Nebraska Opens Big 12 Play at No. 3 Texas

The 17th-ranked Nebraska softball team travels to Austin, Texas, this weekend to open Big 12 Conference play against the third-ranked Texas Longhorns. The Huskers will be well rested when they face the Longhorns, as NU has seen its last six games snowed out, making Saturday's contest NU's first game in a week.

The weather has been the only thing to slow the Huskers this season, as Nebraska is off to the best start in school history. It took NU just 24 games before it posted its 20th victory of the season, crowning this year's squad as the fastest team to reach 20 wins in the 31-year history of Nebraska softball.

While Nebraska is off to a scorching start, the Longhorns boast an even better record, as UT is 33-3 on the season. Last weekend, Texas captured the tournament title at the prestigious 16-team Judi Garman Classic, which featured 10 ranked teams, including five top-10 foes.

The Longhorns finished with a 4-1 record at the tournament, posting victories over 10th-ranked and previously unbeaten Louisiana-Lafayette, 15th-ranked Washington, top-ranked Arizona and 20th-ranked Texas A&M in the championship game. UT's lone loss came to defending national champion and ninth-ranked Michigan in the pool play portion of the tournament.

Texas also swept a mid-week doubleheader with Georgia Tech in Austin on Wednesday. While Texas has played a total of four games since NU last saw the diamond, the Huskers will take a six-game winning streak into the Lone Star state.

Nebraska went 4-0 at Bowlin Stadium last week, including three run-rule victories. The Huskers swept a doubleheader with Northern Colorado on Tuesday (8-0 [5], 3-1) and defeated North Dakota State (8-0 [5]) and Akron (10-2 [5]) on Friday in the only day of the Big Red Tournament.

Huskers Post Perfect Record Last Week
Nebraska saw its winning streak rise to six straight before inclement weather canceled the Huskers' four remaining games last weekend.

NU opened last week with a doubleheader sweep against Northern Colorado. Junior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr and freshman right-hander Molly Hill were dominant in the circle. DeBuhr tossed a one hit shutout, while Hill allowed just one run on five hits. The duo combined to strike out 30 batters in 12 innings (DeBuhr 13Ks in five innings, Hill career-high 17Ks in seven).

Offensively, eight players recorded at least one hit in the sweep, while senior Trisha Tannahill went a combined 2-for-3 with a triple and three RBIs.

On Friday, Nebraska posted run-rule victories over North Dakota State and Akron. DeBuhr tossed her fourth consecutive shutout with a three-hitter against NDSU. Hill allowed two runs (one earned) against Akron, while improving to 11-1 in her freshman season.

At the plate, six Huskers had at least three hits in the two games. Junior Carmen Kier went 3-for-5 with a double and two home runs, including the first multi-homer game of her career against Akron.

Freshman Crystal Carwile continued her impressive season, finishing 4-for-6 with four runs scored and three RBIs. Tannahill also had another superb day, hitting a pair of doubles and driving in four runs.

On the week, Tannahill went 5-for-8 with a double, a triple and seven RBIs in four games. Fellow senior Lizzy Aumua was also outstanding, finishing 6-for-12 to maintain her lofty .500 season average.

In the circle, DeBuhr's two shutouts last week extended some impressive streaks for the Beatrice, Neb., native. DeBuhr has now thrown four consecutive shutouts. She has not surrendered a run in 17.0 innings and has not allowed an earned run in 25.1 innings. In her last five appearances, DeBuhr has allowed just one unearned run in a relief appearance against Indiana on March 11.

Scouting No. 3 Texas (33-3)
Texas is 33-3 on the season after sweeping a doubleheader with Georgia Tech on Wednesday. Nebraska and Texas share two common opponents this season, fifth-ranked Stanford and Notre Dame. NU split a pair of games against those teams, while Texas posted a 2-0 mark.

The Longhorns are led by lefty ace Cat Osterman, a two-time national player of the year. Osterman is 20-1 on the season with a microscopic 0.21 ERA. The NCAA all-time strikeout leader, Osterman has already struck out 308 batters in just 134.2 innings. A five-time Big 12 pitcher of the week selection this season, Osterman has already thrown three perfect games and two no-hitters this season.

Offensively, Desiree Williams leads the team with a .383 average, nine home runs and 31 RBIs. As a team, the Longhorns have hit 30 home runs and are averaging more than four runs per game.

Last Time We Met
Texas won all three meetings between the schools in 2005. The fifth-ranked Longhorns swept the Huskers at Bowlin Stadium by scores of 6-0 and 3-1. UT then recorded a 3-0 victory over Nebraska in the Big 12 Tournament.

Left-hander Cat Osterman was masterful against the Huskers, earning all three wins. She pitched a total of 17.1 innings and allowed just one hit.

Defensive miscues cost Nebraska, as the Huskers committed two errors in each game that led to a total of six unearned runs in the three games. In game one, Osterman tossed a one-hit shutout and two Nebraska errors led to four unearned runs.

Texas completed the regular-season sweep aided again by more defensive effors by NU. The game was tied 1-1 until Texas plated an unearned run in both the sixth and seventh innings to claim the victory. Megan Willis went 3-for-3 with two RBIs, and provided the game-winning hit with an RBI double in the sixth inning.

The Huskers got another chance at the Longhorns in the winner's bracket of the Big 12 Tournament, but Osterman again proved to be too much. Texas jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, aided by a two-run triple off the bat of Chez Sievers. That was more than enough for Osterman, who no-hit the Huskers for the victory.

Nebraska leads the all-time series with Texas, 14-10. Osterman has helped pull the Longhorns closer in the series, as Texas is 7-1 versus NU in Osterman's career (note: Osterman took an Olympic redshirt in 2004, when the Huskers went 3-0 against the Longhorns).

Quick Hits....

• Nebraska's 20-4 record is the best start in school history
• Nebraska is 17-0 when out-hitting the opponent
• Nebraska is averaging more than five runs per game
• NU is 19-1 when holding the opponent to two runs or less
• Five Huskers are hitting .300 or better
• Six Huskers have homered through the first 24 games
• Six Huskers hit a home run in the entire 2005 campaign
• Nebraska has 19 home runs as a team, matching the entire 2005 total over 59 games
• Nebraska is 46-of-51 in stolen base attempts after going 7-for-8 last week
• Lizzy Aumua leads the team with a whopping .500 average (42-for-84)
• Aumua tied an NU single-game record with a 5-for-5 effort against Illinois
• Devin Porter has produced both a 5-RBI and 6-RBI game this season
• Jamie Waldecker produced a career-high 6 RBIs vs. Illinois, including her first career grand slam
• Crystal Carwile also has a 5-RBI game this season
• KoKo Tacha has already set single-season career highs in hits, doubles, triples, home runs and RBIs
• The Husker pitchers have allowed just two earned runs in the last eight games
• Right-hander Ashley DeBuhr has thrown four consecutive shutouts
• In those shutouts, DeBuhr has tossed a pair of one-hitters, a two-hitter and a three-hitter
• Right-hander Molly Hill is 11-1 with a 1.21 ERA in her Husker career
• Hill and DeBuhr combined to record 30 strikeouts out of a possible 36 outs in a DH last week
• Nebraska has already matched its save total (1) from the entire 2005 season
• NU has already hit twice as many triples in 2006 (6) than it did in the entire 2005 season (3)

NU vs. Ranked Teams
Nebraska is just 1-2 against ranked teams this season. The Huskers faced a pair of ranked squads on the opening day of the season, but have played just one ranked team since. NU opened the season with a 7-3 loss to then-No. 7 Stanford. The Huskers quickly rebounded with an 8-2 victory over then-No. 15 Oregon State immediately following the loss to the Cardinal.

Stanford has since moved into the top five of the poll with a 22-4 record, while Oregon State has moved up to eighth. The Beavers have not lost since falling to the Huskers, rattling off 21 straight victories.

NU did not face another ranked opponent until a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning lifted then-No. 25 North Carolina to a 3-1 come-from-behind victory over the Huskers.

Fastest Start in School History
After a perfect 4-0 record last week, the Huskers own a 20-4 record through 24 games. Nebraska is currently off to the best start in school history, as it took the team only 24 games to record 20 victories. The previous record was 25 games by the 2002 squad that finished fifth at the WCWS.

Nebraska Aims for Quick Big 12 Start
After a record-breaking start to the season, Nebraska will now shift its focus to starting fast in the Big 12 Conference. NU started 0-2 after the first weekend and just 1-4 in the first five games of league play last year.

The Huskers are 7-3 all-time in Big 12 openers and have swept six of their 10 league-opening series, while splitting three more. Before last season, when Nebraska was swept at Texas A&M, the Huskers had never lost a league-opening Big 12 series.

Starting Strong
Nebraska has shown a penchant for taking command of its games in the early innings this season. The Huskers have scored in the first inning in 13 of their 24 games and are 11-2 when plating a run in the first frame.

In addition to the first-inning success, Nebraska has dominated its opponents in the first four innings., when they have outscored their opponents 103-17 on the year. In innings five, six, seven and eight (NU has played one extra-inning game this season), however, Nebraska has only outscored its opponent by a 31-24 margin.

Big Innings
Nebraska, which has been scoring runs at a record pace, has also been prone to producing big innings this season. The Huskers have pushed a run across in 59 of a possible 147 innings (40 percent) and have been shutout just once through the first 24 games of the season.

In addition to the overall totals, Nebraska has scored three or more runs in 21 different innings. When the Huskers have scored a run in an inning, they have added at least two more runs in the frame in 36 percent of those innings. Even more impressive is the fact that NU has scored five or more runs in an inning on seven occasions and seven or more runs a whopping four times. In 2005, Nebraska produced just one inning of seven or more runs.

Strikeouts Way Down
When Nebraska faces second-ranked Texas this weekend to open Big 12 play, the Huskers are sure to see plenty of Longhorn ace Cat Osterman. Osterman, the two-time national player of the year and 2004 Olympic gold medalist, is already the NCAA career strikeout record holder. As the Huskers prepare to face Osterman, they can take comfort in the fact that this year's team has worked hard to cut down its strikeout totals from a season ago.

Nebraska hitters have struck out 99 times through the first 24 games. In contrast, NU had struck out 135 times through the first 24 games of the 2005 season, when the Huskers finished with 364 strikeouts in 59 games.

The Huskers have not struck out more than eight times in a game this season, despite facing several quality pitchers, although none the caliber of Osterman. In 2005, Nebraska hitters struck out nine or more times on 16 occasions, including seven times in the first 24 games.

Kier Powers Huskers With Career Day
Junior Carmen Kier produced the first multi-home run game of her career to power the Huskers past Akron, 10-2, in five innings last Friday. Kier entered the game with just one homer on the season and just three in her career.

Kier belted solo shots in consecutive at bats in the fourth and fifth innings, the second of which wrapped up a second straight run-rule victory for the Huskers. Before her two blasts, Kier had only three home runs in her first 83 career games. Kier currently is tied for second on the team with a career-high three home runs.