Whitney Barrett Season 2007

Career Capsule
Whitney Barrett was a four-year starter for the Huskers, starting at second base as a freshman in 2007 before starting at shortstop in 2008, 2009 and 2010. The first letterwinner from Alabama in program history, Barrett appeared in 203 career games - including 195 starts. When her career ended, she was only the eighth player in program history to play in 200 career games.

Senior Season [2010]
Barrett helped lead Nebraska to the 2010 NCAA Tournament by appearing in every game and starting 58 contests at short. She finished with a .195 average that ranked as the second-best mark of her career. Her two doubles, one home run and 12 RBIs all tied her career high, while her 23 hits were one shy of her career best. She added a career-high five stolen bases and four sacrifices. Eight of her 12 RBIs came with two outs, while she posted an .892 fielding percentage after a slow start to the season.

Junior Season [2009]
Barrett set a slew of career highs in 2009 in her second year as the Huskers’ starting shortstop. She started 52 games at short and finished with career-high totals of 20 runs, 12 RBIs, 18 walks and four stolen bases. Although her average dipped in 2009, Barrett’s career-high 18 walks helped her post a .308 on-base percentage. She finished the year with four multi-hit games and four multi-RBI games. Defensively, Barrett posted a .951 fielding percentage while committing only one error over her final 18 games.

Barrett began the season in strong fashion, going 6-for-10 with six runs scored, a double, three RBIs, three walks and two stolen bases over the first five games. She went on to hit .318 in the month of February while drawing seven walks, two shy of her season total from the previous year. Barrett was also perfect in the month defensively.

During Big 12 Conference play, Barrett came up with several clutch hits, as seven of her 12 RBIs came in league action. In a span of three conference games, Barrett drove in five runs, highlighted by her first career home run - a three-run shot that helped secure a victory at Missouri, which went on to the Women’s College World Series.

On the season, Barrett produced 11 of her 12 RBIs with two outs, to go along with a .286 two-out batting average. She also came through against the top teams, as five of her 12 RBIs on the season came against ranked opponents.

Sophomore Season [2008]
Barrett was slowed early in her sophomore campaign by offseason surgery. After missing the first weekend of the year while continuing to recover, Barrett went on to start 46 games as a sophomore and post a .247 batting average, improving her average .071 from her freshman season. Over her final 17 games, Barrett caught fire, batting .362 (17-for-47) with one double, two triples, six runs scored and seven RBIs. She also committed only two errors over her final 18 games.

Barrett emerged during Big 12 play, hitting .325 with six RBIs. She was also strong against ranked opponents, batting .278 against ranked teams with a .381 on-base percentage. Barrett hit .333 with two outs, while producing five two-out RBIs. On the season, Barrett posted seven multi-hit games and the first multi-RBI contest of her career. She tied for the team lead by legging out the only two triples of her career.

Barrett enjoyed the best week of her career in the final week of the regular season. During a six-game conference stretch that covered eight days, Barrett hit .526 (10-for-19) while hitting safely in a career-high six straight games. She began the week 3-for-5 in a two-game series with national runner-up Texas A&M, including a 2-for-2 effort in the first game. Barrett continued her hot hitting with a 2-for-3 day with a run, an RBI and a stolen base two days later against Iowa State. She then finished 3-for-7 in a doubleheader with Kansas the next day. Barrett closed her hitting streak with a perfect 2-for-2 game against Missouri three days later, recording her first career triple against the Tigers while tallying a career-best two RBIs.

Freshman Season [2007]
Barrett started 39 games in her freshman season, including the final 26 at second base, while batting leadoff in 22 of those contests. She scored 12 runs and drove in six in the leadoff spot. Barrett batted .031 higher in Big 12 games than in non-conference action and hit .240 in 18 home games, scoring 10 runs, driving in four and posting a .345 on-base percentage.

Barrett’s production and availability were hampered early in the season as she suffered through an eye injury and a hand injury. She was one of three freshmen who started the season opener, but she was not in the batting order due to her injuries. After recording her first career hit and RBI against DePaul on the second day of her career, Barrett matched or exceeded her career totals in runs, hits and RBIs in a doubleheader against Drake in late March. She went a career-high 3-for-4 with her second career RBI and her first extra-base hit in game one while hitting a walk-off seventh-inning RBI double to break a 3-3 tie for her first game-winning RBI. The three hits matched her career total entering the game. Barrett then scored a career-high two runs in game two and kept the momentum going that weekend with a 4-for-8 effort that included two runs and an RBI in a doubleheader against Texas Tech in her Big 12 debut.

Defensively, Barrett committed just one error over her final 95 chances after committing four errors in her first 29 chances. She finished the year with a career-best .960 fielding percentage.

Before Nebraska
Barrett earned first-team Alabama Class 5A all-state honors from the Montgomery Advertiser and the Alabama Sports Writers Association while at Wetumpka High School. She hit .446 as a junior with 53 runs, 28 RBIs, 16 doubles, five triples, four home runs, 35 stolen bases, a .500 on-base percentage and a .688 slugging percentage. As a senior, Barrett batted .475 with 56 runs, 35 RBIs, 15 doubles, one triple, five home runs, 41 stolen bases, a .494 on-base percentage and a .673 slugging percentage.

According to the Advertiser, as a senior, Barrett ranked third in the state in stolen bases, fourth in on-base percentage and fifth in average, RBIs, home runs, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, finishing in the top five in each category for the second straight year. Barrett first joined her high school team as an eighth-grader. She chose Nebraska over Auburn and Alabama.

Personal
Whitney Ann Barrett is the daughter of Nealy and Jennie Barrett and was born on July 21, 1988, in Wetumpka, Ala. She has one brother, Justin (24). The Huskers’ only letterwinner from the state of Alabama, Whitney is an animal science major.

Year

Avg.

GP-GS

AB

R

H

2B

3B

HR

RBI

BB

SO

OB%

SLG%

SB-ATT

FLD%

2007

.176

46-39

108

15

19

1

0

0

7

12

29

.288

.185

4-5

.960

2008

.247

46-46

97

9

24

2

2

0

10

9

25

.311

.309

3-6

.932

2009

.183

52-52

109

20

20

1

0

1

12

18

25

.308

.220

4-5

.951

2010

.195

59-58

118

13

23

2

0

1

12

10

33

.267

.237

5-8

.892

Total

.199

203-195

432

57

86

6

2

2

41

49

112

.293

.236

16-24

.932