Hill Leads Huskers Past North Dakota State

Lincoln ? Sophomore right-hander Molly Hill won her fourth straight decision by tossing her first shutout of the season to lead the Nebraska softball team to its eighth straight victory with a 1-0 win over North Dakota State in the opening game of the 2007 Big Red Tournament Friday afternoon at Bowlin Stadium.

 

The shutout was Nebraska's first in 16 games, the longest stretch NU has gone without a shutout since 1997. Hill (6-4) tossed a two-hit shutout, striking out seven. Her effort propelled the Huskers to a win in their home opener. Nebraska (16-7) has now won 21 of its last 22 games at Bowlin Stadium.

 

Allison Bakke (10-7) took the loss, despite not allowing an earned run. Bakke allowed just three hits and struck out five, but a lone error cost Bakke and North Dakota State (16-12).

 

North Dakota State threatened to take an early 1-0 lead when the Bison attempted a squeeze with runners at first and third and no outs. Hill kept them off the scoreboard though by fielding the bunt cleanly and throwing Grete Peterson out at home.

 

The Huskers cracked the scoreboard when they turned their first hit into a run with the help of a key North DakotaState error. Sophomore Brittany Pascale led of with a single and senior pinch runner Jaime Borg advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from sophomore Kimberly Fuller.

 

Borg then scored when a routine grounder to second that got past Laurel Pipkin, allowing Borg to score from second with what proved to be the game-winning run. 

Box Score The Automated ScoreBook Nebraska at North Dakota State Mar 16, 2007 at Lincoln, Neb. (Bowlin Stadium)

Nebraska 1 (16-7)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Rutherford, Darcy lf..... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mullin, Meghan rf........ 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 Porter, Devin ss......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 3 1 Carwile, Crystal 1b...... 3 0 1 0 0 1 8 1 0 Pascale, Brittany c...... 3 0 1 0 0 1 7 2 0 Borg, Jaime pr.......... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Fuller, Kimberly 2b...... 1 0 0 0 1 0 4 3 0 Long, Haley cf........... 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Hupp, Alex dp............ 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Kier, Carmen 3b.......... 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 Hill, Molly p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals................... 21 1 3 0 2 5 21 12 3

North Dakota State 0 (16-12)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Grete Peterson cf........ 2 0 2 0 1 0 4 0 0 Kelly Cantrell c......... 2 0 0 0 0 1 5 2 0 Taylor Lynn pr.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Melissa Chmielewski 1b... 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 Jandie Weber dp.......... 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 Lynnae Foshag lf......... 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 Jackie Currie 3b......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 Jennifer Morse ss........ 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 Laurel Pipkin 2b......... 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 Allison Bakke p.......... 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 Erin Troup rf............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 Totals................... 20 0 2 0 3 7 21 5 3

Score by Innings R H E ----------------------------------------- Nebraska............ 000 010 0 - 1 3 1 North Dakota State.. 000 000 0 - 0 2 1 -----------------------------------------

E - Carwile(4); Pipkin(4). DP - Cornhuskers 2. LOB - Cornhuskers 3; Bison 3. SH - Rutherford(6); Fuller(1); Cantrell(3). SB - Peterson(6). CS - Mullin(3); Long(2); Bakke(1).

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Hill, Molly......... 7.0 2 0 0 3 7 20 24 94

North Dakota State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Allison Bakke....... 7.0 3 1 0 2 5 21 25 100

Win - Hill (6-4). Loss - Bakke (10-7). Save - None. Pitches/strikes: Hill 94/56; Bakke 100/65. Umpires - HP: Andy Hahn 1B: Kevin Killingsworth 3B: Matt Titkemeier Start: 11:03 am Time: 1:37 Attendance: Game: NU23