DeBuhr Leads Nebraska Past No. 24 Auburn

Honolulu, Hawaii ? Senior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr was dominant in the circle, tossing a two-hit shutout and tying her career high with 17 strikeouts, while also adding the only RBI of the game as the 15th-ranked Nebraska softball team topped No. 24 Auburn, 1-0, for the second time in three days Sunday at the Paradise Classic.

 

DeBuhr (3-0) struck out the side in the second, fourth and fifth innings. She tossed 73 of her 89 pitches for strikes and only went to one three-ball count in the game.

 

With the win, Nebraska (4-2) earned a rematch with host Hawaii in the third-place game. Starting pitcher Holly Currie (1-2) was charged with the loss for Auburn (1-5), which finished fifth.

 

In a classic pitcher's duel, there were just eight hits in the game and DeBuhr, Currie and Auburn reliever Anna Thompson combined for 30 strikeouts in the contest.

 

With both offenses struggling, DeBuhr took matters into her own hands to drive in the lone run of the game in the top of the second inning.

Sophomore Haley Long led off with an infield single after her ground ball to the shortstop took a bad hop. Sophomore Crystal Carwile followed with another single and Long advanced to third to put runners at the corners with no outs.

 

Following a strikeout, DeBuhr lifted a deep fly ball into left field for a sacrifice fly that plated Long to put the Huskers on the board. On the play, Carwile made a late break for second base but was thrown out to end the inning.

 

In a game controlled by the pitchers, there was no more dominant stretch than the middle innings where seven straight hitters struck out. In innings four through six, Currie struck out four consecutive Huskers, while DeBuhr struck out the side in the fourth and the fifth frames in the midst of striking out eight straight Tigers.

 

After recording the four straight strikeouts, Currie ran into some trouble in the top of the sixth. Following a strikeout to open the inning, a walk and back-to-back infield singles loaded the bases and spelled the end of the day for Currie.

 

Thompson came on in relief and worked out of the bases loaded jam by recording a force out at home and striking out Carwile looking on a 3-2 pitch.

 

 

Neither team would threaten the rest of the game, although Auburn did put the tying runner on base with two outs in the bottom of the seventh after Tatiana Fernandez singled to snap a string of 13 straight hitters retired by DeBuhr.

 

On the season, DeBuhr has thrown shutouts in two of her three starts while allowing only one earned run in 22.2 innings. Opponents are hitting just .149 against the two-time All-Big 12 selection and have struck out 33 times while drawing just five walks.

Box Score The Automated ScoreBook #15 Nebraska vs #24 Auburn Feb 11, 2007 at Honolulu, Hawaii (Rainbow Wahine Stad.)

Nebraska 1 (4-2)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Porter, Devin ss......... 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 Mullin, Meghan rf........ 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 Waldecker, Jamie c....... 2 0 1 0 0 1 16 1 0 Fuller, Kimberly pr..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Long, Haley cf/lf........ 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Carwile, Crystal 1b...... 3 0 1 0 0 1 4 0 4 Hupp, Alex lf............ 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 Gonzalez, Crystal cf.... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DeBuhr, Ashley p......... 2 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 Rutherford, Darcy pr.... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kier, Carmen 3b.......... 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Pascale, Brittany ph.... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Borg, Jaime dp........... 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Barrett, Whitney 2b...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Totals................... 23 1 6 1 1 13 21 3 4

Auburn 0 (1-5)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Taryn Gray lf............ 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 1 Brittany Scott ph/lf.... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Lindsey Harrelson 2b..... 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 Myesha Finney ph........ 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Holly Currie p/1b........ 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 Tatiana Fernandez c...... 3 0 1 0 0 2 13 3 0 Nicole Russo pr......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jorja Bell 1b/dp......... 3 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 1 Krista Klein 3b.......... 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 Sara Ghezzi rf........... 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Ashley Arcuri ss......... 2 0 1 0 0 1 3 1 0 Lauren Walton cf......... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Anna Thompson dp/p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals................... 23 0 2 0 0 17 21 8 2

Score by Innings R H E ----------------------------------------- Nebraska............ 010 000 0 - 1 6 0 Auburn.............. 000 000 0 - 0 2 0 -----------------------------------------

DP - Tigers 1. LOB - Cornhuskers 4; Tigers 2. SH - Waldecker(1). SF - DeBuhr(1). CS - Porter(1); Rutherford(2).

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- DeBuhr, Ashley...... 7.0 2 0 0 0 17 23 23 89

Auburn IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Holly Currie........ 5.1 6 1 1 1 9 18 21 86 Anna Thompson....... 1.2 0 0 0 0 4 5 5 24

Win - DeBuhr (3-0). Loss - H. Currie (1-2). Save - None. WP - H. Currie. Pitches/strikes: DeBuhr 89/73; H. Currie 86/57; A. Thompson 24/17. Umpires - HP: John Park 1B: Kevin Davis 3B: Tim Baier Start: 8:00 am Time: 1:50 Attendance: 150 Game: NU6