Rohr of the Crowd - Feb. 23

Rohr of the Crowd is the official blog of Nate Rohr, the play-by-play announcer for Husker softball. Nate has called Nebraska softball games since 2004 and will call every game of the 2011 season. Nate is not employed by the University of Nebraska and the opinions and content of this blog are his own. Look for new blog entries weekly.

Record Setting Edwards Drives Husker Attack
Taylor Edwards came into the Nebraska softball program with massive expectations. A player with Edwards' high-school credentials (All-American, huge numbers in Southern California) doesn't come into college softball without them. Especially after so many freshmen made a national impact last year, the burden on Taylor Edwards to perform, early and often, was quite large

Through 11 games, it's safe to say that Taylor Edwards has not only met those expectations, but exceeded them. Edwards has cemented that level of acheivement with her NCAA-record-setting streak of six straight games with a home run.

How incredible is Edwards' accomplishment? There is the obvious fact that no other college softball player has officially been recognized as having done it before, not a senior, not a junior, certainly not a freshman in her second weekend of college softball. Looking at it another way: Edwards became the 42nd player in the Rhonda Revelle-era to hit six home runs in a season, which is usually around 55 games. By sheer number of games, it's more than nine times easier to hit six in a season than it is to hit six in a row. But that statement doesn't even take into account how much more difficult it is to hit a another home run one game after hitting a home run. Coaches get wise. Pitchers start pitching around hitters who are hot enough to have a homer in the game before, let alone five in a row. The three legit swings for the fences that Edwards got earlier last weekend get reduced to one. Then there's the small act of hitting a round ball with a round bat hard enough to get over the fence.

But that's exactly what Edwards has done in each of the last six games. For a lineup that has had its share of problems hitting early in games, Edwards has homered in four games to put Nebraska on the board and three times to give the Huskers the lead in the first inning. She's hit homers ahead in the count, behind in the count and even in the count (twice for each situation). She's homered on the first pitch and on a full-count pitch. She's homered to left, center and right (three to left, two to right). She's hit liners just over the wall (the flare over the rightfield fence against Northwestern State on an 0-2 pitch). She's hit moon shots over the wall and scoreboard (the blast to left-center to break the record against Tennessee Tech). And she's hit line-drive moon shots over the scoreboard; the blast against Centenary that may have still been rising as it cleared the 15-foot high scoreboard above the wall in left-center.

Edwards' run will have more effects beyond the obvious. She'll begin to be pitched to more carefully, putting her on base and setting up Ashley Guile, Brooke Thomason and the rest of the Husker lineup, which carries power potential from spots two through seven in the order (and that doesn't even include leadoff slapper Nikki Haget, who already has one home run this season).

Usually, the freshman is the one benefitting from the protection provided from other, more experienced hitters in the lineup. But in a college softball environment that has shown a top-level freshman can have an immediate impact, Taylor Edwards is the one setting up the rest of the Husker lineup, as Nebraska looks to continue this hot start.

Beware of Hot Bats!
Nebraska baseball coach Mike Anderson mentioned coming into the season the major changes done to the rules governing bats in college baseball; basically the rules changes have forced companies making bats to construct aluminum bats that perform more like wood bats. It's worth noting that bats in softball are gaining more scrutiny as well, as the NCAA has stepped up testing to ensure that bats used in games this year are legal and less lively. The NCAA measures how lively a bat is by measuring the exit speed of a ball hit by that bat, with bats yielding exit speeds below 98 MPH being found in compliance with the standards. In other words, all other things being equal, a ball hit by an illegal bat will go farther than a ball hit by a legal bat because the ball will leave the illegal bat with a greater exit speed. After last season, the NCAA tested 24 bats. 17 of those bats failed. Because of those "extremely disappointing" results according the NCAA, the governing body instituted in-season testing of bats. They'll be at some non-conference tournaments to test bats that are early in their life cycle, then return to the testing trail for postseason. The NCAA will keep a tighter list of compliant bats, and those using bats or bat models that don't follow the rules will be ejected from the game.

I applaud the NCAA for their increased enforcement of the rule. Hot bats create a major player-safety issue, as pitchers and even corner infielders can be endangered by line drives coming off the illegal bats. While rules existed to try and keep players safe through less potent bats, the level of non-compliance with the rules before suggest that they weren't being enforced at a level that forced teams to follow those rules.

Unlike last year's rules spotlights on the legality of pitching motions and on pace-of-game, the implementation of this rules change seems to be well-planned. It will be interesting to follow the results of these rules changes to see if greater scrutiny of bats pulls down offensive numbers.

The Sweet Taste of Victory
On Saturday, the Huskers closed out their fourth victory of the weekend against Northwestern State at around 2:20 p.m. Back home at the Devaney Center, the Nebraska men's basketball team was building a lead on third-ranked Texas.

We made our way to a barbeque restaurant in Denton for a team lunch. We kept track via the web and cell phones as Nebraska's lead evaporated, all the way down to a tie score. We waited for a timeout, then hustled into the restaurant. We walk in and see a TV with the game: success. Failure: The manager who greeted us in the restaurant was wearing an apron over a burnt orange polo with the white Longhorn logo. The manager took some good-natured ribbing over his attire choice as he waited for timeouts and free throws to welcome us to the restaurant and describe the menu. The Huskers recaptured the lead, then held on for the win. Our traveling party cheered and chanted "Go Big Red" as the Red Zone rushed the floor after the win. We ordered our food, sat down and enjoyed. I mentioned shots to the stomach with potentially tasty finishes in my preseason blog, but who would have thought that, two weeks later, we'd see one?

Weekend Warmup: The Cathedral City Classic
The Huskers square off with a pair of regional champions from last year on Friday. It starts with No. 25 BYU Friday afternoon. Champions of the Austin Regional last year, the Cougars are 6-4 on the season but have won six of their last seven after losing their first three to start the year. Once again, BYU has a potent lineup, averaging over seven runs a game while hitting .322 as a team. Jessica Fitu is off to a blistering start, hitting .618 with four homers while slugging 1.088 in the Cougars' first 10 games. BYU's pitching has been decent, but ace Paige Affleck is 3-3 with a 4.64 ERA to start the year.

Hawai'i

and Nebraska will tussle Friday night. The Rainbow Wahine went to the Women's College World Series last year on a walk-off home run to beat No. 1 national seed Alabama in Super Regionals in Tuscaloosa. This year, Hawaii is 11-1 and ranked ninth in the country and swept a Tuesday doubleheader at UC Riverside. Hawaii also scores over seven runs a game. The Wahine offense is paced by Jessica Iwata, who has homered seven times in 10 games while driving in 14 runs. All-American outfielder Kelly Majam has also gotten off to a solid start, hitting .409 with three homers and 10 RBI. Her start is all the more amazing considering she's battling thyroid cancer . In the circle, ace Stephanie Ricketts (sister of former OU 1B Samantha and current OU P Keliani) is 5-1 with a 3.41 ERA in seven starts.

On Saturday, the Huskers face Nevada , which enters this weekend 2-8. The Wolf Pack pitching staff has struggled to an ERA of 7.38 through 10 games. Nevada's lineup has been decent, averaging four runs a game. They're led by Lauren Lastrapes, who is hitting .357 with two homers and eight RBI. Lastrapes is the sister of two-time Washington All-American outfielder Dominique Lastrapes and Arizona All-American Brittany.

Sunday begins with a matchup with future conference rival Ohio State . The Buckeyes were ranked 22nd to start the year but have fallen out of the polls after a 4-6 start to the season. They've given up an average of nearly eight runs a game in their losses. Offensively, Ohio State has been fine, scoring five runs a game despite the loss of All-American catcher Sam Marder. In five games, Melissa Rennie is 7-for-13 with three homers and six runs batted in. Alicia Herron has gotten off to a strong start as well, hitting .469 with two homers and 8 RBI. Ali Viola, an three-time All-American third baseman for NU in the mid-90s, is an assistant coach for the Buckeyes.

The Huskers close their time in Cathedral City with a game against Long Island , a member of the Northeast Conference. They've won their last two after losing their first eight to start the year. The eight-game losing streak closed with three straight shutouts, and the offense has been a concern for the Blackbirds. LIU is hitting just .154 as a team, averaging just two runs a game, with just one player, Emily Kakuska (.310 average, one homer, two RBI), hitting over .185. Sarah Reynolds and Megan Sheaf have split the 10 starts this season, with Reynolds pitching to a 2.56 ERA in 27 1/3 innings pitched. Sheaf has struggled with a 5.48 ERA in 30 2/3 innings pitched this year.

That's all for now...talk to you Friday from Cathedral City!

Husker Power!

Nate