Softball coach introduces two new faces on the starting lineup for kajikawa classic

Sometimes high expectations can lead to pressure leading to future disappointment.

But for the 2012 softball Huskers, they wouldn't want it any other way, according to Nikki Haget.

"It feels good having that pressure," she said. "I'd rather have the high expectations than no expectations at all."

The Huskers held their preseason press conference Monday and will begin the season ranked 20th in the ESPN.COM/USA Softball Collegiate Women's Top 25.

Haget said the high expectations will help the team strive to play better.

"I think this team can achieve great things," she said. "We can know we're good and be confident but we got to work hard and push through those games. I think we'll go far because every single player on this team has that drive to work hard."

At the press conference, Nebraska coach Rhonda Revelle revealed the starting positions, which include two new faces, Jordan Bettiol and Mattie Fowler.

The two add elements to the team that will help produce a better lineup than last year, according to Revelle.

"Bettiol brings some speed, she and Nikki are our two fastest players, and she's very athletic," the coach said. "Mattie's an overall great competitor, that's the first thing she is, a great competitor.

"She's poised, she's consistent and just has great composure out there. They both bring a lot."

Throughout the Huskers' fall season, Bettiol started all eight games going 12-for-22 and drove in eight RBIs, leading the team with a .545 batting average. She will be the starting center fielder for the team this season.

Fowler batted .370 in the fall with three doubles and knocked in six RBIs, while starting at third base.

But the hot corner is not the only position the freshman will play this season.

When the Huskers begin their season in the Kajikawa Classic hosted in Tempe, Ariz., this Wednesday, senior

Ashley Hagemann will start the first two games against No. 12 Washington and No. 8 Arizona.

But it's the third game's starter that might surprise NU fans.

"Mattie Fowler is going to make her debut, how about that?" Revelle said with a laugh.

Fowler's competitive attitude is what helped her get inserted into the rotation, the coach said.

"Mattie's mom was her coach and told her ‘We want to win the state championship — we have to put you back in the circle.' She hadn't been in the circle since freshman year," Revelle said. "She led her team to the high school state championship.

"She's just a gritty kind of kid that's going to do whatever she needs to do for the team."

Along with the two freshman, the Huskers received a player via transfer; Courtney Breault.

"Courtney's coming off a shoulder surgery and has been a little bit known as a less quantity," she said.

Although the freshmen, Bettiol and Fowler, are starting, Revelle said Breault brings experience to the team.

"She played in the SEC for Arkansas and was on the All-Freshman team," she said, "so she's been through the fire and through the battles."

In the infielder's two seasons at the Arkansas, Breault belted nine balls over the fence, tallied 51 runs batted and hit for a .272 average.

Along with Breault, another Cornhusker will also be joining the infield.

Revelle said Haget will become the team's starting second baseman, a position foreign to the senior's college career.

The former three-year starting center fielder admitted that she was antsy at first but said she feels more comfortable than she's ever been after practicing in the preseason.

"At first I was nervous because I hadn't played the position since coming to Nebraska," Haget said. "But once I get that first taste of dirt in the first game I'll be just fine."

And it won't be the first time she's played the infield in her softball career, she said.

Before she came to Lincoln, Haget played second base her whole life and said it'll be a token ending her career where she first began.

"Once I get down my technique, I'll be ready to go," the Elkhorn native said. "It's almost symbolic in a way, finishing the way I started."

Besides getting everyone acclimated to their new positions, Revelle wants the Huskers to do a few other things in their first year in the Big Ten Conference.

"Our goal is to play deep into the postseason this year and conquer as many challenges as we will receive along the way," she said. "We're also trying to make a statement at Nebraska, that we want the culture of the Big Ten to be winning national championships."

neduizu@

dailynebraskan.com