Huskers Defeat North Texas, 4-2

Denton, Texas - Freshman Taylor Edwards hit her third home run in as many games to power the 21st-ranked Nebraska softball team to a 4-2 win over host North Texas on Friday at Lovelace Stadium.

The win was Nebraska's fifth straight, as the Huskers improved to 7-1 on the season. Edwards' three-run homer came as part of a 2-for-4 day and provided the winning margin to make a winner out of junior right-hander Ashley Hagemann, who was the winning pitcher in both of Nebraska's victories on Friday.

Against North Texas, Hagemann allowed two runs (one earned) on only four hits in a complete-game effort. She is now 6-1 on the season and earned the save in Nebraska's other victory.

Sophomore Megan Southworth produced her second straight two-hit game, finishing 2-for-3 to join Taylor Edwards with a multi-hit game.

After neither team recorded a hit over the first two innings, Nebraska exploded for four runs in the top of the third. Southworth led off the winning with a single. Classmate Gabby Banda then hit a ground ball to second and North Texas attempted to get Southworth at second base and the throw was in time, but dropped by the second baseman.

The runners moved to second and third with one out on a sacrifice bunt from junior Nikki Haget, before senior Julie Brechtel drove in the game's first run with an RBI single through the left side. Taylor Edwards then launched the next pitch over the flag poles in left center field for a three-run homer that increased Nebraska's lead to 4-0.

Hagemann kept the Mean Green off the scoreboard until the bottom of the fifth. A leadoff walk came back to hurt Hagemann when Megan Rupp lined a two-out, RBI double over Southworth's head in left.

The win did not come easily as Hagemann had to work out of a seventh-inning jam. An error and two singles loaded the bases with no outs, but Hagemann retired the next three hitters, allowing only a sacrifice fly to wrap up the win.

Nebraska returns to action tomorrow with a pair of games at the Sleep Inn Classic. Saturday play begins at 10 a.m. against Centenary.

2011 Nebraska Softball
#21 Nebraska at North Texas
Feb 18, 2011 at Denton, Texas (Lovelace Stadium)

Nebraska 4 (7-1)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Haget, Nikki cf.......... 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
Brechtel, Julie 2b....... 4 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0
Edwards, Taylor c/dp..... 4 1 2 3 0 0 5 1 1
McCann, Morgan pr....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Edwards, Tatum 1b........ 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Guile, Ashley dp......... 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
Wright, Kirby dp/c...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Thomason, Brooke rf...... 3 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 1
Foland, Heidi 3b......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1
Southworth, Megan lf..... 3 1 2 0 0 0 4 0 0
Banda, Gabby ss.......... 3 1 1 0 0 1 3 1 0
Hagemann, Ashley p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals................... 27 4 8 4 1 2 21 3 5

North Texas 2 (2-5)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Rupp, Megan lf........... 3 0 2 2 0 1 0 0 0
Cantler, Mallory 1b...... 4 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 4
Johnson, Lisa 2b......... 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 2 0
Grimes, Caitlin c........ 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Fraley, Maddelyn dp...... 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0
Foster, Brooke 3b........ 2 1 0 0 0 2 3 3 1
Martinez, Mariza ph/3b.. 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hirsch, Monica rf........ 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
Hirsch, Lesley ss........ 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 0
Bradshaw, Courtney ph... 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bromley, Renae cf........ 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
Simmons, Brittany p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Totals................... 24 2 4 2 3 6 21 10 6

Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
Nebraska............ 004 000 0 - 4 8 1
North Texas......... 000 010 1 - 2 4 2
-----------------------------------------

E - Banda(2); Hirsch, L. 2. DP - Mean Green 1. LOB - Huskers 5; Mean Green
6. 2B - Rupp. HR - Edwards, Tay(4). SH - Haget 2(2); Grimes. SF - Rupp.

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
Hagemann, Ashley.... 7.0 4 2 1 3 6 24 29 117

North Texas IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
Simmons, Brittany... 7.0 8 4 3 1 2 27 30 90

Win - Hagemann (6-1). Loss - Simmons (1-4). Save - None.
Pitches/strikes: Hagemann 117/71; Simmons 90/56.
Umpires -
Start: 2:56 pm Time: 1:51 Attendance:
Game: NU8