Husker Softball Splits With Stanford and Utah State

St. George, Utah -- The 17th-ranked Nebraska softball team split a pair of games on the second day of the Red Desert Classic in St. George, Utah. The Huskers fell 6-4 to sixth-ranked Stanford and blanked Utah State 4-0 to move to 3-1 in the tournament and 10-8 overall on the season.

The Cardinal jumped out to an early lead on NU All-America pitcher Leigh Ann Walker in game one. Walker walked two batters in the first inning before surrendering a three-run homer later in the inning. Stanford added the remainder of its runs in the third inning. After a Husker error, Stanford collected a double for run number four. Freshman pitcher Peaches James relieved Walker and gave up a two-run homer to her first batter. James settled down from there, however, and held the Cardinal in check the rest of the way. Nebraska made a late rally, scoring a pair of runs in both the fifth and seventh. Senior Jamie Fuente hit a two-run homer in the fifth to put the Huskers on the board. Cindy Roethemeyer finished the game 2-for-3 with one run scored.

Freshman pitcher Katie Decker led the Huskers in the second game of the day. Decker kept Utah State hitless until the top of the seventh inning when the Aggies collected a bloop single that landed on the rightfield chalk. Decker struck out eight Aggies along the way to improve to 3-1 on the season. The Nebraska offense aided Decker by scoring two runs in the bottom of the first. Sophomore Amber Burgess hit her second two-run homer in as many days in the first to put NU up 2-0. Freshman Nicole Trimboli also collected her second homer in as many days in the sixth, a solo shot, that gave NU the 3-0 lead. Roethemeyer scored the final run of the game later in the inning when Decker collected an infield single that scored Roethemeyer. Trimboli collected two of NU's six hits.

Nebraska will conclude the Red Desert Classic on Sunday with a single game against 12th-ranked Washington at noon.