Freshman
right-hander Emily Lockman was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on
Monday, following an outstanding performance at the Hillenbrand Invitational in
Tucson, Ariz., last weekend.
The
weekly award was the first of Lockman's career and comes one week after junior
catcher Taylor Edwards earned Big Ten Player-of-the-Week accolades. Lockman
started three games last weekend, posting a 2-0 record with a pair of shutouts,
15 strikeouts and a 0.41 ERA in 17.0 innings. She opened her weekend with a four-hit
shutout in a seven-inning victory against Southern Utah on Friday, before
tossing a six-inning no-hitter against Utah State the next day.
Against
the Aggies, Lockman not only threw a no-hitter but struck out a career-high
eight batters, while walking only two. She nearly threw a perfect game as both
hitters who walked had hit into an out, before being allowed to continue their
at bats due to illegal pitch calls on Lockman. Despite narrowly missing a
perfect game, Lockman's no-hitter was just the second by a Husker pitcher in
the past five seasons. A native of Corona, Calif., Lockman became the first
freshman to throw a no-hitter at Nebraska since Summer Tobias in 2003 and just the
fourth overall.
In
her next outing following the no-hitter, Lockman got her first taste of Big Ten
competition, allowing only one earned run in 4.0 innings against Purdue,
earning a no-decision in the Huskers' 4-3 non-conference victory.
Lockman
and the rest of her teammates are scheduled to play five games in three days
this weekend at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, Calif.
