Nebraska Beats Baylor, 5-3

Lincoln - Sophomore Ashley Guile continued her hot hitting, going 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs to power the Nebraska softball team to a 5-3 win over Baylor on Saturday afternoon in front of 551 fans at Bowlin Stadium.

Guile's three hits tied her career high, while she picked up her 15th multi-hit game of the year and ninth multi-RBI contest. In three conference games this week, Guile is 6-for-10 with a double and four RBIs. Her effort at the plate help Nebraska improve to 26-18 on the season and 5-4 in Big 12 play. The Huskers have won five of their last six conference games and during that stretch, Guile has gone 11-for-20 with three doubles and seven RBIs.

Guile's three-hit day paced an eight-hit attack for the Huskers. Classmate Nikki Haget went 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored, while freshman Brooke Thomason homered for the fourth time in eight Big 12 games, finishing 1-for-3 with two RBIs.

In the circle, junior right-hander Robin Mackin notched her fourth straight win to improve to 12-9 on the season. In 5.0-plus innings, Mackin allowed three runs on four hits, walking four and striking out three. Sophomore right-hander Ashley Hagemann picked up her fifth save of the season by tossing 2.0 scoreless innings of two-hit relief.

Courtney Repka (15-11) took the loss for Baylor, which fell to 23-17 on the season and 3-6 in league play. In 4.0 innings, Repka allowed five runs on eight hits.

Nebraska's first scoring chance came immediately in the bottom of the first. Back-to-back one-out singles from Haget and Guile put runners at first and second, before a walk to junior Julie Brechtel loaded the bases. But the Huskers were unable to score as Thomason struck out swinging and Mackin fouled out to deep left.

In the top of the third, a leadoff walk led to the game's first run. A one-out infield single and a stolen base then put Lady Bears at second and third when Nicole Wesley hit a fly ball to shallow left field. Haget made the catch and delivered a nice throw to home but Guile was unable to hold onto the ball as Baylor took a 1-0 lead.

Nebraska got the run back in the bottom of the frame. Haget was hit by a one-out pitch and stole second before Guile brought her home by lining a 2-2 pitch into center for an RBI single. Thomason then made it 3-1 when she belted an 0-1 offering over the wall in center for her ninth home run of the season.

The Huskers then extended the lead to 5-1 with two more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Freshman Gabby Banda led off with a single before the next two batters were retired. Junior Heidi Foland then singled to left before Haget picked up an RBI with a double to right field. Guile then recorded her third hit of the day and her second RBI with a line drive off the pitcher's glove that fell for an infield single. Nebraska nearly added more with runners at first and third, but a hard-hit liner off Brechtel's bat went directly to the third baseman.

In the top of the sixth, a leadoff walk and a single to left spelled the end of the day for Mackin. A single off Hagemann then loaded the bases with no outs before an RBI single cut the lead to 5-2. A fielder's choice marked the first out of the inning, but on the play a run scored. With the lead cut to 5-3 and runners on first and second with one outs, Hagemann retired the next two batters to end the inning.

She then retired the side on only seven pitches in the top of the seventh to notch her fourth save in the past two weeks.

The Huskers and Lady Bears wrap up their two-game series on Sunday at Noon.

Box Score 2010 Nebraska Softball Baylor at Nebraska Apr 17, 2010 at Lincoln, Neb. (Bowlin Stadium)

Baylor 3 (23-17,3-6 Big 12)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Wesley, Tiffany lf....... 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 Shelton, Kathy lf....... 3 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 2 Wesley, Nicole cf........ 3 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 Vannatta, Jordan dp...... 4 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 Nieten, Courtney c....... 3 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 Wilson, Sydney c........ 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Leal, Dani ss............ 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 4 0 Walker, Kayce rf......... 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 Hanafin, Bree 1b......... 3 0 1 1 0 0 5 0 2 Turk, Megan 3b........... 2 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 Craig, Mallory pr....... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Freeland, KJ 2b.......... 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 Kettler, Kelsi ph....... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Repka, Courtney p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Vasquez, Alicia p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals................... 26 3 6 3 4 5 18 5 7

Nebraska 5 (26-18,5-4 Big 12)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Foland, Heidi 1b......... 4 1 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 Haget, Nikki lf.......... 2 1 2 1 0 0 2 0 0 Guile, Ashley c.......... 3 0 3 2 0 0 5 1 0 Brechtel, Julie 2b....... 2 1 0 0 1 0 3 0 2 Thomason, Brooke rf...... 3 1 1 2 0 2 1 0 0 Mackin, Robin p.......... 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 3 Hagemann, Ashley p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Banda, Gabby 3b.......... 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 Wright, Kirby dp......... 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Gay, Jamie ph........... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tyson, Tori cf........... 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Southworth, Megan ph.... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Barrett, Whitney ss...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 Totals................... 26 5 8 5 1 4 21 5 5

Score by Innings R H E ----------------------------------------- Baylor.............. 001 002 0 - 3 6 0 Nebraska............ 003 200 X - 5 8 1 -----------------------------------------

E - Barrett(13). LOB - Lady Bears 7; Huskers 5. 2B - Haget(5). HR - Thomason(9). HBP - Haget. SF - Wesley, N.(1). SB - Wesley, T.(16); Shelton(14); Haget(12). CS - Wesley, T.(1).

Baylor IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Repka, Courtney..... 4.0 8 5 5 1 3 20 22 75 Vasquez, Alicia..... 2.0 0 0 0 0 1 6 6 18

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Mackin, Robin....... 5.0 4 3 3 4 3 18 23 100 Hagemann, Ashley.... 2.0 2 0 0 0 2 8 8 22

Win - Mackin (12-9). Loss - Repka (15-11). Save - Hagemann (5). WP - Mackin(6). HBP - by Repka (Haget). Pitches/strikes: Repka 75/49; Vasquez 18/14; Mackin 100/59; Hagemann 22/16. Umpires - HP: Kevin Killingsworth 1B: Matt Titkemeier 3B: John Orlowski Start: 3:03 pm Time: 1:54 Attendance: 551 Mackin faced 2 batters in the 6th. Game: NU44