Huskers Finish 4-0 at Big Red Fall Classic

Lincoln ? Pitching was the name of the game as the Nebraska softball team shutout Kansas, 3-0, and Creighton, 1-0, on Sunday to finish with a perfect 4-0 record at the Big Red Fall Classic at Bowlin Stadium.

 

Freshman Alex Hupp stole the show in game one, hitting and pitching the Huskers to a victory over her home state school of Kansas. Against the Jayhawks, Hupp, a native of Olathe, fired a two-hit shutout in the circle while going 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored at the plate.

 

Game two not only pitted the Huskers against their lone in-state rival, the Creighton Bluejays, but the starting pitching matchup featured a pair of Beatrice, Neb., natives in NU senior Ashley DeBuhr and CU freshman Tara Oltman.

 

DeBuhr outdueled Oltman, finishing with a two-hit shutout of her own in the 1-0 win. DeBuhr surrendered only a pair of singles and did not walk a batter. She also posted nine strikeouts, which helped her work around three Nebraska errors.

 

DeBuhr also recorded one of the Huskers’ four hits in the game, as Oltman tossed a complete game four-hitter and did not allow an earned run. Sophomore Meghan Mullin scored the game’s lone run off a throwing error by Creighton third baseman Renae Sinkler.

 

On the day, DeBuhr finished 2-for-3 at the plate, while Mullin, Hupp and freshman Crystal Gonzalez also finished with two hits in the two contests.

 

Nebraska (6-2) wraps up its fall season next weekend, when the Huskers travel to South Bend, Ind., for the Worth Fall Classic, hosted by the University of Notre Dame.

 

Nebraska 3
Kansas 0

Behind a stellar all-around performance from freshman Alex Hupp, the Huskers improved to a perfect 3-0 at the Big Red Fall Classic with a 3-0 win over Big 12 rival Kansas in Nebraska’s first game of the day.

 

Hupp received the start in the circle and tossed a two-hit shutout with six strikeouts. Hupp was very efficient on the night, throwing just 93 pitches, including 62 for strikes. Offensively, Hupp finished 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored.

 

The Huskers had base runners in each of the first three innings, including two on with no outs in the top of the first, but were unable to score until the third inning. In the third, freshman Crystal Gonzalez led off with an infield single. She then moved to second on a ground out and moved up to third when sophomore Meghan Mullin reached on an error.

Gonzalez then scored the game’s first run when Mullin stole second and KU catcher Erika Simington’s throw sailed into center field. The Huskers then loaded the bases on back-to-back walks, before Hupp and senior Carmen Kier both flew out to shallow center to end the inning. NU nearly added three more runs in the frame when senior Jamie Waldecker lifted a deep fly ball to left field that a strong wind kept in the ballpark and pushed foul.

 

The stiff breeze came into effect again the top of the sixth, when freshman Alex Hupp launched a drive to left field that the wind knocked down and Hupp ended up at second with a double. Hupp still crossed home plate, however, after Kier laid down a perfectly-placed sacrifice bunt. A KU throwing error on Kier’s bunt allowed Hupp to score and give the Huskers a 2-1 lead.

 

NU threatened to add more with runners on first and third and only one out, but Kansas turned its second double play of the game to escape without any further damage.

 

The Huskers added an insurance run in the top of the seventh, when Hupp drove in Mullin with a clutch, two-out RBI single.

 

While Nebraska continued to pressure offensively, the Jayhawks struggled to get anything going against Hupp, a native of Olathe, Kan. Amanda Jobe was the only Jayhawk to record a hit against Hupp. Hupp was strong from start to finish, as she retired 16 of the final 17 batters to close out the shutout. On the game, Hupp allowed only one Jayhawk to advance past first base.

 

Nebraska 1

Creighton 0

The final game of the Big Red Fall Classic featured a Nebraska flavor. Husker senior and Beatrice, Neb., native Ashley DeBuhr received the start in the circle for NU, while Creighton’s Tara Oltman, another Beatrice native, started for the Bluejays.

 

DeBuhr won the first battle, lacing a two-out single off Oltman in the bottom of the second and went on to win the game.

 

Nebraska cracked the scoreboard first in the bottom of the third on a wild play with the help from the Creighton defense. Sophomore Meghan Mullin slapped a ball to third, where Renae Sinkler fielded the ball cleanly but threw wide of first. Sinkler’s throw caromed off the wall down the first base line, forcing right fielder Lau Emmsley-Chang to chase down the throw. With Mullin rounding third, the cutoff throw to the plate was low and couldn’t be handled by the catcher, T.J. Eadus ? who was also called for obstruction on the play ? allowing Mullin to score.

 

Creighton failed to manage much of an offensive threat until Jamie Reiss led off the top of the sixth inning with a bloop single to left. Reiss then moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt from Michelle Graner, before a pair of ground outs ended the threat.

 

DeBuhr then retired the Bluejays in order in the ninth to preserve the victory.