Huskers Aim For Fourth Big 12 Championship

The 14th-ranked Nebraska softball team seeks its fourth Big 12 Championship this week when the Huskers travel to Oklahoma City, Okla., for the 11th annual event. NU enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed after sweeping Missouri over the weekend to finish the regular season with a 40-8 record and a 13-4 mark in league play.

Nebraska finished second in the Big 12 Conference, as No. 2 Texas captured its third regular-season crown in five years with a 15-2 record in league play and a 49-5 mark overall. The Longhorns are also the defending tournament champions, posting a perfect 4-0 record en route to the 2005 title.

NU has been the No. 2 seed in the tournament only once before. The Huskers won the 2000 Big 12 Championship with a 4-1 record as the second seed. Nebraska is a Big 12-best 30-13 all-time at the event, including a 2-2 mark last season.

The Huskers enter the Big 12 Championship on a roll, posting eight straight victories to close out the regular season. After taking last week off for final exams, Nebraska swept Missouri over the weekend in a pair of games at Bowlin Stadium.

In the first game, Nebraska took advantage of four Missouri errors to earn a 3-1 win. Junior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr won her seventh straight decision - and sixth consecutive in Big 12 play - by not allowing an earned run in a complete-game four-hitter that included eight strikeouts.

Game two was a different story, as Missouri jumped out to a 3-0 lead after a half inning of play. Nebraska rallied for two runs in the third and three more in the fifth to rally past the Tigers, 5-3. Freshman right-hander Molly Hill improved to 18-2 with the win, while DeBuhr picked up her career-high third save. Junior Jamie Waldecker had a double and two RBIs for the Husker offense.

The win gave Nebraska a 20-1 home record, tying for the most home wins in school history. NU also tied the 2002 squad as the fastest team to 40 wins in school history.

Scouting Missouri (23-25, 7-11 Big 12)
Missouri, which began the season in the top 25, finished the regular season with a 23-25 overall record and a 7-11 mark in Big 12 play. After being swept by NU over the weekend, the Tigers fell to the No. 7 seed in the Big 12 Championship.

Missouri is just 3-7 in its last 10 games, but has fared well historically at the Big 12 Championship, advancing to the last two title games.

MU is led offensively by Jen Bruck and Micaela Minner. Bruck is hitting .390 with 12 doubles and nine homers, while Minner is hitting .350 with nine homers and 41 RBIs.

In the circle, Bruck has thrown 227.2 innings, nearly 73 percent of the team's total innings. Bruck (21-19) boasts an ERA of 3.16, while Megan Dennis has made 34 appearances and is 2-5 with a 5.23 ERA.

Nebraska leads the all-time series with Missouri, 47-29 and has won four of the last six games. The Huskers own a 4-1 edge over the Tigers at the Big 12 Championship.

Scouting Texas Tech (19-34, 4-13 Big 12)
Texas Tech is the No. 10 seed in the Big 12 Championship after finishing with a league-worst 19-34 overall record and 4-13 league record. Texas Tech lost 10 of its last 11 games, including its final nine Big 12 games.

The Red Raiders are hitting just .235 as a team, but have five players hitting .273 or better. Montana Patin leads the team with a .290 average and has also added six doubles, four homers and 18 RBIs. Ashley Parker is Tech's fastest player as she leads the conference with 34 stolen bases in just 37 attempts. Jennifer Bowers is hitting just .220, but boasts team-high totals of eight homers and 27 RBIs.

In the circle, Erin Crawford is 11-17 with a 2.33 ERA in a team-high 180.0 innings. Opposing hitters are batting .249 against her and have struck out just 123 times. Julie Hauck is 6-9 with a 2.96 ERA in 94.2 innings, while Sarah Losleben (2-8, 3.94 ERA) has thrown 74.2 innings.

Last Time We Met
Nebraska swept Texas Tech in Lubbock this season, earning a pair of come-from-behind victories. The Huskers trailed by one in the seventh inning of both games, before rallying to win 4-3 in the first game and 10-4 in 10 innings the next day.

In the first game, the Red Raiders stole home twice and plated three runs to erase a 2-0 deficit. Trailing 3-2 in the seventh, junior Jamie Waldecker and freshman Crystal Carwile led off the inning with back-to-back homers to power the Huskers to the victory.

In game two, Nebraska again trailed 3-2 in the seventh, before scoring two runs to take a 4-3 lead. Texas Tech answered with a run in its half of the frame, before a three-run home run off the bat of junior Devin Porter capped a six-run 10th inning for NU.

Nebraska leads the all-time series, 24-3, including a 1-0 mark at the Big 12 Championship.

Quick Hits....

• NU's 40-8 record ties the best 48-game record in the 31-year history of Nebraska softball
• The current .833 winning percentage would be a new school record
• NU is 20-1 at home, marking the most wins in the history of Bowlin Stadium
• Nebraska's 20 home wins tie the 2000 squad for the most single-season home victories in school history
• Nebraska is 30-2 when out-hitting the opponent
• Nebraska scored 238 runs in 43 games, passing last year's season total (232 runs in 59 games)
• NU scored 81 runs in 17 Big 12 games after scoring just 50 runs in 18 league games in 2005
• NU is 32-2 when holding the opponent to two runs or less
• Nebraska has 37 home runs as a team, 18 more than the entire 2005 total (19)
• NU has hit three times as many triples in 2006 (9) than it did in 2005 (3)
• Nebraska is 75-of-86 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
• Nebraska has been hit by 32 pitches as a team this season, a new school record

Striking Success
The Huskers' in-state pitching staff of right-handers Ashley DeBuhr and Molly Hill have combined to strike out 403 batters in just 318.2 innings this season. The 403 strikeouts already rank sixth in school history and the staff has an outside chance to better the 2001 team's school record 501 strikeouts, depending on how far NU advances in the postseason.

Nebraska has been hurt by 11 rain outs this season, decreasing the number of games to pile up strikeouts. However, when looking at strikeouts per game, this year's staff is averaging 8.40 strikeouts per game, which would be the best mark in school history. The 2001 squad averaged 7.61 strikeouts per game.

Hit By Pitch
Fueled by two of the top three marks in school history, Nebraska has set a new team hit-by-pitch record for the second consecutive season in 2006. The Huskers have been hit by 32 pitches this season, marking the first time in the 31-year history of the program that a team had been hit by 30 or more pitches in a single year. The mark breaks the 2005 squad's school-record total of 29.

Leading the way is senior Trisha Tannahill, who has been hit by a single-season school-record 10 pitches. She is also tied for the NU career record of 17 hit-by-pitches. Junior Devin Porter has been hit by seven pitches this season, which ranks fourth on the NU single-season chart.

Winning at a Record Pace
With a 40-8 record, Nebraska has already tied the 2002 team for the best 48-game record in school history. After improving to 40-8, the 2002 squad then lost three of its next five games and finished the season with a 50-14 mark for a .781 winning percentage, the fourth-best percentage in school history.

The 2006 Huskers currently own an .833 winning percentage. By continuing its terrific season, NU has a chance to become just the second team in school history to win 80 percent of its games. The 1998 team, which finished 48-12, owns the best winning percentage in program history at .800.

Huskers Earn Their Degrees
Six members of the Nebraska softball program, including three current players, received their diplomas at commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 6, at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

Current Husker seniors Lizzy Aumua (sociology), Trisha Tannahill (communication studies) and Jessica Yoachim (communication studies) each received their degrees prior to the Huskers' 3-1 win against Missouri. In addition to the three seniors, former Huskers Kira Boerkircher (dance), Sheena Lawrick (family and consumer science) and Anne Steffan (psychology), also earned their degrees. Lawrick is Nebraska’s undergraduate assistant coach this season.

Seventh Inning Success
Nebraska has rallied from a one-run, seventh-inning deficit in three of its last six victories. After twice rallying from a one-run deficit to sweep Texas Tech April 22-23, the Huskers again rallied to beat Creighton on April 27.

In game one at Texas Tech NU led 2-0 before the Red Raiders plated one run in the fifth and two in the sixth to take a 3-2 lead. Nebraska quickly responded when junior Jamie Waldecker and freshman Crystal Carwile homered on consecutive pitches to lead off the seventh inning and give NU the win.

Game two of the series was even more dramatic, as Nebraska would not take its first lead of the game until the seventh. Trailing 3-2 entering the final inning, the Huskers sent eight batters to the plate and scored runs on an error and a hit batter with the bases loaded to take a 4-3 lead. NU had a chance to add more with the bases loaded and only one out, but was unable to push across another run. Nebraska went on to win the game with a six-run 10th inning.

Against Creighton on April 27, the Huskers rallied for their largest come-from-behind victory of the season. Trailing 3-0, NU scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth. After being shutout in the bottom of the sixth, freshman Brittany Pascale led off the seventh inning with a pinch-hit solo home run - the first of her career - that forced extra innings, as the Huskers won 4-3 in eight innings. The three-run margin marked the largest deficit overcome for NU this season.