Huskers Travel to No. 24 Minnesota

The Nebraska softball team will play its second series of the season against a ranked opponent this weekend, when the Huskers travel to Minneapolis to take on No. 24 Minnesota. The teams will open the series on Friday at 5 p.m., then play a Noon doubleheader on Saturday with the series finale at Noon on Sunday. All four games will be available to watch for subscribers to Big Ten Network+.

This weekend’s series features two of the Big Ten’s best teams. Minnesota sits in second place in the conference standings with a 19-5 record, leading the league in wins. Nebraska is tied for fifth in the Big Ten standings with a 14-10 record. 

Both teams are coming off impressive performances last week. The Huskers earned a 3-1 series victory at home against an Illinois team who entered last week tied with Minnesota for third place in the Big Ten standings. Minnesota swept a four-game series at then-No. 22 Northwestern after the Wildcats entered the series atop the standings with an 18-2 record.

Minnesota (27) and Nebraska (18) are the Big Ten’s top two home-run hitting teams, and the Huskers rank second in the league in scoring and Minnesota ranks third. Nebraska has averaged 6.8 runs per game over its first three four-game Big Ten series. The Huskers scored 23 runs over the final three games of the Illinois series – an average of 7.7 runs per game – against an Illini pitching staff that entered the series ranked 11th nationally in ERA.

Quick Hitters

• Nebraska (5-4) and Minnesota (8-2) are the only two Big Ten teams with a winning record against top-100 NCAA RPI teams.
• Nebraska’s 14 Big Ten wins are its most since the Huskers won 17 times in a 23-game conference schedule in 2015.
• The Huskers’ .978 fielding percentage is currently on pace to break the school record of .973 set in 2006.
• Nebraska ranks second in the Big Ten in scoring (4.9 runs per game), doubles (37) and home runs (18).
• Billie Andrews leads all Big Ten freshmen in hits (27), average (.342), runs (20), home runs (4), RBIs (19) and stolen bases (19).
• Tristen Edwards has hit 47 career doubles, one shy of the school record.
• Tristen Edwards has only been retired three times in 30 trips to the plate the last two weekends (eight games).
• Tristen Edwards is 2nd nationally in on-base percentage (.633) & walks per game (1.04).
• Olivia Ferrell ranks 4th in the Big Ten in innings pitched (77.1), 5th in wins (8) and 9th in strikeouts (career-high 71).
• Rylie Unzicker has batted leadoff in seven of the past eight games. Nebraska is averaging 7.0 runs per game in those games, as Unzicker has hit .364, reached base at a .500 clip and scored 10 times.

Edwards’ Streak Falls Just Short of NCAA Record
Senior outfielder Tristen Edwards nearly set an NCAA record for most consecutive plate appearances reaching base safely. In a seven-game span from April 2-10, Edwards reached base safely in 24 straight trips to the plate. Her streak ranked third in NCAA history. 

• During the streak of reaching base in 24 consecutive plate appearances, Edwards was 4-for-4 with a double and a homer with 12 walks and eight hit-by-pitches.
• The streak began at Rutgers, when Edwards reached base all 15 times in the series. She homered in her only official at bat, walked nine times and was hit by five pitches.
• Edwards then reached base safely in her first nine trips to the plate in the Illinois series. She went 3-for-3 with three walks and three-hit-by-pitches before her streak ended with a pop out.
• Edwards has reached base safely in 27 of her 30 plate appearances over the last two weekends (eight games). She has also reached base safely in 16 consecutive games.

Edwards Walking to First With Frequency
Tristen Edwards has been able to walk to first base 38 times this season as teams have elected to frequently pitch around the senior slugger. 

• With 38 combined walks and hit-by-pitches – in only 24 games – Edwards leads the nation with an average of 1.58 “free passes” per game this season.
• Edwards has walked 25 times in 24 games this season. She ranks second nationally in walks per game and 14th nationally in total walks.
• Edwards has been hit by 13 pitches in 24 games. She ranks fourth nationally in hit-by-pitches per game and eighth nationally in total hit-by-pitches.

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 more than 63 percent of the time she steps up to the plate. 

• Edwards ranks second nationally with a .633 on-base percentage. Drexel’s Linda Rush leads the nation with a .636 mark but has had 23 fewer plate appearances than Edwards.
• Nebraska has played 55 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 school record is a .532 on-base percentage by All-American Kiki Stokes in 2015, a mark Edwards currently tops by more than .100.

Edwards Nears Nebraska’s All-Time Doubles Record
Tristen Edwards owns 47 career doubles, entering this weekend needing only one double to tie the school record and two to set the new top mark. Edwards ranks fourth in school history with her 47 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).

Billie Andrews Wins 3rd Straight Weekly Award

Billie Andrews has won the Big Ten Freshman of the Week award in three consecutive weeks. She is the first Husker to be honored as a three-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week, and Andrews is just the fourth freshman in Big Ten history to win the award in three straight weeks.

• Andrews produced multiple hits in each of the four games against Penn State to win her first award. She finished the series 10-for-15 (.667) with a 1.133 slugging percentage. Andrews scored six runs, drove in five and produced her first two career triples and first home run.
• The next week, Andrews went 7-for-14 in the four-game series at Rutgers with two doubles, a homer, three RBIs and four runs. She had at least one hit and one run in every game of the series, extending her streak to nine consecutive games with both a hit and run scored.
• Last week, Andrews was 4-for-11 (.364) with two home runs, four runs scored and four RBIs against an Illinois pitching staff that entered the series ranked 11th nationally in ERA. Andrews hit two home runs in game three of the series for her first career multi-homer game.

Billie Andrews Making Her Case as Big Ten’s Top Freshman
Freshman shortstop Billie Andrews has put up the top statistics of any Big Ten freshman hitter this season as she looks to become Nebraska’s first Big Ten Freshman of the Year winner.

• Andrews leads all Big Ten freshmen in runs (20), home runs (4), RBIs (19), stolen bases (9) and slugging percentage (.582). She is tied for the Big Ten freshman lead in hits and batting average with Maryland’s Jaeda McFarland, as both players are batting .342 this season (27-for-79). Andrews also ranks second among all Big Ten freshmen in triples (2).
• Andrews enter this weekend leading all Big Ten freshman in the three “triple crown” categories (batting average, home runs and RBIs).
• Additionally, Andrews is batting an impressive .457 (16-for-35) with runners on base this season and .455 (10-for-22) with runners in scoring position.
• As the top statistical freshman hitter in the Big Ten, Andrews’ top competition for Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Year honors may come from a pitcher. Michigan State’s Ashley Miller and Ohio State’s Allison Smith have been the top statistical freshmen pitchers in the conference. Miller ranks in the top 10 among all Big Ten pitchers in saves (6th) and ERA (7th), while Smith ranks in the top 10 in saves (6th), wins (7th), strikeouts (7th) and innings pitched (7th). By comparison, Andrews ranks in the top five among all Big Ten hitters in runs (3rd), home runs (4th), RBIs (4th), triples (5th) and stolen bases (5th).

Cam in the Clutch
Senior second baseman Cam Ybarra has been a clutch hitter for Nebraska. That has been especially true the last two weeks as teams have elected to pitch around Tristen Edwards, with Ybarra routinely making the opponent pay for that decision. Ybarra has hit behind Edwards in the lineup in seven of the last eight games and in 18 of Nebraska’s 24 games this season.

• Ybarra is hitting .304, but her average climbs to .343 with runners in scoring position. Ybarra is also batting .180 higher with runners on base (.385) than with the bases empty (.185).
• Fifty-two of Ybarra’s 79 at bats this season (66 percent) have come with runners on base, as have 19 of her 24 hits (79 percent). 
• Over eight games the last two weeks – as Edwards has reached base at a .900 clip – Ybarra is batting .414 (12-for-29) with two doubles, a homer and 11 RBIs. In that stretch, Ybarra has hit with at least one runner on base in 25 of her 29 at bats. She is 11-for-25 (.440) with runners on base the past two weeks and 7-for-16 (.438) with runners in scoring position. Seven of Ybarra’s 11 RBIs the past eight games have come with two outs.
• Ybarra has driven in the game-winning run in each of Nebraska’s last two wins. She broke a 5-5 tie against Illinois in game three last weekend with a two-out, three-run double. Then in the series finale, Ybarra hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning with Nebraska trailing by one.

Digging in on Defense
Nebraska’s defense has been impressive this season, as the Huskers boast a .978 fielding percentage that is on pace to be the top mark in program history. Nebraska ranks 18th nationally in fielding percentage, and its current mark of .978 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 the league in scoring (4.9 runs per game), doubles (37) and home runs (18) and are fourth in slugging percentage (.417) and on-base percentage (.351).
• Individually, senior Tristen Edwards leads the Big Ten in on-base percentage (.633), walks (21) and hit-by-pitches (13) and ranks second in slugging percentage (.720). Senior Cam Ybarra ranks second in the league in doubles (8) and third in RBIs (20), while freshman Billie Andrews ranks third in runs (20), fourth in homers (4), triples (2) and RBIs (19) and fifth in steals (9).
• Nebraska has a league-high three players ranked in the top 10 in runs scored (Billie Andrews, Tristen Edwards and Rylie Unzicker) and the Huskers and Minnesota are the only two teams with multiple players on the Big Ten top-10 list in RBIs and home runs.

Husker Pitching Staff Showing Improvement
Nebraska’s pitching staff has been much improved this season. Through 24 games, the Huskers boast a 2.75 ERA and are allowing only 3.4 runs per game. Both of those averages are on pace to be the lowest for a Nebraska team since the 2014 season.

• NU has allowed two or fewer runs 12 times in 24 games this year (50 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 24 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 8-6 with a 2.63 ERA after entering the year with a 15-21 career record and 4.47 ERA. Ferrell has pitched in 16 of Nebraska’s 24 games this spring with 13 starts. She ranks fourth in the Big Ten in innings (77.1), fifth in wins and ninth in strikeouts (71).
• Junior Courtney Wallace has also appeared in 16 games with nine starts. Wallace is 6-4 with a 2.65 ERA and one save in 53.2 innings this season after entering the year with a 6-9 career record and 5.50 ERA. Wallace ranks sixth in the Big Ten in saves and eighth in wins.
• Freshman Kaylin Kinney has appeared in nine games with two starts. She has excelled in relief, posting a 2.40 ERA with two saves in seven relief outings. Kinney ranks third in the Big Ten and 37th 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.