Huskers Pick Up Second Straight Win

Las cruces, N.M. – Junior Heidi Foland was a triple short of the cycle and the Husker offense pounded out a season-high 14 hits, as the Nebraska softball team picked up its second straight win with a 6-2 victory over Colorado State on Saturday afternoon at the NMSU Softball Complex.

Foland tied her career high with three hits, while finishing 3-for-4 with a double, a homer, two runs scored and two RBIs. Sophomore Ashley Guile also had a career high in hits, going 3-for-3 with an RBI. Classmates Nikki Haget and Kirby Wright also added two hits apiece.

Junior right-hander Robin Mackin picked up her first victory as a Husker to help Nebraska improve to 2-3 on the season. Mackin (1-1) allowed two runs on seven hits in a complete-game effort.

Dani Chaplin (0-1) took the loss for Colorado State (0-3). In 2.0 innings, Chaplin allowed three runs on seven hits.

Nebraska again jumped out to a 1-0 lead after one inning of play for the fourth time in five games. In the top of the first, Foland led off with a single and stole second. She then scored when Haget lined a two-strike pitch up the middle for an RBI single.

The Huskers missed chances to add to that lead in the first two innings. Overall, five of the first seven Husker batters recorded a hit, but a caught stealing prevented further damage in the first inning and freshman Brooke Thomason was thrown out at home with no outs in the second inning after back-to-back hits.

Foland then led off the top of the third with a towering home run to left, her second of the season. Haget followed with a single, marking Nebraska’s seventh hit in a span of only 11 batters. That spelled the end of the day for Chaplin, who was relieved by Kelsey O’Brien. But the hits kept coming as junior Julie Brechtel greeted O’Brien with a base hit. A wild pitch moved the runners up to second and third and Haget then scored on a sacrifice fly from Guile.

Leading 3-0, freshman Gabby Banda coaxed a walk and an error loaded the bases with only one out. Sophomore Kirby Wright then brought Brechtel home with a sacrifice fly, before Mackin scored Banda with a two-out single up the middle to make the score 5-0.

Colorado State got two runs back in the bottom of the frame and threatened for more. As was the case for Mackin in her start on Thursday, the first hit she allowed resulted in a run. A leadoff hit batter came around to score on a two-out double. That was followed by an RBI single and the Rams then loaded the bases, before Mackin coaxed an inning-ending ground out.

Mackin cruised from there, allowing only two runners past first base over the final four innings.

The Huskers tacked on an insurance run in the sixth thanks to back-to-back one-out doubles from junior Tori Tyson and Foland.

Nebraska wraps up action on the opening weekend of the season on Sunday with a 10 a.m. (Central) contest against Penn State. That game can be heard live on Huskers.com, with pregame coverage beginning at 9:50 a.m.

Box Score 2010 Nebraska Softball Texas-El Paso vs Nebraska Feb 13, 2010 at Las Cruces, N.M. (NMSU Softball Cmplx)

Texas-El Paso 4 (0-3)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Troupe, Chelsea c........ 4 1 2 0 0 0 9 1 2 Carrera, Camilla dp...... 3 1 2 3 1 0 0 0 0 Townsend, Stacie p....... 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 Walts, Kayleigh 1b....... 4 0 0 0 0 1 6 0 1 Ware, Courtney lf........ 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 Frye, Kelynn 2b.......... 3 1 2 0 0 1 1 2 2 Ellis, Ashley cf......... 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Oranger, Kayla ss........ 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 Moore, Kia rf............ 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Collazo, Ashley 3b....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Totals................... 28 4 8 4 2 3 18 6 7

Nebraska 6 (1-3)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Foland, Heidi 1b......... 4 0 0 0 0 2 7 0 0 Haget, Nikki lf.......... 4 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 Brechtel, Julie 2b....... 4 0 1 0 0 1 5 0 0 Guile, Ashley c.......... 3 1 1 1 0 0 3 0 0 Banda, Gabby 3b.......... 2 1 0 0 1 1 2 2 2 Mackin, Robin dp/p....... 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 Thomason, Brooke cf...... 3 2 2 3 0 1 1 0 0 Tyson, Tori rf........... 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 Barrett, Whitney ss...... 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 3 2 Hagemann, Ashley p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Hupp, Alex p............ 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Totals................... 29 6 7 4 1 9 21 9 6

Score by Innings R H E ----------------------------------------- Texas-El Paso....... 003 100 0 - 4 8 5 Nebraska............ 113 100 X - 6 7 1 -----------------------------------------

E - Frye 2; Oranger; Collazo 2; Banda(4). LOB - Miners 7; Huskers 6. 2B - Troupe; Carrerae; Thomason(1). HR - Carrerae; Thomason(1). SH - Ware; Ellis. SB - Foland(1); Haget 2(2); Brechtel(1).

Texas-El Paso IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Townsend, Stacie.... 6.0 7 6 1 1 9 29 30 106

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Hagemann, Ashley.... 3.2 6 4 4 1 2 16 18 45 Hupp, Alex.......... 2.1 1 0 0 1 1 8 10 41 Mackin, Robin....... 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 4 4 8

Win - Hupp (1-0). Loss - Townsend (0-2). Save - Mackin (1). WP - Townsend 2; Hagemann(3). BK - Hupp(1). Pitches/strikes: Townsend 106/66; Hagemann 45/35; Hupp 41/27; Mackin 8/6. Umpires - Start: 10:56 am Time: 2:19 Attendance: Game: NU4