Huskers Open Home Schedule on Wednesday

After playing its first 26 games of the season on the road, the Nebraska softball team is set to play its first home games of the year on Wednesday, when the Huskers host South Dakota for a doubleheader at Bowlin Stadium beginning at 3 p.m.

Nebraska wrapped up its regular-season tournament travels last weekend at the Diamond Devil Invitational in Tempe, Ariz. The Huskers finished 2-3 in the desert, but there were plenty of positives to take from the weekend. Both of Nebraska’s victories came via the run rule, while all three Husker losses came to ranked teams, including a narrow 1-0 loss to 10th-ranked Arizona State on Saturday.

Offensively, the Huskers hit six home runs in five games last weekend, while adding five doubles and the first triple of the season. Freshman Brooke Thomason led the way with a tremendous effort, batting .563 (9-for-16) with a double, three home runs and six RBIs. Thomason homered three times over the final three games of the tournament, including two home runs against Pacific on Saturday that marked the first time a Husker freshman had homered twice in a game since Crystal Carwile in 2006.

For her success, Thomason was selected as the Big 12 Player of the Week on Monday. The award was the first of her career, while she became only the fifth Husker freshman to win the award and the first since Heidi Foland captured the honor in the final week of the 2008 season.

Junior Julie Brechtel also continued her strong return to the lineup after she missed seven of the first 16 games due to concussion-like symptoms. Brechtel batted .467 in Tempe with a double, two home runs and eight RBIs in five games. Brechtel has returned from her injury to start the last 10 games and after going hitless in her first game back, Brechtel has hit safely in a career-best nine straight games. During that stretch, she is batting .464 (13-for-28) with one double, three home runs, 14 RBIs and seven runs scored.

While the offense had plenty of bright spots last weekend, the pitching and defense also had highlights. Defensively, the Huskers did not commit an error in their first four games of the tournament, the longest streak of the year.

In the circle, junior right-hander Robin Mackin was terrific in two outings as she earned Big 12 Pitcher-of-the-Week honors. Mackin went 1-1 on the weekend, posting a 0.58 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 12.0 innings. She tossed a four-hit, five-inning shutout against Pacific, with all four hits being infield singles. Mackin then allowed only one run in a three-hitter against 10th-ranked Arizona State, although the Huskers fell 1-0.

Against the Sun Devils, Mackin handcuffed a lineup that was averaging 9.5 runs per game, as she held ASU to its lowest output of the year in both hits (3) and runs (1).

Even with several great individual performances, the Huskers posted a 2-3 record for the third straight weekend. NU is 13-13 on the season, but eight of the Huskers’ last nine losses have come to teams that made the NCAA Tournament in 2009. The Huskers are also 0-6 in one-run games this season.

Scouting the South Dakota Coyotes (4-12)
South Dakota is 4-12 on the season. The Coyotes opened the year with a seven-game losing streak and were just 1-9 before winning three of their last six games. USD, which is in its second year of reclassifying to the Division I level, is winless against Division I competition this spring.

South Dakota is averaging 3.1 runs per game, but the Coyotes are allowing 5.1 runs per game, including 1.67 unearned runs per game. USD is batting just .213 as a team, while allowing opponents to hit .281.

Alaina Novotny is South Dakota’s top hitter, as she leads the team with a .391 average and six doubles. No other Coyote is hitting above .300, as Mel Johnson is next on the squad with a .286 average. Michelle Jones is hitting only .204, but she leads the team with 11 RBIs, as six of her 10 hits have gone for extra bases. Similarly, Rachel Fricke is batting just .108, but three of her four hits have been solo home runs. Overall, eight Coyote regulars are batting below .250, including four below .200.

In the circle, Johnson has been the Coyotes’ primary pitcher. She is 3-4 this season with a 3.69 ERA while making a team-high 10 appearances and throwing a team-high 49.1 innings. Johnson has posted South Dakota’s lone shutout of the season and she has struck out 46, while also walking 41. Melissa Blackburn pitches behind Johnson, compiling a 1-4 record with a 3.16 ERA in 31.0 innings. Erica Denney (0-4, 7.00 ERA in 21.0 innings) rounds out the South Dakota staff.

Husker History vs. South Dakota
Nebraska leads the all-time series with South Dakota, 3-0, after the Huskers swept a doubleheader from the Coyotes last season in the only two meetings between the programs in the NCAA era. The first meeting between the schools was a 5-4 Husker win in 1972.

Last season, Nebraska run-ruled South Dakota 10-2 in five innings in game one, before earning a 5-2 victory in the nightcap. In the first game, Ashley Hagemann earned the victory by allowing two runs on two hits in 4.1 innings, while Alex Hupp picked up the save by recording the final two outs of the fifth inning. She was eligible for the save because Nebraska led only 5-2 before scoring five times in the bottom of the fifth to earn the run-rule win. The Huskers totaled nine hits in the win, including four doubles. Amanda Duran went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs, while Crystal Carwile went 3-for-3 with two RBIs. Among current Huskers, Julie Brechtel was 2-for-3 with an RBI while Hupp also drove in a run.

Tori Tyson, who now works exclusively in the Husker outfield, earned the win in game two as she was one out away from her first career shutout. A two-run homer in the seventh inning spoiled the shutout, but Tyson tossed her only career complete game, allowing only two runs on eight hits. Offensively, Meghan Mullin tied a school record with four walks to go along with one run scored. Brechtel went 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, while Heidi Foland tripled as part of a 2-for-4 day that included two runs scored. Whitney Barrett also drove in a run.

South Dakota is in its second year of reclassifying to the Division I level. Nebraska is a perfect 31-0 all-time against the four Division I Dakota softball programs (North Dakota, North Dakota State, South Dakota and South Dakota State), including a 2-0 mark this season with a pair of five-inning run-rule victories over North Dakota (10-0 and 10-2).

Quick Hitters
The information below provides a quick glimpse of a few statistics and brief notes of interest as the Huskers play their first home game of the season with a Wednesday doubleheader against South Dakota.

• NU is 399-237 (.627) all-time in the month of March. Nebraska is 4-7 in March this season after posting an 18-3 record in the month last season. Nebraska historically plays more games in March than in any other month, and the Huskers have posted a winning month of March in each of the last 15 seasons dating back to 1994.
• The Huskers will play their first home games of the season on Wednesday. Nebraska finished 13-5 at Bowlin Stadium in 2009 and the Huskers are 110-45 since the stadium opened in 2002. NU has posted a winning home record for 32 straight seasons dating back to 1977.
• Nebraska is 7-1 in home openers since Bowlin Stadium opened in 2002 and the Huskers have won four straight home openers.
• Nebraska’s last four wins have all come by at least eight runs, while six of the Huskers’ last seven losses have been by three runs or less, including three one-run losses. NU is 0-6 this season in one-run games.
• Three Huskers have already hit four home runs this season. Last season, five Huskers hit four or more home runs after only one player hit at least four home runs in 2008 and no player hit four home runs in 2007.
• Nebraska tied the school record by turning three double plays at No. 10 Arizona State last Sunday.
• Junior Julie Brechtel is on a career-best nine-game hitting streak and also had a six-game hit streak to start the year.

Mackin and Thomason Sweep Big 12 Weekly Awards
The Nebraska softball team swept the Big 12 Conference weekly awards on Monday, as junior right-hander Robin Mackin was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week and freshman outfielder Brooke Thomason was selected as the Big 12 Player of the Week.

The award was the first of both players’ careers, while Nebraska captured both honors in the same week for only the second time in school history and the first since May 8, 2001.

Mackin allowed only one run in two starts last weekend, including nearly recording her second shutout of a top-10 opponent this season. Against 10th-ranked Arizona State on Saturday night, Mackin nearly brought the Sun Devils’ 16-game win streak to a close. She fired a three-hitter and held Arizona State to only one run in a 1-0 loss. The Sun Devils were averaging 9.5 runs per game and ASU had scored at least four runs in 17 straight games before Mackin held them to season-low totals in hits (3) and runs (1), while posting the second-highest strikeout total against ASU this season (6).

In her other start of the weekend, Mackin tossed a four-hit shutout against Pacific. Each of the four hits she allowed were infield singles, while she added six strikeouts in only 5.0 innings. On the weekend, Mackin held opposing hitters to a .171 batting average while posting a 1-1 record with a 0.58 ERA. She added 13 strikeouts in 12.0 innings. Offensively, Mackin also contributed, going 5-for-12 (.417 average) with a double, an RBI and two runs scored.

Thomason enjoyed an outstanding five games at the Diamond Devil Invitational against a tough schedule that had Nebraska playing three games against ranked teams and two games against a top-10 foe. Thomason hit safely in all five games, including producing one double and three home runs. She batted .563 on the weekend with a 1.188 slugging percentage while driving in six runs.

After going 3-for-6 with a double on the first day of the tournament, Thomason had a career game against Pacific on Saturday. She went 3-for-4 with two home runs, two runs scored and five RBIs. Each of those totals were a career high, while she became the first Husker freshman to homer twice in a game since 2006. Thomason then went 3-for-6 in a pair of games at 10th-ranked Arizona State, including a 2-for-3 effort on Sunday when her homer accounted for Nebraska’s lone run. She homered three times in her final three games at the tournament after no Husker freshman had homered more than two times in an entire season since 2006.

Huskers and the Home Opener
Nebraska officially opens the ninth season of play at Bowlin Stadium with a doubleheader against South Dakota on Wednesday. The Huskers have lost their home opener only once since Bowlin Stadium opened in 2002 (a 6-5 eight-inning loss to Creighton in 2005) and have won their last four home openers.

NU has posted a winning record every season at Bowlin Stadium. Overall, the Huskers have owned a winning home record in each of the past 32 seasons dating back to 1977.

Huskers on Home Run Surge
Nebraska has hit at least one home run in eight of the last 10 games, while totaling 11 home runs over the last 10 contests. The Huskers hit six home runs in five games last week at the Diamond Devil Invitational in Tempe, Ariz., including five home runs in two games against Pacific.

The Huskers have hit 21 home runs in 26 games this season, as Nebraska is only 10 home runs shy of matching last year’s total. NU has already exceeded its home run total from the 2005, 2007 and 2008 seasons. After homering three times on Saturday, the Huskers’ season total stood at 20 home runs in 25 games, the second-highest total in program history.

Huskers Getting Hit by Pitches
Nebraska has been hit by 30 pitches in only 26 games this season after setting a school record with 48 hit-by-pitches in 2009. The Huskers’ season total already ranks fifth in school history.

Junior Julie Brechtel has been hit by five pitches this season, as she has now been plunked 19 times in her career. She ranks third in school history in hit-by-pitches, trailing only Devin Porter (22) and Crystal Carwile (23). Brechtel is one of six Huskers who has been hit by at least three pitches this season.

Pencil Me In
All 17 of the players on Nebraska’s roster have earned at least one start this season. Nebraska has used a different batting order in all 26 games this season, although junior Heidi Foland, sophomore Nikki Haget and sophomore Ashley Guile have hit 1-2-3, respectively, in each of the last 21 games. Nebraska has started two players in the leadoff role, two in the No. 2 spot, two in the No. 3 spot, six in the No. 4 spot, seven in the No. 5 spot, nine in the No. 6 spot, 10 in the No. 7 spot, 11 in the No. 8 spot and seven in the No. 9 spot.

Oh So Close
Nebraska has suffered through several close losses this season that has left the Huskers with a 13-13 record. Nine of Nebraska’s 13 losses have come by two runs or less, including six one-run losses. The Huskers are 0-6 in one-run games this season, and Nebraska has also lost both of its extra-inning games this year.

Closing Out Games
Nebraska has lost twice this season when leading heading into the seventh inning, an abnormal statistic for a program that has historically been terrific in closing out games. From 2000 to 2009, Nebraska lost only five seventh-inning leads while posting a 288-5 record (.983) when leading after six innings.

In 2010, Nebraska is 8-2 (.800) when leading after six innings of play. What has been even more frustrating for the Huskers is that in both of those losses, Nebraska led by more than one run in the seventh inning. The Huskers led UTSA 6-4 with two outs and nobody on in the top of the seventh, only to see the Roadrunners rally to tie the game and win in extra innings. Then at Tulsa, Nebraska led 6-3 in the bottom of the seventh before the Golden Hurricane scored four times in their final at bat to earn a 7-6 walk-off win.

Nebraska has already lost two games this season when leading by at least two runs heading into the seventh inning after dropping only two games over the previous 10 years combined when leading by more than one run.

Foland on Early-Season Power Surge
Junior Heidi Foland has already set a career high with eight home runs this season, after slugging one home run in five games last weekend. Her eight home runs rank third in the Big 12 Conference and Foland’s early season home run barrage stacks up well against some of Nebraska’s all-time great power hitters.

Foland was just the fourth player in program history to homer seven times through the first 20 games. She joins exclusive company as the other three players on that list were All-Americans in those seasons. Foland joined Christie McCoy and Ali Viola as only the third player in Husker history to homer more than seven times before April 1 by slugging her eighth home run of the season last weekend.

Youth Movement
Nebraska’s youth has been on full display through the first 26 games of the 2010 season. The Huskers have used a designated player in every game this season, meaning 10 players have been in the starting lineup every game, combining for a total of 260 starts. Of those 260 starts, 109 have been made by freshmen or sophomores and Nebraska’s starting lineup has featured as many as seven freshmen and sophomores in the same lineup this season.

Not included in that total is junior Crystal Gonzalez, who has started five games. Gonzalez is listed as a junior but is a strong candidate to earn a sixth year of eligibility which, if granted, would make this her sophomore year in terms of eligibility. The total also doesn’t take into account junior Robin Mackin, who has started 16 games in her first extensive action since her sophomore season at Fresno State in 2007, or junior Tori Tyson, who has started 19 games in the outfield this season after working exclusively as a pitcher in her first two seasons at Nebraska.

Thomason Showcasing Power Potential
Freshman Brooke Thomason has hit three home runs in her last three games to give her five home runs this season. Thomason has also added five doubles this season, as 10 of her 21 hits have gone for extra bases. Thomason has already produced 10 extra-base hits through the first 26 games of the season, although she has only started 19 games.

In the last 10 seasons, only three Husker freshmen have totaled more than five extra-base hits in their rookie season. Thomason is the first since Ashley Guile had seven extra-base hits in 2008, and Thomason’s extra-base hit total already ranks as the second-highest by a Husker freshman since the 2002 season.

Guile Piling Up Walks
Sophomore Ashley Guile ranks second the Big 12 with 18 walks this season. Guile walked seven times in a Feb. 19 doubleheader with Central Michigan. In the second game, Guile walked four times to tie the Nebraska record for walks in a game. The record was first set by Sheena Lawrick, who is now a Husker volunteer assistant coach, in 2005 and matched last year by Meghan Mullin.

The 18 walks have helped Guile post a .511 on-base percentage that ranks fifth in the league. As a freshman in 2008, Guile walked 25 times, the highest total by a Husker freshman in 12 years. To date in her career, Guile has walked 43 times, as she averages one walk every 6.0 plate appearances. A native of Olathe, Kan., Guile also owns an impressive strikeout-to-walk ratio, as she has 13 fewer career strikeouts than walks (43-to-30).

Foland Adds New Dimension to Leadoff Role
Junior Heidi Foland has hit in the leadoff spot for the past 24 games and has excelled while adding a power dimension to the leadoff role that the Huskers have not seen for several seasons. Foland has homered a career-high eight times and added five doubles since moving to the top spot in the order, unusual totals for a Nebraska program that has primarily used a slap hitter in the leadoff role for the past six seasons.

Before this year, Nebraska batters hitting in the leadoff spot had produced more than five extra-base hits only once since 2004 (nine by Lizzy Rock in 2006), and Foland already has 13 extra-base hits this season. She homered in her first at bat in the leadoff spot against UTSA on Feb. 12, marking Nebraska’s first home run to lead off a game since Kim Ogee led off the game with a home run in a Big 12 tournament contest against Texas A&M on May 3, 2003. Foland again hit a leadoff home run against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Feb. 20 and on March 4 at Tulsa to tie what is believed to be Ogee’s school record of three leadoff home runs during the 2003 season.

Batting out of the leadoff spot has also increased the number of at bats for Foland, which in turn has helped her rank near the top of several Big 12 categories. Foland ranks second in the league in hits (35) and total bases (64), third in home runs (8), fifth in runs scored (26) and 10th in slugging percentage (.703).

Brechtel Looking to Continue Hot March Hitting
Junior Julie Brechtel has been a strong hitter in the month of March in her first two seasons after relatively slow starts in February both years. She continued that trend this season, despite battling concussion-like symptoms that have kept her out of seven February games and prevented her from getting into any sort of rhythm before this month.

Brechtel is a career .394 hitter in the month of March. She entered March of her freshman season batting .130 and by the time April rolled around, Brechtel had increased her average .127 points to a mark of .257. Brechtel saw similar results last season, when she produced 23 hits in 21 March games. Brechtel hit only .238 last February - a similar total to her .231 February mark this year - before hitting a blistering .460 in March to raise her season average .156 points to .394. So far this March, Brechtel has hit .419 with one double, three home runs and 14 RBIs in only 10 games.

Brechtel has produced 15 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI contests in 51 career March games, while hitting six of her 10 career home runs and eight of her 13 career doubles. Brechtel has also drawn 18 walks in the month and been hit by eight pitches to post a .488 career on-base percentage in March.

Homering Huskers
Nebraska has hit 21 home runs this season, including homers from six players. Junior Heidi Foland leads the team with eight homers, while freshman Brooke Thomason has homered five times and junior Julie Brechtel has hit four home runs.

Below are some Husker home run highlights from the first five weeks of the season:

• The Huskers hit 10 home runs in February for only the fourth time in program history. The 10 home runs tied for the third-highest total ever at Nebraska in February and were just two shy of the school record of 12 homers.
• Nebraska homered four times against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Feb. 20. Junior Heidi Foland homered twice, while senior Whitney Barrett and junior Julie Brechtel produced their first home runs of the season. The four-homer game marked the first at Nebraska since a 21-1 win over Illinois on Feb. 24, 2006, at the NFCA Leadoff Classic. A Husker team has not hit more than four home runs in a game since a five home run performance against Bowling Green on March 13, 1998.
• The Huskers homered in stretches of four consecutive games and six straight games this season. The 2006 and 2010 squads are the only Nebraska teams to homer in at least four games in two separate stretches in the same season over the past eight years.
• Freshmen Gabby Banda and Brooke Thomason each homered on the opening weekend, after only one freshman homered in 2009. In fact, during the 2007, 2008 and 2009 seasons, a grand total of three freshmen hit home runs. Banda and Thomason are the first pair of freshmen to homer in the same season since Crystal Carwile and Brittany Pascale in 2006. The last time more than two freshmen homered in the same season was when three freshmen (Ali Viola, Jenny Smith and Angela Blackwood) combined for 24 home runs in 1995.
• Thomason has already hit five home runs this season as she is the first freshman since Alex Hupp (2) in 2007 to hit more than one home run during her rookie season.
• Freshman Brooke Thomason and junior Heidi Foland have each had a two-homer game this season. The last time Nebraska had two players record a multi-homer game in the same season was 2006, when three Huskers (Crystal Carwile twice, Devin Porter and Carmen Kier) combined for four multi-homer games.