Huskers Hang on for 4-2 Victory

Lincoln ? The Nebraska softball team jumped out to a 4-0 lead through four innings before holding on for a 4-2 victory over North DakotaState on Sunday at the Big Red Tournament.

 

The win was the Huskers’ 12 straight victory overall and their 12th in a row at Bowlin Stadium. Sophomore right-hander Molly Hill (9-4) earned her fourth victory of the weekend and her sixth straight win overall. Hill allowed only a pair of unearned run on five hits while tossing her fourth complete game in three days.

 

In four starts at the Big Red Tournament, Hill allowed just one earned run in 28.0 innings, tossing a pair of shutouts for Nebraska (20-7).

 

Allison Bakke (10-9) took the loss, allowing four runs on five hits in only 3.0 innings of work.

 

Nebraska took an early 1-0 lead with a two-out rally in the top of the second. Sophomore Brittany Pascale led off with a single and after a two-out walk to sophomore Kimberly Fuller, senior Carmen Kier brought Pascale home with a bloop single to right.

 

The Huskers then exploded for three runs in the top of the fourth to take a commanding 4-0 lead. Sophomores Crystal Carwile and Pascale reached to leadoff and fellow sophomore Haley Long scored Carwile with an RBI single.

 

Freshman Alex Hupp was then hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. Andi Padilla then relieved Bakke and recorded two quick outs before sophomore Meghan Mullin produced a clutch, two-out, two-run single to give Nebraska its 4-0 advantage.

 

A pair of NU errors let North DakotaState back into the game in the bottom of the fifth. A leadoff error and a passed ball put Erin Troup on second. Lauren Pipkin then blooped a single into shallow center and Troup came around to score after center fielder Crystal Gonzalez threw wildly to third.

 

Pipkin then scored an another bloop single to make it 4-2, but the Bison would get only one baserunner over the final two innings as Hill wrapped up her ninth victory of the season.

 

Offensively for the Huskers, Pascale tied her career-high by going 3-for-3 at the plate, while Mullin finished 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs.

 

Box Score The Automated ScoreBook Nebraska at North Dakota State Mar 18, 2007 at Lincoln, Neb. (Bowlin Stadium)

Nebraska 4 (20-7)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Mullin, Meghan rf........ 4 0 2 2 0 0 2 0 0 Gonzalez, Crystal cf..... 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Porter, Devin ss......... 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 Carwile, Crystal 1b...... 2 1 0 0 2 0 13 0 1 Pascale, Brittany c...... 3 1 3 0 0 0 3 0 0 Borg, Jaime pr.......... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Long, Haley lf........... 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Hupp, Alex dp............ 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 Fuller, Kimberly 2b...... 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 Kier, Carmen 3b.......... 3 0 1 1 0 1 0 5 0 Hill, Molly p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 0 Totals................... 26 4 7 4 3 4 21 12 6

North Dakota State 2 (17-15)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Grete Peterson cf........ 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 Jennifer Morse ss........ 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 Aimee Enzler ph......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kelly Cantrell c......... 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 1 Melissa Chmielewski 1b... 3 0 1 0 0 1 8 0 1 Jackie Currie 3b......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 0 Lynnae Foshag lf......... 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 Erin Troup rf............ 3 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 Laurel Pipkin 2b......... 3 1 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 Allison Bakke dp/p....... 3 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 Andi Padilla p/dp........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 Totals................... 25 2 5 1 1 3 21 8 5

Score by Innings R H E ----------------------------------------- Nebraska............ 010 300 0 - 4 7 2 North Dakota State.. 000 020 0 - 2 5 0 -----------------------------------------

E - Gonzalez(1); Porter(7). LOB - Cornhuskers 6; Bison 5. 2B - Chmielewski(5); Foshag(7). HBP - Hupp. SH - Gonzalez(5); Peterson(5); Morse(5). CS - Kier(1).

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Hill, Molly......... 7.0 5 2 0 1 3 25 28 99

North Dakota State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Andi Padilla........ 4.0 2 0 0 1 2 14 15 65 Allison Bakke....... 3.0 5 4 4 2 2 12 16 79

Win - Hill (9-4). Loss - Bakke (10-9). Save - None. WP - Hill(5). HBP - by Bakke (Hupp). PB - Pascale(4). Pitches/strikes: Hill 99/69; Padilla 65/36; Bakke 79/46. Umpires - HP: Jeff Sloan 1B: Todd Delph 3B: Kevin Killingsworth Start: 11:03 am Time: 1:58 Attendance: Bakke faced 4 batters in the 4th. Game: NU27A