LINCOLN It was a red-letter day for the Nebraska softball junior class, as junior right-hander Molly Hill struck out 10 in a complete-game victory, while the five juniors in the lineup produced eight hits and seven RBIs in the Huskers' 8-1 victory over South Dakota State in game one of a Wednesday doubleheader at Bowlin Stadium.
Offensively, Nebraska's trio of junior outfielders hit 1-2-3 in the lineup and finished with a combined seven hits as the Huskers pounded out 11 hits as a team. Darcy Rutherford finished 2-for-4, while Meghan Mullin was a perfect 3-for-3 with a walk and Haley Long went 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Fellow juniors Crystal Carwile and Amanda Duran added two RBIs each, as the Huskers' junior class combined for all seven RBIs.
Nebraska jumped out to an early lead by scoring one run in the bottom of the first. The Huskers used small ball to take a 1-0 lead. Following a pair of singles from Rutherford and Mullin to start the inning, Long sacrificed the runners to second and third before Carwile laid down an RBI squeeze bunt to score Rutherford.
South Dakota State tied the game in the top of the third, using a single, a walk and a two-out RBI single from Jessica Vineyard.
The Huskers regained the lead by scoring four runs in the bottom of the inning. The first three hitters all singled to load the bases for Carwile, who lifted a sacrifice fly to left to score Rutherford. Duran then made it 4-1 with a two-run single two batters later. Nebraska capped the inning when freshman Julie Brechtel, following her single, was caught in a rundown attempting to steal and Duran scored when SDSU first baseman Stacey Evans mishandled a throw.
Nebraska nearly made it a run-rule victory with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. With the bases loaded and two outs, Long ripped a three-run double to the gap in left center to clear the bases,
Long's big day helped make a winner out of Hill, who improved to 7-6 on the season. Hill allowed just four hits and only one run for Nebraska. Papillion native Kiley Schwedhelm (0-4) took the loss for South Dakota State.
Nebraska 3, SDSU 2
A three-run third inning proved to be enough for the Nebraska to complete a doubleheader sweep of South Dakota State.
The win was Nebraska's third straight and evened the Huskers record at 16-16 on the season. Sophomore right-hander Alex Hupp (8-7) earned the win after allowing two runs on three hits in five innings of work, striking out six. Junior right-hander Molly Hill picked up her first save of the season by tossing a hitless final two innings.
Junior Meghan Mullin continued to roll offensively, as she went 3-for-4 to pace Nebraska's 10-hit attack. Mullin finished the doubleheader 6-for-7 with a walk, three runs scored and three stolen bases. The freshmen also produced at the plate for the Huskers, as Ashley Guile (2-for-2) and Heidi Foland (2-for-3) each recorded multi-hit games.
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