Huskers Shut Out Jayhawks

Emmerson Cope and Kaylin Kinney combined on a six-hit shutout to lead the Nebraska softball team to a 4-0 victory over Kansas on Tuesday at Bowlin Stadium.

Cope (2-0) started and scattered five hits over a career-long 4.1 innings. Kinney then came in and picked up her third save with 2.2 shutout innings of relief.

Offensively, Brooke Andrews went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored, Samantha Bland was 3-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs and Billie Andrews slugged her 13th home run of the season.

With the win, Nebraska improved to 22-13 on the season. Kansas, which was ranked last week, fell to 22-12-1 on the year. Kasey Hamilton (9-8) took the loss, allowing three runs in 3.2 innings.

Nebraska jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Brooke Andrews singled with one out and scored on a two-out, RBI double from Bland.

The Huskers added another run in the third inning. Brooke Andrews led off with a single before Ava Bredwell walked. Bland then delivered an RBI single through the left side that scored Andrews. Leading 2-0, Nebraska had runners at second and third with no outs but could not add to its lead.

NU did add to its lead in the fourth inning. Bella Bacon led off with a single and was at second base with two outs for Brooke Andrews, who delivered an RBI single to make it 3-0. Two more walks loaded the bases before a fly out ended the inning.

In the top of the fifth, Kansas got a leadoff double followed by a single, but on the single Brooke Andrews made a perfect throw to home plate to get the runner attempting to score. 

It remained a 3-0 lead for the Big Red until Billie Andrews led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a home run.

Kinney then retired the side in order in the top of the seventh to secure Nebraska's second shutout of the season.

Nebraska remains home this weekend when the Huskers host Penn State for a three-game series on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Post-Game Notes

• The win was the 1,600th victory in Nebraska softball history.
• Nebraska posted its second shutout of the season, with both shutouts coming against teams who have been ranked this season (Kansas and Oregon).
• Emmerson Cope started and went 4.1 innings to post the longest outing of her career. Her previous long outing was 3.1 innings against San Diego State on Feb. 23.
• Kaylin Kinney earned her third save of the season. She has now earned either the win or the save in 17 of the Huskers' 22 wins this season.
• Brooke Andrews produced her third game this season with three or more hits while Bland had at least three hits for the fourth time.
• Billie Andrews had one hit in the game, and she moved into 10th place in Nebraska history with 217 career hits.