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Lincoln - For the second consecutive game, senior Jamie Waldecker provided the late-inning dramatics as her 11th-inning single, combined with a Texas error scored two to erase a 4-3 deficit and lift the Nebraska softball team to a 5-4 victory over the 11th-ranked Longhorns in front of 671 fans Saturday afternoon at Bowlin Stadium.
After belting a three-run home run in the seventh inning of Thursday's game at Creighton that effectively put the game out of reach, Waldecker came to the plate with runners at first and third and no outs in the bottom of the 11th inning. She promptly ripped the first pitch she saw into left field to score sophomore Crystal Carwile, who had been placed on second to start the inning in accordance with the international tie breaker.
Texas left fielder Torrey Schroeder made a sliding attempt to stop the ball, but it skipped past her allowing senior Devin Porter to score all the way from first.
Porter's game-winning run lifted Nebraska past Texas for the first time in six tries, while it also marked the Huskers' first win over a ranked team since March 3, snapping a four-game losing streak to top-25 foes. The 11-inning victory marked Nebraska's longest game since Oklahoma State defeated the Huskers, 3-2 in 12 innings on April 20, 2003 at Bowlin Stadium.
With the win, Nebraska improved to 31-13 overall and even its Big 12 Conference record at 4-4. Senior right-hander Ashley DeBuhr improved to 16-6 by tossing a career-high 11 innings and allowing just two earned runs on six hits. DeBuhr, who moved into the No. 2 spot on the NU career strikeout list, struck out 14 to mark her seventh double-digit strikeout game in her last eight starts.
Offensively, Waldecker was one of three Huskers to record two hits, while four different players added an RBI.
Meagan Denny (18-11) took the loss for Texas (28-12, 3-6). Denny was hurt by her defense, as she allowed just one earned run in 10-plus innings, while striking out 10.
Texas jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first when MicKayla Padilla scored from third after an errant throw from NU catcher Jamie Waldecker on a stolen base attempt from Brittany Chalk.
A Longhorn error figured into a two-run second for the Huskers. After senior Jamie Waldecker drew a leadoff walk, sophomore Haley Long laid down a sacrifice bunt. On the play, third baseman Crystal Saenz threw wildly to first, allowing Long to advance to second and senior pinch runner Jaime Borg to advance to third.
Sophomore Brittany Pascale then lifted a sacrifice fly to right to tie the game and senior Carmen Kier perfectly executed a squeeze bunt to score Long and put the Huskers ahead 2-1.
The Huskers added another run an inning later, converting another leadoff walk. Freshman Whitney Barrett started with a walk and sophomore Meghan Mullin added her second hit of the game one batter later. After both runners moved up on a ground out, senior Devin Porter put down NU's second squeeze of the game to score Barrett and give Nebraska a 3-1 advantage.
DeBuhr made quick work of the Longhorns until the top of the sixth, when a two-out, two-run home run from Tallie Trasher tied the game at 3-3.
Nebraska had a golden opportunity in the bottom of the seventh but came up empty. The Huskers had runners at first and second with no outs and runners at second and third with two outs but could not plate a run.
After both teams failed to score their runner from second in the 10th,a two-out, two-strike bloop single from Padilla gave Texas a 4-3 lead in the top of the 11th, which set the stage for the dramatics in the bottom of the frame.
Nebraska and Texas conclude its two-game series on Sunday with a Noon contest that will be televised on ESPNU.
Box Score Nebraska Softball
Texas at Nebraska
Apr 14, 2007 at Lincoln, Neb. (Bowlin Stadium)
Texas 4 (28-12,3-6 Big 12)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Thomas, Shannon 2b....... 5 1 1 0 0 2 2 5 0
Padilla, MicKayla cf..... 5 1 2 1 0 1 1 0 0
Johnson, Loryn ss........ 4 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 0
Thrasher, Tallie dp...... 4 1 2 2 0 1 0 0 0
Chalk, Brittany pr...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Willis, Megan c.......... 4 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 1
Gaskin, Kacie rf......... 3 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 0
Williams, Jacqueline 1b.. 4 0 0 0 0 2 10 0 0
Saenz, Crystal 3b........ 3 1 0 0 0 0 2 3 0
Melone, Kelly ph........ 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Cook, Kori lf............ 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 1
Schroeder, Torrey lf.... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Denny, Meagan p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Totals................... 36 4 6 3 0 14 30 10 3
Nebraska 5 (31-13,4-4 Big 12)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Barrett, Whitney 2b...... 4 1 0 0 1 1 6 1 0
Mullin, Meghan cf........ 5 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 2
Carwile, Crystal 1b...... 5 1 0 0 0 0 9 2 1
Porter, Devin ss......... 4 1 2 1 0 2 2 2 1
Waldecker, Jamie c....... 4 0 2 1 1 1 13 1 1
Borg, Jaime pr.......... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Long, Haley rf........... 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2
Pascale, Brittany dp..... 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Rutherford, Darcy pr.... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kier, Carmen 3b.......... 2 0 0 1 1 2 1 1 0
Hupp, Alex lf............ 4 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
DeBuhr, Ashley p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Totals................... 34 5 7 4 3 10 33 9 8
Score by Innings R H E
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Texas............... 100 002 000 01 - 4 6 2
Nebraska............ 021 000 000 02 - 5 7 1
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Note: None out, 1 runner LOB when the game ended.
E - Saenz(7); Schroeder(2); Waldecker(1). DP - Cornhuskers 1. LOB -
Longhorns 3; Cornhuskers 8. 2B - Padilla(4); Gaskin(4). HR - Thrasher(11).
SH - Gaskin(4); Schroeder(2); Porter(9); Long(4); Kier(4). SF - Pascale(2).
SB - Thomas, S.(29); Chalk(1); Gaskin(12).
Texas IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
Denny, Meagan....... 10.0 7 5 1 3 10 34 41 158
Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
DeBuhr, Ashley...... 11.0 6 4 2 0 14 36 38 158
Win - DeBuhr (16-6). Loss - Denny (18-11). Save - None.
WP - Denny(14). PB - Waldecker(4). Pitches/strikes: Denny 158/104; DeBuhr
158/119.
Umpires - HP: Mike D'Ercole 1B: Andy Hahn 3B: Steve McCown
Start: 2:02 pm Time: 2:56 Attendance: 671
Game: NU44