MACOMB, Ill. – Western Illinois freshman Lori Pankratz came in as relief in the third inning of the Western-Nebraska game to hold the Huskers to only one hit and no runs, but the Westerwinds couldn't catch Nebraska, who took a 7-3 victory, Saturday, at the 2007 Shocker Classic.

Nebraska came out swinging, scoring seven runs on eight hits in the first three innings. Courtney Jacobson started on the mound for the Westerwinds (3-8) when two hits and a sacrifice fly put the Huskers on the board.

Nebraska earned one run and scored three more in the second inning off of four hits and three Western Illinois fielding errors. The Huskers scored two insurance runs off back-to-back home runs in the third inning, which brought the score to 7-0, and Pankratz came in as relief for Jacobson.

The Westerwinds remained scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning when Erin Schlotfeldt singled to the right side, Racheal Heagney singled to center field and Samantha Valentine singled down the third-base foul line. Schlotfeldt scored on the Valentine single and an error on Nebraska's catcher allowed Heagney to take an unearned run. Torie Powers came in to pinch run for Valentine and scored off a Lindsey Hession single.

"Lori did a nice job on the mound today," said Western Illinois head coach Holly Van Vlymen. "Our base runners did well when we had the chance, but we just couldn't take the lead."

Jacobson (1-2) suffered the loss after two and two-thirds innings of work, while Nebraska's Ashley DeBuhr recorded her seventh win. Valentine was 1-for-3 with one RBI and defensively she recorded 10 putouts. Western Illinois recorded a total of five stolen bases, with three runs, six hits and two RBIs.

In game two, Hession and Valentine were the only Westerwinds to get a hit off of Wichita State's Ashly Bright who led the Shockers to a 9-0 shutout in five innings.

Wichita State's Cynthia Verhulst started the scoring with a three-run homerun in the first inning. Western Illinois pitcher Kim King was able to keep the Shockers scoreless for the next two innings, until the bottom of the fourth when a pair of singles and a wild pitch brought in one run.

Wichita State ended the game in the fifth inning with one final home run and three other hits to take a 9-0 victory and keep the Westerwinds scoreless. King (0-3) suffered the loss, while the Shockers' Bright (3-6) recorded the win, holding Western Illinois at only two hits and one walk.

Western Illinois will wrap up the 2007 Shocker Classic in a final game against Minnesota, Sunday, at 10 a.m.