Knighten Powers Huskers Past Buccaneers

Nebraska  8 3 charleston so.
Box Score

Inning-by-Inning
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7		R	H	E
Charleston So.	0	0	0	0	2	0	1		3	6	1
Nebraska	0	0	3	4	0	1	X		8	12	1

Pitching
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
W - Emily Lockman (5-6)	5.0	5	2	2	5	3
L - C. Gandara (11-5)	3.1	11	7	7	1	2
S - None	--	--	--	--	--	--

Individual Leaders
	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	HR
MJ Knighten	3	3	3	5	0	2
Kiki Stokes	4	2	3	1	0	0

Game Notes

Nebraska evened its record at 11-11 with the victory, marking the first time since Feb. 14 the Huskers' record has been at or above .500...the win was Nebraska's third straight, tying for its longest win streak of the season...MJ Knighten had three extra-base hits, including two home run...it was Knighten's first career multi-homer game...Knighten also had a career-high five RBIs and a career-best three runs scored.

Fullerton, Calif. - Sophomore MJ Knighten was the hometown hero for the Nebraska softball team on Friday, as her bat powered the Huskers to an 8-3 victory over Charleston Southern in Fullerton, Calif.

A Buena Park native MJ Knighten finished 3-for-3 with a double, two homers, three runs scored and five RBIs. She produced her first career multi-homer game while posting career highs in runs and RBIs.

Behind Knighten's big day, Nebraska won both of its games on Friday to even its season record at 11-1. Junior right-hander Emily Lockman (5-6) earned the victory, scattering five hits in 5.0 innings and allowing two runs. Sophomore Cassie McClure closed out the game by allowing one run in 2.0 innings of work to lead the Huskers to their third consecutive victory.

Nebraska scored three times in the bottom of the third inning to take a 3-0 lead. Freshman Laura Barrow began the frame with a single before junior Kiki Stokes followed with an infield single. Knighten then laced a two-run double to left center, before junior Alicia Armstrong followed with an RBI double to make it 3-0.

The Huskers added four more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Junior Dawna Tyson began the inning with a single. Barrow followed with a one-out single before Stokes lined an RBI single to right that scored freshman pinch runner Taylor Otte. On Stokes' single, an error also allowed Barrow to score to give Nebraska a 5-0 lead. Knighten then lined a two-run homer to left to push the lead to 7-0.

Charleston Southern found the scoreboard for the first time in the top of the fifth. A single, a walk and a hit batter loaded the bases with only one out. Back-to-back bloop singles trimmed the lead to 7-2, before Lockman got an infield pop up and a ground out to end the frame.

Knighten then hit her second home run of the game in the bottom of the sixth to give Nebraska an 8-2 advantage. Charleston Southern added a home run in the top of the seventh to close out the scoring.

Nebraska pounded out 12 hits in the victory. Like Knighten, Stokes had three hits, while Armstrong and Barrow tallied two hits apiece.

Cheyenne Gandara (11-5) took the loss for Charleston Southern, which fell to 16-11 on the year.

Nebraska wraps up its stay at the Easton Invitational with a pair of games Saturday night against DePaul and Cal State Fullerton.

Box Score

 

2015 Nebraska Softball Charleston Southern vs Nebraska Mar 13, 2015 at Fullerton, Calif. (Anderson Stadium)

Charleston Southern 3 (16-11)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ MATSUMOTO, Amanda cf..... 3 1 1 0 1 1 3 0 0 YONAN, Natalie ss........ 3 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 CHRISTIAN, Marci 1b...... 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 MCPHERSON, Brittany pr.. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 GANDARA, Cheyenne p...... 4 1 2 2 0 0 0 1 1 ROBINSON, Cierra rf..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 JOHNSON, Stevi 2b........ 3 0 1 1 1 0 3 0 0 BARO, Stephanie 3b....... 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 DELIO, Georgi c.......... 3 0 1 0 1 0 4 1 3 LEIN, Brooke dp.......... 3 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 4 RICHARDSON, Brook lf..... 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 POWELL, Taylor rf........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ELKINS, Hayley p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals................... 27 3 6 3 7 3 18 3 11

Nebraska 8 (11-11)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Stokes, Kiki cf.......... 4 2 3 1 0 0 2 0 0 Knighten, MJ 3b.......... 3 3 3 5 0 0 0 2 0 Armstrong, Alicia ss..... 4 0 2 1 0 0 1 2 0 McClure, Cassie dp....... 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 Muir, Kylee rf........... 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 Pasquale, Steph c........ 3 0 1 0 0 1 3 1 1 Unzicker, Madi c........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tyson, Dawna 1b.......... 3 0 1 0 0 0 9 0 0 Otte, Taylor pr......... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Woolman, Kat lf.......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 Barrow, Laura 2b......... 3 2 2 0 0 0 5 6 0 Lockman, Emily p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals................... 28 8 12 7 1 4 21 12 4

Score by Innings R H E ----------------------------------------- Charleston Southern. 000 020 1 - 3 6 1 Nebraska............ 003 401 X - 8 12 1 -----------------------------------------

E - POWELL, T.(2); McClure(3). LOB - Buccaneers 11; Huskers 4. 2B - Stokes(4); Knighten(3); Armstrong(4). HR - GANDARA, C.(11); Knighten 2(2). HBP - CHRISTIAN. SH - Knighten(2). SB - MATSUMOTO; Armstrong(2). CS - RICHARDSON(1).

Charleston Southern IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- GANDARA, Cheyenne... 3.1 11 7 7 1 2 19 21 55 ELKINS, Hayley...... 2.2 1 1 1 0 2 9 9 27

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Lockman, Emily...... 5.0 5 2 2 5 3 19 25 104 McClure, Cassie..... 2.0 1 1 1 2 0 8 10 38

Win - Lockman (5-6). Loss - GANDARA, C. (11-5). Save - None. HBP - by Lockman (CHRISTIAN). PB - Pasquale(4). Pitches/strikes: GANDARA, C. 55/38; ELKINS, H. 27/18; Lockman 104/56; McClure 38/20. Umpires - HP: Mark Craver 1B: Brett Higgins 3B: John Bennett Start: 2:49 pm Time: 2:11 Attendance: 200 Game: livegame