A lack of clutch hitting cost the Nebraska softball team Saturday in a 6-3 eight-inning loss to Saint Francis at the Razorback Rumble.
Nebraska, which led 2-0 after five innings, was just 2-for-18 with runners on base and 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position. The Huskers had multiple chances to extend their lead prior to extra innings, including the bottom of the sixth when Nebraska failed to capitalize on a leadoff triple. The Huskers stranded 10 base runners in the game.
Saint Francis (13-9) took better advantage of its scoring chances, going 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position, including a three-run double in the top of the eighth inning. Rachel Marsden (7-4) earned the complete-game victory, allowing three runs (two earned).
Sarah Harness (1-2) took the loss for Nebraska (10-11). Harness started and tossed 5.0 scoreless innings, allowing only two hits. Emmerson Cope pitched the sixth and seventh innings, allowing two runs on three hits. Harness then re-entered the game and pitched the eighth inning, giving up four runs (three earned). In total, Harness was charged with four runs (three earned) in a season-best 6.0 innings.
Offensively, Ava Bredwell went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple and a walk. Bella Bacon had a pair of RBIs while Billie Andrews doubled to extend her hitting streak to 16 games.
Nebraska took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Brooke Andrews singled with one out, advanced to second on a ground out and scored on a two-out RBI single from Bacon.
The Huskers added to their lead with another run in the bottom of the third. Billie Andrews began the inning with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from her older sister Brooke. Peyton Cody was then hit by a pitch to put runners at first and third with one out. Bacon followed with a ground ball to first and Billie Andrews beat the throw home to make it 2-0.
Saint Francis tied the game with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth. In the bottom of the frame, Bredwell led off with a triple to put the go-ahead run on third base with no outs. But Nebraska could not bring Bredwell home as the game headed to the seventh inning tied 2-2.
In the top of the seventh, Saint Francis had the go-ahead run on second base with one out following a hit by pitch and a wild pitch. Cope then coaxed a ground out for the second out before Samantha Bland made a terrific catch in left field to end the inning. Nebraska was then retired in order in the bottom of the seventh.
Each team started the eighth inning with a runner on second base with the tiebreaker rule in use. Harness re-entered the game and walked the leadoff hitter before a bloop single loaded the bases with no outs. A strikeout marked the first out of the inning before an RBI single gave the Red Flash a 3-2 lead. A bases-clearing double then gave Saint Francis a 6-2 advantage.
In the bottom of the eighth, Sydney Gray was placed on second base to begin the inning. She moved to third with one out on a ground out and scored on an RBI double from Bredwell that cut the lead to 6-3. But the next two Huskers were retired to end the game.
Nebraska wraps up its stay at the Razorback Rumble with a second game Saturday against South Alabama.
Post-Game Notes
- Nebraska played its second extra-inning game of the season and fell to 0-2 in extra innings.
- Ava Bredwell was 2-for-3 with a double and a triple, her third game this season with multiple extra-base hits.
- Billie Andrews doubled in the third inning to extend her hitting streak to 16 games. Andrews also has an extra-base hit in 10 of her last 11 games.
- Bella Bacon drove in two of Nebraska's three runs against Saint Francis. Bacon has five RBIs in the Huskers' first three games at the Razorback Rumble.
- Sarah Harness threw a total of 6.0 innings against Saint Francis, her longest outing of the season and matching the longest outing by a Husker this season.