Hagemann, Huskers Blank Kansas 4-0

Lawrence, Kan. - Junior right-hander Ashley Hagemann tossed a one-hit shutout and the Husker offense homered twice, as the 13th-ranked Nebraska softball team defeated Kansas, 4-0, on a warm Saturday afternoon at Arrocha Ballpark.

Hagemann was dominant while improving to 21-3 on the season and becoming just the second pitcher to shut out the Jayhawks this season. The shutout was her sixth of the season and the one-hitter was Hagemann's second of the year. She allowed only a single and finished with seven strikeouts, while allowing only one Jayhawk to advance to second base.

Offensively, sophomore Brooke Thomason and freshman Tatum Edwards each homered for the Huskers. Thomason, a native of Overland Park, Kan., went 3-for-4 against her home state school with a solo homer, an RBI and two runs scored. Tatum Edwards finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Her three-run homer in the top of the third gave Nebraska all the runs it would need.

The homer was the ninth of the season for Tatum Edwards. Combined with 14 home runs from her twin sister Taylor, the Edwards twins have homered 23 times this year, tying the Nebraska freshman class record for total home runs in a season. Taylor Edwards, who set the individual Husker freshman home run record on Wednesday against Creighton, went hitless in four at bats against the Jayhawks, snapping her streak of 28 consecutive games reaching base safely.

Hagemann's effort in the circle, combined with the home runs help Nebraska match last year's regular-season win total (29) in only 33 games. The win improved the Huskers' record to 29-4 this season, and Nebraska moved to 2-1 in Big 12 Conference play.

Kansas fell to 27-9 with the loss. The Jayhawks remained winless in league play at 0-5, with all five losses coming against teams ranked in the top 15. Allie Clark (11-5) took the loss. In a complete-game effort, Clark allowed four runs on seven hits.

The Husker offense started slowly, stranding a pair of two-out runners in the top of the first and a pair of leadoff runners in the top of the second. Nebraska again got two runners on base in the top of the third on back-to-back one-out singles from Thomason and senior Julie Brechtel. The Huskers would not waste a third opportunity, as Tatum Edwards blasted a 1-1 pitch well over the fence in left for a two-out, three-run homer that put Nebraska on top 3-0.

Thomason extended the lead to 4-0 when she led off the top of the fifth inning with her third hit of the game, a towing solo homer to center.

Kansas picked up its only hit of the game when Rosie Hull led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a single. Despite losing the no-hit bid, Hagemann retired the next three batters and closed out her 21st win of the season by retiring 12 of the final 13 batters she faced, while facing the minimum in each of the last four innings.

The Huskers and Jayhawks wrap up their two-game series on Sunday at 1 p.m. 

Box Score 2011 Nebraska Softball #13 Nebraska at Kansas Apr 02, 2011 at Lawrence, Kan. (Arrocha Ballpark) Nebraska 4 (29-4,2-1 Big 12) Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Haget, Nikki cf.......... 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 3 Edwards, Taylor c........ 4 0 0 0 0 0 7 1 1 Thomason, Brooke rf...... 4 2 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 Brechtel, Julie 2b....... 3 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 Foland, Heidi 3b......... 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 2 Edwards, Tatum lf........ 3 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 Guile, Ashley 1b......... 2 0 0 0 1 0 5 0 0 McCann, Morgan pr....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Banda, Gabby ss.......... 3 0 1 0 0 0 3 2 0 Drake, Madison dp........ 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Hagemann, Ashley p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals................... 28 4 7 4 3 0 21 5 6 Kansas 0 (27-9,0-5 Big 12) Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Jones, Alex cf........... 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Hull, Rosie dp........... 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 Montgomery, Mariah 2b.... 1 0 0 0 2 1 2 3 0 Kocon, Liz rf............ 3 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 3 Hull, Maggie lf.......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 Hile, Brittany c......... 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 Newman, Ashley ss........ 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 Vickers, Laura ph....... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Ingle, Marissa 3b........ 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 Cullum, Kendra 1b........ 1 0 0 0 0 0 11 1 0 Clark, Allie p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 Totals................... 21 0 1 0 2 7 21 12 4 Score by Innings R H E ----------------------------------------- Nebraska............ 003 010 0 - 4 7 0 Kansas.............. 000 000 0 - 0 1 1 ----------------------------------------- E - Montgomery. LOB - Huskers 6; Jayhawks 4. HR - Thomason(3); Edwards, Tat(9). HBP - Hile; Cullum. CS - McCann(2); Hull, R.. Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Hagemann, Ashley.... 7.0 1 0 0 2 7 21 25 98 Kansas IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Clark, Allie........ 7.0 7 4 4 3 0 28 31 126 Win - Hagemann (21-3). Loss - Clark (11-5). Save - None. HBP - by Hagemann (Hile); by Hagemann (Cullum). Pitches/strikes: Hagemann 98/63; Clark 126/73. Umpires - HP: Dustin Douglass 1B: Kevin Killingsworth 3B: Tim Kasate Start: 2:03 pm Time: 1:59 Attendance: 792 Game: NU33