Huskers Advance With 8-0 Victory

Tallahassee, Fla. - Senior right-hander Peaches James tossed her fourth consecutive complete-game shutout to lead No. 19 Nebraska (16-8) to an 8-0 victory over Penn State (9-15) in the first round of Gold Bracket play at the Florida State Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla. With the win, Nebraska moves on to the semi-finals tomorrow where it will face Texas A&M at 9 a.m.

 

James (11-3) tossed six innings, striking out nine while allowing only four hits and one walk in the win. She extended her scoreless streak to 30.2 innings with her performance. Marisa Hanson (3-9) took the loss for the Nittany Lions. The victory was the Huskers’ second over Penn State this weekend, as Nebraska defeated Penn State 3-0 to open the tournament on Friday.

 

Offensively, NU continued to hit the ball well. The Huskers tied a season-high by pounding out 15 hits and recorded a season-high five extra-base hits. For the tournament, Nebraska is hitting .406 (51-for-126), while opponents are only hitting .094 (9-for-96).

 

The top of the lineup continued to produce for Nebraska against the Nittany Lions. The Huskers’ No. 1 though No. 4 hitters went a combined 11-for-15 with seven RBIs and six runs scored in the game.

 

Sophomore Trisha Tannahill led the way with a career-high four hits in a 4-for-4 night. Junior Sheena Lawrick recorded three hits, while junior Anne Steffan and senior Nicole Trimboli each had two hits apiece.

 

Lawrick led the extra-base hit explosion with a pair of doubles. Tannahill and senior Liz Lawhorn each had triples for NU, while Trimboli hit the only home run of the night, a solo shot to lead off the third inning.

 

Tannahill and Trimboli each had a team-high three RBIs in the victory and Trimboli and Steffan each had a team-high two runs scored.

 

NU opened the scoring in the bottom of the first. Steffan led off with an infield single and stole second with one out. Tannahill stepped to the plate following outs by Trimboli and Lawrick and laced an RBI single to center to put the Huskers up 1-0.

 

The Huskers extended their lead to 3-0 by scoring two runs in the third. Trimboli led off with her fourth home run of the year. Lawrick and Tannahill followed with back-to-back singles. After Lawrick was ruled out at third, James helped her own cause with a two-out RBI single that scored Tannahill.

 

The Huskers added another run in the fifth before capturing their fourth consecutive run-rule victory by scoring four runs in the sixth. In the fifth, Lawrick led off with a double and scored on Tannahill’s RBI triple to put Nebraska up 4-0.

 

In the sixth inning, sophomore pinch hitter Katie Linke and sophomore Jessica Yoachim got things started with back-to-back singles. Following a walk to Steffan, Trimboli delivered with a two-run single. Lawrick followed with an RBI double to score Steffan, before Tannahill brought Trimboli home with an RBI single to give Nebraska the 8-0 win.

 

Nebraska continues play at the tournament tomorrow at 9 a.m. against Texas A&M in the semifinals of the Gold Bracket.