HUSKERS SOFTBALL Weekly: A Jersey Sweep Is Crucial Nebraska Rutgers Penn State Billie Andrews Kaylin Kinney

Oh, what could have been.

For those optimistic souls whose glasses are always half full, last week was perfectly okay. Faced with two top 30 opponents, the Huskers played their best full week of the season shutting out Kansas and bookending a beatdown of Penn State with two 1-run losses facing freshman sensation Bridget Nemeth. They finished the week 2-2 – half the wins for half-full cup, amirite??

For surlier types like me, it was just the bad luck continuing to pile up. That glass wasn’t just half empty; someone left it on the ground and the neighbor’s grumpy poodle pissed in it for good measure.

First of the almosts was Friday’s performance against the Nittany’s. The Huskers scratched out an early run only to see a 2-run blast by Maddie Gordon leave the yard in the top of the 6th inning, about the only mistake in a Kaylin Kinney gem of a start as Nemeth shut down the Nebraska bats the rest of the way.

In the Sunday rematch between the two, it was a hitters’ day as 4 HR’s left the yard. It appeared the Huskers had turned the tables this time with Caitlynn Neal bombing a 2-run job of her own to break open a tie in the bottom of the 6th. But then, on a day on which the Huskers got to Nemeth better than most, she helped herself with her first hit of the season – another 2-run homer which sent the game to extra innings – where yet another 2-run HR capped the comeback for Penn State.

This week was so close to a 4-0 record against top teams. But without those two extra wins, the margin for error remains very tight.

Looking ahead to Rutgers, the Huskers face a team which does not have much depth, but in Morgan Smith, Kyleigh Sand and Mattie Boyd they have two hitters and a pitcher who are as good as almost any top three players on every team in the conference. There’s more detail below, but especially check Morgan Smith’s numbers – she’s hitting .457 with 17 HR’s and is also the team’s #2 starter.

PREVIOUS WEEK’S RESULTS:

Penn St. 2 HUSKERS 1 Recap
HUSKERS 10 Penn St. 2 (5) Recap
Penn St. 6 HUSKERS 5 (10) Recap

Current Record: 23-15 Overall (6-2 Big 10, Tie 4th Place)
Current Ranking RPI: 45th

THE PATH TO THE DANCE

There’s not really a magic RPI number to qualifying for the NCAA tournament but comparing it to basketball is not a bad way to go. Both softball and basketball have a 64-team field whose qualifiers are pulled from a pool of over 300 teams with around 30+ conferences receiving automatic bids.

Factoring in that a chunk of those auto bids will go to teams already high up in the RPI, but the Big 10 will be down several spots from stronger conferences, the number which floats in my head is 35. As in, a team better be in Top 35 in RPI to have a good chance at a bid.

Or win the conference tournament – which is where the Huskers would be if the season had ended last Sunday.

The Huskers currently sit at 45th in RPI – their 1-2 performance against Penn St. actually nudged them up two spots. But to give you an idea of what could’ve been, their sweep vs. Wisconsin – currently #126 overall – but more importantly, their shutout of Kansas bumped them 12 spots from #59 to #47. A sweep of Penn St. likely would have moved them past the #35 cut line.

Rutgers currently sits at #96 and though they are one spot behind NU in the standings, they have yet to play anyone in the top half of the division. There likely wouldn’t be too much damage winning two of three, but a sweep would be very beneficial.

Michigan, Northwestern and Minnesota all remain. Northwestern is back on top of a conference they’ve ruled over in recent years and Michigan and Minnesota sit atop the standings as well. Let’s just hope that rainout vs. Illinois doesn’t come back to us.

A game which if played would likely have us in a tie for 2nd instead of a tie for 4th.

INJURY UPDATE

This is very much starting to feel like last fall in Lincoln when injuries decimated the football team.

• Freshman Caitlyn Olensky, hadn’t pitched since being removed vs Illinois on 3/22, was finally declared out for the season after suffering a pectoral injury. At the time, she had established herself as the top pitcher on the staff and still leads the team in ERA at 3.30.
• Sophomore Talia Tokheim returned from rehabbing a 2023 season-ending injury to make her bat immediately felt in the order. She crushed 3 home runs in 6 starts before her season was prematurely ended again last weekend against Penn State.

(Gettin’ ready for another weekend of Husker softball)

GAME INFO

Schedule: (All times CST)

April 12 at Rutgers 2 p.m.
April 13 at Rutgers 2 p.m.
April 14 at Rutgers Noon

Location: Rutgers Softball Complex, Piscataway, NJ

Surface: Natural grass, dirt infield.

TV/Streaming: All three games will stream on the B1G+ app ($9.99/mo for all Nebraska events)

Radio: Huskers Radio Network. You can listen for free at Husker Audio – University of Nebraska – Official Athletics Website (huskers.com – Nate Rohr is on the call.)

***Weather: For Friday’s game, temps should be around 60 – however, don’t be surprised if there is a slight delay of the 2pm start time. Heavy rains are expected from around noon until a little after 2pm with over 1” possible in that time frame. Skies should clear with partly sunny conditions beginning around 3pm.

Saturday’s game should be cooler with cloudy conditions & temps in the low 50’s. Sunday will be nicer with temps in the mid-60’s and partly sunny skies.

THE OPPONENT

Rutgers (25-16, 7-4 Big 10 6th place)

Knights are 7-4 in Big Ten play, with the seven conference victories ranking second in the Big Ten. Rutgers has won five of its last six games, all against Big Ten teams. Nebraska and Rutgers share three common opponents this season in Duke, UCLA and Wisconsin. The Huskers went 3-2 against that group while the Scarlet Knights were 2-3. Rutgers hits .295 as a team and leads the Big Ten with 253 runs while averaging 6.2 runs per game. The Scarlet Knights are limiting their opponents to 3.8 runs per game and fielding at a .963 clip. Rutgers has outscored its opponents by 98 runs this season, the best run differential of any Big Ten team.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

OF/P Morgan Smith is the Scarlet Knights’ top hitter and one of the top hitters in the Big Ten and the country. Smith leads the team with a .457 average, nine doubles, four triples, 17 home runs, 57 RBIs, a .984 slugging percentage and a .503 on-base percentage.

In addition, Smith is 8-8 with a 3.37 ERA in 104.0 innings over 23 appearances and seven starts. She has thrown six complete games – including one shutout – and has limited opponents to a .241 batting average.

SS Kyleigh Sand is hitting .375 with eight doubles, four triples and 20 RBIs. She leads the team in triples, runs (45), walks (27) and stolen bases (11). Sand ranks second in the Big Ten and 10th nationally in runs scored.

P Mattie Boyd is 14-6 on the season with two saves and a 2.42 ERA in 127.1 innings. She leads the Scarlet Knights in ERA, wins, saves, innings, appearances (26), starts (20), complete games (13), shutouts (2), strikeouts (117) and opponent batting average (.197).

Boyd and Smith have combined to throw 231.1 of Rutgers’ 276.2 innings (84 percent).

THE PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

#6 BILLIE ANDREWS • SS

#27 BROOKE ANDREWS • CF

#24 AVA BREDWELL • C

#29 SAMANTHA BLAND • LF

#7 SYDNEY GRAY • 3B

#18 – PEYTON CODY – DP

#3 BELLA BACON • 1B

#19 CAITLYNN NEAL • RF

#66 KATELYN CANEDA • 2B

#44 KAYLIN KINNEY • P

Neal steps into the order for Tokheim and expect Kinney to once again grab a couple starts possibly a relief appearance.

HUSKER HEAT – Every Tuesday 8pm – YouTube Live

(First off, apologies for the technical difficulties which took us down last Tuesday – all should be fixed by next week and we sure should have plenty to talk about.)

Please join us for Husker Heat, your only dedicated Huskers softball podcast as we review & preview goings on as the season progresses.

We try keep everyone abreast of current goings on and have a good time doing it. Join Andy Ketterson (me), Mylie Ketterson and Jaden Miller and the weird combo of sports knowledge and goofiness that combo entails.

We promise to make up for any blatant inaccuracies or general silliness with an unbridled hatred of all things Hawkeyes. You can find previous episodes on YouTube on the Corn Nation page.

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