Heidi Foland Season 2008

Honors & Awards

• Big 12 Player of the Week (5/6/08)
• Two-Time Academic All-District VII First Team (2010 & 2011)
• Three-Time Academic All-Big 12 First Team (2009 & 2010)
• Two-Time Julie Geis Memorial Scholarship Recipient
• Eight-Time Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll Selection

Career Capsule
Heidi Foland appeared in 216 games in her four-year career, including 208 starts. A versatile athelte, Foland started games at first base, second base, shortstop and third base. She was Nebraska's starting third baseman in 2008, 2009 and 2011 and spend the 2010 season as the Huskers' starting first baseman. In her career, Foland boasted a .269 batting average with 30 doubles, 24 home runs, 112 runs scored, 86 RBIs and 39 stolen bases.

Foland's career totals put her just outside the Nebraska all-time top-10 in runs scored, doubles and home runs. She was also hit by 20 pitches, a total that ranked fifth in Nebraska history at the conclusion of her career.

Senior Season [2011]
Foland started all 55 games at third base in her senior season, batting .275 with nine doubles, five home runs and 27 RBIs. She stole 10 bases for the third straight year and posted a .419 slugging percentage and .344 on-base percentage. Foland was at her best in clutch situations, batting .333 with 12 RBIs in 21 at bats with runners in scoring position and two outs.

Defensively, Foland committed eight errors and posted a .942 fielding percentage, the best mark of her career in three seasons at third base. In Big 12 play, Foland commited only one error in 48 chances at third base.

Junior Season [2010]
After an offseason of hard work, Foland produced a breakout junior season. One of only two Huskers to start every game, Foland made the switch to first base in 2010, starting 48 games at first, six games at second and five games at third. She finished with a career-best .310 average and produced career-high totals across the board, surpassing her two-year career totals in almost every category.

In 59 games and 197 at bats in 2010, Foland finished with 50 runs scored, 10 doubles, 13 home runs, 28 RBIs, 17 walks and nine hit-by-pitches. In 102 games and 242 career at bats in her first two seasons combined, Foland had produced 36 runs, 11 doubles, six homers, 31 RBIs, 20 walks and seven-hit by pitches.

Foland batted leadoff in 54 of her 59 games in 2010, excelling in the role. She homered five times in Nebraska’s first at bat of the game, establishing both the Nebraska individual and team record for most leadoff home runs. Overall, Foland produced 23 extra-base hits out of the leadoff spot, which exceeded the total of Nebraska’s leadoff hitter over the previous four seasons combined.

Her outstanding season left a mark on the Nebraska record books. Foland’s 13 home runs ranked sixth in school history and were the third-highest total ever by a Husker junior, in addition to being the highest total by any Nebraska player in 10 seasons. Her 50 runs scored ranked eighth in NU history and her nine hit-by-pitches ranked fourth.

Foland also became only the seventh player in the history of the program to produce both 10 doubles and 10 home runs in the same season, a feat also accomplished by teammate Brooke Thomason in 2010. Foland led Nebraska with 20 multi-hit games and 61 hits, while ranking second with 10 stolen bases. She ranked fourth in the Big 12 in runs scored and fifth in homers and total bases.

Defensively, Foland finished with a .979 fielding percentage that was the best of her career, committing only seven errors in 336 chances.

Sophomore Season [2009]
Foland continued to make progress in reaching her potential on the diamond during her sophomore season. She started 42 games, including 41 at third base and although her average dipped .039 from her freshman season, Foland’s power numbers took a big leap. After slugging just .296 in 2008, Foland posted a mark of .417 in 2009.

Thirteen of her 27 hits went for extra bases, as she tied for team-high honors with six home runs and one triple. Foland also added six doubles after recording five doubles, no triples and no home runs as a freshman. Foland also scored 22 runs while stealing 10 bases in only 11 attempts. Defensively, Foland posted a .917 fielding percentage.

Foland began her season in grand fashion at the Huskers’ season-opening tournament. She hit safely in all four games, going 6-for-11 with two doubles, her first two career home runs, two stolen bases, seven runs scored and seven RBIs. Over Nebraska’s 20-game tournament schedule, Foland batted .286 with 13 runs scored, 19 RBIs, three doubles and five home runs. Although her numbers dipped the remainder of the season, Foland finished with six multi-hit games, five games where she scored two or more runs, three multi-RBI efforts and three games where she drew at least two walks.

Freshman Season [2008]
Foland fared well in her freshman season after choosing to play softball at Nebraska rather than pursue Division II scholarship opportunities in basketball. She started 52 games and finished with a .252 average and 11 RBIs while striking out only 15 times. Foland batted .268 in Big 12 play while scoring seven times to rank second on the team. She also led NU with four stolen bases in Big 12 games only while ranking third with two doubles and four RBIs. Overall, Foland finished the year with six multi-hit games and two multi-RBI contests, including the Huskers’ highest individual RBI total of the season (five). She was also a perfect 9-of-9 on stolen bases and hit .367 in 22 home games, adding 10 RBIs, four doubles and seven runs scored.

Foland recorded a single in her first career at bat against Idaho State on the season’s first day and also drew a walk and scored a run against the Bengals. Overall, she scored runs in three of her first five games. She hit .500 at the NFCA Leadoff Classic and recorded her first multi-hit game with a 2-for-2 effort against Tennessee Tech. Foland added another multi-hit game and her first RBI with a 2-for-3 performance against Syracuse the next day. She went 2-for-3 with her first career double and a career-high five RBIs in her home debut against Northern Colorado.

Foland ended the regular season with a flurry, hitting safely in each of the final six games while scoring five runs and producing four RBIs. She kickstarted the stretch by going 1-for-3 against national runner-up Texas A&M. She went 1-for-3 with a double, a run and an RBI two days later against Iowa State and then went 1-for-2 with a run and two RBIs the next day against Kansas. A career day against Missouri continued her hot streak, as she finished 3-for-3 with three runs scored, an RBI and a stolen base against the Tigers, setting career highs for hits and runs scored. She added another hit the next day and walked twice to cap an outstanding week that saw her become the first Husker freshman since Nicole Trimboli in 2001 to earn Big 12 Player-of-the-Week honors.

Foland extended her career-long hitting streak to seven games with a 1-for-2 effort against Kansas at the Big 12 Championship, while adding two runs scored.

Before Nebraska
Foland was a three-sport standout for Grand Island High School. She started all four years on the diamond, earning Class A honorable-mention all-state honors from the Lincoln Journal Star in 2005 and first-team all-state honors as a utility player in 2006. As a senior, Foland hit .420 for the Islanders with a .536 slugging percentage. She added nine doubles, 16 RBIs, 22 runs scored and 30 stolen bases while striking out just twice in 112 at bats. She was selected to participate in the Nebraska Coaches Association All-Star Game in 2007 and helped lead the Red team to a 5-1 victory with a double and two runs scored.

An academic all-state award winner, Foland also competed in soccer and basketball. She was the first 1,000-point scorer in Grand Island girls basketball history. She was an honorable-mention all-state selection in basketball and chose to compete in softball at the collegiate level despite receiving recruiting attention in basketball.

Personal
Heidi Foland is the daughter of Randall and Doreen Foland and was born on Jan. 7, 1989, in Grand Island, Neb. Heidi has three brothers, Derek, Jay and Cory. Heidi is a nutrition, exercise and health science major and is on pace to earn her degree in May of 2012.