Crystal Gonzalez Season 2010

Career Honors & Awards
2008
Nebraska Hero Service & Leadership Award

Crystal Gonzalez is hoping for a healthy return to the diamond in 2010 after suffering a slew of injuries thus far in her career. Gonzalez started the Huskers’ season opener as a freshman and went on to start 23 games in her rookie year before her injury problems began.

Gonzalez missed the final 22 games of her freshman season after tearing her ACL. After rehabbing her way back to health, Gonzalez suffered a second tear of the ACL just prior to the start of her sophomore season. After redshirting in 2008 and regaining the strength in her knee, Gonzalez finally saw the field again in 2009. She appeared in three of Nebraska’s first four games last season, before tearing the ACL in her other knee and missing the rest of the season.

She has continued to persevere and is poised to contend for a starting job in the outfield this season. Gonzalez is arguably the Huskers’ top outfielder, as she possesses good speed and a strong arm. Offensively, injuries have limited her opportunities at the plate, as she has 12 hits and three walks in only 66 career plate appearances.

Gonzalez has worked her way back to health again and hopes to regain a year of eligibility. After using a redshirt for the 2008 season, Gonzalez hopes she can stay healthy and petition the NCAA for a sixth-year of eligibility to gain back her sophomore season.

Sophomore Season [2009]
After returning to the field for the first time in nearly two seasons in 2009, Gonzalez saw another season cut short due to injury. She missed the second half of her freshman season in 2007 and all of the 2008 campaign while recovering from a pair of ACL injuries on the same knee.

Gonzalez saw her first game action in nearly two years when she appeared in three games at the Huskers’ season-opening UNI-Dome Classic in 2009. She went 0-for-1 with a walk and a run scored at the tournament, which proved to be her only action of the season. Gonzalez suffered another torn ACL - this time on the other knee - in practice prior to Nebraska’s second tournament and missed the remainder of the year (50 games).

Redshirt Season [2008]
Gonzalez hoped to return to the diamond in 2008 after missing the second half of her freshman season following a torn ACL. Her hopes were not realized, as she tore the same ACL while back home in California during the Holiday break between the fall 2007 and spring 2008 semesters. Gonzalez underwent season-ending surgery when she returned to Lincoln and used her redshirt season while rehabbing her knee again.

Freshman Season [2007]
Gonzalez appeared in 30 of the Huskers’ first 35 games and earned 23 starts before suffering a torn ACL prior to a doubleheader with Texas Tech on the first day of April. She underwent season-ending surgery to repair the torn ACL and spent the rest of the year rehabbing the injury.

Before the injury, Gonzalez hit .214, going 12-for-56 with a pair of walks. She scored five runs and was perfect on five stolen base attempts. Gonzalez finished the year with one multi-hit game. She earned the opening-game start in center field against No. 24 Auburn and recorded a hit in each of her first three games, finishing 3-for-8 with a stolen base at the Hawaii Paradise Classic. She had two hits at the NFCA Leadoff Classic, while drawing her first walk and recording her first two career sacrifices. She hit safely in a career-high four-game stretch in the middle of March and went 1-for-4 in a two-game series at World Series qualifier Baylor in the only Big 12 action of her career.

Defensively, Gonzalez committed two aggressive throwing errors while living up to her billing as one of the top prep outfielders in California. She made a key play in the Huskers’ win over No. 18 Georgia, starting an inning-ending double play by throwing out the tying run at home plate in the bottom of the sixth inning of NU’s one-run victory. Gonzalez also made a great catch in the eighth inning of a victory against No. 18 California, holding onto the ball while running and leaping into the center field fence at full speed.

Before Nebraska
A standout at Diamond Bar High School, Gonzalez was named to the All-California Interscholastic Federation Division II second team, as well as earning second-team all-state honors from Calhisports.com. An outstanding outfielder, Gonzalez was labeled as "probably the best defensive outfielder in Southern California," by the Los Angeles Times.

She hit .404 with 21 runs scored and nine RBIs as the leadoff hitter for Diamond Bar en route to garnering all-star honors from the Times. Gonzalez was also a two-time all-league selection and won two ASA national championships with the Corona Angels in addition to a pair of national runner-up finishes. Gonzalez is one of three current Huskers who played for the Angels, who are coached by Marty Tyson, the father of Husker junior Tori Tyson.

Personal
The daughter of Carlos and Anna Gonzalez, Crystal Gonzalez was born on May 15, 1988, in Pomona, Calif. Crystal has seven siblings, including four sisters Alissa (17), Brianna (14), Andrea (12), Alexsandra (11), and three brothers, Steven (15), Nathan (10) and Christopher (3). Crystal is a psychology major.

Year

Avg.

GP-GS

AB

R

H

2B

3B

HR

RBI

BB

SO

OB%

SLG%

SB-ATT

FLD%

2007

.214

30-23

56

5

12

0

0

0

0

2

8

.241

.214

5-5

.900

2008

DNP

2009

.000

3-0

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

.500

.000

0-0

.000

2010

.200

12-11

15

1

3

0

0

0

0

0

4

.200

.200

0-0

1.000

Total

.208

45-34

72

7

15

0

0

0

0

3

12

.240

.208

5-5

.931