NU Travels to Kansas for Weekend Series

The 13th-ranked Nebraska softball team travels to Kansas this weekend for a two-game Big 12 Conference series with the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday and Sunday at Arrocha Ballpark.

The Huskers enter their final conference series against Kansas with a 28-4 overall record and a 1-1 record in Big 12 play. Nebraska is off to the best start in school history, while Kansas has also been impressive, posting a 27-8 record after finishing 21-35 a season ago.

Both teams had games in the mid-week, with Nebraska defeating in-state rival Creighton, 7-2, on Wednesday, and the Jayhawks splitting a doubleheader at UMKC. Kansas won the second game of the doubleheader to snap a five-game losing streak.

The Jayhawks are looking for their first conference win of the season, as they are the only winless team after one full weekend of Big 12 play. Kansas faced a tough start to its league schedule, as the Jayhawks lost a pair of one-run decisions while getting swept in a doubleheader by 11th-ranked Missouri, before being swept in a two-game series at No. 8 Texas last weekend.

Nebraska also faced a tough start to its league slate, opening Big 12 play at No. 7 Oklahoma last weekend. Facing the team predicted to win the regular-season title in a preseason vote of the league's head coaches, Nebraska held its own by earning a split. The Huskers defeated the Sooners 4-1 in game one, before four Oklahoma home runs powered the Sooners to a 6-3 win in game two.

NU is currently tied for third in the Big 12 standings as one of six teams with a 1-1 league record. Missouri is in first place with a 4-0 conference mark, while Texas is second at 2-0. Nebraska will have a chance to solidify its spot in the standings beginning with this weekend.

The Huskers swept the season series from Kansas last season, and a pair of victories this weekend would help Nebraska stay in the top half of the Big 12 standings heading into a critical part of the Huskers' schedule.

After traveling to Kansas this weekend, Nebraska's next 10 conference games are all against ranked teams. The Huskers host eighth-ranked Texas next weekend in their first Big 12 home games of the year, before traveling to No. 20 Texas A&M. The Huskers then host 11th-ranked Missouri on Easter weekend, before hosting No. 22 Texas Tech on the final weekend of April. The tough stretch concludes with a two-game series at 17th-ranked Baylor the first weekend of April.

The Huskers are hoping to continue their road success this weekend, as Nebraska is 7-2 in true road games this season, including a 1-1 mark in league play. With a sweep this weekend, the Huskers would match their highest road win total in five years. A sweep would also give Nebraska three Big 12 road wins in four games, after the Huskers won only three league road games all of last year.

Nebraska is also looking to post a strong start to the month of April after finishing with a 14-2 record in both February and March.

Scouting the Kansas Jayhawks (27-8 Overall, 0-4 Big 12)
The Kansas Jayhawks are off to an impressive start this season, bringing a 27-8 record into play this weekend. KU was 26-3 before Big 12 Conference play began, but has lost five of its last six games, including an 0-4 mark in conference action. The Jayhawks' four Big 12 losses have come to Missouri and Texas teams that are both ranked in the top 10 of the NCAA RPI this week. On Wednesday, Kansas split a doubleheader at UMKC, winning game two to snap a five-game losing streak.

Kansas is led by a powerful offense that ranks fourth in the Big 12 with 40 home runs, while averaging 6.1 runs per game. The Jayhawks are batting .306 as a team, led by five starters hitting better than .300. Maggie Hull leads the team with a .376 average, 11 doubles and 35 RBIs. Liz Kocon is batting .354 with nine homers and 35 RBIs, while Brittany Hiles leads KU with 10 home runs to go along with a .350 average and 31 RBIs. Alex Jones is batting .342 and has stolen 14 bases in 16 tries.

In the circle, Kansas' staff has posted a 2.91 ERA while allowing an average of 3.2 runs per game. Freshman left-hander Kristin Martinez has seen the most action of any of KU's four pitchers. Martinez is 12-3 on the season with a 2.17 ERA in 96.2 innings. Allie Clark has thrown 79.1 innings, posting an 11-4 record with a 2.82 ERA. Alex Jones (4-0, 3.13 ERA in 31.1 IP) and Ashley Spencer (0-1, 7.29 ERA in 16.1 IP) round out the Jayhawk staff. KU pitching has walked 98 batters this season - the second-highest total in the league - while striking out only 146, the second-lowest total in the Big 12.

In league play, Kansas has been outscored 31-9 in four games. The Jayhawks are batting just .191 as a team in Big 12 action, while opponents are hitting .351. KU pitching has walked 21 and struck out only seven in conference play, as Kansas is allowing an average of 7.8 runs per game, while owning a staff ERA of 8.65.

Husker History vs. Kansas
Nebraska and Kansas will be meeting for the final time as conference opponents this weekend. The Jayhawks lead the all-time series, 55-51, and the 106 all-time meetings mark the second-most games against a single opponent in Nebraska history (NU and Creighton have met 110 times). Nebraska went 2-0 against Kansas last season, marking its first regular-season sweep of the Jayhawks since 2006 and its first undefeated season record against KU since 2000. Nebraska has won four of the last five meetings between the two schools and the Huskers' current two-game win streak in the series matches either team's longest win streak since Nebraska won four straight from 2001 to 2002. Eight of the last 12 meetings in the series have been decided by two runs or less.

Husker Head Coach Rhonda Revelle is 32-25 against Kansas, including a 2-0 mark against second-year Kansas Head Coach Megan Smith. Kansas owns a 19-17 series edge in Lawrence, but Nebraska has won seven of the eight conference meetings since Arrocha Ballpark opened in 2004. In last year's meeting in Lawrence, the Huskers earned a 2-0 victory. Robin Mackin and Ashley Hagemann combined for the shutout, despite allowing nine hits, as KU out-hit Nebraska, 9-7. Hagemann earned the save, allowing only two hits and striking out four in 2.0 innings. Offensively, Heidi Foland went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Brooke Thomason was 2-for-3. Julie Brechtel produced Nebraska's other RBI as part of a 1-for-2 day. Foland, Thomas, Brechtel and Ashley Guile each doubled in the win.

In the final meeting in Lincoln, the Huskers rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to post an 8-5 win. Hagemann earned the win, allowing three runs on four hits in 4.2 innings. Guile and Brechtel both homered in the win, as Guile was 3-for-3, and Brechtel was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored.

Quick Hitters
The information below provides a quick glimpse of a few statistics and brief notes of interest as the Huskers travel to Kansas for a two-game Big 12 series this weekend:

• Nebraska finished 14-2 in the month of March, after also posting a 14-2 record in February. The 14-2 March record marked the 16th straight season the Huskers finished with a winning month of march dating back to 1994. The Huskers' .875 March winning percentage was the second-best mark in school history, trailing only the 2002 Women's College World Series team which went 19-1 to post a .950 March winning percentage.
• The Huskers are 460-224 (.673) all-time in the month of April. April has historically been Nebraska's best month, as the Huskers own more victories and a better winning percentage in April than in any other month. However, Nebraska posted an 8-7 record in April last season, marking its first winning month of April in three years.
• A 2-0 record this weekend would allow Nebraska to match last year's win total (30) and give the Huskers 30 wins for the 13th time in the last 14 seasons.
• Nebraska has out-hit 28 of its 32 opponents this season, and the Huskers have only been out-hit twice. NU is 27-1 when out-hitting its opponent and 0-2 when being out-hit.
• NU has been held to fewer than five hits only twice in 32 games. Both of those instances came against the nation's No. 1-ranked team, as the Huskers were held to four hits in a 6-1 loss to Arizona on Feb. 11 and totaled four hits in a 1-0 victory over Florida on March 12.
• The Huskers are 22-0 this season when scoring first and 13-0 when scoring in the first inning.
• Nebraska is 20-0 when holding the opponent to two runs or less.
• The Huskers have two Kansas products on their roster in junior Ashley Guile and sophomore Brooke Thomason. The Sunflower State natives have excelled against their hometown school. Guile is 5-for-16 (.313) in five career games against Kansas and two of her six career home runs have come agains the Jayhawks. In two games last year, Thomason went 4-for-7 (.571) against KU with a double and an RBI.
• Junior right-hander Ashley Hagemann has allowed 13 runs in her last 33.1 innings, dating back to the fourth inning of a doubleheader at New Mexico State on March 19. Including that game, Hagemann has appeared in six games and allowed a total of 13 runs in those 33.1 innings. All 13 runs scored have come off of home runs, as Hagemann has allowed eight home runs during that stretch, after allowing only seven home runs in her first 103.3 innings this season.

Huskers Ranked 11th in NCAA RPI
The NCAA released its second weekly RPI report on Tuesday, and Nebraska dropped one spot to come in at No. 11 in the rankings. The Huskers are one of five Big 12 teams ranked in the top 14 of the poll, along with Texas (third), Missouri (fifth), Oklahoma (eighth) and Baylor (14th). Oklahoma State (23rd), Texas Tech (30th), Texas A&M (32nd) and Kansas (40th) are also ranked in the top 40. Iowa State (73rd) is the only Big 12 team outside of the top 40.

The Huskers own impressive wins this season against the RPI's top teams. Nebraska owns wins over No. 4 Florida and No. 8 Oklahoma, and the Huskers are 4-2 against the RPI top 20 and 9-3 against the top 50.

Taylor Edwards Chasing Big 12 & NCAA Freshman Triple Crowns
Freshman Taylor Edwards is batting .447 this season with 14 home runs and 47 RBIs in only 32 games. She leads Nebraska in all three categories, and halfway through the season, Edwards is bidding to become a triple crown winner by leading all Big 12 hitters and all NCAA freshmen in batting average, home runs and RBIs.

There have been only two players to win the Big 12 triple crown in the 15 years the league has existed. The first was former Husker Ali Viola in 1998 as a senior (.424, 22 HR, 57 RBIs), and the last was former Oklahoma Sooner Amber Flores as a junior in 2009 (.416, 18 HR, 58 RBIs). Edwards currently ranks second in the league in batting average, home runs and RBIs. She trails the league leader by .011 in average, four home runs and six RBIs. Not only has a freshman never won the Big 12 triple crown, a freshman has led the league in hitting only twice, in home runs twice and in RBIs three times.

Edwards is also bidding to lead all Division I freshmen in each of the triple crown categories. She currently leads all freshmen nationally in home runs and RBIs and ranks seventh with her .447 batting average, .024 behind the national freshman leader.

No Problem With No. 2
Freshman Taylor Edwards has been a tough out no matter where she has batted in the Husker order this season, but since moving into the No. 2 spot in the NU order eight games ago, Edwards has been dominant. In eight games batting second, Edwards has come to the plate 33 times, reaching base safely in 22 of those plate appearances to post a .667 on-base percentage. In 23 official at bats, Edwards is 13-for-23 (.565) with a double, four home runs, 11 RBIs and 10 runs scored. She has also drawn eight walks - including two intentional - and been hit by a pitch.

The Husker offense has also been more productive since Edwards moved into the No. 2 spot in the batting order. Over the eight games since Edwards has hit second, Nebraska has posted a .361 team batting average with 12 doubles, 16 home runs and 67 runs scored, an average of 8.4 runs per game.

Stat of the Week
Five Huskers have produced at least 20 RBIs through the first 32 games of the season. Freshman Taylor Edwards leads the team with 47 RBIs, while her twin sister Tatum has driven in 26. Seniors Julie Brechtel and Heidi Foland have each produced 24 RBIs, while sophomore Brooke Thomason has 20 RBIs. The last time a Nebraska team had five players produce 20 RBIs in a full season was in 2003. The Huskers have had six players produce 20 RBIs in a season only five times in school history (1995, 1996, 1998, 2001 and 2002). Junior Ashley Guile, Nebraska's RBI leader last season, currently has 15 RBIs this season.

Hagemann Posts 10 Wins in February and March
After posting a 10-1 record in the month of February, junior right-hander Ashley Hagemann went 10-2 in March to become the only pitcher in school history to win 10 games in each of the first two months of the season. Overall, Hagemann is the first Husker pitcher to post back-to-back 10-win months since Peaches James accomplished the feat during her All-America senior season in 2004. That year, James went 12-1 in March before going 10-1 in April.

Finding a Way to Score
Through 32 games this season, Nebraska has yet to be shut out. In contrast, through 32 games last year, the Huskers had been shut out six times even though Nebraska finished with some of the top offensive numbers in school history.

This season marks only the fifth time in school history that a Husker team made it 20 games into a season without being shut out and only the third time a Husker team went 30 games without being held scoreless. Nebraska's current streak of 32 games without being shut out is the third-longest season-opening streak in school history.

Huskers Win Big 12 Opener for First Time Since 2004
Nebraska upset No. 7 Oklahoma, 4-1, last Saturday in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams. The win marked the first time the Huskers picked up a victory in their first Big 12 game since defeating Oklahoma State, 10-2 in five innings in 2004. The league-opening victory is hopefully a preview of things to come. Entering this year, Nebraska had won its first Big 12 game seven times in 15 seasons. In those seven seasons when the Huskers won their league opener, they never finished lower than fourth in the final conference standings while winning three regular-season titles and averaging 13 wins in conference play.

Huskers Homer in 10 Straight Games to Tie School Record
Freshman Taylor Edwards homered at No. 7 Oklahoma on March 26 to extend Nebraska's streak to 10 consecutive games with a home run. The Huskers were held without a home run the next day, but the 10-game homer streak tied the longest streak in school history. The streak began on March 13 against Central Connecticut State. During the 10-game streak, Nebraska hit 18 home runs. Taylor Edwards hit five home runs during the streak, while her twin Tatum homered four times, homering once each in four consecutive games. Senior Heidi Foland also added four home runs during the streak, while classmate Julie Brechtel, juniors Madison Drake and Ashley Guile and sophomores Gabby Banda and Brooke Thomason each hit one home run during the 10-game stretch.

Hagemann Wins 40th Career Game
Junior right-hander Ashley Hagemann tossed a complete-game five-hitter to earn the win at No. 7 Oklahoma on March 26. The win was Hagemann's third straight against a top-10 opponent and marked the 40th win of her career. With a 20-3 record this season, Hagemann has set a career high in wins and improved her career record to 41-23. She is only the 12th Husker pitcher to win 40 games and she is in 10th place on the Nebraska career wins list.

NU Scores 200 Runs in Record Time
Nebraska has scored 205 runs in 32 games this season, an average of 6.4 runs per game. The Huskers are currently on pace to smash the school-record average of 5.6 runs per game set in 1978. Nebraska topped 200 runs scored during a 7-2 victory over Creighton Wednesday. The Huskers recorded their 200th run scored in the 32nd game of the season, becoming the fastest team to reach the mark in school history.

With 205 runs scored, the 2011 Huskers have already produced more runs that the entire season total in 21 of the first 35 seasons of Husker softball.

Hagemann Becomes Fastest Husker to Reach 20 Wins
Junior right-hander Ashley Hagemann is 20-3 this season, winning her 20th game on March 30 against Creighton in Nebraska's 32nd game of the year. Hagemann was the second pitcher in the country to reach 20 wins this season, as only South Carolina Upstate's Morgan Childers reached the 20-win mark before Hagemann.

Hagemann did become the fastest Husker pitcher to reach 20 wins in a season. By reaching the mark in 32 games, she topped All-American Jenny Voss' previous record of 20 wins in 34 games. Hagemann also became the fastest Nebraska pitcher to 10 wins earlier this season, needing only 15 games to reach the mark. Voss also held that record, earning her 10th victory of the 1998 season in Nebraska's 21st game.

Huskers Approach 2010 Win Total
With the season just past its halfway point, Nebraska is already nearing last year's victory total. The Huskers were 30-29 last season, including 29 victories in the regular season. In 2011, Nebraska is off to the best start in school history at 28-4. The Huskers need only one win this weekend to match last year's win total in the regular season and only two victories to match last year's entire season win total. Two more wins would also give Nebraska a 30-win season for the 13th time in the past 14 seasons and for the 24th time in school history.

Switch Paying Off for Banda
Sophomore Gabby Banda batted right-handed all of last season, but in an effort to see the ball better and become a more versatile hitter, Banda decided to hit left-handed this spring. After a slow start, Banda again made a commitment to the team and switched back to hitting right-handed to help improve the Husker lineup. Since making the switch back to batting right-handed, Banda has been a tough out at the plate, batting .321 with a .429 on-base percentage. Her switch has also helped the team, as Nebraska is averaging 6.9 runs per game in the 21 games since Banda switched back to batting right-handed.

Taylor Edwards Sets Husker Freshman Home Run Record
Freshman Taylor Edwards has homered 14 times in only 32 games, including an NCAA-record streak of six consecutive games with a home run in February. Edwards' 14 home runs have already broken All-American Ali Viola's NU freshman home run record of 13, set in 1995. Edwards' 14 home runs also rank as the fifth highest total in school history and are the most by any Husker since Jamie Fuente homered 15 times in 2000.

The high home run total has helped Edwards produce 47 RBIs. The 47 RBIs are tied for the second-highest total ever by a Husker freshman. Overall, Edwards' 47 RBIs rank 10th in school history and are the highest total by a Husker since the 2005 season.

Hagemann Records 500th Career Strikeout
Junior right-hander Ashley Hagemann struck out a season-high 13 Creighton Bluejays on Wednesday. She entered the game with 493 career strikeouts and recorded her 500th career strikeout only seven batters into the game, as she struck out each of the first seven hitters she faced. Overall, Hagemann struck out eight of the first nine batters she faced while becoming the seventh Husker pitcher to record 500 career strikeouts.