Rohr of the Crowd - April 7

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.  

Stat of the Week: Since the second game of Nebraska's doubleheader sweep of New Mexico State on March 19, the Huskers have held their last nine opponents to a combined 14 runs.

The Loudest Rohrs: From the Creighton game, Taylor Edwards' two-run home run in the first gave NU a 2-0 lead, and Ashley Guile's triple in the fourth pushed the lead to 3-1.

A Big, Big Series at Bowlin
They don't make series much bigger than this one.

No. 11 Nebraska vs. No. 5 Texas. It's Nebraska's highest ranking since the preseason poll in 2004. It's the best opponent they've faced at Bowlin Stadium since No. 5 Texas A&M in 2008. After the Longhorns' come-from-behind 4-3 win over the Aggies Wednesday, Texas enters the series 5-0 in the Big 12 and in the top spot of the league. Nebraska is currently in third at 3-1. The Huskers boast the reigning Big 12 Pitcher of the Week, Ashley Hagemann, while the Longhorns bring the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week, Lexy Bennett.

It's one more chance to measure where this Nebraska softball team and program are. We've seen the Huskers knock off a top-five foe. We've seen them beat a top-10 foe on the road in Big 12 play. But the really elite teams defend their home field. The top-level teams win both games at home in conference series, even against the best the league has to offer. A sweep this weekend by Nebraska would make a rousing statement that the Huskers are front-and-center in the Big 12 championship race, and may even give NU the inside track to the conference title. The Huskers will have navigated a very difficult stretch in their schedule, which includes series against two of the top teams in the conference and two of NU's four Big 12 road series, with a record of 5-1.

Even if Nebraska gets a split against UT, a conference championship still remains within reach for NU. A 4-2 record through the first six games with this tough schedule is a respectable performance through the first third of the conference slate. As mentioned in last week's Rohr of the Crowd, no conference champion has lost more than four games in Big 12 play. As deep and difficult as this league is, a 14-4 record in conference play will almost assure that team a Big 12 title. If that's the case, a team can afford to lose one game in each third of the season, plus one other game.

Of course, any talk of a conference title, even in the early stages of conference play, would seem a bit heady. After all, Nebraska was picked to finish eighth in the Big 12. But this team has exceeded all expectations to this point. Whether it was the win in the first weekend against Stanford, wins over defending regional champions BYU and Hawaii in the same day at Cathedral City, beating No. 2 Florida in Clearwater, or knocking off Oklahoma in Norman in the first weekend of Big 12 play, this team has already blown through the ceilings of even my most optimistic projections. But beating No. 5 Texas, twice, at Bowlin Stadium, would vault this 2011 Nebraska softball team from a pleasant surprise to flat-out special, and would set up a thrilling final 12 games for NU in the Big 12 Conference.

A Few Images from Lawrence
With no radio facilities in Lawrence, I did something Saturday and Sunday that I had never done: travelled to another team's ballpark and watched Nebraska in regular-season softball action. Of course, I would rather have been able to bring you the play-by-play from Arrocha Ballpark, but it was interesting to just sit in the stands for once and take in Husker Softball, as a fan.

I still kept score (as I always do, for any game that I know I'll be able to take from first pitch to final out). But otherwise, I sat in the stands, chewed sunflower seeds, soaked up the sun and took in a pair of Nebraska wins against the Jayhawks. A couple of quick thoughts...

-What a weekend for Tatum Edwards! Tatum was 6-for-7 with two home runs and five RBI. Those hits were important as well, with her three-run homer getting the Huskers on the board in the third inning of game one. Then in the second game, Edwards sparked the Husker offense by getting Nebraska's only hit the first time through the order against lefty Kristin Martinez. Then, she homered to tie the game at one in the fourth. She led off the fifth with a single and wisely tagged to score on a foul fly to left. Her run pushed the Huskers' lead to 3-1. Then, Edwards continued her success against Allie Clark, the game one starter, as Clark entered Sunday's game in relief in the seventh inning. Edwards doubled in a run to make it 5-1, then again scored to push the score to 6-1.

-Brooke Thomason had an impressive return to her home state. The Overland Park, Kan., native, was 4-for-9 with home runs in each of the Huskers' two games in Lawrence, including three hits Saturday against the righty Clark.

-Hagemann was razor-sharp against the Jayhawks Saturday. The only hit she allowed was a hot-shot grounder down the third-base line that glanced off Heidi Foland's glove. That sixth-inning hit was the only baserunner she allowed out of the last 13 batters she faced in game one.

-But even that Jayhawk hit in game one provided a Husker highlight. After Rosie Hull led off the sixth with that single, she remained at first as Hagemann struck out the next batter, then got the next one to pop out. Then, with sister Maggie at the plate and down in the count 0-1, Rosie took off for second. Hagemann threw a low changeup, seemingly a perfect pitch to run on. But Taylor Edwards pegged a perfect strike just to the first-base side of second, and Gabby Banda stuck the tag down on Hull for the third out of the inning. Though her defensive prowess is overshadowed by her hitting, it's worth noting that Taylor Edwards has done a flat-out phenomenal job behind the plate for NU. Since Central Connecticut State went 2-for-3 stealing against the Huskers in Nebraska's last game in Clearwater, Fla., teams have only tried to steal on Edwards twice in 13 games, and both would-be base-stealers were gunned down. That ability to shut down the opponents' running game, along with Edwards' contributions to the pitching staff's success this year, should be factored in along with her remarkable hitting when she's considered for postseason honors. That skill of limiting opponent's running will also be tested this weekend against Texas freshman BreJae Washington, who is 28-for-31 stealing this year.

-Hagemann was almost as good in the second game of the series. On a flat-out impossible day to pitch, with the wind blowing out at 25 MPH, Hagemann held the Jayhawks to just five hits (only two out of the infield) and just one home run. She struck out 11 and walked just one. And to top it all off, she made a spectacular diving catch on an infield pop-up in the sixth hit by Maggie Hull.

It was an almost perfect weekend for the Huskers. The only thing that would've made it better for me was being able to tell you about it live, instead of after the fact.

Weekend Warmup: No. 5 Texas
Saturday and Sunday, No. 5 Texas plays against Nebraska at Bowlin Stadium. The Longhorns are 32-3 on the year and 5-0 in the Big 12, after Wednesday's 4-3 win over No. 20 Texas A&M. The win over the Aggies in Austin was a see-saw affair. The game was tied at two going to the seventh inning. Blaire Luna walked the first two hitters of the inning and was pulled from the game. Rachel Fox entered for Texas, walked Rhiannon Kleising to load the bases, and Melissa Dumezich singled to give the Aggies a 3-2 lead going to the bottom of the seventh. In the bottom of the seventh, Lexy Bennett led off with a home run to force the third tie of the game. Amy Hooks then drew a walk and was pinch-run for by Mandy Ogle. Torie Schmidt rolled a grounder to first that Kleising bobbled into the A&M dugout, sending the runners to second and third. Dumezich threw a wild pitch to score Ogle and give Texas a 4-3 win, the Horns' 16th straight win. Along with Texas A&M, Texas has swept Oklahoma State and Kansas in league play.

Texas averages nearly seven runs a game. The Longhorn offense utilizes both power (44 home runs) and speed (75 stolen bases, best in the Big 12). As a team, Texas is hitting .351 while slugging a conference-best .581. Lexy Bennett, who had three hits Wednesday against A&M, paces the UT offense with a .481 average and .880 slugging percentage. She's tied for the team lead with nine homers and leads the team with 10 doubles. Taylor Hoaglund has matched Bennett with nine homers, while adding 18 stolen bases. Freshman Taylor Thom has thundered into the Texas lineup, hitting .330 with eight home runs and 31 RBI. Another freshman, Brejae Washington, leads the Big 12 with 28 stolen bases on 31 attempts. Seven Texas regulars are hitting better than .330, with five Horns hitting five home runs. As she did last year, Blaire Luna paces Texas in the circle, with an 18-2 record and a 1.08 ERA in 21 starts. The sophomore has struck out 201 in 130 innings pitched. Freshman Rachel Fox has been a useful No. 2 pitcher, with a 14-1 record and a 1.02 ERA in 14 starts and 89.1 innings pitched.

That's all for now...we'll talk to you Saturday at Bowlin Stadium!

Husker Power!

Nate