Huskers Begin B1G Play at No. 25 Michigan

LINCOLN –The Nebraska softball team (10-13) opens Big Ten play this weekend when it travels to Ann Arbor, Mich., to take on the No. 25 Michigan Wolverines (16-10). Nebraska will play game one on Friday at 3 p.m. CT. Game two will be on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT and game three will be Sunday at noon CT. 

Last Time Out
Nebraska looks to bounce back this weekend after being swept at the Rock Chalk Challenge March 16-17 in Lawrence, Kan. The Huskers fell to Tulsa and host-school Kansas twice each over the weekend. Tristen Edwards led the Husker starters going 4-for-11 (.364) with two runs, two homers and three RBIs. 

Scouting Michigan
No. 25 Michigan enters the weekend with a 16-10 record. The Wolverines have won four straight games and seven of their last eight games. Most recently, the Wolverines beat Western Michigan in their mid-week game on Tuesday by a score of 3-0. Last weekend, Michigan swept Kent State in three games and outscored Kent State 34-2 in the series.

Freshman Lexi Blair is the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week and Player of the Week. The Florida native turned in a near-perfect offensive weekend against Kent State, batting .875 (7-for-8) with a .900 on-base percentage (9-of-10) and a 1.250 slugging percentage. She also had eight RBIs and three runs scored. She became Michigan’s first conference weekly award winner this season. Overall, Blair is hitting .368 through 26 starts which ranks second on the team. She also has a team-high 32 hits and 21 RBIs. Blair only has three strikeouts through 87 at bats.

Faith Canfield leads the Wolverines at the plate, hitting .376 through 26 starts. Canfield has a team-best 20 runs and, 32 hits and four home runs. She also has 15 RBIs. 

In the circle, Michigan is led by All-American Meghan Beaubien. The 2018 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year has a 9-3 record and a 1.99 ERA. She’s made a team-high 21 appearances, which ranks second in the conference and has 13 starts. She’s pitched 88.0 innings and nine complete games. She also has five of Michigan’s seven shutouts this season. The Michigan native also has a team-best 93 strikeouts, which ranks sixth in the Big Ten. 

Alex Storako (6-6) has pitched 71.0 innings for Michigan. She’s made 16 appearances, including 12 starts. Storako has an ERA of 2.07 and has recorded 82 strikeouts.

As a team, Michigan is fielding .973 with 19 errors through 26 games. The Wolverines have allowed 11 unearned runs this season.  saves this season.

Follow the Huskers

A live radio broadcast will be available on Huskers.com and the official Huskers App for all of Nebraska’s games this season. Fans can also follow the action on Twitter (@HuskerSoftball). All three games this weekend will be also be available on BTN Plus (subscription required). 

Big Ten Openers The Huskers have lost just two Big Ten openers since joining the conference - both have been to Minnesota in 2014 and 2017. Last season, Nebraska beat Michigan State 9-6 in Lincoln, behind Laura Barrow’s three-hit performance, which included a home run.  Edwards in Elite Company Tristen Edwards returned this season as Nebraska’s top hitter. She currently leads the team in hits with 23, home runs with nine, RBIs with 27, walks with 16 and slugging percentage (.803). Edwards also ranks second on the team in batting average with .348. Edwards has two 4-for-4 games at the plate this season, most recently against Tulsa in game one of the Rock Chalk Challenge. Edwards also leads the team with nine home runs, which is tied for first in the conference. Edwards needs two home runs to rank in the top 10 on Nebraska’s career home runs list.

Edwards has three multi-home run games this season and five in her career putting herself elite company. The only other Huskers to have at least five multi-home run career games are Tatum Edwards and Jennifer Lizama. Both Tatum Edwards and Jennifer Lizama earned multiple All-America awards while at Nebraska.

Additionally, her three multi-home run games this season ties for the most multi-home run games in a single season in school history. She joins MJ Knighten and Ali Viola as the only Huskers to do so and both Knighten and Viola earned first-team All-America honors following those seasons.

Finally, since stepping foot on campus in 2017, Edwards has five of the last six multi-home run games. Kaylan Jablonski had the other in 2018 (three home runs at Cal State Fullerton).