Huskers Host UNO Before Heading West

The Nebraska softball team will face a revised schedule this week that has the Huskers playing five games in four days.

The week begins on Wednesday at Bowlin Stadium, with a recently added game against in-state rival UNO. The Huskers’ home opener is set for 5 p.m. and will feature free admission due to the late addition.

Nebraska then travels to California the next morning for the Easton Invitational on the Cal State Fullerton campus. NU opens the tournament with games against Boise State and Charleston Southern on Friday, before facing DePaul and Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.

Fans can listen to all five games, with Nate Rohr on the call for a free radio broadcast on Huskers.com.

Nebraska is 8-11 this season after splitting four games at the Shocker Invitational last weekend. The Huskers swept a pair of games with South Dakota, but lost twice to the host Shockers.

Nebraska’s offense continued its early-season success last weekend, scoring 25 runs in four games. The Huskers are hitting .337 as a team this season, while averaging 6.1 runs per game. NU has yet to be shut out this spring, the sixth-longest streak to begin a season in school history.

With five games this week, Nebraska has a chance to move above .500 for the first time since the Huskers were 4-3 entering play on Feb. 14. NU will also seek its first road win of the season on Saturday at Cal State Fullerton. The Huskers are 0-5 in true road games this season.

This Week's Top 10

1. Nebraska hosts its first home game on Wednesday in game No. 20 of the season.
2. Wednesday’s game with UNO marks the earliest home opener for NU since opening the 2008 home schedule against Northern Colorado on March 8.
3. Wednesday’s game will feature 20 native Nebraskans, including eight Huskers and 12 Mavs.
4. Nebraska has won 10 consecutive home games since losing to UNO on April 8, 2014. The Huskers have also won nine consecutive home openers.
5. The Huskers head to Fullerton, Calif., this weekend for the second straight season. In 2014, Nebraska went 3-2 in Fullerton, including wins over San Jose State, Cal State Fullerton and No. 6 Washington
6. Nebraska looks for its first road win at Cal State Fullerton Saturday. NU is 0-5 on the road after posting a 35-13 road record the last two years.
7. NU has scored double-digit runs in six of its first 19 games this season.
8. Rhonda Revelle earned her 850th victory at Nebraska last Saturday against South Dakota. She is the first Husker coach to reach that milestone.
9. On Wednesday, Nebraska freshman second baseman Laura Barrow will face off against her older sister, Kat, a senior pitcher at UNO.
10. NU’s roster features four Californians, including MJ Knighten who attended high school in Fullerton.

Offensive Comparison: 2014 to 2015
Nebraska set school records for home runs, total bases, extra-base hits, RBIs and slugging percentage in 2014, while also ranking second all-time in runs and doubles, third in on-base percentage and fourth in batting average.

The Huskers lost their top three statistical hitters from the 2014 lineup, a group that included a pair of two-time All-Americans and Nebraska’s only three all-region hitters. Despite the losses, the Husker offense is enjoying a better start to the season than last year’s decorated group.

Entering play this week, Nebraska ranks third in the Big Ten in average (.337), slugging percentage (.486), on-base percentage (.421) and runs per game (6.1). Nebraska is one of only three teams in the league hitting above .300, reaching base at a .400 clip or scoring more than six runs per game.

• Nebraska’s batting average is .062 higher this season than it was through 19 games last season.
• The Huskers have scored 38 more runs through 19 games this season than they did a year ago, while averaging 2.0 more runs per game.
• The 2014 offense set a school record for RBIs. That offense produced 64 RBIs in its first 19 games, while this year’s lineup has totaled 108 RBIs in its 19 games.
• The 2014 offense set a school record for extra-base hits. Nebraska had 33 extra-base hits through the first 19 games last season, while NU has 43 extra-base hits through the first 19 games this season.

Transfers Hit Well in Wichita
Transfers Cassie McClure and Steph Pasquale paced Nebraska’s offense at the Shocker Invitational in last weekend. McClure is a sophomore transfer from Texas Tech, while Pasquale is a senior transfer from Temple.

• The duo combined to produce three of the Huskers’ seven doubles (43 percent), two of NU’s three home runs (67 percent) and nine of the team’s 22 RBIs (41 percent).
• McClure led Nebraska with seven hits, while Pasquale added six hits. No other Husker had more than four hits.
• McClure also led Nebraska with five RBIs, while Pasquale drove in four. No other Husker had more than three RBIs.
• McClure (.923) and Pasquale (.909) each posted a slugging percentage above .900 last weekend.

Revelle Earns 850th Victory
Nebraska defeated South Dakota, 8-3, last Saturday to give head coach Rhonda Revelle her 850th victory at Nebraska. The victory came in Revelle’s 1,300th game as Nebraska’s head coach. As Nebraska’s all-time wins leader across all sports, Revelle is the only coach to record 850 victories as a Husker.

NU Scoring Runs at Near-Record Rate
Nebraska has scored 116 runs in its first 19 games, plating its 100th run of the season in its 17th game at Wichita State last Saturday.

• The 2015 Huskers became just the fourth team in school history to reach 100 runs scored in 17 or fewer games.
• Nebraska’s total of 100 runs after 17 games ties for the third-most runs a Husker team has ever scored in the first 17 games of a season.
• Nebraska scored 55 runs in five games the opening weekend, the most runs a Husker team has ever scored in the first five games of a season.
• The Huskers scored at least 10 runs in each of their final four games in the opening weekend, becoming the first team in school history to total double-digit runs in four consecutive games.
• Nebraska has scored double-digit runs seven times in 19 games.

Huskers and the Home Opener
Nebraska is 12-1 in home openers since Bowlin Stadium opened in 2002, with the lone loss coming to Creighton (5-4) in 2005. The Huskers have won nine consecutive season openers.

Overall, Nebraska boasts a 178-65 record at Bowlin Stadium, good for a .733 winning percentage. The Huskers have won 10 consecutive home games since losing to UNO on April 8, 2014.

Scouting UNO
UNO brings a 9-9 record into Wednesday’s matchup following a 3-2 weekend. The Huskers and Mavericks share a common opponent in Colorado State. Nebraska defeated the Rams, 9-1 [5], while UNO lost a 5-4 decision on Colorado State’s home field.

UNO has 19 homers in 18 games and averages 5.0 runs per game. Lia Mancuso is one of four Mavs hitting above .300, and she leads UNO with five stolen bases. Kelly Pattison is hitting .324, while Allie Mathewson owns a .322 average with five homers and 14 RBIs. Tonya Peterson has also driven in 14 while hitting .304.

In the circle, Kat Barrow - the older sister of Husker Laura Barrow - is 3-2 with a team-low 3.03 ERA in a team-high 38.2 innings. Jaylee Hinrichs has compiled a 4-2 record with a 4.30 ERA in 37.2 innings. Michigan State transfer Carly Nielsen (1-2, 4.74 ERA in 19.0 IP), Lizzie Noble (1-3, 7.02 ERA in 16.2 IP) and Abbie Clanton (0-0, 18.00 ERA in 1.0 IP) round out the Mavs’ staff.

Nebraska is 16-11 all-time vs. UNO.

Scouting Boise State
Boise State is 8-16 on the year, and the Broncos have lost four of their last five. Nebraska and BSU have faced four common opponents this season in Montana, New Mexico State, UCLA and Wichita State. The Huskers went 1-4 vs. that group, while Boise State was 1-3.

The Broncos have slugged 18 home runs and average more than five runs per game. Devon Bridges leads the team with a .408 average and 17 walks while adding three homers and 13 RBIs. Kayla Clausen is batting .353, Teauna Hughes is hitting .323 and Hailey Torrez owns a .302 average. Makenzie Sullivan leads BSU with eight doubles, four home runs and 23 RBIs.

Defensively, Boise State boasts a 4.72 ERA, but the Broncos are allowing 6.7 runs per game thanks to an average of 2.2 unearned runs per game. Rachel Rodriguez has thrown nearly half of the innings, compiling a 3-8 record with a 4.47 ERA. Nicole Wilson is 1-2 with a 3.57 ERA. Sarah Barnes (1-2, 4.85 ERA in 13.0 IP) and Mackenzie McGill (3-4, 7.15 ERA in 28.1 IP) round out the staff.

Nebraska leads the all-time series with Boise State, 1-0.

Scouting Charleston Southern
Charleston Southern is 14-8 and has won five of six.

Amanda Matsumoto (.464) and Cheyenne Gandara (.413) are both hitting above .400. Gandara has added 10 homers and 24 RBIs, while Marci Christian leads the team with 12 homers and 27 RBIs.

Gandara is 9-4 in the circle with one save and a 2.45 ERA. Jennifer Giles is 4-4 with a 3.71 ERA.

Nebraska and Charleston Southern have never met.

Scouting DePaul
DePaul, which began the year in the top 25, is 6-12 this season and has lost four straight.

Mary Connolly (.462) and Dylan Christensen (.417) are both hitting above .400. Connolly and Nicole Pihl have each totaled six homers and 17 home runs.

Maxine Rodriguez (2-2, 6.18 ERA in 39.2 IP), Megan Leyva (2-3, 6.66 ERA in 34.2 IP) and Connolly (2-7, 9.55 ERA in 33.0 IP) make up the Blue Demon pitching staff.

Nebraska is just 2-7 all-time vs. DePaul.

Scouting Cal State Fullerton
Cal State Fullerton is 14-12, including 7-6 at home.

Missy Taukeiaho owns a .412 batting average, seven homers, 19 walks and 21 RBIs. Courtney Rodriguez is hitting .391 with five doubles, three triples and 14 RBIs.

Desiree Ybarra (6-6, 3.19 ERA), Christina Washington (7-3, 4.49 ERA), Jasmine Antunez (1-3, 6.30 ERA), Brooke Clemetson (0-0, 10.50 ERA) and Cerissa Rivera (0-0, 21.00 ERA) make up the Titan pitching staff.

Nebraska is 8-8 all-time against Cal State Fullerton.