NEBRASKA SOFTBALL NEBRASKANO. 1 IN SOFTBALL ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS • NO. 13 IN NCAA TOURNAMENT WINS NO. 10 IN WORLD SERIES APPEARANCES • NO. 10 IN NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES SOFTBALL MEDIA RELATIONS CONTACT: MATT SMITH OFFICE PHONE: (402) 472-7780 CELL PHONE: (402) 770-5926 E-MAIL: [email protected] WEEK 11: 2014 NEBRASKA SCHEDULE (30-13) Date Opponent Time/Result vs. OHIO STATE Hotel Encanto Invitational (Las Cruces, N.M.) Dates: Fri., Sat. & Sun., April 18, 19 & 20 Feb. 7 vs. UTEP W, 7-0 First Pitches: 6 p.m, 1 p.m. & Noon Feb. 7 vs. No. 12 Florida State W, 4-3 Ohio State Buckeyes Location: Lincoln, Neb. Nebraska Cornhuskers Feb. 8 at New Mexico State W, 11-0 (5) Record: 20-20 Stadium: Bowlin Stadium Record: 30-13 Feb. 9 vs. No. 12 Florida State L, 1-5 Ranking: NR/NR Live Stats & Audio: Huskers.com Rankings: 19th/20th Hilton Houston Plaza Classic (Houston, Texas) Big Ten Record: 6-6 Live TV: None Big Ten Record: 8-4 Feb. 14 at Houston W, 4-1 Feb. 14 vs. Army W, 7-0 BTN.com (Friday & Saturday) Away Record: 2-7 Live Streaming: Home Record: 7-3 Feb. 15 vs. Stephen F. Austin L, 0-1 Feb. 15 vs. Sam Houston State W, 2-0 HUSKERS HOST WORLD’S LARGEST TAILGate THIS WEEKEND Feb. 16 vs. Sam Houston State W, 7-1 The 19th-ranked Nebraska softball team wraps up an eight-game homestand this weekend by Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic (Cathedral City, Calif.) welcoming the Ohio State Buckeyes to Bowlin Stadium for a three-game series on Friday, Saturday and Feb. 21 vs. No. 12 Texas A&M W, 3-2 (9) Sunday. Feb. 21 vs. No. 14 Arizona L, 0-7 The teams will open the series on Friday at 6 p.m. but the highlight of the weekend is Saturday, when Feb. 22 vs. No. 2 Tennessee L, 3-5 the Huskers host their third annual World’s Largest Softball Tailgate. The free tailgate begins at 10 a.m. Feb. 23 vs. No. 8 UCLA L, 2-6 Feb. 23 vs. Boise State W, 4-0 (6) in the parking lot beyond the left field fence and includes one free hot dog, one free Pepsi product and one free bag of chips to the first 2,000 fans. Tailgate activities will include balloon artists, face painters, Feb. 28 at Oklahoma State - 1 W, 4-3 Feb. 28 at Oklahoma State - 2 W, 8-4 inflatables and games. Fans will also have the chance to watch Nebraska take batting practice on the March 1 at No. 13 Oklahoma - 1 L, 4-5 field and get autographs from the team. Not only is the tailgate a completely free event, but admission March 1 at No. 13 Oklahoma - 2 W, 7-2 into the 1 p.m. game with Ohio State is also free. Season ticket holders will have their normal seats Judi Garman Classic (Fullerton, Calif.) reserved for them but all other seating is general admission available on a first-come, first-served March 7 vs. No. 7 Arizona State L, 0-1 (8) basis. March 7 vs. San Jose State W, 4-1 Nebraska is attempting to break the record of 1,752 fans who attended last year’s event. The Huskers March 8 at Cal State Fullerton W, 9-2 are also hoping to draw 2,000 fans to the game with Ohio State, which would mark the largest crowd March 8 vs. No. 6 Washington W, 2-1 March 9 vs. Fresno State L, 0-1 in school history. During the game, a free raffle drawing will be held every inning.R affle tickets will be handed out to everyone attending the tailgate, but fans must be present at the game to win. Jayhawk Invitational (Lawrence, Kan.) March 14 vs. Jackson State W, 8-0 (5) Following a fun-filled Saturday, the Huskers and Buckeyes wrap up their series at Noon on Sunday. March 15 vs. Northern Illinois W, 10-2 (6) An Easter egg hunt will take place throughout Bowlin Stadium prior to Sunday’s game. Although fans March 15 at Kansas W, 1-0 do not need to purchase a ticket for Saturday’s tailgate or game, fans will need a ticket for Friday and March 19 Iowa State W, 10-3 Sunday. Tickets can be purchased 90 minutes prior to first pitch at the Bowlin Stadium ticket office, March 21 No. 16 Minnesota* L, 2-7 located at the main entrance to the stadium, behind home plate. Tickets can also be purchased by March 23 No. 16 Minnesota - 1* L, 4-13 calling 1-800-8-BIG RED or by going online to Huskers.com. March 23 No. 16 Minnesota - 2* W, 3-2 Ticket prices start at $3 for youth and senior general admission seating, $5 for adult general March 26 at UNO W, 10-0 (5) admission and $7 for reserved seating. General admission seating does include one section of chairback March 28 at No. 23 Northwestern* L, 2-10 (5) seats. Fans with a baseball ticket stub will receive $1 admission on Friday and Sunday. March 29 at No. 23 Northwestern* W, 13-3 March 30 at No. 23 Northwestern* W, 10-1 (5) Fans unable to make it out to Bowlin Stadium this weekend will be able to follow all of the action online. Nate Rohr will call a free radio broadcast of all three games for Huskers.com, while subscribers April 2 Creighton (BTN) W, 5-2 April 5 at Illinois - 1* L, 4-11 to the Big Ten Digital Network can watch a live video stream on Friday and Saturday. April 5 at Illinois - 2* W, 9-4 HUSKERS TO WATCH NEBRASKA BY THE NUMBERS April 6 at Illinois* W, 12-2 (5) MJ Knighten, Fr., 3B Nebraska fell three spots to No. 13 in this April 8 UNO L, 2-3 April 9 Northern Iowa W, 4-0 Knighten has been named the Big Ten week’s NCAA RPI ranking, but the Huskers April 11 Iowa - 1* W, 5-2 Freshman of the Week each of the last 13 are still the highest ranked Big Ten team, April 11 Iowa - 2* W, 9-1 (6) two weeks. She has hit safely in 11 of five spots ahead of No. 18 Michigan. April 12 Iowa* W, 18-0 (5) her last 13 games, producing a .500 average (17-for-34) during that stretch After ranking No. 1 the past two weeks, NU April 18 Ohio State* 6 p.m. with two homers and a .614 on-base percentage. ranked sixth in strength of schedule in this April 19 Ohio State* 1 p.m. April 20 Ohio State* Noon Knighten is 10-for-17 (.588) with eight RBIs and five week’s NCAA RPI, including boasting the 6 April 23 at Creighton 6 p.m. walks in Nebraska’s past two Big Ten series. third-toughest non-conference schedule. April 25 at Michigan State* 4 p.m. Emily Lockman, So., RHP NU has won five straight Big Ten games April 26 at Michigan State* 11 a.m. Lockman earned her second Big Ten and seven of its last eight. A win on Friday April 27 at Michigan State (BTN)* 11 a.m. Pitcher of the Week accolade this week. would give NU a six-game conference win April 30 at Wisconsin - 1 (BTN)* 3 p.m. 5 April 30 at Wisconsin - 2 (BTN)* 5:30 p.m. She was 3-0 last week with a 0.47 ERA, streak for the first time since 2006. allowing only one run and just six hits May 2 Indiana* 6 p.m. in 15.0 innings. Opponents hit just Tatum and Taylor Edwards are two of only May 3 Indiana* 1 p.m. .118 against her, and she tossed a one-hitter and two- 22 current Division I players with more than May 4 Indiana* Noon hitter against Iowa. In seven appearances this month, 2 40 career home runs (among more than All game times are Central and subject to change. Lockman is 4-0 with a 1.04 ERA over 27.0 innings. 4,500 current Division I softball players). NEBRASKA SOFTBALL NATIONAL LEADER IN ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS 2 UNIVERSITY INFORMATION SCOUTING THE OHIO State BUCKEYES (20-20 OVERALL, 6-6 BIG TEN) Location Lincoln, Neb. Like Nebraska, Ohio State has been off since last weekend, as TALE OF THE TAPE Population 264,501 the Buckeyes had a mid-week game with Wright State canceled Founded 1869 Category NEB OSU due to inclement weather. OSU brings a 20-20 overall record into Record 30-13 20-20 Enrollment 24,445 play this weekend, while the Buckeyes sit in a tie for sixth place in Average .290 .286 Nickname Cornhuskers/Huskers Home Runs 43 26 Colors Scarlet & Cream the Big Ten standings with a 6-6 league record. Nebraska and Ohio Slugging Pct. .467 .436 Conference Big Ten State have not faced a common conference opponent this season, On-Base Pct. .388 .361 Chancellor Harvey Perlman, J.D. but both teams lost to Fresno State in non-conference play. Stolen Bases 24 20 Director of Athletics Shawn Eichorst The Buckeyes are 0-8 against ranked teams and have been Runs/Game 5.4 4.8 outscored 67-6 in those games. Six of OSU’s eight games against ERA 2.18 3.63 ranked teams have come vs. top-10 opponents, including being NEBRASKA COACHING STAFF Runs Allowed/Game 2.7 4.7 swept in a three-game series by No.