Voss' Shutout Leads Nebraska Past Notre Dame 2-0

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Nebraska junior Jenny Voss won her 20th decision of the season as she tossed a three-hitter in a 2-0 shutout of Notre Dame on Thursday (May 20) in first-round action at the NCAA Softball Regional 6 Championship at the University of Michigan.

Voss (20-9) struck out five and walked none to help the No. 2-seeded Huskers (32-19) advance to the second round of the winner's bracket to face Arizona State, which defeated Central Michigan 2-1 in nine innings earlier in the day, at 4 p.m. Friday (May 21). The fifth-seeded Fighting Irish (41-19) will meet the loser of the Michigan vs. Florida Atlantic game at 11 a.m. Friday.

Nebraska got the only run it would need on the bottom of the first, scoring an unearned run on a throwing error by pitcher Jennifer Sharron. Following a one-out walk to designated hitter Ellen Middleton, Sharron got Leigh Suhr to fly out for the second out of the inning. However, cleanup hitter Jamie Fuente hit a shot back to Sharron, who knocked it down but overthrew Notre Dame's first baseman, allowing pinch runner Ginger Taylor to score from first base with the game's first run.

Notre Dame's best threat came in the top of the third. Sharron attempted to help her cause by leading off the inning with a single. Two hits later, the Fighting Irish had the bases loaded with only one out and their second and third hitters in the order up next. However, .322 hitter Amy Laboe struck out and .359 hitter Melanie Alkire grounded back to the pitcher to end the threat.

Both Sharron and Voss settled into a pitchers' duel after that, and the count still stood at 1-0 going into the bottom of the sixth. Nebraska began to find its stroke in the sixth, starting with a double off the bat of Suhr. Fuente followed with a double of her own to score Surr with a key insurance run, and Voss set the side down in order in the seventh.

QUOTES
Nebraska Head Coach Rhonda Revelle
On the team's performance ... "I thought that we played a really solid game. We've been talking about good defense, good pitching, timely hitting and then we had a really good hustle play where we were able to capitalize in that first inning. ... I always feel good about our squad when we're solid on defense and we're solid on pitching because I know we have a shot in the game.

On pitcher Jenny Voss ... Jenny got real tough on the mound and I just thought we closed the door on any rally they started."

Nebraska Pitcher Jenny Voss
On her performance ... "I really felt like I was in a groove. I had a really good feel for the game and a feel for my pitches. It was among one of the best this season. My pitches were breaking well and I just had control over all my pitches and could put them anywhere I wanted to at any time