Huskers Crush Cal, 8-2

Cathedral City, Calif. --- The Nebraska softball team (6-6) crushed Cal (8-6) by a score of 8-2 on Saturday in its first of two games on the day as part of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. 

The Husker offense came alive against the Bears, scoring eight runs off seven hits. Tristen Edwards led the efforts going 3-for-4 with two runs, five RBIs, one homer and one double. Payton Huscroft, Samantha Owen, Lindsey Walljasper and Ally Riley each had one hit as well. NU took advantage of five Cal errors as well, scoring a pair of unearned runs. 

Lindsey Walljasper (3-2) started and pitched 4.0 innings. She gave up one run on six hits and had one strikeout. Olivia Ferrell pitched 3.0 innings of relief. Ferrell gave up one run on two hits and had one strikeout. 

Cal's Alexandra Perez dropped to 5-4 on the season. She pitched 3.0 innings and gave up three runs - two earned - on one hit. 

In the third, the Huskers took a 2-0 lead. Walljapser reached on an error and Carson Fischer pinch ran for her. Fischer reached second on wild pitch, but she wouldn't need the extra base because two batters later, Edwards homered to score a pair of runs. In the bottom of the inning, Cal got a runner on second after a single and a ground out. Another singled looked to score her, but Cam Ybarra made a great play and threw to Ally Riley who tagged the runner out at home for the third out of the inning. 

In the fourth, Huscroft drew a leadoff walk and prompted a Cal pitching change. With Courtney Wallace running for Huscroft at first, Owen singled to put two on with no outs. Then Glatter reached on a fielder's choice, while Wallace advanced to third on play, but another Bears' error allowed both runners to advance an extra base to extend NU's lead to 3-0. Riley singled and reached second on a error and Glatter scored on the play. Walljasper singled and Bree Boruff reached on a fielder's choice. Then Edwards doubled to score two and reached third on an error. She scored on a wild pitch to put the Huskers up 7-0.

In the bottom of the inning, Cal scored one run on two hits to cut the lead to 7-1. The Bears added another run in the fifth after a walk and a double. 

Nebraska plated another run in the sixth. Boruff reached on a fielder's choice and stole second. Then Edwards singled to score her. 

Nebraska plays No. 2 Washington at approximately 7:30 CT. A live radio stream will be available on Huskers.com. The game will also be streamed on FloSoftball (subscription required). 

Note: Nebraska's game against No. 7/9 Florida on Sunday will now begin at 10:30 CT. The game was previously scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. C.T.

Game Notes:
- Tristen Edwards hit her 36th career home run against Cal. She now ranks sixth on Nebraska's all-time list.