2011 Season Review: NU Was Inspired to Rededicate

Inspired to Rededicate. That was the motto for the 2011 Nebraska softball season, as the Huskers looked to their historic past for inspiration to dedicate themselves to restoring the tradition of one of the nation’s elite programs. From a top-25 national finish to individual success on the field and in the classroom, the members of the 2011 Husker softball team worked together to bring Nebraska back to national prominence.

The path to put Nebraska softball back among the nation's elite began in December of 2010, when Head Coach Rhonda Revelle was inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Hall of Fame, joining an elite fraternity of 53 coaches. The Huskers then took the field and announced their presence immediately, posting a 14-2 record in both February and March. NU entered the national rankings in the second week of the season and remained in the polls all season long, ending the year ranked 21st.

The Huskers went on to post a 41-14 record against a tough schedule. Nebraska played nearly one-third of its games against ranked teams and more than half of its schedule against teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Among the eight teams that qualified for the Women's College World Series, the Huskers faced five of them and owned a 5-4 record against the group.

Nebraska finished sixth in a competitive Big 12 Conference that led the nation with eight teams selected for the NCAA Tournament, five regional champions and four World Series qualifiers. Although Nebraska was unable to join its conference schools in Oklahoma City, the Huskers advanced to a regional championship for the first time since 2006. Along the way, Nebraska defeated a No. 1-ranked team for the first time in school history, achieved the program's highest in-season ranking (11th) in eight seasons and posted the best non-conference record in school history.

Individually, freshman Taylor Edwards was a third-team All-American and one of 25 finalists for the USA Softball Player-of-the-Year Award. Edwards was the nation's only freshman position player selected as an All-American, and the only freshman to be named a finalist for player of the year. In the classroom, juniors Ashley Hagemann and Nikki Haget earned academic All-America honors to increase Nebraska softball's nation-leading total to 29 all-time CoSIDA Academic All-Americans.

From the team success, to the individual accolades and the achievements in the classroom, Revelle said the 2011 season was indeed one of inspiration and dedication.

"This year was truly an inspiring season for me not only as a coach, but as an alumnus of this program as well," Revelle said. "As coaches, we knew we had a very talented team, and we challenged this group to embrace the expectations and dedicate themselves to living up to their potential.

"We had a lot of accomplishments to be proud of this season, but ultimately I think the 2011 team will be remembered as the group that put Nebraska softball back on the map."

Recapping Nebraska's 2011 Season
Nebraska’s season began with six games in four days at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz. The Huskers went 5-1 at the tournament, losing only to top-ranked Arizona and defeating a pair of NCAA Tournament teams, including a 3-2 nine-inning win over No. 18 Stanford. The strong showing vaulted Nebraska into the national rankings for the first time since 2007. Nebraska remained in the top 25 the rest of the season.

After an impressive performance in Arizona, the Huskers went a perfect 5-0 at the Sleep Inn Classic in Denton, Texas, the following weekend. Taylor Edwards highlighted the undefeated weekend by hitting a home run in all five games, stretching her streak to an NCAA record of six consecutive games with a home run.

NU pushed its season-long winning streak to 10 games by defeating two ranked teams in the same day for the first time since 1998 at the Cathedral City Classic the next weekend. Nebraska defeated 25th-ranked BYU, 4-3, before Ashley Hagemann fired a one-hit shutout in the Huskers’ 3-0 upset of No. 10 Hawaii later that same day. Nebraska won two of its final three games in California to finish February with a 14-2 record.

After a weekend away from competition, NU posted another 5-0 record in Clearwater, Fla. The highlight of the tournament came on March 12, when Nebraska upset No. 1 Florida, 1-0, snapping the Gators’ season-opening 24-game win streak. NU handed Florida its only non-conference loss of the regular season. The win marked the first time in 10 tries that Nebraska had defeated the nation’s No. 1 team. Hagemann picked up the victory, tossing a two-hitter in her second consecutive shutout against a top-10 team.

After playing their first 21 games on the road, the Huskers swept a doubleheader with South Dakota in their home opener. NU exploded for a 14-0 win in game one, setting a Bowlin Stadium record for runs scored. The Husker offense kept rolling during a four-game series at New Mexico State and a doubleheader at UTEP over spring break. After losing the first game to the Aggies, the Huskers won the final five games by a combined score of 53-9, including a 16-1 win over NMSU and a 16-0 win against UTEP.

The Huskers took a 26-3 record into their Big 12 Conference opener at No. 7 Oklahoma on March 26. Facing first-team All-American Keilani Ricketts, Nebraska managed a two-game split with a Sooner team that ended its season at the Women’s College World Series. Nebraska maintained its winning ways with a win over in-state rival Creighton and a two-game sweep at Kansas the following week to complete a 14-2 record in March.

After the perfect week, the Huskers rose to the No. 11 spot in the national rankings, setting up a showdown with No. 5 Texas at Bowlin Stadium. In game one, a school-record 1,960 fans saw the Longhorns escape with a 1-0 win, when Amy Hooks' long fly ball in the top of the seventh inning bounced out of Nikki Haget’s glove and over the wall for a game-winning home run. Another seventh-inning home run haunted the Huskers in game two, as Nebraska led 3-1 and was one out away from victory before Taylor Hoagland tied the game with a two-run homer. The Longhorns went on to win in the eighth inning when Hooks stole home on a botched squeeze attempt.

The Huskers bounced back from the heartbreaking losses to Texas to run-rule Creighton in Omaha on April 13. Nebraska remained on the road that weekend, dropping a pair of games to a No. 22 Texas A&M team that advanced to the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament and finished the year a perfect 25-0 at home.

Nebraska then welcomed No. 8 Missouri to town on Easter weekend. The Huskers defeated the Tigers and All-America hurler Chelsea Thomas in game one for their second conference victory over an eventual World Series qualifier. Nebraska looked for a sweep in game two, but Missouri scored three times in the seventh inning of a 4-1 win.

In the final week of April, NU swept a doubleheader from South Dakota State and split a two-game series with Texas Tech at Bowlin Stadium. Nebraska homered five times in the game one win - a program record for a conference game - while Hagemann became the first pitcher to shut out the Red Raiders. In game two, Tech broke open a scoreless game with five runs in the top of the seventh to hand Nebraska another seventh-inning loss.

The Huskers suffered their only three-game losing streak of the season after dropping a pair of road games at No. 20 Baylor, which ultimately advanced to the semifinals of the WCWS. NU led game one 1-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, before the Lady Bears rallied for two runs. Game two then went into the bottom of the seventh inning in a scoreless tie, before a sacrifice fly lifted Baylor to a 1-0 win.

Entering the final week of the regular season, the Huskers were eager to build some momentum for postseason play. After posting a 28-4 record in February and March, Nebraska was just 7-8 since April 1. All eight of those losses came to ranked teams, but the Huskers closed the regular season on a four-game win streak.

Against Iowa State on May 10, Nebraska jumped out to an early 5-1 lead, but Hagemann had to leave the game due to a stomach illness. Iowa State took advantage of Hagemann’s absence by scoring six runs off the Husker bullpen to build a 7-6 lead. However, Tatum Edwards’ second home run of the game, a two-run shot in the bottom of the fifth inning, powered Nebraska to an 8-7 win. The Huskers completed the sweep of Iowa State with a 10-1, six-inning win in Ames two days later.

Nebraska’s final games of the regular season came at home against a No. 20 Oklahoma State squad that marked the Huskers’ fourth conference opponent to advance to the World Series. Brooke Thomason delivered a walk-off, RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Nebraska a 4-3 win in game one. After finally winning a game in the seventh inning, the Huskers completed a sweep of the Cowgirls by winning the regular-season finale by a score of 3-1.

Despite a top-16 finish in the official NCAA RPI, the Huskers earned a No. 2 seed for the NCAA Tournament and were sent to Stanford, the No. 15 national seed. The Huskers opened postseason play against Fresno State and suffered another late loss. Hagemann struck out 17 and took a shutout into the 10th inning, before an unearned run propelled the Bulldogs to a 1-0 victory. Facing elimination, Nebraska responded in a big way the next day, defeating Pacific 11-1 in five innings before winning the rematch with Fresno State, 5-0. The 11 runs against Pacific tied for the most runs scored in an NCAA Tournament game in school history, while the win over Fresno State earned Nebraska its first appearance in a regional final since 2006.

In the final game of the season, the seventh inning was again unkind to the Big Red. Facing a Stanford team they had already defeated in the regular season, the Huskers headed into the seventh inning in a 1-1 tie after Julie Brechtel homered in the bottom of the sixth inning in what turned out to be the final at bat of her career. But a tiring Hagemann, who threw 500 pitches in less than 48 hours, ran out of gas in the final inning, and Stanford took advantage by scoring three times in the top of the seventh to pull out a 4-1 victory. It was an unfortunate ending for a Nebraska team that either led or was tied in the seventh inning in seven of its final 10 losses of the season.