Huskers Host No. 8 Missouri on Friday and Saturday

The 14th-ranked Nebraska softball team opens a seven-game homestand this weekend, when the Huskers welcome No. 8 Missouri to Bowlin Stadium for a two-game series on Friday (6 p.m.) and Saturday (4 p.m.).

Saturday’s game features $1 general admission tickets, which includes one section of chairback seating. Also on Saturday, all eighth graders and younger are invited to participate in a free Easter Egg hunt on the field after the game.

The two-game series with the Tigers - who have qualified for each of the past two Women’s College World Series - continues a tough Big 12 schedule for Nebraska. Seven Big 12 teams are ranked in this week’s NFCA coaches poll, with Missouri coming in behind Texas as the league’s second-highest ranked team.

Although two ranked teams remain on Nebraska’s conference schedule after this weekend, the two-game series with the Tigers ends a difficult stretch of the Husker schedule. Of Nebraska’s first 10 conference games including this weekend, eight have come against ranked opponents, including series against each of the Big 12’s three highest ranked teams.

The tough schedule has played a part in Nebraska losing four of its last five games. The Huskers are looking to avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season, while also looking to snap a four-game losing streak in Big 12 play. Nebraska is 31-8 on the season - with six of the eight losses coming to ranked teams - and the Huskers sit in seventh place in the league standings with a 3-5 conference record. Missouri is 37-5 on the season and is second in the Big 12 standings with a 9-1 record in league play.

During Nebraska’s four-game conference losing streak, the Husker offense has been held to a total of four runs. The offense will face another challenge this weekend, as Missouri ace Chelsea Thomas leads the nation with a 0.65 ERA and is one of 25 finalists for the USA Softball Player-of-the-Year award.

Despite Nebraska’s uncharacteristic offensive struggles, the Huskers have still nearly pulled off victories the past two weekends against No. 5 Texas and No. 22 Texas A&M. Both losses to the Longhorns were one-run defeats, while the Huskers have had the lead in two of their last three losses.

In the circle, junior right-hander Ashley Hagemann has lost four straight decisions, but she still ranks sixth nationally with 22 wins. In her last four conference games, Hagemann has allowed 12 runs in 24.1 innings for an ERA of 3.20. But those four games have come against teams that rank in the top 30 nationally in scoring.

Hagemann has been tough in the first game of Big 12 series this season. In game one of NU’s first four conference series, Hagemann is 2-2 with four complete games and a 1.30 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 27.0 innings. In game two, Hagemann is 1-3 with 4.27 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 21.1 innings.

Scouting the No. 8 Missouri Tigers (37-5 Overall, 9-1 Big 12)
Missouri is 37-5 this season after winning two games at Saint Louis on Wednesday. The Tigers are ranked eighth in the polls this week, and their .881 winning percentage ranks fifth nationally. Missouri has won 10 straight games and 34 of its last 36 contests overall. In Big 12 Conference play, Missouri is second in the league standings with a 9-1 record. The Tigers and Huskers share three common Big 12 opponents this season in Kansas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma. Missouri is a perfect 6-0 against that group, while Nebraska is 3-3.

Missouri is solid in all phases of the game. The Tigers own the nation’s fourth best team ERA at 1.32, while ranking 24th nationally by scoring an average of 6.0 runs per game. MU boasts a blend of power and speed, ranking 22nd nationally in home runs per game and 38th nationally in stolen bases per game. The Tigers also boasts a .973 fielding percentage that ranks 16th nationally.

Offensively, Missouri is batting .303 as a team and has hit 49 homers in 42 games. Ashley Fleming leads the team with a .390 batting average, 13 doubles, 10 home runs and 42 RBIs. She has also drawn 17 walks this season and is 13-of-13 stealing bases. All-American Rhea Taylor is batting .355 and leads MU with 25 stolen bases. Jenna Marston is hitting .319 with 10 doubles and 30 walks, while Nicole Hudson has 10 home runs and 33 RBIs. Eight Tiger regulars are hitting above .300, while 12 players have hit more than one home run this season.

In the circle, Missouri is led by Chelsea Thomas, one of 25 finalists for the USA Softball Player-of-the-Year award. After missing nearly all of last season due to injury, Thomas has been impressive in her second full season at the collegiate level. The sophomore is 20-3 on the year with a 0.65 ERA and 241 strikeouts in 150.0 innings. She leads the nation in ERA, ranks fifth in strikeouts per seven innings, sixth in shutouts, eighth in hits allowed per seven innings and 15th in wins. Missouri has used five other pitchers this season behind Thomas, but the only one who has thrown more than 18.1 innings is Kristin Nottelmann (13-1, 1.78 ERA in 86.2 IP).

Husker History vs. Missouri
Nebraska leads the all-time series with Missouri, 51-34. The teams have split the regular-season series in each of the last four years. Neither team has won more than two straight games in the series since a six-game Husker win streak from 2000 to 2002. Husker Head Coach Rhonda Revelle is 27-20 in her career against Missouri, including a 4-4 record against fifth-year Tiger Head Coach Ehren Earleywine. Nebraska owns a 22-8 advantage in Lincoln, but the series is tied 5-5 at Bowlin Stadium. The teams are meeting at Bowlin Stadium for the second straight year.

Last year, Nebraska bolstered its NCAA Tournament resume with a 5-2 victory over Missouri in the first game of the series, before the Tigers shut out the Huskers, 5-0 in game two. In the first meeting, Ashley Guile delivered a three-run homer three batters into the bottom of the first inning to give Nebraska all the runs it would need against the 14th-ranked Tigers. Guile finished 3-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBIs, while Ashley Hagemann tossed a four-hitter, allowing two runs and striking out seven. In game two, Kristin Nottelmann tossed a three-hit shutout, while Hagemann allowed two runs on four hits in 3.0 innings. Guile walked twice in game two, while Gabby Banda went 1-for-3 to cap a 2-for-6 series that included two RBIs.

Individually, Heidi Foland is 5-for-16 (.313) in her career against Missouri with four runs scored, an RBI and three walks, while Guile is 4-for-9 (.444) with a homer, three RBIs, two runs scored and four walks. Hagemann is 1-1 in her career against the Tigers, posting a 2.15 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 13.0 innings.

Quick Hitters
The information below provides a quick glimpse of a few statistics and brief notes of interest as No. 14 Nebraska hosts No. 8 Missouri this Friday and Saturday at Bowlin Stadium:

• The Huskers are 463-228 (.670) all-time in the month of April, including a 3-4 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 four times in 39 games this season, but twice in the past four games.
• The Huskers have outscored their opponents by an average of 3.8 runs per game this season.
• NU has hit 42 home runs in 39 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.
• The Huskers were held without an extra-base hit only twice in their first 37 games of the season before being held without an extra-base hit in both games at Texas A&M last weekend.
• Six of Nebraska’s eight losses this season have come to teams ranked in the top 25 of the NCAA RPI.
• Ashley 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 a career-high 234 strikeouts in 2011, a total that ranks 10th nationally and ninth in NU history.
• Taylor Edwards enters this weekend with 99 total bases. With her next hit, Edwards would join Ali Viola and Jennifer Lizama as the only Husker freshmen to ever produce 100 total bases.

Huskers’ Challenging Schedule Continues This Weekend
When Nebraska hosts No. 8 Missouri this weekend, it will mark the Huskers’ third consecutive conference series against a ranked opponent. Overall, Nebraska is in a stretch of playing ranked teams six times in a seven-game span and eight times in a span of 11 games.

The Tigers will also be the seventh top-10 opponent that Nebraska has faced this season and will mark Nebraska’s third Big 12 series against a top-10 team. Missouri will also mark the fourth team NU has faced this season that advanced to the 2010 Women’s College World Series. Nebraska has posted a 3-4 record against top-10 opponents this season and a 2-1 record against the first three 2010 Women’s College World Series teams it has faced.

The Huskers have lost eight games this season, with six losses coming to ranked teams. The combined record of the six opponents Nebraska has lost to this season is 182-76 (.705), including a loss to a 10-28 Nevada squad. Each of the other five teams to defeat Nebraska entered the week with at least 32 wins this season. Overall, only 24 teams nationally owned 32 victories entering play this week.

Taylor Edwards Bidding to Bat .400
Freshman Taylor Edwards is batting .412 this season, as she is bidding to become only the third Husker to ever hit .400 in a season. Two-time All-American Tobin Echo-Hawk hit .400 twice in her career, including a school-record mark of .439 in 1994. Three-time All-American Ali Viola hit .400 in three of her four seasons, including a .424 mark in 1998. Since that season, the closest a Husker has come to hitting .400 was Anne Steffan, who batted .388 in her All-America senior season in 2005. Viola is the only freshman in Husker history to bat .400.

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.

Nebraska currently owns the top batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage in school history, while ranking second in winning percentage, third in fielding percentage and tied for fifth in home runs. On a per-game basis, the Huskers own the top marks in school history for runs per game, hits per game, home runs per game and extra-base hits per game, while ranking second in doubles per game and strikeouts per seven innings.

Banda Riding Seven-Game Hit Streak
Sophomore Gabby Banda has hit safely in each of her last seven games. The seven-game hitting streak is not only a career-best for Banda, but she is the only Husker with an active streak of longer than one game. During her seven-game hitting streak, Banda is batting .368, slugging .421 and reaching base at a .520 clip. She is also perfect defensively in 22 chances at shortstop during that stretch.

Seniors Nearing 200th Career Starts
Seniors Julie Brechtel and Heidi Foland are each nearing the 200th starts of their career. Brechtel has started 196 career games - all at second base - while Foland has started 192 games, including starts at first base, second base, shortstop, third base and as the designated player. Only 17 players in school history have started 200 career games, but Brechtel and Foland would be the first players to reach the mark playing their entire career under the 56-game regular-season limit, which went into effect beginning with the 2006 season.