Nebraska Falls at No. 15 Seed Missouri

NEBRASKA  0 8 missouri
Box Score

Inning-by-Inning
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6		R	H	E
Nebraska	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	2	3
Missouri	0	0	0	2	3	3		8	7	2

Pitching
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
W - Lowary (24-6)	6.0	2	0	0	2	5
L - Lockman (10-5)	4.1	6	5	4	5	0
S - None	0.0	0	0	0	0	0

Individual Leaders
	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	HR
Kiki Stokes	3	0	1	0	0	0
Mattie Fowler	3	0	1	0	0	0

Game Notes

Nebraska fell to 61-51 all-time in the NCAA Tournament...the Huskers were shut out in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the opening game of the 2011 NCAA Regional...MJ Knighten did not play due to an ankle injury, snapping her streak of 173 consecutive starts at third base, a streak that included every game of her career, dating back to the first game of the 2014 season...with Knighten out, freshman Bri Cassidy made her first career start at third base...Kiki Stokes singled in the third inning to extend her hitting streak to a career-high 11 straight games...Laura Barrow walked to extend her streak to 11 consecutive games reaching base safely, although her career-long 10-game hitting streak was snapped.

Columbia, Mo. - The 15th-seeded Missouri Tigers advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Columbia (Mo.) Regional on Friday, scoring multiple runs in each of their final three innings en route to an 8-0 six-inning victory over the Nebraska softball team.

The game was scoreless heading to the fourth inning, but Missouri's potent offense got on track with two runs in the fourth, and the Tigers added three more runs in the sixth and three more in the sixth, wrapping up the run-rule victory on a three-run homer from Emily Crane.

Crane was the star offensively, finishing 2-for-3 with five RBIs. In the circle, Paige Lowary fired a two-hit shutout, her second shutout of the tournament. Lowary added five strikeouts while improving to 24-6 on the season. Missouri (41-14) advances to Saturday's 1 p.m. championship game, and the Tigers will have to be defeated twice on Saturday.

Nebraska fell into the loser's bracket and will play either Louisville or BYU on Friday at 6 p.m. The Huskers (34-20) managed only two hits offensively on infield singles from seniors Mattie Fowler and Kiki Stokes. Nebraska was without the services of junior MJ Knighten, who missed the game due to injury. Senior Emily Lockman (10-5) took the loss for Nebraska, allowing five runs (four earned) in 4.1 innings.

Nebraska stranded runners at first and third in the top of the first inning, but neither team recorded a hit until the third. The Huskers were unable to do anything with a one-out but single from Stokes in the top of the inning, before Missouri used a leadoff single, a stolen base and a sacrifice bunt to put a runner at third with only one out. But Nebraska escaped the jam, cutting down Regan Nash at the plate on a grounder to senior Alicia Armstrong at short before sophomore catcher Madi Unzicker threw out Taylor Gadbois trying to steal second to end the inning.

The Tigers threatened again in the bottom of the fourth when they had runners on first and second with one out. Chloe Rathburn then lined a single to right center and a Husker error allowed a run to score and the trail runner to make it to third. Kolby Romaine then executed a squeeze bunt to score a second run to give Missouri a 2-0 lead.

Missouri added three more runs to take a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth. The first two runs scored on a two-run single from Emily Crane and the third run scored on a Husker error. 

In the top of the sixth, a pair of Missouri errors gave the Huskers runners on first and second with no outs but Nebraska could not push a run across. The Tigers then ended the game early when Crane slugged her three-run homer.

Nebraska aims to earn a rematch with Missouri in Friday night's elimination game. The Huskers came out of the loser's bracket to win the 2014 NCAA Columbia (Mo.) Regional.

 

Box Score

 

2016 Nebraska Softball Nebraska at #17 Missouri May 20, 2016 at Columbia, Mo. (University Field)

Nebraska 0 (34-20)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Stokes, Kiki cf.......... 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 Barrow, Laura 2b......... 2 0 0 0 1 0 5 1 0 Armstrong, Alicia ss..... 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 Fowler, Mattie 1b........ 3 0 1 0 0 0 7 1 0 Sjulin, Lotte pr........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tyson, Dawna dp.......... 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 Urness, Austen lf........ 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 Metzler, Gina lf........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Unzicker, Madi c......... 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 0 Simmons, Alyvia rf....... 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Otte, Taylor rf......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Cassidy, Bri 3b.......... 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 0 Lockman, Emily p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Jablonski, Kaylan p..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Totals................... 21 0 2 0 2 6 16 12 5

Missouri 8 (41-14)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Taylor Gadbois cf........ 4 2 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 Emily Crane rf........... 3 2 2 5 1 0 0 0 0 Sami Fagan ss............ 2 1 1 0 1 0 2 2 0 Amanda Sanchez 3b........ 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 Sydney Sprague pr....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Chloe Rathburn dp........ 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kolby Romaine 2b......... 1 0 0 1 1 0 3 1 0 Cosette Tomita pr....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kirsten Mack c........... 2 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 2 Natalie Fleming ph...... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Regan Nash lf............ 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 Rylee Pierce 1b.......... 0 1 0 0 1 0 4 1 0 Paige Lowary p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Totals................... 19 8 7 6 7 0 18 7 5

Score by Innings R H E --------------------------------------- Nebraska............ 000 000 - 0 2 3 Missouri............ 000 233 - 8 7 2 ---------------------------------------

Note: 1 out, 0 runners LOB when the game ended.

E - Armstrong(12); Unzicker(4); Simmons(4); Fagan 2. LOB - Huskers 5; Tigers 5. HR - Crane. SH - Romaine; Pierce 2. SB - Gadbois; Crane; Rathburn; Nash 2. CS - Stokes(5); Gadbois; Crane.

Nebraska IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Lockman, Emily...... 4.1 6 5 4 5 0 14 22 94 Jablonski, Kaylan... 1.0 1 3 2 2 0 5 7 19

Missouri IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Paige Lowary........ 6.0 2 0 0 2 6 21 23 97

Win - Lowary (24-6). Loss - Lockman (10-5). Save - None. WP - Jablonski(15). Pitches/strikes: Lockman 94/53; Jablonski 19/8; Lowary 97/63. Umpires - HP: Anthony Lewis 1B: Rick Cowan 3B: Joe Havenhill Start: 1:01 pm Time: 2:05 Attendance: Game: NEB54