Huskers Host Illinois This Weekend

The Nebraska softball team hosts the Illinois Fighting Illini this weekend for a four-game series at Bowlin Stadium. The series begins with a single game Friday at 5:30 p.m. followed by a Noon doubleheader on Saturday. The final game of the series is set for 11 a.m. Sunday.

A limited number of tickets are available for each game as part of a reduced capacity at Bowlin Stadium due to the pandemic. Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance at Huskers.com, and all fans are required to wear a face covering inside Bowlin Stadium.

A live video stream of each game will be available to Big Ten Network+ subscribers, while a free radio call will be available on Huskers.com, courtesy of the Husker Sports Network and the UNL College of Journalism and Mass Communications.

This weekend’s series features two of the seven Big Ten teams with winning records in the conference-only schedule this season. Illinois (14-6) enters the series in fourth place in the Big Ten standings, while Nebraska (11-9) sits in seventh place. The Huskers’ 11 wins are already their most conference victories since the 2017 season.

Two of the three Big Ten weekly award winners will be in action this weekend at Bowlin Stadium. Nebraska’s Billie Andrews was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week, while Illinois’ Sydney Sickels was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week.

Quick Hitters

• Nebraska’s 11 Big Ten wins are its most since the 2017 season.
• Six of Nebraska’s nine losses have come by either one or two runs.
• The Huskers’ .980 fielding percentage is currently on pace to break the school record of .973 set in 2006.
• Nebraska has used a different batting lineup in all 20 games this season.
• Billie Andrews has both had a hit and scored a run in nine consecutive games.
• Billie Andrews has been named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week each of the past two weeks.
• Billie Andrews had four hits in the series opener at Rutgers last Friday. She is just the seventh Husker freshman to have a four-hit game and the first since 2011.
• Tristen Edwards ranks 7th nationally with a .600 on-base percentage this season.
• Tristen Edwards enters this weekend with 46 career doubles, two shy of the Husker career record of 48 doubles.
• Tristen Edwards is expected to play in her 200th career game on Friday.
• Fourteen of Cam Ybarra’s 19 hits have come with runners on base, as she is batting .368 with runners on base this season.

Nebraska Natives Power Husker Offense at Rutgers
Nebraska hit .318, scored 27 runs and slugged six home runs while averaging 1.0 run per inning in its four-game series at Rutgers last weekend. That production was powered by five Nebraska natives, who drove in 19 of the Huskers’ 27 runs in the series.

• Billie Andrews was 7-for-14 in the Rutgers series with two doubles, a triple, four runs scored and three RBIs. She had a hit and scored a run in all four games, extending her streak to nine consecutive games with both a hit and run scored. In the series opener, Andrews became just the seventh freshman in program history to have a four-hit game. For her performance, Andrews was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the second straight week.
• Brooke Andrews stepped into the starting lineup for the injured Sydney Gray and made an immediate impact. In the opener, she was 2-for-3 with her first two career home runs and career highs of three runs scored and five RBIs. Andrews went 4-for-14 in the series with one double, two home runs, three runs scored and five RBIs.
• Peyton Glatter started all four games in left field at Rutgers, her longest streak of consecutive starts this season. She responded with a 5-for-14 weekend that included a homer, three runs and five RBIs. Glatter hit her first career grand slam in the game two victory.
• Rylie Unzicker played the role of table setter in the Huskers’ offensive outburst at Rutgers. Batting leadoff in three of the four games, Unzicker reached base in eight of her 16 plate appearances against the Scarlet Knights, totaling five hits – including a double – two walks and one hit-by-pitch, while tying for the team lead with five runs scored.
• Courtney Wallace made the most of her opportunities at Rutgers, reaching base five times in 11 trips to the plate. She produced three walks and two hits, one of which was a three-run homer. Wallace scored twice and drove in five runs in Piscataway.
• Although not a Nebraska native, California product Cam Ybarra also helped power the offense last weekend. Ybarra went 7-for-14 in the Rutgers series with a double and four RBIs. She tied her career high with four hits in game three of the series.

Edwards Perfect in Piscataway
Senior outfielder Tristen Edwards was statistically perfect in Nebraska’s four-game series at Rutgers last weekend.

• Edwards reached base all 15 times she came to the plate in the Rutgers series. She homered in her only official at bat of the weekend, walked nine times – including a pair of intentional walks – and was hit by nine pitches.
• Edwards posted the highest possible batting average (1.000), slugging percentage (4.000) and on-base percentage (1.000). She was also perfect defensively (1.000) and threw out a runner at home plate.

Edwards On Pace for Nebraska’s Top On-Base Percentage
Senior outfielder Tristen Edwards is getting on base at a record-breaking clip this season, reaching base 60 percent of the time she steps up to the plate. Edwards also brings an impressive streak into this weekend’s series with Illinois.

• Edwards leads the Big Ten and ranks seventh nationally with a .600 on-base percentage. Edwards’ on-base percentage climbs to fourth nationally among players with at least 50 plate appearances this season.
• Nebraska has played 45 percent of its scheduled regular-season games, and Edwards’ on-base percentage is on pace to be a school record. Based on available records, only nine times has a Husker finished a season with an on-base percentage above .500. The top mark is a .532 on-base percentage by All-American Kiki Stokes in 2015.
• Entering Friday’s series opener with Illinois, Edwards has reached base safely in 15 consecutive plate appearances, which is believed to be the longest streak in school history. She has also reached base safely in 12 consecutive games.

Digging in on Defense
Nebraska’s defense has been impressive this season, as the Huskers boast a .980 fielding percentage that is on pace to be the top mark in program history.

Nebraska ranks 13th nationally in fielding percentage, and its current mark of .980 would break the school record of a .973 fielding percentage in 2006.

Big Red Offense at the Top of the Big Ten

Despite a slow start, Nebraska ranks near the top of the Big Ten Conference in several offensive categories.

• The Huskers rank second in scoring (4.8 runs per game), doubles (31), home runs (14) and slugging percentage (.412) and third in on-base percentage (.352) and stolen bases (30).
• Individually, senior Tristen Edwards leads the Big Ten in on-base percentage (.600), walks (19) and hit-by-pitches (10), and ranks second in slugging percentage (.727). Senior Cam Ybarra ranks second in the league in doubles (7), while freshman Billie Andrews ranks fourth in runs (16) and triples (2) and fifth in RBIs (15) and steals (8).

Big Red Bats Coming Alive
Nebraska’s offense got off to a slow start this season, which should not have come as much of a surprise considering it had been almost a year since hitters had faced an opposing pitcher and considering the Huskers have started multiple freshmen in the lineup every game. But the bats have begun to come alive, helping NU to an 8-4 record over its last 12 games.

• Nebraska is batting .333 and averaging 6.3 runs per game over its last 12 contests after hitting just .145 and averaging only 2.5 runs per game over its first eight games.
• The Huskers are averaging 9.0 hits per game over the last 12 games, including seven contests with double-digit hits. In the first eight games this season, Nebraska had only one game with double-digit hits and averaged just 3.8 hits per game.
• Nebraska has hit 11 home runs in the past 12 games. The Huskers have homered in a season-high four straight games and have hit three home runs in each of the last two series openers (Penn State on March 262 and Rutgers on April 2).

Husker pitching Staff Showing Improvement
Nebraska’s pitching staff has been much improved this season. Through 20 games, the Huskers boast a 2.64 ERA and are allowing only 3.1 runs per game. Both of those averages are on pace to be the lowest for a Nebraska team since the 2014 season.

• The Huskers have allowed two or fewer runs 12 times in 20 games this season (60 percent). In the previous two seasons, Nebraska allowed two or fewer runs only 19 times in 75 games (25 percent).
• Nebraska has allowed fewer than two runs six times in 20 games this season. In the previous two seasons, the Huskers allowed fewer than two runs only seven times in 75 games.
• Senior Olivia Ferrell is 6-6 with a 2.57 ERA. Ferrell has pitched in 13 of Nebraska’s 20 games with 11 starts. She ranks fifth in the Big Ten in innings (65.1), sixth in wins and seventh in strikeouts (63).
• Junior Courtney Wallace has appeared in 11 games with seven starts. Wallace is 5-3 with a 2.35 ERA and one save in 53.2 innings. Wallace ranks fifth in the Big Ten in saves and eighth in wins.
• Freshman Kaylin Kinney has appeared in eight games with two starts. She has excelled in relief, posting a 2.62 ERA with two saves in six relief outings. Kinney ranks second in the Big Ten and 21st nationally in saves.
• Junior Karlee Seevers has thrown 1.0 scoreless inning this season, while freshman Caitlynn Neal has allowed only one run in 2.1 innings pitched.

Close Calls
Nebraska has been accustomed to playing close games so far this spring, as 10 of the Huskers’ 20 contests have been decided by either one or two runs.

• Nebraska is 4-6 in games decided by two runs or less this season, including 2-2 in one-run games and 2-4 in two-run games. In 23 games last year, the Huskers played only six games decided by two or fewer runs (3-3 record in those games).
• Six of Nebraska’s nine losses have been by either one or two runs. 
• Twelve of Nebraska’s 20 games have been either a tie, one-run or two-run game entering the sixth inning. The Huskers are 7-0 when leading after five innings, 0-7 when trailing after five innings and 2-2 when tied after five innings.
• NU has played four extra-inning games this season, posting a 1-3 record in those games. The Huskers have already played their most extra-inning games since the 2016 season.

Billie Andrews Repeats as Big Ten Freshman of the Week
Shortstop Billie Andrews has won the Big Ten Freshman of the Week award each of the last two weeks. She earned the first weekly award of her career following her performance against Penn State, and she was recognized this week after an outstanding series at Rutgers.

• Andrews is just the second Husker to be named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week in consecutive weeks, joining All-American MJ Knighten, who took home the honor in the first two weeks of April in the 2014 season. 
• Andrews produced multiple hits in each of the four games against Penn State. She finished the series 10-for-15 (.667) with a 1.133 slugging percentage. Andrews scored six runs, drove in five and produced the first two triples and first home run of her career.
• Andrews went 7-for-14 in the four-game series at Rutgers with two doubles, a homer, three RBIs and four runs scored. She had at least one hit and scored at least one run in every game of the series, extending her streak to nine consecutive games with both a hit and run scored.

Gray Out For the Season
Freshman third baseman Sydney Gray suffered a season-ending injury in the series finale against Penn State on March 28. 

• Gray started 14 of Nebraska’s first 16 games at third base, and she hit .366. She finished her abbreviated freshman season with a flurry, going 13-for-25 over her final eight games with five doubles, one homer, seven runs scored and seven RBIs. 
• At the time of her injury, Gray was leading Nebraska in batting average and was second in hits, doubles and slugging percentage (.561).

Edwards Nears Nebraska All-Time Doubles Record
Tristen Edwards owns 46 career doubles, entering this weekend needing two doubles to tie the school record and three to set the new top mark.

Edwards ranks fourth in school history with her 46 career doubles. The record of 48 doubles is shared by three-time All-American Ali Viola (1995-98), two-time All-American Tobin Echo-Hawk (1993-96) and All-American Kim Ogee (2000-03).