive fashion, going 5-for-5 with a pair of doubles, four RBIs and three runs scored in Sunday wins over Ohio State and Long Island. She tied her career high with three hits against Long Island.

After the big weekend, Brechtel ranks second on the team this season in average (.375), hits (18), runs scored (12) and doubles (3), while leading NU with four sacrifices. Brechtel has started every game at second base in 2011.

Hagemann Nation's Fastest to 10 Wins
Junior right-hander Ashley Hagemann picked up her 10th win of the season against Ohio State on Feb. 27, becoming the first pitcher in the country to reach double-digit victories in 2011. Later that same day, Arizona All-American Kenzie Fowler picked up her 10th victory of the season, as Hagemann and Fowler were the nation's only two pitchers to post 10 victories in the month of February.

Hagemann also became the fastest Nebraska pitcher to 10 victories, needing only 15 games to reach the mark. The previous record was set in 1998, when All-American Jenny Voss picked up her 10th victory of the season in Nebraska's 21st game. That season, Voss went on to to lead the nation with a school-record 40 victories.

Hagemann's 10 wins in the month of February were also a Nebraska record and her individual win total exceeded the Huskers' team win total in 16 of the 18 seasons when NU has played in the month of February. 

Taylor Edwards Driving in Runs at Near Record Pace
Freshman Taylor Edwards has produced 22 RBIs in her first 16 career games. It took Edwards only eight games to record her 10th RBI and only 13 games to drive in 20 runs. Edwards was the second-fastest freshman in school history to reach the 20-RBI mark, trailing only Ali Viola who drove in 20 runs in 11 games in 1995. Edwards was also the fourth-fastest Husker to reach the mark regardless of class, trailing only Viola, Lisa Wangler, who produced 20 RBIs in 12 games during the 2003 season, and Sheena Lawrick, who also reached the 20-RBI mark in 13 games in 2005.

In the first two weekends of her career, Edwards produced at least one RBI in seven straight games, fueled by her NCAA-record six-game home run streak. The seven straight games with an RBI tied the school record, as Viola (1995) and Wangler (2003) also produced seven-game streaks.

Edwards has driven in at least one run in 11 of her 16 games this season, including eight games with at least two RBIs.

Hagemann On 10-Game Win Streak
Junior right-hander Ashley Hagemann is 11-1 this season and she was the first pitcher in the country to reach the 10-win mark in 2011. Hagemann's only loss this season is to fourth-ranked Arizona, a loss she suffered in the third game of the season. Since that loss, Hagemann has won 10 consecutive decisions to help Nebraska match the best start in school history with a 14-2 record.

Hagemann is the first Husker pitcher to win 10 consecutive decisions since Molly Hill won 11 games in a row during March and April of the 2006 season. A Husker hurler hasn't won 15 games in a row since Peaches James won 15 straight decisions during her All-American senior season in 2004. 

Huskers Take Two From Ranked Teams on Same Day
Nebraska defeated No. 25 BYU (4-3) and 10th-ranked Hawaii (3-0) on Friday, Feb. 25 at the Cathedral City Classic. The two victories marked the first time Nebraska had defeated two ranked teams in the same day since Feb. 28, 1998, when Nebraska defeated No. 3 Michigan (3-2) and 18th-ranked Minnesota (3-2). Since that day, Nebraska has swept doubleheaders from the same ranked team multiple times and defeated ranked teams in back-to-back games, but never on the same date. 

Thomason Steps Up in Cleanup Role
Nebraska has been looking for consistency out of its cleanup spot this season, and sophomore Brooke Thomason thrived in the role in her final two games at the Cathedral City Classic. In two games batting fourth, Thomason went 3-for-6 with a homer and four RBIs. Over the first 14 games of the season, Nebraska's cleanup hitters combined to go 13-for-46 (.282) with three homers and seven RBIs.

Tatum Edwards Pitching Well
Freshman right-hander Tatum Edwards has bounced back from a disappointing first two outings to post impressive numbers for Nebraska in the circle over the past two tournaments. Edwards did not record an out in her first career appearance, facing five batters and allow three walks, two hits and two earned runs against San Jose State. In her second career appearance the next weekend, Edwards started against Centenary, earning the win after allowing two earned runs in 3.0 innings.

Edwards has been dominant since that start, beginning with a two-hit shutout against Tennessee Tech the next day. In her most recent action at the Cathedral City Classic, Edwards made three relief appearances, tossing 6.0 scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and striking out three, while walking only one. Overall, Edwards takes a 13.1-inning scoreless streak into play this weekend.

In her first two career appearances, Edwards was 1-0 with a 9.33 ERA in 3.0 innings. In her last four appearances, Edwards is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 13.0 innings. Edwards has also allowed only seven hits in 16.0 innings, as her .130 opponent batting average leads the Big 12 Conference.