Huskers Open Busy Five-Day Home Stretch on Tuesday

The 17th-ranked Nebraska softball team returns home on Tuesday to open a busy week at Bowlin Stadium. The Huskers are set to play six games in five days against three different teams, beginning with Tuesday's 6 p.m. contest with South Dakota State.

Nebraska concluded its three-game Big 12 road swing through Kansas and Oklahoma with a perfect 3-0 mark. The Huskers are now 27-6 overall and 5-2 in the conference after posting a 2-0 victory at Kansas last Tuesday and sweeping a weekend series at Oklahoma State (10-0 [5], 5-4) over the weekend. NU's 27-6 record marks the second-best 33-game mark in school history.

This week, the Huskers take on SDSU on Tuesday and will then face the Jackrabbits in a doubleheader on Wednesday beginning at 2 p.m. The second Wednesday game is a change from the original schedule that had NU and SDSU playing a lone game on Wednesday.

Another change in the schedule has added a single game with Drake on Thursday, April 13 at 7 p.m. Following that contest, NU will host 20th-ranked Baylor on Friday, April 14 and Saturday, April 15.

Scouting South Dakota State (14-18)
South Dakota State is 14-18 this season and will be playing its first game in a week when it opens a three-game series with the Huskers on Tuesday night.

NU and SDSU share three common opponents this season: Stephen F. Austin, Oklahoma State and North Dakota State. The Jackrabbits went 1-2 against those three teams and were outscored by a combined score of just 10-9. The Huskers posted a perfect 4-0 mark against the same foes, and outscored those opponents by a combined score of 25-5.

South Dakota State is hitting just .211 as a team and Brooke Postma (.300) is the only player hitting .300 or better, although Postma has just 20 at bats and seven starts. Chris Pesqueira leads the everyday starters with a .278 average, while Steph Kuhl leads the team with six home runs and 18 RBIs.

In the circle, Kim Westendorf (8-11) is the Jacks' main pitcher. She has compiled a 2.69 ERA in 119.2 innings, while throwing 13 complete games and one shutout. Jenna Marston (6-6) has a 3.43 ERA in 63.1 innings, while Jordan Bottorff (0-0) has a 3.80 ERA in 27.2 innings.

Tuesday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

Scouting Drake (15-21)
Drake is 15-21 on the season and has lost three of its last four after dropping two of three at llinois State last weekend. The Bulldogs have played eight games against ranked teams, compiling a 1-7 mark in those contests.

Drake and Nebraska share three common opponents this season: Stanford, North Dakota State and Creighton. In five games against the three teams, Drake posted a 1-4 record and was outscored 14-5. In three games against the same opponents, Nebraska went 2-1 and outscored its opponents 14-8.

Shanna Cook (.304) and Lindsay Larry (.301) lead the team in average, while Cook's three home runs and 19 RBIs are also team bests.

In the circle, Jessica Hicks and Cassie Heller are the Bulldogs' main pitchers. Hicks is 8-9 and has compiled a team-low 3.23 ERA in a team-high 102.0 innings. Heller is 4-10 and has a 3.78 ERA in 87.0 innings. Heller also leads the team with three saves.

Last Time We Met (NU-Drake)
Nebraska and Drake have met 32 times, but have not faced each other since the 2003 season. In 2003, NU swept a doubleheader from the Bulldogs at Bowlin Stadium, taking game one, 7-1, before earning a 10-0 run-rule victory in the nightcap.

NU has won seven straight games against Drake, dating back to the 2000 season. The Huskers are a perfect 15-0 all-time against Drake in Lincoln.

Nebraska leads the all-time series with Drake, 26-6.

Quick Hits....

• NU recorded 20 wins in only 24 games to become the fastest team in school history to record 20 wins
• NU is 9-0 at home, the longest home winning streak in the history of Bowlin Stadium
• Nebraska is 22-1 when out-hitting the opponent
• Nebraska is averaging more than five runs per game
• NU is 25-2 when holding the opponent to two runs or less
• Nebraska has 29 home runs as a team, 10 more than the entire 2005 total (19) over 59 games
• Nebraska is 59-of-65 in stolen base attempts
• Lizzy Aumua tied an NU single-game record with a 5-for-5 effort against Illinois
• Devin Porter (2), Jamie Waldecker (1) and Crystal Carwile (1) have each produced 5 or more RBIs in a game
• Prior to this season, a Husker had produced 5+ RBIs four times in the last five years
• KoKo Tacha has already set single-season career highs in hits, doubles, triples, home runs and RBIs
• Right-hander Ashley DeBuhr has thrown six shutouts in her last eight starts
• Right-hander Molly Hill is 13-1 with a 1.52 ERA in her Husker career
• Nebraska has already bettered its save total (2) from the entire 2005 season
• NU has already hit more than twice as many triples in 2006 (7) than it did in 2005 (3)

Last Week
Nebraska went a perfect 3-0 last week, winning three Big 12 road games. The Huskers opened the week with a 2-0 win at Kansas. NU was victorious despite being no-hit. Senior Trisha Tannahill scored both runs and junior Ashley DeBuhr tossed a four-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts.

After being no-hit in the mid-week contest, Nebraska pounded out 23 hits in a two-game sweep at Oklahoma State. The Huskers routed the Cowgirls 10-0 in the first game. Junior Devin Porter recorded the first multi-homer game of her career with a pair of solo home runs, while Tannahill tied her career high with four RBIs.

In the circle, DeBuhr was brilliant again, tossing a two-hit shutout. The shutout was her second straight and the sixth in her last eight starts.

In the series finale, Nebraska jumped out to a 2-0 lead only to see Oklahoma State rally with four runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 4-2 lead. The Huskers rallied when DeBuhr laced a two-out, two-run double off the wall in left to tie the game in the top of the sixth. Freshman Crystal Carwile then ripped her second solo home run of the day with one out in the seventh to lift the Huskers to victory.

DeBuhr earned the win in relief, allowing one run on three hits in four innings of work. Freshman right-hander Molly Hill earned the start and allowed three runs on five hits in three innings.

DeBuhr's Domination
Junior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr has been brilliant in her last eight starts, posting a 7-1 record with a 0.43 ERA and six shutouts. Over that stretch, DeBuhr has struck out 77 batters in 49.0 innings, while holding opposing hitters to a meager .135 average.

The recent domination started after DeBuhr surrendered at three-run home run in a 3-1 loss to then-No. 25 North Carolina. She quickly rebounded by tossing two-hit shutout against Florida A&M the next day and a one-hit shutout against Bradley one day later.

DeBuhr then tossed another one-hit shutout with a season-high 15 strikeouts in an 8-0 run-rule victory over Northern Colorado. The Beatrice, Neb., native made it four consecutive shutouts when she allowed just three hits in another 8-0 run-rule victory, this time against North Dakota State.

DeBuhr's shutout streak ended when she allowed two runs in a 2-0 loss at Texas, which has since moved into the No. 1 spot in the polls. DeBuhr quickly rebounded in her next start against then-No. 17 Oklahoma, allowing just one run and striking out 11 against the top-hitting team in the league.

Against Kansas last Tuesday, DeBuhr tossed a four-hit shutout with 11 more strikeouts. She then earned the start at Oklahoma State last Saturday and threw a two-hit shutout with six strikeouts.

Carwile Producing in Clean-Up Role
Freshman Crystal Carwile drove in her 29th and 30th runs of the year with a pair of solo home runs at Oklahoma State last Sunday. Carwile's 30 RBIs lead the team and ranks ninth in the Big 12.

With her second homer - which lifted the Huskers to a 5-4 win - Carwile became the first freshman at Nebraska to produce 30 RBIs in her rookie season since Nicole Trimboli drove in 45 in 2001.

No Hits, No Problem
Nebraska, which ranks third in the Big 12 with a .297 team average, has made the most of its scoring opportunities this season, even when hits have been hard to find. At Kansas last Tuesday, the Huskers were no-hit, but patient execution in the batter's box and smart baserunning plated two runs in two different innings to lift NU to a 2-0 win.

The combination of patient hitting and smart baserunning also helped Nebraska pull out an earlier victory at Creighton. NU managed just one hit against Creighton, but a pair of wild pitches and a sacrifice fly allowed the Huskers to score a single run in three different innings to post a 3-1 win.

Home Run Barrage
Nebraska hit four home runs in sweeping a two-game series at Oklahoma State last weekend. All four home runs came from two players producing multi-homer games. Junior Devin Porter hit a pair of solo shots in the first game for the first multi-homer game of her career. Freshman Crystal Carwile followed that performance with a pair of solo home runs - and a double off the wall - in the second game. The two home runs marked the second multi-home run game of Carwile's young career.

The Huskers have now hit nine homers in their last five games, all of which have been league contests. Before the current long ball barrage, Nebraska had hit just four home runs over its previous 14 games. Nebraska currently ranks first in the Big 12 in home runs hit in league only games.

Tannahill Nears Hit-by-Pitch Record
Senior Trisha Tannahill was hit by a pitch in the Huskers' 2-0 win at Kansas last Tuesday. Tannahill has been hit by eight pitches this season, which ties the NU single-season school record shared by Karla Knicely (1996) and Ellen Middleton (1999).

Tannahill has been hit by 15 pitches in her career, which is just two shy of Jane Kremer's school-record total of 17.

Yoachim Nears Sacrifice Record
Senior Jessica Yoachim recorded her ninth sacrifice of the season in game one of the Huskers' doubleheader sweep of 17th-ranked Oklahoma on April 1. She now has 39 in her career, which is tied for third on the NU career chart. She needs just two more sacrifices to tie Gloria Von Rentzell's all-time school mark of 41.

If Yoachim reaches the mark, it would be the second school record for Yoachim. A two-time first-team All-Big 12 selection, Yoachim set a school record with five hits in a single game last season, a feat that was matched by senior Lizzy Aumua this season.

Home Sweet Home
Nebraska is a perfect 9-0 at home this season, the best home start in the five-year history of Bowlin Stadium. The previous best start was 5-0 by the 2004 squad. In addition to the stellar start, the Huskers' nine-game home winning streak is also the longest in the history of Bowlin Stadium.

The nine-game home winning streak is also the second-longest for Nebraska since the 2000 season. In 2000, Nebraska went a perfect 20-0 in the second-to-last year of the Nebraska Softball Complex.

Getting Defensive
Nebraska has gotten defensive this season. The Huskers lead the Big 12 Conference with a .973 fielding percentage. NU has committed only 24 errors, seven fewer than the second-place league school.

Powerful Performances
Juniors Carmen Kier (four home runs) and Devin Porter (seven home runs) have each hit more home runs this season than their career total entering the year. Through 33 games this season, the pair have combined to hit 11 home runs after combining to hit just three home runs in their first two seasons.

Kier last homered against Northern Iowa on March 30 but she has doubled her career total entering this season. Kier belted two home runs in her redshirt freshman season of 2004 and did not hit a homer last season.

Porter, who recorded the first multi-homer game of her career with a pair of solo shots at Oklahoma State last Saturday, has seven home runs this season after hitting her first career home run at the end of last season.

Timely Hitting
Nebraska has been prone to producing two-out RBIs this season. In the Huskers' 5-4 come-from-behind victory at Oklahoma State last Sunday, three of NU's five RBIs came with two outs. This season, NU has produced 147 RBIs and 58 of those have come with two outs (39 percent). Six players have produced at least five two-out RBIs this season, while freshman Crystal Carwile leads the team with 13 two-out RBIs. Senior Trisha Tannahill (10) ranks second and is the only other player in double-figures.

The Winner's Circle
Junior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr has won four straight decisions and is now 14-5 on the season. After defeating Northern Iowa on March 30 DeBuhr joined freshman right-hander Molly Hill (13-1) in double-digit win totals. Both posted double-digit win totals in only the first 29 games of the year. Prior to this season, a Nebraska team had not had two 10-game winners on the same squad since Peaches James (23) and Summer Tobias (15) in 2003.

What a Relief
Junior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr earned her second relief victory of the season by allowing just one run in four innings at Oklahoma State last Sunday. In five relief appearances this season, DeBuhr is 2-1 with two saves.

In her career, DeBuhr has made 15 relief appearances. In those relief appearances, DeBuhr is 5-2 with three saves. Prior to Thursday's relief victory, DeBuhr's last win in relief came at Wichita State on March 13, 2005, when she pitched five shutout innings. DeBuhr's save against No. 17 Oklahoma on April 1 in the second game of a doubleheader was her second of the season, doubling her career total.

Chasing .400
Seniors Lizzy Aumua is chasing a mark that hasn't been reached at Nebraska in eight years. The mark is a .400 season batting average and Aumua, who is currently hitting .442, has a chance to reach it this season.

Three-time All-American Ali Viola was the last Husker to hit .400 in a season. Viola hit .400 or better three times in her career, including a .424 mark in 1998, which is the last time a Husker hit .400 or better. All-American Anne Steffan chased the .400 plateau last season, finishing with a .388 average, the sixth-best single-season mark in school history and the highest average since Viola's .424 average in 1998.

Aumua is also chasing a .400 career batting average. Her current career average is .404, which ranks second all-time at Nebraska. Only Viola, who hit .418 in her career, has posted a career average of .380 or better in school history.

Nebraska is also chasing a team batting average of .300 for only the third time in program history and the first time since the 1996 squad hit .303.

NU currently boasts a .297 team average. Nebraska was at or above the .300 mark all season until the second game of an April 1 doubleheader with No. 17 Oklahoma.

Scoring Clip
A 3-0 win over Florida A&M on March 11 gave the Huskers 100 runs scored in 17 games, making this year's team the fastest squad in school history to score 100 runs. A 9-1 run-rule victory over No. 17 Oklahoma in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader gave NU 150 runs scored in only 29 games.

It took NU just seven games to total 50 runs as the 2006 Huskers also tied the school record for the fewest number of games before reaching the 50-run plateau.

This season marks only the fourth year in school history that NU scored 100 runs in fewer than 20 games. It also marks only the second time in school history that Nebraska has scored 150 runs in fewer than 30 games.

Fastest Start in School History
The Huskers owned a 20-4 record through the first 24 games of the 2006 season. That record marked 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.

Husker Power
After hitting four home runs in two games at Oklahoma State last weekend, Nebraska's season home run total stands at 29 home runs in 33 games, eclipsing the entire 2005 season total (19 homers in 59 games) in nearly half as many games.

Freshman Crystal Carwile leads the way with 10 home runs, including the second multi-homer game of her career last Sunday at Oklahoma State. Her first multi-homer game made her the first Husker since Peaches James in 2004 to record a multi-homer game. Carwile's 10 home runs also mark the first time a Husker has hit 10 or more home runs in a season since current volunteer assistant coach Amanda Buchholz hit 12 in the 2003 season.

Junior Devin Porter ranks second on the team with a career-high seven home runs - including the first multi-homer game of her career last Saturday against Oklahoma State - while fellow juniors Carmen Kier and Jamie Waldecker each have four homers. Senior Trisha Tannahill has three homers and fellow senior KoKo Tacha has also added one roundtripper.

NU had 12 home runs through seven games to open 2006, after taking 32 games in 2004 and 33 games in 2005 to reach the mark. The Huskers enjoy a 29-to-10 advantage in home runs over their opponents. After the first weekend, NU enjoyed a 6-to-5 advantage, marking the first time since April 18, 2004, that Nebraska had more home runs than its opponents at any point during the season.

Nebraska homered in seven straight games to open the season, the longest stretch since NU homered in 10 consecutive games March 10 through March 17, 2002. The Huskers also have produced nine multi-home run games - including two in two games last weekend - in 2006, after posting just one in 2005 and three in 2004. NU has produced four multi-home run games on the year. Prior to this season, NU hitters had produced a total of five multi-homer games in the last five years.

In league games only, Nebraska has belted a Big 12-best nine home runs through the first seven games. It took NU just six games to surpass the 2005 team total of six homers in Big 12 play. Furthermore, Porter hit three home runs in the first six games of conference action, surpassing the individual leader from the 2005 season.

Strikeouts Way Down
Nebraska has seen a dramatic decline in its offensive strikeout numbers this season, a product of hard work and increased emphasis on discipline at the plate.

Nebraska hitters have struck out 160 times through the first 33 games. In contrast, NU had struck out 187 times through the first 33 games of the 2005 season, when the Huskers finished with 364 strikeouts in 59 games. So far this year, Nebraska has cut its strikeout total by nearly one strikeout per game.

The Huskers' 160 strikeouts are the lowest in the Big 12 Conference. NU is averaging just 4.84 strikeouts per game. The only other league school average less than five strikeouts per game is defending regular-season champion Texas A&M (4.82).

NU vs. Ranked Teams
Nebraska is 3-4 against ranked teams this season after sweeping 17th-ranked Oklahoma in a doubleheader on April 1. Although the Huskers are sub-.500 against ranked teams, four of the seven games have come against top-10 foes and five of the seven games have been on the road or at a neutral site.

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 24-4 record, while Oregon State has moved up to seventh. The Beavers won 28 straight games after losing to the Huskers, before falling to No. 9 Arizona State last weekend. OSU is currently 28-3 on the season.

NU did not face another ranked opponent after opening day until a three-run home run in lifted then-No. 25 North Carolina to a 3-1 come-from-behind victory over the Huskers on March 10.

Nebraska lost a pair of close games to then-No. 3 and currently top-ranked Texas to open Big 12 play the weekend of March 25. The Huskers' first four league games have come against ranked teams.

Stolen Bases
Nebraska was 6-of-7 in stolen base attempts in three games last week. NU had stolen 16 straight bases without being thrown out before being caught last Saturday. The Huskers had stolen 22 consecutive bases at one point this season and Nebraska has been successful on 35 of its last 37 stolen base attempts overall.

On the season, NU has been successful on 59-of-65 attempts (90 percent). Opponents have stolen just 15 bases in 24 tries (62 percent).

At the current rate, this year's team has an outside chance to become just the fifth squad in school history to record 100 stolen bases in a season. Last year, the Huskers - who were led by All-American Anne Steffan's single-season school-record 32 stolen bases - tallied 91 stolen bases in 108 attempts (.843). The school record is 128 steals set by the 2002 Huskers.

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 19 of their 33 games (55 percent), including six of the last seven. NU is 17-2 this season when plating a run in the first frame. Last week, Nebraska scored a single run in the first inning of both games of a two-game weekend series at Oklahoma State.

In addition to the first-inning success, Nebraska has dominated its opponents in the first four innings, as the Huskers have outscored their opponents 123-23 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 36-29 margin.

Carwile Climbing Freshman HR Chart
Freshman Crystal Carwile's three home runs in the first five games of the season were the most home runs by a Husker freshman since Nicole Trimboli hit eight in the entire 2001 campaign. Carwile has since added seven more homers - including two against Oklahoma State last Sunday - to give her 10 on the season and the third-highest freshman total in school history. The school freshman record is 13 by Ali Viola in 1995.

Carwile's eight roundtrippers would have led the 2005 NU squad and her total eclipses the home run total of all freshmen from the 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 seasons combined by two.

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 scored in 82 innings this season and have been shutout just twice through the first 33 games of the season.

In addition to the overall totals, Nebraska has scored three or more runs in 25 different innings. When the Huskers have scored a run in an inning, they have added at least two more runs in the frame in 30 percent of those innings. Even more impressive is the fact that NU has scored five or more runs in an inning on eight occasions and seven or more runs a whopping four times. In 2005, Nebraska produced just one inning of seven or more runs.