Huskers Secure Series Win with 2-1 victory over Rutgers

On a gorgeous Saturday afternoon at Bowlin stadium the Husker softball team pulled out a gritty 2-1 victory over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in the 2^nd game of the home series.  It was their ninth consecutive win and fourth straight in the Big 10.

After an offensive slugfest Friday night, a 12- Nebraska win, the Huskers struggled to get the bats going. They were outhit 7-5 by the Scarlet Knights.

Olivia Ferrel allowed two hits in the top of the first but responded with two strikeouts to get out of the inning scoreless. For Nebraska, nothing came off a leadoff to Billie Andrews and the score remained 0-0 heading into the 2^nd. 

After a scoreless top of the 2^nd inning, Nebraska got the bats going. The Huskers loaded the bases on hits by Ava Bredwell and Caitlynn Neal and a Peyton Glatter Walk. Billie Andrews walked, bringing home Bredwell to put the Huskers up 1-0 going into the 3^rd.  

Nebraska added one more run in the top of the 3^rd. It started off with back-to-back singles by Sydney Gray and Mya Felder. Ava Bredwell added another single to load the bases for the Huskers. Rutgers then allowed another RBI walk to Peyton Glatter to put Nebraska up 2-0 after 3 innings. 

After a 1-2-3 top of the 4^th for the Husker defense, the Nebraska bats went back to work in the bottom of the 4^th. The only base runner of the inning was Billie Andrews who walked for the third time in the game. The Score would remain 2-0 headed to the 5^th. 

The Scarlet Knights got one back in the top of the 5^th. In the bottom of the inning, Rutgers got out of a jam after allowing hits by Abbie Squier and Ava Bredwell.

Courtney Wallace came in to relieve Olivia Ferrell in the 6^th inning. Wallace struggled at first as she loaded the bases, but the Nebraska defense pulled through and escaped the inning. The score remained 2-1, going into the 7^th. 

The Huskers stepped up big in the 7^th inning. They were only up 1 run, but Wallace threw a 1-2-3 inning to finish off the game and give Nebraska the 2-1 victory and the series win over Rutgers. 

Offensively for Nebraska, Ava Bredwell led the way, going 2-3 on the day. Five Huskers, Sydney Gray, Mya Felder, Abbie Squier, Peyton Glatter, and Caitlynn Neal all had one hit each. Billie Andrews tied the school record again, as she walked four consecutive times for the second day in a row. Felder extended her hitting streak to 10 games with her single in the third inning. 

Nebraska finished the game with 2 runs on 7 hits. Olivia Ferrell picked up her 13^th win of the season, pitching 5 innings. She allowed 5 hits and one run. She also had 6 strikeouts on the day. Courtney Wallace got her 3^rd save of the year, pitching 2 scoreless innings and only giving up 1 hit. 

Nebraska improves to 24-9 and goes for the three-game home sweep of Rutgers Sunday afternoon. The Scarlet Knights are 23-14 and 1-4 in the Big 10.