Huskers Earn 10th Straight Win

East Lansing, Mich. - The 19th-ranked Nebraska softball team picked up its 10th straight victory and 11th consecutive conference win with an 8-0 six-inning victory at Michigan State on Sunday. The Huskers completed a three-game sweep of the Spartans with their fifth straight shutout.

Nebraska outscored Michigan State 16-0 on the weekend, and the Huskers have outscored their conference foes by a combined 78-4 margin in three-game sweeps the past three weekends over Iowa, Ohio State and Michigan State. Five of those nine victories have been run-rule wins for the Huskers.

With its 10th straight victory, Nebraska improved to 36-13 on the season. The Huskers' 11th consecutive conference victory moved Nebraska to 14-4 in Big Ten play, as NU remained in second place in the league standings.

Senior Tatum Edwards was the star on Sunday. She fired a two-hit shutout to stretch Nebraska's scoreless streak to 35.0 consecutive innings. Edwards (19-9) added seven strikeouts to reach 500 in her career, while she tossed her third straight shutout and seventh of the year. Offensively, Edwards blasted a three-run homer for her 11th home run of the season, finishing 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored.

While Edwards was limiting the Spartans to just two hits, Nebraska pounded out 14 hits and scored in five of its six turns at bat. Tatum Edwards and sophomore Hailey Decker both homered, while freshmen Austen Urness and Kat Woolman and sophomore Alicia Armstrong all doubled. Senior Taylor Edwards joined her twin sister Tatum with a multi-hit game, finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI. Decker was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a pair of runs, while sophomore Kiki Stokes also finished 2-for-3 with a pair of stolen bases.

Decker gave Nebraska an early 1-0 lead when she hit a towering one-out, solo home run down the left field line with one out in the top of the first inning.

Another home run gave Nebraska a 4-0 lead in the top of the third. Taylor Edwards led off the inning with a single before Decker followed with another single. Tatum Edwards then belted a three-run homer to center.

NU stretched its lead to 5-0 with another run in the top of the fourth. Stokes reached on a one-out single and stole second before scoring on a two-out RBI single from Taylor Edwards.

Michigan State loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the fifth before Tatum Edwards escaped the jam with her seventh strikeout of the game.

Nebraska then scored for the fourth straight inning with another two-out rally in the top of the sixth. Sophomore Dawna Tyson began the frame with a single before being lifted for freshman pinch runner Lotte Sjulin. Sjulin moved to second on a two-out single from Tatum Edwards before she scored on a pinch-hit, RBI double from Urness. Freshman MJ Knighten then brought the run-rule into effect with an RBI single through the left side that gave Nebraska an 8-0 lead.

Tatum Edwards finished off the game by working around a leadoff hit batter in the bottom of the sixth.

Kelly Smith (5-13) took the loss for Michigan State, which fell to 12-33 with the loss, including a 4-16 mark in conference play.

The Huskers begin the final week of the regular season with a midweek doubleheader at Wisconsin on Wednesday that wraps up a five-game road trip. Nebraska then closes the regular season on Friday, Saturday and Sunday by hosting the Indiana Hoosiers at Bowlin Stadium.

Box Score

 

2014 Nebraska Softball Nebraska at #19 Michigan State Apr 27, 2014 at East Lansing, Mich. (Secchia Stadium)

Nebraska 8 (36-13,14-4 Big Ten)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Edwards, Taylor c........ 4 1 2 1 0 0 7 1 0 Decker, Hailey 2b........ 3 2 2 1 1 0 2 2 0 Edwards, Tatum p......... 4 2 3 3 0 0 0 2 2 Armstrong, Alicia ss..... 3 1 1 0 0 1 3 2 0 Urness, Austen ph....... 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Knighten, MJ 3b.......... 4 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 Muir, Kylee rf........... 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Woolman, Kat lf.......... 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Stokes, Kiki cf.......... 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 Tyson, Dawna 1b.......... 3 0 1 0 0 0 5 0 1 Sjulin, Lotte pr........ 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Lockman, Emily........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals................... 32 8 14 8 1 2 18 8 7

Michigan State 0 (12-33,4-16 Big Ten)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Freimuth, McKinzie 1b.... 3 0 1 0 0 1 3 0 0 McBride, Alyssa cf....... 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 Briggs, Dana cf......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Besson, Lindsey ph...... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 Gutknecht, Sarah 3b...... 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 Sanders, Stephanie rf.... 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 Kujawa, Kassidy lf....... 3 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 Luna, Destinee ss........ 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 Nielsen, Carly ph....... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Stoffer, Ellie c......... 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 Fernandez, Emma c....... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bowling, Sarah dp........ 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 Reiser, Jacquie 2b....... 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 1 0 Thomas, Shanin ph....... 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 Smith, Kelly p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kaff, Valerie p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals................... 19 0 2 0 3 7 18 2 6

Score by Innings R H E --------------------------------------- Nebraska............ 103 112 - 8 14 1 Michigan State...... 000 000 - 0 2 0 ---------------------------------------

E - Knighten(13). DP - Huskers 1. LOB - Huskers 7; Spartans 6. 2B - Armstrong(10); Urness(6); Woolman(2). HR - Decker(8); Edwards, Tat(11). HBP - Gutknecht, S; Sanders, S.. SB - Stokes 2(12).

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Edwards, Tatum...... 6.0 2 0 0 3 7 19 24 98

Michigan State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Smith, Kelly........ 2.0 3 1 1 0 0 9 9 42 Kaff, Valerie....... 4.0 11 7 7 1 2 23 24 81

Win - Edwards, Tat (19-9). Loss - Smith, K. (5-13). Save - None. HBP - by Edwards, Tat (Sanders, S.); by Edwards, Tat (Gutknecht, S). PB - Edwards, Tay(8). Pitches/strikes: Edwards, Tat 98/58; Smith, K. 42/27; Kaff, V. 81/53. Umpires - HP: Mark Sefcik 1B: Jim Connors 3B: Joseph Squires Start: 11:05 am Time: 2:00 Attendance: Game: livegame