Late Homer Hands Huskers First Loss

Cathedral City, Calif. - The Nebraska softball team suffered its first loss of the season late Friday night at the Cathedral City Classic, as Cal State Fullerton scored four runs over the final two innings to rally for a 4-2 victory over the Huskers.

Cal State Fullerton had eight baserunners in the game, but six of them came in the final two innings to rally the Titans. The biggest blow of the game came when Torrie Anderson hit a three-run homer with two outs in the sixth inning that put Fullerton on the scoreboard. The Titans added another two-out run in the seventh to account for the final score.

Nebraska out-hit Cal State Fullerton and the Huskers had at least one baserunner in six of the seven innings. But NU stranded seven on the basepaths while falling to 5-1 on the season. Fullerton improved to 5-4 with the win.

Freshman right-hander Ashley Hagemann (2-1) suffered the first loss of her career despite a solid effort. Hagemann cruised through the first five innings, retiring 11 in a row at one point and allowing only two base runners. The homer was her only blemish, as was tagged for three runs on three hits in six innings of work, while striking out seven.

Ari Cervantes (2-1) earned the complete-game victory for Cal State Fullerton, allowing just one earned run on six hits.

Nebraska jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first thanks to a costly Fullerton error. Senior Darcy Rutherford led off with an infield single and moved to third following a pair of ground outs. Senior Amanda Duran then hit a grounder to second base that Sheila Holguin fielded cleanly but threw wildly to first, allowing Rutherford to score.

Rutherford got things going again in the bottom of the third with a leadoff walk. Senior Crystal Carwile then brought her home when she sent a grounder up the middle for a single. Cal State Fullerton shortstop Courtney Martinez made a nice diving stop on the play, but she was not able to get to her feet and throw out Rutherford, who scored from second.

In the top of the sixth, Holquin reached on a one-out single to give the Titans their first hit since the first inning and their first baserunner since the second. Hagemann came back with a strikeout before a walk put the tying runners at first and second. She then jumped in front of Anderson 1-2, before Anderson worked the count full by fouling off three two-strike pitches. Anderson then ripped a 3-2 offering over the center field fence for the game-changing three-run home run.

After recording at least one hit in each of the first five innings, Nebraska was retired in order in the sixth.

Fullerton then added an insurance run in the top of the seventh as an error and a pair of two-out singles put the Titans on top 4-2.

In the bottom of the seventh, sophomore Kelli Linke pinch hit and reached on an error, but the Huskers were unable to come back.

Carwile led the offense by going 2-for-4 with an RBI. The two hits marked Carwile's first multi-hit gam of the season, as the Chino, Calif., native started her second straight game after tearing her ACL in the Huskers' season opener on Feb. 7. Hagemann recorded the first multi-hit game of her career by finishing 2-for-3, while senior Meghan Mullin went 0-for-3 and saw her career-long hit streak snapped at 15.

Nebraska will look to rebound from its first loss of the season on Saturday, when the Huskers face the Oregon Ducks at 5:30 p.m. (Central).

Box Score 2009 Nebraska Softball Cal State Fullerton vs Nebraska Feb 20, 2009 at Cathedral City, CA (Big League Dreams)

Cal State Fullerton 4 (5-4)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Holguin, Sheila 2b....... 4 1 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 Dabbs, Sammie cf......... 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 2 Harrison, Trina ph...... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Gonzales, Francesca 3b... 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 Anderson, Torrie dp...... 3 1 1 3 0 1 0 0 1 Martinez, Courtney ss.... 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 Craddick, K.C. 1b........ 3 0 0 0 0 1 8 0 0 Lupinetti, Lauren c...... 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 1 0 Martinez, Adriana pr.... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Baldwin, Kadie rf........ 2 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 1 Hahn, Sarah ph.......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Cervantes, Ari p......... 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 5 0 Kroh, Whitney lf/pr...... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals................... 26 4 5 4 2 8 21 9 4

Nebraska 2 (5-1)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Rutherford, Darcy lf..... 3 2 1 0 1 1 2 0 2 Mullin, Meghan cf........ 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Carwile, Crystal 1b...... 4 0 2 1 0 0 8 0 1 Hupp, Alex pr........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Duran, Amanda c.......... 3 0 1 0 0 0 8 1 0 Pascale, Brittany dp..... 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Foland, Heidi 3b......... 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Hagemann, Ashley p....... 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 Gay, Jamie pr........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Hill, Molly p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Barrett, Whitney ss...... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Brechtel, Julie 2b....... 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 Linke, Kelli ph......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Long, Haley rf........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Totals................... 27 2 6 1 1 2 21 6 7

Score by Innings R H E ----------------------------------------- Cal State Fullerton. 000 003 1 - 4 5 2 Nebraska............ 101 000 0 - 2 6 1 -----------------------------------------

E - Holguin 2; Brechtel(1). LOB - Titans 4; Huskers 7. HR - Anderson. HBP - Barrett. SH - Dabbs; Mullin(1).

Cal State Fullerton IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Cervantes, Ari...... 7.0 6 2 1 1 2 27 30 98

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Hagemann, Ashley.... 6.0 3 3 3 2 7 20 23 101 Hill, Molly......... 1.0 2 1 0 0 1 6 6 20

Win - Cervantes (2-1). Loss - Hagemann (2-1). Save - None. HBP - by Cervantes (Barrett). Pitches/strikes: Cervantes 98/59; Hagemann 101/64; Hill 20/13. Umpires - Start: 7:59 pm Time: 2:11 Attendance: 102 Game: NU6