Lincoln ---
Sophomore Ashley DeBuhr tossed a three-hitter and struck out a
career-high 17 as the Nebraska softball team opened the NCAA Tournament with a
4-0 victory over Iowa Friday at Bowlin Stadium. With the win, the Huskers
advanced to Saturday's contest at 1 p.m. against the winner of tonight's
Creighton-Washington matchup.
DeBuhr, who improved to 24-19 on the year,
recorded her most strikeouts in a regulation game this year and passed her
previous career high of 16 set in 9.0 innings against Creighton earlier this
season. DeBuhr became the second Husker in program history to record 300
strikeouts in a season, as she struck out the side four times, including twice
shutting down six straight by strikeout. She
now has 315 strikeouts this season.
After giving up a single to lead off the bottom of
the first, DeBuhr set down 17 straight before Stacy May singled to right with
two outs in the sixth. May also led off the game with a single and finished
2-of-3 at the plate. Summer Downs then added another single for the Hawkeyes'
only other hit and bring the tying run to the plate, but DeBuhr picked up her
15th strikeout of the game as she got Kylie
Murray swinning.
The Husker offense gave DeBuhr all she would
need with a run in the top of the second.
With one out, Trisha Tannahill
walked before Jamie Waldecker singled to right field off Hawkeye pitcher Lisa
Birocci to put runners on first and second. Both runners moved up on a groundout
and Tannahill came home for the game's first run when Carmen Kier singled to
center. Nebraska looked to add another run with Waldecker at third, but Birocci
struck out Cassie Kleinsmith looking to get out of the frame.
The Huskers looked set to add another run with two
outs in the second before Birocci got back on track. Lizzy Rock reached on an
error and motored around to third when the ball went down the right field line.
Shena Lawrick then took her second intentional walk of the year before Birocci
got Tannahill out looking.
With one out in the fifth, Anne Steffan beat
out a throw at first and Jessica Yoachim reached on a
single. Rock then looked to drop down a sacrifice to move the runners, but
reached to load the bases when the throw pulled second baseman Summer Downs off
the bag. Birocci then uncorked a wild
pitch that allowed Steffan to score to give the Huskers a 2-0 lead.
With runners at the corners and two outs, Tannahill
launched a pitch over the right fielder's head for Nebraska's sixth hit of the
game and a 4-0 lead. Ali Arnold then came into the circle and held the Huskers
to one hit over the final 2.1 innings.
Nebraska Game Notes
**-- Sophomore pitcher Ashley
DeBuhr picked up 17 strikeouts on the day and now owns 315 for the season.
It is the second-highest mark in Nebraska single-season history and an NU
sophomore record. She joins Peaches James as the only Huskers with at least 300
strikeouts in a season, as the All-American James had a school-record 394 in
2004.
**-- DeBuhr got off to a strong start to the game.
After Stacy May singled to lead off the game, DeBuhr struck out three in the an
inning four times. She finished with a career-high 17 strikeouts, the 14th
time this season she had double-figure strikeouts.
**-- Carmen Kier picked up her third RBI of the
season in the first inning when she singled up the middle to drive in Trisha
Tannahill from third base. Kier had not driven in a run since March 30
when she went 0-for-0 with an RBI. Her other RBI this season came
against Texas Southern when she was 1-for-1 with two runs and an
RBI.
**-- Since returning from an injury on May 11 at the
Big 12 Tournament, Kier has gone 5-for-13 with two runs and one
RBI.
Iowa Game Notes
**-- Iowa
was shut out for the second time this season and was held to two or fewer runs
for just the 13th time. Iowa is now 6-7 this season when scoring two or fewer
runs. The last time the Hawkeyes were shut out was April 3 against then-No. 23
Northwestern, 2-0.
**-- Iowa fell to 7-10 against Nebraska all-time and
fell to 25-8 this season when Lisa Birocci starts in the circle.
BOX
SCORE
Quotes
Nebraska Head Coach Rhonda Revelle
On
Nebraska
’s
performance
“On
offense, you saw us put some pressure on their defense even before we
scored. Then we were able to put
some back-to-back hits together in a couple different innings and that was great
for our team. It was a great game
and it was a nice way to start this tournament. When you play
Iowa
, it’s always a dog
fight and we won this one.”
On
Lisa Boricci and Iowa ’s pitching
“We
really felt her go-to pitch was her screwball, so the lefties were hugging the
plate and the righties were off the plate a little bit. We figured that at some point in time
we’d get an outside pitch and if we did get one we didn’t think it would have
much movement on it as her screwball and we just tried to deliver the barrel
head to the point of contact.
“When
Arnold
came in,
she had some stuff really moving and that threw us off because we hadn’t really
worked for her.”
On
Ashley DeBohr’s performance
“Ashley’s
thrown a lot of great games. I just
thought that tonight she had three things she was looking for: plan, purpose and
passion. She did all of those
things and I don’t think she missed a pitch. Those three hits she gave up, you really
have to give credit to Iowa for.”
On
the possibility of playing Creighton
“During
postseason every team is a great team and it’s not about the opponent but about
how you can play your game. I
understand that Creighton is an instate rivalry, but postseason is a whole
different ballgame.”
Pitcher Ashley DeBuhr
On
her comfort level on the mound
“I felt
really good. I felt good from the
warm-ups and took it into the warm-ups.”
Outfielder Lizzy Rock
On
getting a pair of clutch hits
“Any time
you can do well it feels great. We
had a lot of passion and togetherness this afternoon. There were a lot of great hits and mine
just fell and I had my team backing me all the way. You just got up there and you keep
swinging and sometimes it just happens.”
On
the confidence Nebraska gained from the win
“It is
what you need. We needed to come
out with a big punch and we did and now we can hopefully ride that wave through
the rest of the tournament.”
Iowa Head Coach Gayle Blevins
On
Ashley DeBuhr
“Obviously she pitched a great game. I’m really disappointed in our ability
to make adjustments. You can’t
expect to have 17 strikeouts in a game and win.”
On
the loss
“The big
difference was our lack of offense because it allowed them to get into an
attacking mode. You can’t give your
opponent that opportunity.”
Stacy May
On
Ashley DeBuhr
“It all
comes down to the fact that she hit our spots. Anyone who watches softball can look at
this game and tell you that it doesn’t matter how hard or fast you throw, it’s
whether or not you hit your spots.
I’d like to think that we’re better than what we hit today, but you can’t
take credit away from her either.”