Huskers Hold Off Gophers

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Wichita, Kan. ? The Nebraska softball team captured its sixth straight victory, earning a hard-fought 4-2 victory over a scrappy Minnesota team on Saturday at the Shocker Invitational.

 

The Huskers (14-7) have now won eight of their last 10 games and improved to 4-0 at the Shocker Invitational.

 

Sophomore right-hander Molly Hill won her fourth straight decision to improve to 5-4 on the season. Hill allowed just one earned run, marking the seventh consecutive start where she has allowed only one earned run or less. In 5.1 innings against the Gophers, Hill had to work in and out of jams, but limited Minnesota to a total of only two runs.

 

Senior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr was efficient out of the bullpen, recording an inning-ending double play in the top of the sixth before retiring the side in order in the seventh to pick up her first save of the season.

 

Both teams left opportunities on basepaths as Minnesota stranded eight runners and NU left six, while also having two runners thrown out trying to advance on hits, including one runner thrown out at home.

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After Nebraska stranded a pair of runners in the bottom of the first, sophomore Kimberly Fuller made a nice defensive play to keep the game scoreless in the top of the second. With a runner on second and two outs, Fuller cut of what appeared to be a sure single through the right side and threw to first to end the inning.

 

Nebraska left two more on in the second before Minnesota took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third. Colleen Powers led off with a blooper to second that spun far enough away from Fuller to enable Powers to beat the throw. With a runner on third and two outs, Megan Higginbotham hit a hard shot to third, where senior Carmen Kier made a nice stop before losing the handle and throwing late to first.

 

The Huskers opened the bottom of the inning with a pair of consecutive singles, followed by a pair of doubles but NU was only able to get two runs out of it as freshman Crystal Gonzalez scored on a double from sophomore Crystal Carwile but senior Devin Porter was thrown out at home.

 

Carwile then scored on a double off the bat of fellow sophomore Brittany Pascale before an error allowed Pascale to score and give NU a 3-1 advantage.

 

The Gophers threatened to answer back in the fourth when they loaded the bases with no outs, but a strikeout, a force out at home and an interference call on the runner at third ended the inning without any damage. That play would loom large in terms of the pace of the game, as a debate ensued over who should lead off the next inning.

 

The disputed call also led to Minnesota initially playing the remainder of the game under protest. After a nearly 25-minute delay to discuss the protest, the Gophers elected to pull the protest and the game resumed.

 

Minnesota was able to plate a run in the fifth to cut the gap to 4-2. With runners on first and second with two outs, Katie Meyer fouled off eight two-strike pitches before singling to score Colleen Conway. The Gophers then loaded the bases after another single, but were unable to add another run.

 

The Gophers' run marked the first earned run Hill had allowed in an impressive 22.0 innings.

 

The Gophers final chance came in the sixth, when they had a runner on first with one out, but DeBuhr came in and recorded a double play on her first pitch.

 

Offensively, Porter went 3-for-3 with an RBI and each of the Huskers' three through four hitters added an RBI. Freshman Crystal Gonzalez went 2-for-3 to record the first multi-hit game of her career.

 

Nebraska wraps up play at the Shocker Invitational on Sunday, when the Huskers take on host WichitaState on 10 a.m. Free audio and live stats for that contest will be available on Huskers.com.

Box Score The Automated ScoreBook Minnesota vs Nebraska Mar 10, 2007 at Wichita, Kan. (Wilkins Stadium)

Minnesota 2 (8-10)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Conway, Colleen 2b....... 4 2 1 0 0 1 4 1 0 Sward, Chrissy lf........ 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 Higginbotham, Megan ss... 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 Valadez, Mandy 3b........ 3 0 1 0 1 2 2 3 1 Meyer, Katie rf/dp....... 3 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 Parks, Lisa 1b........... 1 0 1 0 2 0 5 1 0 Fernandez, Sila pr...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Wheeler, Casey cf........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Carls, Heidi cf......... 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 Stemper, Shannon c....... 2 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 1 Wolvington, Bethany pr.. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Powers, Colleen dp/rf.... 3 0 1 0 0 1 2 1 3 Konderik, Rene p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals................... 25 2 7 1 4 7 18 10 8

Nebraska 4 (14-7)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Mullin, Meghan rf........ 4 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 Gonzalez, Crystal cf..... 3 1 2 0 0 1 2 1 0 Porter, Devin ss......... 3 0 3 1 0 0 0 1 0 Carwile, Crystal 1b...... 3 1 1 1 0 0 5 0 0 Pascale, Brittany c...... 3 1 1 1 0 0 8 2 2 Hupp, Alex of............ 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 Long, Haley lf........... 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Fuller, Kimberly 2b...... 3 0 1 0 0 0 3 2 1 Kier, Carmen 3b.......... 3 0 1 0 0 1 2 3 0 Hill, Molly p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 DeBuhr, Ashley p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals................... 26 4 9 3 1 3 21 10 6

Score by Innings R H E ----------------------------------------- Minnesota........... 001 010 0 - 2 7 1 Nebraska............ 003 100 X - 4 9 2 -----------------------------------------

E - Valadez; Porter(4); Kier(8). DP - Cornhuskers 1. LOB - Gophers 8; Cornhuskers 6. 2B - Carwile(6); Pascale(4). HBP - Hupp. SH - Sward; Wheeler. SB - Conway; Higginbotham; Mullin(9). CS - Higginbotham.

Minnesota IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Konderik, Rene...... 6.0 9 4 3 1 3 26 28 102

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Hill, Molly......... 5.1 7 2 1 4 5 21 27 106 DeBuhr, Ashley...... 1.2 0 0 0 0 2 4 4 19

Win - Hill (5-4). Loss - Konderik (2-4). Save - DeBuhr (1). WP - Hill(3). HBP - by Konderik (Hupp). Pitches/strikes: Konderik 102/67; Hill 106/73; DeBuhr 19/14. Umpires - HP: Rick Boyer 1B: Dan Rogers 3B: Aaron Eller Start: 12:25 pm Time: 2:35 Attendance: Game: NU21