Huskers Battle Badgers in Final Home Series

LINCOLN – The Nebraska softball team (30-17, 8-8 Big Ten) hosts Wisconsin (22-19, 6-8 Big Ten) April 27-29 in its final home series of the season. The Huskers will play one game on Friday beginning at 5 p.m. The game will be televised on BTN and will also be available on BTN2Go and the BTN mobile app. Game two will be on Saturday at 1 p.m. The series finale will be played Sunday at noon. Both games on Saturday and Sunday will be streamed on BTNPlus/FloSoftball (subscription required). All three games will be available on Huskers.com (radio), courtesy of the IMG Husker Sports Network.

Fan Appreciation Weekend
This weekend will serve as Fan Appreciation Weekend. There will be prizes and giveaways all weekend long, as well as special promotions. Saturday’s admission will be free for all fans and as part of Military Appreciation Weekend, all  military personnel with a valid ID will receive free admission to both games on Friday and Sunday as well. For a complete list of prizes and promotions, click here.

Senior Day
Following Saturday’s game, Nebraska will celebrate its seniors with a Senior Day ceremony to thank them for their dedication and commitment to the Nebraska softball program over the years. Laura Barrow, Caitlin Bartsch, Kaylan Jablonski, Gina Metzler, Taylor Otte and Austen Urness will all be honored, as well as senior students who are part of the support staff.

Scouting Wisconsin
Wisconsin enters the weekend series with a 22-19 record, which includes a 6-8 record in the Big Ten. Most recently, the Badgers were swept in a mid-week doubleheader on Wednesday by border rival, Minnesota. Both games ended early due to the mercy rule and Minnesota outscored Wisconsin 20-1 in the doubleheader. Prior to the mid-week, the Badgers went 2-1 against Purdue in Madison. UW dropped the first game, but came back to win the next two and take the series.

At the plate, senior Kelsey Jenkins leads the regular starters with a hitting average of .377. She’s started all 41 games for the Badgers and leads the team with 34 runs. She also ranks second with 43 hits and 14 doubles. Her 14 doubles rank fourth in the Big Ten and her 37 walks rank first in the conference and fifth in the country. Additionally, her on-base percentage of .545 leads the conference. Prior to the second game of the Minnesota doubleheader, Jenkins had reached base 40 straight games and had a 13-game hitting streak. However, both streaks were snapped in game two against the Gophers. Additionally, Jenkins earned her 200th career hit on April 22 against the Boilermakers. Jenkins is getting help on offense from Brooke Wyderski who has also started every game for the Badgers. She is hitting .362 and leads the team with 46 hits, 18 doubles, six homers and 36 RBIs. Her 18 doubles lead the Big Ten and rank sixth in the nation.

In the circle, Haley Hestekin and Kaitlyn Menz share most of the load for the Badgers, appearing 24 and 23 times, respectively. They both have pitched more than 120.0 innings and have pitched all but 25.1 innings for Wisconsin this season. Hestekin has a team-low 1.97 ERA and a record of 12-6. She’s made 19 starts and pitched 13 complete games. She also has 73 strikeouts. Menz has a 3.29 ERA and a record of 10-11. She also has made 19 starts and has thrown 12 complete games. She has a team-high 93 strikeouts.

As a team, the Badgers have given up 31 unearned runs this season and rank seventh in the conference with a fielding percentage of .959.

Battle with the Badgers

Many current Huskers have played some of their best ball against Wisconsin over the last three years, including Kaylan Jablonski, Lexey Kneib, Taylor Otte, Laura Barrow and Gina Metzler. At the plate, all are batting above .300 in their careers against the Badgers, while Jablonski, Edwards and Kneib are averaging about .400. In the circle, Jablonski has yet to lose to Wisconsin in her career. She has pitched over 40 innings against Wisconsin and has a record of 6-0. 

Simmons at Leadoff

Alyvia Simmons moved to leadoff at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic to fill in for Taylor Otte, who was injured at the time, and she seems to have found her spot in the batting order. Simmons’ stats have significanly improved since her move. Alyvia Simmons moved to leadoff at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic to fill in for Taylor Otte, who was injured at the time, and she seems to have found her spot in the batting order. Simmons’ stats have significanly improved since her move. On March 14, in game two of the South Dakota State doubleheader, Simmons recorded her 100th-career hit.  Additionally, Simmons has been even more impressive the past few weeks. Against Michigan State, Simmons led the team over the weekend with a .667 batting average. She had six runs, six hits, two doubles and a team-high seven RBIs. On March 24, she had four hits and a career-best five RBIs against the Spartans. Her four hits also are tied for fourth in school history. In the mid-week game against South Dakota, Simmons went 2-for-3 with three runs, one triple, one walk and one stolen base.  In the Northwestern series, Simmons went 5-for-10 with three runs, three doubles and one RBI.  Against Indiana, Simmons went 3-for-8, with two runs, one double, two RBIs and four walks.  In the Purdue doubleheader, Simmons had two hits, three runs, four RBIs and one triple.  In the Minnesota series, Simmons was one of five Huskers to have multiple hits on the weekend. She finished with two hits, including a triple. It was her fourth of the season, which is tied for 10th on Nebraska’s all-time list.

Barrow is Back

Prior to the Indiana series, Laura Barrow had been on fire at the plate. Her offensive totals improved significantly and she moved up in the batting order. Addtionally, she had reached base nine straight games. However, prior to the Purdue doubleheader, Barrow had gone five games without getting a hit. In the two games against the Boilermakers, Barrow seemed to find her groove again, going 2-for-3 with five runs and five walks. In the Minnesota series, Barrow led the Huskers, going 4-for-10. She was the only Nebraska player to have more than two hits on the weekend. 

Huskers Enjoying Otte's Return

In game two of the Iowa doubleheader, Taylor Otte hit a double to snap a nine-game hitless streak. With a struggling offense, Nebraska would benefit from Otte finding her offensive rhythm again. Through the first 15 games of the season, Otte was batting .273. She had 12 hits, nine runs, three doubles, two homers and six RBIs. Otte’s been providing the offense with a little spark as of lately. In the last six games, Otte’s batting .333, with one run, one double and one RBI.

Unzicker Having Recent Success

Junior Madi Unzicker has had some recent success at the plate lately. In all started in early April with the Indiana series (games 38-40) . Unzicker might have had her best of the season thus far. Unzicker ranked third on the team and second among starters with a .364 batting average against IU. She went 4-for-11 with one double and one RBI. In the Iowa doubleheader, she was one of just five Huskers to record a hit. She also had one RBI. In the Purdue doubleheader, Unzicker went 4-for-7, with one run. Against Minnesota, Unzicker was one of eight Huskers to get a hit all weekend against a tough pitching staff.

Jablonski - A Double Threat

Senior Kaylan Jablonski has been a huge factor for the team both on defense and on offense, starting every game this season for the Huskers. Senior Kaylan Jablonski has been a huge factor for the team both on defense and on offense, starting every game this season for the Huskers.  She entered the 2018 season as the only Husker pitcher to have significant experience in the circle and was expected to be  a leader for the pitching staff. The Omaha, Neb., native has embraced the role. Jablonski has the save or win in 27 of the Huskers’ 30 wins this season. Additionally, her six saves lead the Big Ten and are ranked fifth in the nation. She has 21 wins this season, which included  11 straight. Her 21 wins are a career high and currently are tied for fourth in the nation and rank second in the conference. In her first two seasons, she recorded eight wins and last season she had 11.  At the plate, Jablonski ranks second on the team with a batting average of .348 and a slugging percentage of .594. She ranks second on the team with 10 home runs and 29 RBIs. She ranks fourth in doubles (six). Her 54 hits rank fifth in the Big Ten. Her 10 homers are tied for seventh in the Big Ten.  Additionally, on March 17, Jablonski hit three home runs against Cal State Fullerton to tie a Nebraska single-game record, as well as a Big Ten record. Jablonski also pitched a complete seven-inning game against Fullerton, becoming the first player in NCAA history to hit three home runs and pick up the win in the circle in the same game. Jablonski’s was the first pitcher to reach 17 wins this season. She is one of two pitchers in the country to rank in the top 10 in wins and saves. Of the other eight pitchers in the top 10 in saves, not one ranks in the top 50 in wins. 

Hot Hitting Edwards

Sophomore infielder Tristen Edwards has been a terror at the plate for opposing teams this season. She leads the team with a .390 batting average and a .706 slugging percentage. In conference games, she’s been even more impressive, batting .500 and slugging .972. Sophomore infielder Tristen Edwards has been a terror at the plate for opposing teams this season. She leads the team with a .390 batting average and a .706 slugging percentage. In conference games, she’s been even more impressive, batting .500 and slugging .972. Additionally, she also ranks first on the team in home runs (11) and RBIs (41). She’s had at least one hit in all but 12 games this season and she’s had 17 multi-hit games this season. She also ranks third in the conference in RBIs and fourth in home runs and runs scored. Her batting average also ranks fifth in the conference.  In conference only games, Edwards’ average ranks second. She also ranks third in hits (18), fourth in RBIs (18), homers (five) and total bases (35). In game one against Purdue, Edwards recorded the first four-hit game of her career. She becomes the second Husker this season (Alyvia Simmons) to get four or more hits in one game and the four hits are tied for fourth in school history.  She also is one of just 13 players in Nebraska history to have at least 10 doubles and 10 homers in the same year, after picking up her 10th double in game two against Purdue on April 13.