No. 12 Nebraska Travels to No. 22 Texas A&M

The 12th-ranked Nebraska softball team faces another challenge in conference play this weekend, when the Huskers travel to College Station, Texas, for a two-game series with the 22nd-ranked Texas A&M Aggies.

Nebraska has matched the best start in school history with a 31-6 overall record this season, but the Huskers have opened Big 12 play with a 3-3 record after a pair of late, one-run losses to No. 5 Texas last weekend in Lincoln. Four of Nebraska's first six Big 12 games have come against teams ranked in the top 10, and the Huskers are currently in a stretch that has them playing 10 consecutive conference games against ranked opponents.

Nebraska has played nine games against ranked opponents this season, posting a 5-4 record, including a 3-4 mark against teams ranked in the top 10. Texas A&M has played 10 games against ranked opponents, but the Aggies haven't fared as well as the Huskers. A&M is just 1-9 against ranked opponents this season, but five of those losses came in the first month of the season. The Aggies have fared better against ranked teams over the past two weeks, despite a 1-4 record during that span. Texas A&M defeated Baylor at home for its lone win over a top-25 team, and the Aggies have also lost one-run games to Baylor and Texas in the last two weeks.

In a highly competitive Big 12 Conference that features eight ranked teams, Nebraska sits in fifth place in the league standings, while Texas A&M is tied for sixth. The Huskers have played two of the four teams ahead of them in the conference standings and only one of the five teams below them.

That makes this weekend an opportunity for Nebraska to improve its conference standing, but earning a split or a series sweep will not be easy on the Aggies' home field. Nebraska is just 4-13 all-time in College Station, and Texas A&M is a perfect 15-0 at home this season, including a 3-0 mark in Big 12 games at the Aggie Softball Complex. Overall, A&M has won 17 straight home games dating back to last season, which is tied for the fifth-longest home winning streak in the country.

While Texas A&M has been perfect at home, Nebraska has fared well on the road this season. The Huskers are 10-2 in true road games, including a 3-1 mark in Big 12 play, with the lone loss coming at No. 7 Oklahoma.

Nebraska became the 11th team nationally to win 10 road games with a 10-2, five-inning victory at Creighton on Wednesday. The Huskers were led by freshman twins Tatum and Taylor Edwards in the victory, along with junior Ashley Guile. Tatum Edwards earned the win in the circle and hit her 11th home run of the season, while Taylor Edwards and Guile each produced four RBIs. Taylor Edwards was also named one of 25 finalists for the USA Softball Player-of-the-Year award on Wednesday.
Scouting the 22nd-Ranked Texas A&M Aggies (31-11 Overall, 3-4 Big 12)

Texas A&M enters this weekend's series with a 31-11 overall record. The Aggies sit just behind Nebraska in the conference standings with a 3-4 Big 12 record. A&M has lost its last three league games, falling to Texas last Wednesday before being swept at Missouri. The Huskers and Aggies share six common opponents this season in Texas, Long Island, Ohio State, Arizona, BYU and Cal State Fullerton. Nebraska posted a 4-3 record against that group, while Texas A&M went 3-3.

Offensively, Texas A&M ranks last in the Big 12 with a .289 team batting average, but that hasn't stopped the Aggies from scoring runs. A&M has produced the fourth-highest run total in the conference, while averaging 5.9 runs per game. Texas A&M ranks second in the league with 56 home runs and also ranks second in walks.

Individually, Natalie Villarreal is batting .366 to lead a contingent of three Aggies batting over .300. Villarreal, who missed all of last season, leads the team in runs scored (36), doubles (12) and stolen bases (9), while adding four home runs and 23 RBIs. Rhiannon Kliesing is batting .358 with six doubles, 14 home runs and 43 RBIs, while slugging .830 and adding 33 walks to post a .541 on-base percentage. Meagan May posted a .349 average with six doubles, 10 home runs and 40 RBIs over the first 34 games this season, but she has missed the last eight contests due to injury.

In the circle, Texas A&M uses a two-pitcher rotation in the form of Melissa Dumezich and Lindsey Sisk. Dumezich has seen the most action, compiling a 17-7 record with a 2.15 ERA and 162 strikeouts in 140.0 innings. She has posted eight shutouts and opponents are hitting only .191 against her. Sisk, a transfer from Arizona, missed all of last season with an injury. In her return season, she is 14-4 with a 1.87 ERA and five shutouts in 127.1 innings.

Husker History vs. Texas A&M
Texas A&M leads the all-time series with Nebraska, 34-24. The Huskers own a 20-19 edge since the programs became members of the Big 12 Conference in 1996. Since that time, both Rhonda Revelle and Jo Evans have been the head coaches at Nebraska and Texas A&M, respectively. Despite Nebraska owning a winning record over Texas A&M as Big 12 members, the Aggies have won nine of the last 11 meetings. The teams have split the season series the past two seasons, including 2009 in College Station. Nebraska is just 4-13 all-time in College Station, and the Huskers' lone sweep on the Aggies' home field came in 2000.

Last year, the teams split a doubleheader with Texas A&M rallying for a win in game one, and Nebraska coming from behind to win game two. In the first game, the Huskers scored three runs in the first two innings off Aggie starter Melissa Dumezich. NU led 3-1 going into the sixth inning, before committing one error and walking three batters in Texas A&M's five-run sixth inning that gave the Aggies a 6-3 win. Rebecca Arbino earned the win by tossing 5.0 innings of three-hit, shutout relief. Robin Mackin took the loss for NU, as she walked seven batters and gave up only two earned runs in 5.1 innings.

In game two, Ashley Hagemann tossed a complete game, allowing three runs on five hits. Nebraska trailed 3-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning before scoring six times to earn an 8-3 win over the 18th-ranked Aggies. Home runs powered Nebraska to the come-from-behind victory. Brooke Thomason tied the game with a solo home run, before Alex Hupp and Heidi Foland connected on two-run homers to wrap up the six-run sixth inning.

Nebraska and Texas A&M met again at the Big 12 Championship, with Dumezich tossing a shutout in the Aggies' 5-0 win. Nebraska was held to two hits, and Hagemann allowed five runs (four earned) in a complete-game effort. Offensively, Nikki Haget had the most success against A&M last season, finishing 4-for-9 with an RBI.

Quick Hitters
The information below provides a quick glimpse of a few statistics and brief notes of interest as No. 12 Nebraska travels to No. 22 Texas A&M this weekend.

• The Huskers are 463-226 (.672) all-time in the month of April, including a 3-2 mark this season. 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.
• Nebraska has only been out-hit three times in 37 games this season.
• The Huskers have outscored their opponents by an average of 4.2 runs per game this season.
• Six of the Huskers' nine starters are averaging at least 1.0 hit per game.
• NU has hit 42 home runs in 37 games this season, the highest 40-game total in school history.
• The 42 home runs tie for fifth place on NU's all-time season home run chart.
• Four of Nebraska's six losses this season have come to teams ranked in the top six of the NCAA RPI.
• Three of Nebraska's last four losses have been by a single run. The Huskers led in two of those three one-run losses and did not trail until the seventh inning in the third.
• Junior right-hander Ashley Hagemann has allowed 12 home runs in her last 12 games, after allowing only five home runs in her first 19 games.
• Hagemann enters play this weekend with 22 wins this season. One more win would move her into a four-way tie for ninth place on Nebraska's all-time season wins chart. A win would also move Hagemann into a tie for the third-most victories by a junior in school history.
• Hagemann has 223 strikeouts this season, a total that ranks 10th nationally. With five more strikeouts, she would tie her career best of 227 strikeouts, a mark that ranks 10th in Husker history.
• Hagemann has struck out at least seven batters in each of her last eight starts, including four double-digit strikeout performances.

Taylor Edwards Among 25 Player of the Year Finalists
Freshman Taylor Edwards was named one of 25 national finalists for the 2011 USA Softball College Player-of-the-Year award, announced on Wednesday. Edwards was the only freshman to make the list, and is the first Husker to be named one of the 25 finalists since Peaches James in 2004.

Huskers Chasing School Records
With 15 games remaining in the regular season, Nebraska is challenging several school records this season. If the season ended today, the Huskers would set school records for winning percentage, batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and runs per game. NU would challenge several other cumulative records were it not for fewer games played than previous seasons, when a 56-game regular-season limit was not in effect.

Taylor Edwards Matches Ali Viola With 15-Homer, 50-RBI Season
Freshman Taylor Edwards homered against Texas last Sunday to produce her 15th home run of the season and her 50th RBI. Edwards is only the second Husker ever to hit 15 home runs and produce 50 RBIs in the same season. She joins exclusive company, as Ali Viola accomplished the same feat while earning first-team All-America honors as a sophomore in 1996 and as a senior in 1998, when she was a finalist for the Honda Award.

Run Scorers
Junior Nikki Haget leads Nebraska with 39 runs scored this season. Although she is the only Husker to score 30 runs this season, four of her teammates have scored at least 27 runs. If each of those four players score at least three more runs, Nebraska will have five players score 30 runs in a season for only the second time in school history. The 1996 Huskers are the only team in school history to have five players score 30 times in a season.

Husker Streaks Snapped Last Weekend
Nebraska saw several streaks snapped last weekend in a pair of one-run losses to No. 5 Texas at Bowlin Stadium. The Huskers lost back-to-back games for the first time all season and also lost their first home games of the season. On Saturday, Nebraska lost 1-0, falling to 22-1 on the season when holding the opponent to less than three runs. On Sunday, Nebraska scored first and led after six innings before falling 4-3 in eight innings. Entering the game, the Huskers had been 13-0 when scoring first this season, 20-0 when leading after six innings and 1-0 in extra-inning games.

Huskers Popular with the Home Crowd
Nebraska drew a school-record 1,960 fans for a matchup with No. 5 Texas on April 9 at Bowlin Stadium, bettering the previous mark of 1,844 fans for a 2003 NCAA Tournament contest against Iowa. The Huskers, who have matched the best start in school history at 30-6, have been popular with the home fans this season. Nebraska's average weekend attendance this season is 1,463 fans. Overall, the Huskers' average attendance this season is 1,063 fans per game. The highest average season attendance in school history came in 2004, when Nebraska ranked fourth nationally by drawing an average of 955 fans per game.

Striking Out
Junior right-hander Ashley Hagemann ranks second among all pitchers in the Big 12 Conference this season with 223 strikeouts. Hagemann entered last week as one of only 10 pitchers nationally with 200 strikeouts, and she currently ranks 10th nationally in strikeouts. Behind her impressive individual total, Nebraska ranks fourth in the league with 302 strikeouts as a staff. On a per-game basis, the Huskers are averaging 8.7 strikeouts per seven innings this season. That figure ranks just shy of the school record of 8.8 strikeouts per seven innings set in 2006.

Edwards Twins Both Reach Double Digit Homers
Freshmen twins Tatum and Taylor Edwards have combined to hit 26 home runs this season. Through 37 games, the twins have combined to produce the highest home run total ever by a Husker freshman class, and the second-highest tandem home run total in school history. Tatum and Taylor have each reached double figures in home runs this season, becoming only the fifth and sixth Husker freshmen to hit 10 home runs in a season. Taylor has homered 15 times, while Tatum has added 11 home runs. Taylor's 15 home runs are a Husker freshman record, while Tatum's 11 homers are tied for fifth among all freshmen in NU history. Together, the twins are only the seventh tandem in Husker history to combine to hit at least 20 home runs.

Going Deep
Nebraska has homered in 15 of its last 17 games, being held without a home run only in the series finale at Oklahoma on March 27 and against Texas last Saturday. During the 17-game stretch, the Huskers have hit 29 home runs, including at least two home runs in eight of the last 11 games. Individually, freshman twins Tatum and Taylor Edwards, who have homered seven times each in the last 17 games.

Huskers Ranked 16th in NCAA RPI
The NCAA released its fourth weekly RPI report on April 12, and Nebraska remained in the No. 16 spot. The Huskers were one of eight Big 12 teams ranked in the top 30 of the poll, along with Texas (3rd), Oklahoma (6th), Missouri (8th), Baylor (10th), Oklahoma State (19th), Texas Tech (27th) and Texas A&M (29th). The Huskers own wins over No. 5 Florida and No. 6 Oklahoma, and the Huskers are 2-3 against the top six teams in the RPI.

Taylor Edwards Chasing Big 12 & NCAA Freshman Triple Crowns
Freshman Taylor Edwards is batting .426 this season with 15 home runs and 54 RBIs in only 37 games. She leads NU in all three categories, and just over halfway through the season, Edwards has a chance 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). 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.

RBI Producers
Junior Ashley Guile recorded four RBIs on Wednesday to become the sixth Husker to produce 20 RBIs this season. Freshman Taylor Edwards leads the team with 54 RBIs, while her twin sister Tatum has driven in 32. Senior Julie Brechtel has produced 25 RBIs, classmate Heidi Foland has driven in 24 and sophomore Brooke Thomason has 23 RBIs. The Huskers have had six players produce 20 RBIs for only the sixth time in school history, joining the 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001 and 2002 squads who also accomplished the feat.