Creighton University
Nebraska
Softball Shut Out at Nebraska, 3-0
4/11/2012 9:16:00 PM | Softball
LINCOLN, Neb. - The red-hot Creighton softball bats were silenced in the 3-0 loss at Nebraska on Wednesday night, as the Bluejays picked up just one hit off Husker starter Ashley Hagemann. The win improves Nebraska to 25-14 overall, winners of 14 of its past 16 games, while the Bluejays drop to 20-16-1.
The Huskers now lead the overall series 79-36, winning seven of the last 12 meetings between the two teams. Wednesday's win was propelled by Hagemann's dominance in the circle, as the senior struck out 14 Bluejay batters, allowing just two walks and one hit in 121 pitches.
Lincoln native Becca Changstrom went the distance in the circle for the Jays. Changstrom struck out four batters, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits. She forced the Huskers to leave the bases loaded in both the fifth and sixth innings, six of the nine stranded baserunners total on the night.
The Huskers did push across a pair of runs in the second inning and one additional one in the fourth. A leadoff walk followed by an infield single put a pair of runners on base to start the second inning, with both runners advancing on a passed ball. A sacrifice bunt and single down the left field line scored both runs in the frame. A leadoff walk in the fourth led to the third run of the game for the Huskers.
In Creighton's best scoring chance of the night, Allie Mathewson led off the sixth inning by reaching safely on an error by the shortstop. A single off the bat of Amy Baker through the left side put runners on first and second with just one out, but back-to-back strikeouts from Hagemann ended the frame. That would turn out to be the only hit of the night for a Creighton team that entered the contest 31st nationally with a .307 batting average.
Five different Huskers had a hit on the night, with Madison Drake picking up a hit and drove in a pair of runs while Tatum Edwards scored twice on the night.
The second-place Bluejays will be back in action this weekend, hosting first-place Northern Iowa in a three-game series at the CU Sports Complex this weekend. First pitch in the Saturday afternoon doubleheader is set for 12:00 pm.
NOTES: The Huskers have now won 14 straight home games, the longest streak in Bowlin Stadium history ... Creighton is now 5-10 against Nebraska at Bowlin Stadium ... The Bluejays have now been shutout five times this season ... The two teams will meet again on April 25, when the Huskers travel to Omaha for Creighton's final non-conference game of the season ... Creighton's three errors on Wednesday night marked the fifth time this season the Jays have committed a trio of errors in a single game ... Alexis Cantu picked up one of the two Bluejay walks on the night, moving into third place on the Creighton single-season walks charts. She now has 35 walks on the season, 10 more than the next Bluejay this spring.
