Rohr of the Crowd - Feb. 20, 2013

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 2013 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: Nebraska is 9-0 when getting five or more hits.

The Loudest Roars: From Sunday's finale vs. Purdue, Alicia Armstrong ties the game with an RBI single in the fifth, and Hailey Decker gives Nebraska the lead with an RBI sacrifice lineout in the sixth.

Husker Pitchers Stay Cool Under Pressure
Bottom of the seventh, two outs, your team ahead by one, bases loaded, their No. 3 hitter at the plate, a 3-2 count on her.

In the game of softball, it doesn't get more tense for a pitcher than that.

But on Sunday, Tatum Edwards calmly delivered to Andie Varsho, who tapped a grounder right back to Edwards, and Edwards threw accurately to first to wrap up the 4-3 Nebraska win over Purdue, capping a 4-1 stay at Hillenbrand Stadium, one of college softball's grandest stages.

We're only ten games into the year, but the biggest thing that has impressed me about this Husker team is how poised Emily Lockman and Tatum Edwards have been in the circle. Considering one is a freshman and the other made just 25 starts in her first two years at Nebraska, that poise has been surprising. Time and again last weekend, we saw that poise from these Husker pitchers shine through.

It started early on Friday. It had to. Lockman was called for an illegal pitch twice in the first four pitches against Southern Utah. But she still retired their leadoff hitter, and despite being called for another illegal pitch and for delay of game, Lockman stymied the Thunderbirds for just three hits with no walks and three strikeouts.

Later Friday, Nebraska took on No. 16 Arizona, in front of a crowd of 2,488. After Tatum Edwards allowed a leadoff single in the first, she got a pair of ground balls, including a double play ball. In the second, the Wildcats started with another leadoff single. Again, Edwards got a double play grounder. Even in the fourth, when she surrendered a run by allowing an error and a double to the first two batters, Edwards retired three of the next four and nine of the last 12 Wildcats she faced to keep the Huskers just one swing away from Arizona to the finish.

Then on Saturday against Utah State, Lockman was called for a first-inning illegal pitch. She eventually struck that batter out. After seemingly retiring Haley Fronton to begin the second on a 3-1 pitch, Lockman was called for an illegal pitch, allowing Fronton to reach on a walk. Lockman got a sacrifice bunt, then a double play liner to get out of the inning untouched. In the fourth, she again appeared to retire the leadoff batter, Kassandra Uchida, only to again be called for an illegal pitch. Uchida eventually reached on a walk, but Lockman buckled down, got a sacrifice bunt and foul popup that resulted in a double play. Lockman went on to finish off a no-hitter in her fourth college start.

Later Saturday, Drake loaded the bases with one out in the third, the Bulldogs' three and four hitters coming up. Tatum Edwards retired Hayley Nybo and Nicole Randel both on strikeouts. In the fifth, Drake had runners at the corners with one out. But back-to-back groundouts stuffed the Dogs in the fifth. In the sixth, a hit-by-pitch plus a walk put two on, none out. But Edwards retired the last three batters on a groundout and two strikeouts.

That leads to Sunday's game. Facing her first major-conference foe, Lockman allowed a leadoff homer to Danielle Fletcher. An error and a fielder's choice grounder on which no out was recorded set up a run-scoring groundout and an RBI double to make it 3-0, Purdue. But even then, the inning ended with a line-drive double play, without any further damage. Then in the fifth, a leadoff single by Ashley Courtney knocked Lockman out of the game. Edwards entered and allowed a single to C.J. Parsons, and then, after a pickoff, an infield single that resulted in an error. As Parsons' pinch-runner, Sydney Pencek, tried to score, Nebraska fired home and retired her for the second out. A walk put two on with two out before Edwards got a ground ball from Ashley Burkhardt to end the inning. In the sixth, a single, wild pitch and sacrifice bunt put a runner at third with one out, before Edwards got two easy grounders to end the inning without damage.

That brings us to the scene with which we started. An error on a ball that may actually have been fouled off the batter's leg, an infield single and a hit batter loaded the bases with one out. Burkhardt tapped a ground ball to Dawna Tyson, and Tyson threw home for the force and the second out of the inning, setting up Varsho. After Edwards jumped ahead 1-2, the drama heightened as the next two pitches were called balls. But then Edwards got a weak ground ball from Varsho, cashed it in for an out, and Nebraska celebrated a successful stay in the desert.

This is a pitching staff that will live dangerously throughout the year. Neither Edwards nor Lockman can be expected to strikeout nearly as many batters as their predecessors in the circle. So they'll allow a lot of balls put in play, with half an inch serving as the difference between a screaming liner up the middle, and a little parachute into the second baseman's glove, between a towering home run and a meek fly ball handled easily, between a hot shot through the hole between short and third and a ground ball gobbled up and converted to an out. But Edwards and Lockman kept calm enough that they were able to keep inside that half-inch, to keep finding outs, to keep getting out of jams.

It's worth noting that Edwards and Lockman had plenty of help. The Husker defense has been strong for most of the first 10 games. But defenses tend to make plays for pitchers who radiate calm and control in the circle. You'll hear coaches oftentimes talk about the value a pitcher's presence has for the rest of the team. If the person who initiates the action half of the game believes it will work out, the rest of the team will buy in. It's likely that's a big chunk of what has gone on the first 10 games this year.

This weekend is a big step up in competition. Three of these teams played in the Women's College World Series last year, and all three bring back their top pitcher from that team. But when Nebraska is out on defense, the Huskers can know they have two pitchers who will keep them in the game, who will compete, who will leave the door open for the offense to score the runs necessary for the upset.  

To The Umps: I'm Sorry (and a couple suggestions)
A couple of times this weekend, I expressed extreme frustration with the umpiring. Part of it was the odd nature of how the weekend was called. All five teams in the Hillenbrand Invitational (and not just Nebraska) had a slew of illegal pitch calls. The rust of the early season leaves me a little slow to pick up on the odd situations. So, I'm sorry about being too hard on the umpires. In the end, they have an extremely tough job that involves picking up balls being hit and thrown with force, usually over short distances.

But part of my frustration with the folks in blue has to do with the basic methods umpires have of communicating basic facts, like foul balls or substitutions to us in the booth. These basic techniques are not decided by individual umpires, but rather by the NCAA, among other governing bodies dealing with umpires. Matt and I have needled umpires dozens of times for not signaling obvious foul balls. As it turns out (and as we learned on the bus ride home from the airport from the NU coaching staff), umpires are directed to not signal obvious foul balls. This is madness to me. Even if a kick in football perfectly bisects the two uprights, both referees on the end line raise their arms. Even if every person in the arena can see that the shooter is three feet behind the arc when they let the ball go, referees still raise their arm to signal 'three attempted', and raise both arms to signal 'three point shot made'. It's the basic job of the official to communicate, even in obvious situations. Yet, because umpires are directed on foul balls to only signal when necessary, it creates confusion for players and fans. We saw a couple of balls last weekend where the fielders and the hitter were both confused that nothing had been called, since 'no call' doesn't necessarily mean 'ball in play'. To make that distinction more clear simply makes sense.

Then there are substitutions. Toward the end of the Southern Utah game Friday, Nebraska entered Sammi Noland and Megan Southworth into the game, at catcher and left field, respectively in the fifth inning. In the bottom of the fifth, the No. 9 spot, where left fielder Jordan Bettiol had been hitting, was due to hit. We were expecting Megan Southworth to come to the plate. But instead, Noland came to the plate. Easy enough, we thought, the Huskers had entered Noland in the nine spot and Southworth into the three. That is, until the sixth, when Taylor Edwards came to the plate in her spot. Two batters later, Megan Southworth came to the plate, in the place of the designated player Kylee Muir. After that, it all made sense. Noland was entered into the No. 9 spot in Bettiol's spot as the catcher. Taylor Edwards was switched from catcher to DP. And Megan Southworth was plugged into the No. 5 spot as the left fielder. But it took two additional innings for all of us to figure that out.

If there were a better means of communication for subs, we would've had a better idea of what was going on.

And that's at the root at most of my problems with umpires, at this point. Most of the mechanisms of communicating things like subs (other than the simple one-player-in, one-player-out sub) and foul balls are poor. Whether it's a phone or walkie-talkie from the press box to the field or a sub-board like you see in big international soccer matches, there needs to be a better way of communicating subs from the field to the press box. Meanwhile, the foul ball problem is an easy one to solve: Signal everything! Assume nothing. Better communication by umpires throughout the game builds stronger credibility for them in questionable decisions.

Tough Field
How tough is the Mary Nutter Classic field? Consider that seven of the top 11 and 12 of the top 25 will be in the Big League Dreams Complex in Cathedral City. Or that five of the eight teams that played in last year's Women's College World Series will be in the building as well.

It's only the third week of the season, but this is the first big test for everyone before conference play. It's the perfect barometer for each team to see where they are heading into the homestretch of non-conference play and before the games start counting in the conference standings. I'm excited to see where the Huskers stack up.  

Weekend Warmup: The Mary Nutter Classic
For the fourth time in the last five years, the Huskers hit the field at the Big League Dreams Complex in Cathedral City, Calif. And the Huskers open their time at a familiar place with a familiar foe: No. 1 Oklahoma, last year's national runners-up. The Sooners have been a machine in the early going at 10-0, scoring 8.1 runs per game while locking down their opponents to an ERA of 1.09 while striking out nearly 12 batters per game. Oklahoma has beaten four ranked teams in the early going, including a pair of ranked foes last Saturday. Keilani Ricketts was last year's national player of the year, and through 10 games, she's already assembling a strong case to make it two in a row. She's hitting .462 with two homers and nine RBI, while pitching to a 4-0 record with a 1.78 ERA. She's struck out 46 in 30.1 innings pitched with just fifteen hits and eight walks allowed. Sophomore Lauren Chamberlain is 15-for-27 to start the year with six homers and 17 RBI. Even No. 2 pitcher Michelle Gascoigne is 5-0 with an 0.87 ERA. She leads the Big 12 in strikeouts with 59 in 31 innings pitched. The Huskers still lead the all-time series, 40-38, but OU has won 9 of the last 11. The Huskers and Sooners split their last series as conference rivals in 2011, with Nebraska winning the first game, 4-1, as Taylor Edwards clubbed a monstrous homer over the scoreboard at Marita Hynes Field. Oklahoma captured game two, 6-3.

It's the Huskers and Maryland in the nightcap Friday. The Terrapins were a wildly up-and-down 3-1 last weekend, snaring run-rule victories over Massachusetts and Long Island while getting run-ruled by Michigan. The Terps scored 10.3 runs per game, but hit just .277 as a team. Their opponents scored 5.5 runs per game while hitting .304. Maryland benefited from four errors per game by its opponents, which resulted in 17 unearned runs on the weekend. Sara Acosta started well, hitting 5-for-10 with a triple and three RBI. Shannon Bustillos was solid as well, hitting 4-for-10 with four RBI. Maddie Martin started three of the four games in the circle, going 2-1 with a 5.56 ERA while pitching 11.1 innings and striking out six. Kaitlyn Schmeiser got the other start, pitching in three games but going just five innings while striking out four.

The lone game Saturday is against No. 5 Oregon. The Ducks are 8-3 on the year, with two of their three losses to top-five teams; No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 5 Florida. Their offensive numbers are very close to Nebraska's, scoring six runs per game while hitting .330 as a team, 13 home runs, slugging .528 and reaching base at a .400 clip. Janie Takeda is red-hot starting the year, hitting 16-for-32 with eight stolen bases. Seven of nine Oregon's regulars are hitting better than .300. Last year's ace, Jessica Moore, is back, but she's completed just one of her six starts. She's been effective, going 4-2 with a 1.31 ERA in 32 innings. Two other pitchers have gone at least 15 innings this year, including Ralston native Karissa Hovinga, who is 2-0 with a 1.87 ERA.

Sunday begins with a date No. 23 Florida State. The Seminoles' two-pronged pitching staff of Lacey Waldrop and Monica Perry has thrown four shutouts in nine games, as FSU is 7-2 to start the year. Perry is 4-2 with a 2.35 ERA in five starts, while Waldrop is 3-0 with a 0.39 ERA in four starts. Florida State scores 6.7 runs per game while hitting .344 as a team. Tiffani Brown is setting the table at a .469 clip, while Briana Hamilton has supplied the power with three home runs. Courtney Senas has been a steady force at .320 with 10 RBI.

The Huskers close their stay in Cathedral City with a matchup with No. 8 California. The defending Pac-12 champions, Cal has started 2013 at 7-2, and they'll enter Southern California with a six-game winning streak in which they've outscored their opponents 48-7. Unlike last year, when Val Arioto and Jolene Henderson at least somewhat split the innings and the starts, this year, it's been all Henderson, with a record of 6-2 and a 2.19 ERA in 53.1 innings. She's pitched in every game this season and made seven starts. Cal is scoring 6.8 runs per game while hitting .312. Four starters are hitting .350 for the Bears, who have recovered despite losing four starters.

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

Go Big Red!

Nate