Huskers Rout Saint Louis, 13-2

Tallahassee, Fla. - The 17th-ranked Nebraska softball team used a four-run first inning and a nine-run third inning to defeat Saint Louis, 13-2 in five innings, and improve to 2-0 in pool play after day one of the Florida State Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla.

Sophomore right-hander Summer Tobias (3-4) earned the win for NU (13-8). Tobias tossed three shutout innings, allowing only one hit and striking out two. Kristin Rossi (1-4) took the loss for Saint Louis (6-7), which fell to 0-2 in pool play.

The Huskers used four consecutive hits to start the game in building their four-run first inning. Junior Anne Steffan led off with an infield single and stole second. Senior Nicole Trimboli followed with a single that advanced Steffan to third. Junior Sheena Lawrick then placed a 3-0 pitch over the wall in center for a three-run home run. Sophomore Trisha Tannahill followed up the home run with a single and scored on sophomore KoKo Tacha’s two-out RBI single. Sophomore Jessica Yoachim recorded the sixth hit of the inning before freshman Devin Porter’s line drive to right field was caught to end the inning.

Nebraska matched a season-high by scoring nine runs in the third. The first four Husker hitters all reached base. Freshman Jamie Waldecker, Tacha and Yoachim each drew walks, while sophomore Katie Linke singled. Yoachim's walk forced in freshman pinch runner Jaime Borg to make the score 5-0. Porter followed by reaching on an error and Steffan followed with her third single of the game.

With the score 9-0 and only one out, Lawrick walked and Tannahill's bases-loaded single scored Porter and Steffan. Following a pop out by Waldecker, Linke doubled to score Lawrick and Tannahill to increase Nebraska's lead to 12-0. NU closed out the scoring when Linke scored on an RBI single by Yoachim.

Freshman right-hander Ashley DeBuhr relieved Tobias in the fourth and pitched two innings, allowing two runs on two hits and striking out two. AshLeigh Williams hit a two-run home run off DeBuhr in the fourth inning to account for the Billikens' scoring.

NU finished the game with 13 hits, the second highest total of the season. Nebraska tallied 15 hits in a 19-0 win over Manhattan College on Feb. 21. Steffan finished with three hits, while Tannahill, Linke and Yoachim each finished with two hits apiece.

Seven different Huskers drove in runs in the game, including Lawrick (three), Tannahill (two), Linke (two) and Yoachim (two), who each had multi-RBI games.

The Huskers finish pool play on Saturday with a 9 a.m. (CST) game against Florida A&M and an 11 a.m. (CST) game against North Carolina. Bracket play will begin after Nebraska's game against North Carolina.