Huskers Drop Heartbreaker to No. 5 Texas

Lincoln - A fly ball to the warning track in center field bounced out of Nikki Haget's glove and fell over the fence for the game's only run, as the 11th-ranked Nebraska softball team dropped a 1-0 heartbreaker to No. 5 Texas in front of a school-record crowd of 1,960 at Bowlin Stadium on a warm Saturday afternoon.

The bad bounce gave junior right-hander Ashley Hagemann the loss and spoiled an otherwise terrific outing. Hagemann fired a two-hitter, allowed only one run and struck out 10. According to the NCAA scoring rule book, any fair ball that clears the fence must be ruled a home run, even if the ball is deflected by a fielder. Hagemann fell to 22-4 on the season with the loss.

Offensively, Nebraska was shut out for the first time in 35 games this season. The Huskers had more base runners than the Longhorns and the hits were even at two apiece. Junior Ashley Guile doubled and sophomore Gabby Banda singled to produce Nebraska's lone hits of the game. Freshman Taylor Edwards also walked twice.

Amy Hooks had both hits for Texas, including the game-winning home run in the top of the seventh. Blaire Luna, the reigning Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, tossed a two-hit shutout, struck out eight and walked three to improve to 19-2 on the season. The win was Texas' 17th straight victory, as the Longhorns improved to 33-3 on the season and 6-0 in Big 12 Conference play.

Nebraska fell to 30-6 on the season and 3-2 in Big 12 play.

Neither team had more than one base runner in an inning until a walk and a single gave the Longhorns runners at first and second with one out in the top of the fourth. Hagemann worked out of the jam with a three-pitch strikeout and a foul out.

Base runners continued to be at a premium before Taylor Edwards drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth. That marked Nebraska's fifth base runner of the game and the first time the leadoff batter reached, but a popped up bunt, a strikeout and a caught stealing kept the game scoreless.

Hooks then led off the seventh with a fly ball to deep center that Haget ran down. She was under the ball but it bounced out of her glove and carried few feet to fall just over the fence. Texas threatened to add an insurance run with a runner on third with one out, before Hagemann recorded back-to-back strikeouts.

In the bottom of the seventh, the first two batters were retired before Guile brought the record crowd to its feet with a high fly ball to center that took Brejae Washington to the wall, before she came in and made the catch to end the game.

Nebraska and Texas wrap up their two-game series on Sunday at Noon.

2011 Nebraska Softball
#5 Texas at #11 Nebraska
Apr 09, 2011 at Lincoln, Neb. (Bowlin Stadium)

Texas 1 (33-3,6-0 Big 12)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Hoagland, Taylor rf...... 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0
Washington, Brejae cf.... 3 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0
Bennett, Lexy 1b......... 2 0 0 0 1 1 5 0 0
Hooks, Amy c............. 3 1 2 1 0 0 8 2 1
Taylor, Nadia 3b......... 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
Savony, Shelby pr....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Schmidt, Torie lf........ 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2
Craig, Courtney dp....... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Scott, Karina ph/dp..... 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Feight, Raygan 2b........ 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0
Bruins, Kim ph.......... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Thom, Taylor ss.......... 2 0 0 0 0 1 4 1 0
Luna, Blaire p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Totals................... 23 1 2 1 2 10 21 5 4

Nebraska 0 (30-5,3-2 Big 12)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Haget, Nikki cf.......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1
Edwards, Taylor c........ 1 0 0 0 2 0 10 0 0
McCann, Morgan pr....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Thomason, Brooke rf...... 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Edwards, Tatum lf........ 3 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 1
Brechtel, Julie 2b....... 2 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0
Foland, Heidi 3b......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 1
Guile, Ashley 1b......... 3 0 1 0 0 0 4 1 0
Banda, Gabby ss.......... 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1
Muir, Kylee dp........... 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Hagemann, Ashley p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Totals................... 22 0 2 0 3 8 21 7 4

Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
Texas............... 000 000 1 - 1 2 0
Nebraska............ 000 000 0 - 0 2 1
-----------------------------------------

E - Edwards, Tay(1). LOB - Longhorns 4; Huskers 4. 2B - Guile(3). HR -
Hooks(7). HBP - Taylor. SB - Schmidt(11). CS - McCann(3).

Texas IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
Luna, Blaire........ 7.0 2 0 0 3 8 22 25 99

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
Hagemann, Ashley.... 7.0 2 1 1 2 10 23 26 116

Win - Luna (19-2). Loss - Hagemann (22-4). Save - None.
HBP - by Hagemann (Taylor). Pitches/strikes: Luna 99/63; Hagemann 116/72.
Umpires - HP: Scott Mair 1B: Matt Titkemeier 3B: Jeff Sloan
Start: 2:01 pm Time: 1:52 Attendance: 1960
Game: NU35