Huskers Host Penn State in 4-Game Series

The Nebraska softball team will play at Bowlin Stadium for the first time in nearly two years this weekend when the Huskers welcome the Penn State Nittany Lions to Lincoln for a four-game series. The teams will play a single game Friday at 5:30 p.m., followed by a doubleheader on Saturday at Noon and the series finale on Sunday at 11 a.m. 

Per the revised Big Ten Conference attendance policy announced on Wednesday, fans will be allowed attend this weekend’s games with a limited number of tickets available each day. Social distancing protocols will be in effect and all fans must wear a face covering. More information on parking and ticketing policies can be found here.

Big Ten Network+ subscribers can watch all four games live this weekend. A free radio broadcast will also be available on Huskers.com, courtesy of the Husker Sports Network and the UNL College of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Nebraska brings a 6-6 record into its home opener. The Huskers split doubleheaders with Indiana, Michigan State and Ohio State in Florida as part of a Big Ten-only event the final week in February. Nebraska then lost a three-game series against No. 23 Michigan (1-2) in its second trip to Florida before winning a three-game series against Purdue (2-1).

Beginning with this weekend, Nebraska will play each of the remaining eight Big Ten teams in four-game series on campus sites over the next eight weekends.

Quick Hitters

• Friday will mark Nebraska’s first home game in 698 days. The last time the Huskers played at Bowlin Stadium was against Maryland on April 28, 2019.
• This weekend will mark Nebraska’s first four-game conference series since the Huskers played a quartet of four-game conference series in the final year of Big Eight softball in 1995.
• Nebraska has allowed two runs or less in 7 of its 12 games. Last year, NU allowed two runs or less in only 6 of its 23 games.
• Nebraska started four freshmen in its last game against Purdue on March 14, and those four freshmen combined to go 9-for-12, producing nine of NU’s 11 hits
• The Huskers have totaled  34 hits and 11 extra-base hits in their past four games. In the season’s first eight games, NU totaled only 30 hits and nine extra-base hits.
• Nebraska ranks fifth nationally in double players per game this season (0.75).
• The Huskers’ .976 fielding percentage is currently on pace to break the school record of .973 set in 2006.
• Tristen Edwards leads the Big Ten with three home runs this season. Her three home runs are more than the team total of nine other Big Ten schools.
• Kaylin Kinney leads the Big Ten and ranks 15th nationally with two saves.

Husker Pitching Shines in the Sunshine State
Nebraska’s pitching shined during the opening two weekends in Florida. The Huskers posted a 2.39 ERA and allowed only 2.8 runs per game over 12 games in the Sunshine State.

• The Huskers have held their opponent to two or fewer runs seven times in 12 games after allowing two or fewer runs only six times in 23 games during last year’s shortened season.
• Nebraska has allowed fewer than two runs four times in 12 games this season after limiting only one opponent to fewer than two runs in 23 games a season ago.
• NU boasts a 2.39 ERA and is limiting opponents to a .248 batting average. In 23 games a season ago, the Huskers posted a 5.54 ERA and a .313 opponent average.
• Nebraska is averaging just 1.8 walks per game this season after averaging at least 3.2 walks per game each of the previous six seasons. 
• The Huskers have allowed only two home runs in 12 games and 314 opponent at bats. Opponents are averaging one home run every 157 at bats this season. Last year, opponents homered an average of every 23 at bats against the Huskers.
• Senior Olivia Ferrell has posted a 2.33 ERA this season after entering the year with a 4.47 career ERA. Ferrell was fantastic for the Huskers two weeks ago, posting a 2-1 record with 1.12 ERA in three starts. She has allowed one earned run or less in three straight starts.
• Junior Courtney Wallace is 3-2 this season with a 2.80 ERA. She entered this year with a 5.50 career ERA. Wallace has also struck out 14 batters this season and walked only seven after entering the year with more career walks (89) than strikeouts (88).
• Junior Karlee Seevers and freshmen Kaylin Kinney and Caitlynn Neal have also pitched well. Seevers made her season debut with a scoreless inning against Purdue on March 13. Kinney has logged a 2.69 ERA with nine strikeouts in 13.0 innings. Neal made her collegiate debut two weeks ago in relief against No. 23 Michigan, pitching a scoreless inning.
• Ferrell and Wallace are tied for ninth in the Big Ten in wins (3). Ferrell also ranks 10th in strikeouts (35), while Kinney leads the league with two saves and Wallace ranks fourth (1).

Digging in on Defense
Aiding the improvement of the Husker pitching staff has been the play of the Nebraska defense. NU boasts a .976 fielding percentage, an outstanding mark especially considering the Huskers are starting freshmen at shortstop and third base.

• The Huskers rank fifth nationally in double plays per game (0.75) and in the top 35 in the country in fielding percentage. 
• Nebraska has played more than one-quarter of its scheduled games, and its .976 fielding percentage would currently rank as the top season fielding percentage in school history. The Huskers have finished a season with a .970 fielding percentage or better only four times: 2001 (.972), 2006 (.973), 2011 (.970) and 2018 (.973).

Close Calls
Nebraska has been accustomed to playing close games so far this spring, as eight of the Huskers’ 12 contests have been decided by either one or two runs.

• Nebraska is 4-4 in games decided by two runs or less this season, including 2-1 in one-run games and 2-3 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).
• Nine of Nebraska’s 12 games have been either a tie, one-run or two-run game entering the sixth inning. The Huskers are 4-0 when leading after five innings, 0-5 when trailing after five innings and 2-1 when tied after five innings.
• NU has played three extra-inning games this season, posting a 1-2 record in those games.
• Four of Nebraska’s six losses have been by either one or two runs. Nebraska had the tying runner in scoring position in its final at bat in two of those four losses.

Freshmen Finding Their Way
Nebraska has started multiple freshmen every game this season, including four games where four freshmen were in the starting batting order. The freshmen, without the benefit of a fall season, have been thrown right into the mix against conference competition, but the group is beginning to find its way.

• In Nebraska’s last game against Purdue, MJ Green, Sydney Gray, Billie Andrews and Caitlynn Neal batted 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th, respectively. Those four freshmen combined to go 9-for-12 with two doubles, two RBIs and three runs scored. The quartet accounted for nine of Nebraska’s 11 hits and all of the Huskers’ extra-base hits, runs and RBIs.
• Green went 2-for-3 against Purdue in her first career start and she is 3-for-5 this season.
• Andrews is tied for the team lead with four stolen bases and two multi-RBI games this season and ranks second with six runs scored and seven RBIs and third with six hits.
• Gray lis tied for the team lead with three multi-hit games this season and ranks second with eight hits and two doubles. She is batting .276 on the season after going 6-for-13 with two doubles and two RBIs in her last four games, which included a walk-off two-out, two-run single to give Nebraska a 5-4 upset of No. 23 Michigan.
• Neal is batting .313 this season after going 5-for-9 with three runs and three RBIs in the three-game series with Purdue. Neal also pitched a scoreless inning against No. 23 Michigan.
• Kaylin Kinney has collected three hits and Abbie Squier has totaled one hit, one RBI and three runs this season. Camyl Armendariz has also scored three runs in her rookie season. 
• As a group, the Huskers’ eight freshmen have combined to bat .226 this season (26-for-115), while the remainder of the roster is hitting a collective .189 (38-for-201). The freshmen have also accounted for 18 of the Huskers’ 36 runs scored and 14 of the team’s 30 RBIs.

Scouting the Penn State Nittany Lions
Penn State enters this weekend looking for its first victory of the season, but the Nittany Lions’ 0-12 record doesn’t tell the whole story. Under first-year head coach Clarisa Crowell, six of Penn State’s 12 losses have been by two or fewer runs. In their last five games, the Nittany Lions lost twice in extra innings to an Iowa team (7-5) in fifth place in the Big Ten Conference standings, and PSU suffered a pair of one-run defeats to second-place Illinois (10-2).

Nebraska and Penn State share one common opponent this season in Purdue. The Nittany Lions were swept in a doubleheader by Purdue on the second day of the season, while the Huskers went 2-1 against the Boilermakers in a three-game series two weeks ago.

• Penn State has been solid in the circle, posting a 2.41 ERA that ranks just behind Nebraska’s 2.39 ERA. Opponents are hitting only .238 against Nittany Lion pitching and have hit only one home run in 328 at bats.
• While Penn State’s pitching has been formidable, the staff has been hurt by the Nittany Lion defense. Penn State has committed 20 errors in 12 games, posting a .942 fielding percentage. The Nittany Lions have allowed almost as many unearned runs (25) as earned runs (29). Penn State is allowing an average of 4.5 runs per game despite its 2.41 ERA.
• Individually, Penn State has relied heavily on left-hander Bailey Parshall, who has thrown 44 percent of the team’s innings. Parshall is 0-6 with a 2.27 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 37.0 innings. She has walked only nine batters and has gone the distance in three of her five starts.
• Right-hander Kylee Lingenfelter ranks behind Parshall with four starts in 2021. Lingenfelter is 0-4 with a 1.19 ERA this spring, as only three of the 13 runs she has allowed in 17.2 innings have been earned.
• Left-hander Vanessa Oatley ranks second on the team with six appearances and 19.2 innings pitched. She is 0-1 with a 1.42 ERA, and opponents are hitting just .174 against her.
• Omaha native and Creighton transfer Logan Black rounds out the Nittany Lion staff. Black is 0-1 this season with a 7.00 ERA in 10.0 innings.
• Offensively, Penn State is hitting just .148 as a team, ranking last in the Big Ten in batting average. The Nittany Lions are averaging 1.5 runs per game and are the only Big Ten team yet to homer this season.
• Dani Fey and Michelle Leone are the only Nittany Lions batting over .190. Fey leads the team with a .280 average and .333 on-base percentage, while Leone is batting .240 with a pair of doubles, and she leads the team with a .320 slugging percentage.
• Lilia Crouthamel paces Penn State with four RBIs and four stolen bases.
• Clarisa Crowell is in her first season at Penn State and her ninth season as a head coach. She spent the previous eight seasons as the head coach at Miami (Ohio). Crowell owns an 0-12 record at Penn State, with a career mark of 209-194.