Brooke Andrews drove in four runs to power the 18th-ranked Nebraska softball team to a 7-2 victory over Long Beach State Friday in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Brooke finished 1-for-2 with a double and four RBIs while her younger sister Billie went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a triple and two runs scored. Emmerson Cope and Sydney Gray added RBI doubles for the Huskers.
Nebraska produced eight hits in the game, including six extra-base hits.
The win over the 2023 Big West Conference champions gave Nebraska (1-2) its first victory of the season after the Huskers lost their first two games to top-15 opponents.
Kaylin Kinney, who had an RBI single at the plate, earned the win in relief. Kinney (1-1) tossed the final 4.0 innings and did not allow a run while surrendering only two hits. Sarah Harness started and gave up two runs in 3.0 innings of work.
Shannon Haddad (0-1) took the loss for Long Beach State (0-1). Haddad allowed five runs in 2.0 innings.
In the top of the first inning, Harness retired the first two batters before issuing a walk. A bloop double to shallow left then plated the game’s first run and gave the Beach a 1-0 lead.
Billie Andrews led off the bottom of the first with a triple to right. She then scored Nebraska’s first run two batters later on a sacrifice squeeze bunt from her sister, Brooke.
Long Beach State regained the lead in the top of the third, using a leadoff double, a sacrifice bunt and an RBI single to take a 2-1 advantage.
In the bottom of the inning, Caitlynn Neal worked a leadoff walk before Billie Andrews doubled to the wall in left and Ava Bredwell was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. Brooke Andrews then delivered again, lining a bases-clearing double to the gap in right center to give Nebraska a 4-2 lead and mark the end of the game for Haddad. Cope greeted the new pitcher with an RBI double down the left field line, scoring Brooke Andrews and pushing the Husker lead to 5-2.
Nebraska added to its lead with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. The first two Huskers were retired before Cope drew a two-out walk. Gray followed with an RBI double that scored pinch runner Alina Felix. Kinney then helped herself with a two-out RBI single to right center, scoring Gray to give Nebraska a 7-2 lead.
Nebraska wraps up its stay in Mexico with a fourth and final game on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. (Central) against Utah Valley.
Post-Game Notes
- The win was Nebraska's first win on foreign soil. The Huskers had been 0-6 outside of the United States, losing their first six games in Puerto Vallarta (2017 and 2024) before breaking through against the Beach.
- Six of Nebraska's eight hits in the game went for extra bases (five doubles and one triple).
- Brooke Andrews had four RBIs in the game, marking her fourth career game with at least four RBIs.
- Billie Andrews went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a triple against Long Beach State. In two games Friday against 2023 NCAA Tournament teams, Andrews was 4-for-7 with two doubles, a triple and a home run.
- Billie Andrews' three extra-base hits tied her career high.
- Freshman Emmerson Cope made her first career start at first base in the game, and classmate Samantha Bland made her first career start in left field.
- Cope had her first career hit and RBI with an RBI double in the third inning.
- Mckinley Malecha and Peyton Cody both made their season debuts, with Cody recording a pinch-hit single in the sixth inning in her first at bat as a Husker.