A grand slam in the bottom of the fourth and another homer in the first by Nebraska was too much for Illinois State softball as the No. 2 seeded Huskers defeated the No. 5 seeded Redbirds, 8-0 in five innings, in game one of the 2000 NCAA Softball Regional in Tucson, Arizona, Thursday.
A grand slam by Jamie Fuente, her third of the year, in the bottom of the fourth put the Huskers on top for good as Illinois State fell to 26-32 overall and 0-1 in the Regional. The Redbirds will face either Arizona or Middle Tennessee State Friday at 2:30 Pacific time.
The Redbirds could not muster any runs, had three hits and two errors while the Huskers had eight runs, nine hits and no errors.
In the bottom of the first, after a double by Ginger Taylor, Jennifer Lizama, who leads Nebraska with a .369 batting average, put the Huskers on the board when she hit her thirteenth home run of the season, giving Nebraska a 2-0 lead.
An RBI single by Kim Ogee in the fourth recorded one more run for the Huskers before the grand slam by Fuente gave Nebraska a seven-run lead. Another single in the bottom of the fifth gave the Huskers an eight run win due to the eight-run rule.
Illinois State pitcher Nicole Kurth (16-12) gave up seven hits, two earned runs and struckout two. Freshman Audra Rast of ISU, who came in in the bottom of the fourth, gave up one earned run and two hits while Leigh Ann Walker of Nebraska gave up three hits and improved to 21-6 on the season.
Illinois State head coach
Melinda Fischer said after the game she thought her team put out a great effort, but Nebraska just had more power with the bat.
"Nebraska had two major long balls that basically cost us the game," Fischer said. "Lizama is a tough player, all-American and she just ripped the ball. Not just her, but the rest of them also. We just couldn't control their bats."
Fischer added that the fourth inning, in which the Redbirds had back-to-back errors, as costly for her team.
"After Lizama homered in the first, we intentionally walked her and then Fuente hit the grand slam," Fischer continued. "That is just how that team is. They have more than one power player and they all came ready to play tonight."
Illinois State returns to action tomorrow and Fischer said she hopes her team will put this game behind them and bring winning attitudes to its next contest.
"Tomorrow is a brand new day and we play a brand new game," Fischer added. "Hopefully we can put this game behind us and come ready to play for our next match-up."
