Huskers Host Big Red Spring Classic

The Nebraska softball team continues a 10-game homestand with the Big Red Spring Classic at Bowlin Stadium this week. The Huskers will play four games in four days in the tournament.

The tournament begins on Thursday when the Huskers host Northern Colorado at 5:30 p.m. On Friday, Nebraska takes on North Dakota at 5:30 p.m. Saturday sees the Huskers take on in-state rival Creighton at 4:30 p.m. Nebraska then closes the weekend with another game against Northern Colorado on Sunday at 11 a.m.

Fans unable to make it out to Bowlin Stadium can listen to Nate Rohr call every game this season for free on Huskers.com or the official Huskers app. Fans can also watch all four games this week with a subscription to Big Ten+, with subscriptions starting at $9.99 per month. Saturday’s matchup with Creighton will be televised within the state of Nebraska on Nebraska Public Media, with Larry Punteney and Mattie Fowler Burkhardt on the call.

Nebraska has won four of its last six games after splitting a pair of home games on Tuesday. The Huskers lost to Northern Colorado before rebounding with a 10-0 run-rule victory over Maine. Nebraska is 12-12 this season, but entering the week the Huskers had played the 24th-toughest schedule in the nation according to the NCAA RPI and the 18th-toughest non-conference schedule. Entering this week, Nebraska had played 11 of its 22 games (50 percent) against opponents ranked in the top 50 of the RPI.

Leading Off...

• Nebraska’s current 10-game homestand is the longest in Bowlin Stadium history and is the program’s longest since a 14-game homestand in 1995.
• The Huskers are on pace for 106 doubles this season, which would break the Nebraska record (94) and challenge the Big Ten record (110).
• NU leads the Big Ten with 48 doubles, ranking fourth nationally in doubles.
• The Huskers have used a different batting order in all 24 games this year.
• Billie Andrews’ final hit last weekend was the 200th hit of her career. She is just the 14th Husker with 200 career hits.
• Billie Andrews hit two home runs on Tuesday. She ranks third in school history with 52 career home runs, two shy of Taylor Edwards’ school record (54).
• Billie Andrews has hit safely in 19 straight games. Andrews is looking to become the first player in NU history with two separate 20-game hitting streaks.
• Sydney Gray is the only player to win multiple Big Ten Player of the Week awards this season.
• Emmerson Cope has two saves, one shy of the Nebraska freshman record.
• Kaylin Kinney has 99 career strikeouts, one shy of 100.

A Look at Some Husker Streaks

• Billie Andrews brings a 19-game hitting streak into the Big Red Spring Classic. The hitting streak is the longest by a Husker since Andrews had a career-long 23-game hitting streak in 2022. Andrews is batting .464 (32-for-69) during her hitting streak with eight doubles, one triple and nine home runs.
• Billie Andrews is looking to become the first player in school history to have two separate 20-game hitting streaks. There have been only four 20-game hitting streaks in program history and no player has ever had two separate 20-game hitting streaks.
• Brooke Andrews has started 66 consecutive games, the longest active streak on the team.
• Brooke Andrews has also scored a run in six consecutive games and reached base in nine consecutive games.
• Bella Bacon has an RBI in five consecutive games. That marks the longest streak of her career and the longest streak by a Husker this season.
• Sarah Harness has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 12 of her 14 appearances this season, including a five-inning shutout of Maine on Tuesday.
• Caitlin Olensky has gone 12.0 consecutive innings without walking a batter and 23.2 consecutive innings without allowing a home run.

Billie Andrews Chasing Husker Home Run Record
Billie Andrews ranks fifth nationally in home runs per game this season with nine homers in 20 games. Andrews is on pace to break Nebraska’s career home run record this season.

• Andrews ranks third in school history with 52 home runs. The Husker home run record is 54 by two-time All-American Taylor Edwards, who played from 2011 to 2014.
• Andrews needs two home runs to tie Edwards’ Nebraska record and three to break the mark. Andrews is on pace to hit 10 more homers this year which would give her 62 career homers.
• Andrews has already tied one home run record. She has seven games with multiple homers in her career, tying Tristen Edwards (2017-21) for the most multi-homer games in NU history.
• Andrews ranks 15th among all active Division I players with 52 career home runs. She has played at least 10 fewer games than each of the 14 players ranked ahead of her on the active home run chart, with the exception of Wichita State’s Addison Barnard.

Billie Andrews Among Nation’s Extra-Base Hit Leaders
Billie Andrews has a knack for producing extra-base hits during her Husker career and this year has been no different. Andrews ranks fifth in school history with 88 career extra-base hits, including 18 this season. Forty-three percent of her career hits have gone for extra bases.

• Andrews ranks eighth nationally with 18 extra-base hits in only 20 games this season. Since she has played fewer games than many of her peers, Andrews’ average of 0.90 extra-base hits per game ranks second nationally among players with at least 12 games played.
• Andrews has at least one extra-base hit in 15 of her 20 games this season, including 12 of her last 14 games. Andrews has also had two games this season with multiple extra-base hits.
• In addition to ranking second in extra-base hits per game, Andrews is fifth nationally in home runs per game (0.5) and sixth in slugging percentage (.958).
• Andrews ranks 23rd among all active Division I players with 88 career extra-base hits. She ranks eighth nationally among active players in career extra-base hits per game (0.49).

Scouting Northern Colorado (12-14)
Northern Colorado is 12-14 and has won seven of its last eight games after defeating Nebraska and Maine on Tuesday at Bowlin Stadium.

• Ella Gonzalez leads the team with a .375 average. Amailee Morales is batting .372, and she leads the team with 13 doubles, six homers and 29 RBIs. Sabrina Javorsky (.338) is also hitting above .300 and is tied for the team lead with five steals.
• Erin Caviness and Isabelle DiNapoli have been the Bears’ primary pitchers. Caviness is 6-5 with one save and a 2.56 ERA in 68.1 innings, leading the teams in wins, innings and strikeouts (81). DiNapoli, who earned the win over Nebraska, is 4-4 with one save and a 3.88 ERA in 61.1 innings over a team-high 12 appearances.
• Creighton alum Dedeann Pendleton-Helm is in her second season at Northern Colorado, where she owns a 38-37 record.

Scouting North Dakota (5-23)
North Dakota is 5-23 this season. The Fighting Hawks have lost seven straight games, but four of those losses have been by three runs or fewer.

• Johanna Rodriguez leads the team with a .309 average as the only player hitting above .250. Madison Pederson leads North Dakota with two home runs and 10 RBIs, while Katie Joten leads the team with 20 walks, nine stolen bases and a .432 on-base percentage.
• Jackie Albrecht, Camryn Lasota and Makaela Carr have been the primary pitchers. Albrecht is 1-8 with a 3.87 ERA in a team-high 59.2 innings. Lasota is 1-9 and owns a team-best 3.68 ERA in 53.1 innings while Carr is 3-5 in 54.1 innings, leading UND in wins.
• Jordan Stevens is in his 10th season at North Dakota. He owns a 155-325 record with the Fighting Hawks and a 318-429-1 record in 15 career seasons as a head coach.

Scouting Creighton (13-8)
Creighton is 13-8 this season and plays five games before facing Nebraska on Saturday. The Bluejays opened Big East Conference play with a series win at St. John’s last weekend.

• Madeline Vejvoda leads the team with a .295 average while Lily West is hitting .290. Sydney Potter leads Creighton with three homers and 13 RBIs.
• Natalia Puchino has been impressive as Creighton’s ace, posting a 9-1 record with two saves and a 1.66 ERA in 63.1 innings. Opponents are hitting just .179 against her. Kenzie Schopfer (1-3, 4.88 ERA in 28.2 IP) and Jena Lawrence (2-2, 5.00 ERA in 21.0 IP) have been the two primary pitchers behind Puchino.
• Krista Wood is 35-39 in two seasons at Creighton and 543-356 in 18 seasons as a collegiate head coach, including a 273-203 record at the Division I level.