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JOPLIN, Mo. – The UNO baseball team finished its opening weekend on a high note, defeating Augustana 14-5 in the rubber match at Joe Becker Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The Mavericks improved to 2-1 (0-0 MIAA), while Augie dropped to 4-3 on the year.

Nebraska-Omaha continued on its big hitting performance from Saturday's second game, totaling 14 runs on 16 hits. The Mavs had eight extra-base hits, including six doubles, as well as home runs from seniors #Jed Hanson and Tyler Davies#.

Junior #Colby McCord# went 3-for-4 on the day, scoring two runs with an RBI. Sophomore #Connor McCrite# also doubled twice, while Hanson, sophomore #Tyler Splichal and senior Travis Jacobi# tallied a pair of hits apiece.

Senior left-handed pitcher #Tom Schmidt# (1-0) earned the win, striking out four batters over four innings of work. Junior #Cory Buckley# picked up his first career save after three innings of relief in which he fanned three. Augustana's Deryk Marks took the loss after going five innings, during which he walked three and gave up four earned runs on six hits.

UNO took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, as junior Brady Hohl led off with a single to left and later scored on an error. Augustana responded immediately in the bottom of the inning, when Marks doubled to right center and scored on Charlie Dubanoski's RBI double to right. The Mavs scored again in the fourth when McCord singled to center to plate McCrite from second and make it 2-1.

Nebraska-Omaha tacked on three more runs in the fifth, starting with Hanson's homer to right. Junior #Martin Sartin# then walked, and Davies sent one out of left center, putting UNO up 5-1. The Vikings answered with a trio of runs in the bottom of the fifth, all with two outs, to bring it to 5-4.

The Mavericks came out swinging in the seventh, notching six runs on seven hits and taking advantage of two errors. Splichal was the first runner to get on with a single, followed by Hanson's single to center, which put both runners in scoring position. Sartin then had a two-RBI single and advanced to third on back-to-back errors, after which McCrite doubled down the left field line to score Sartin.

A single up the middle by junior #Mark Waldron# brought McCrite across, and Waldron later scored on a wild pitch. Jacobi then doubled to center to plate McCord, who had earlier doubled to right, helping UNO to an 11-4 advantage.

Nebraska-Omaha added three more runs in the top of the ninth, started by a double to left by junior #Trevor Gappa#. He later came in on Jacobi's double to center, and McCord, who reached base on a walk, scored on a wild pitch. Hohl added a sacrifice fly to center to score Jacobi and put the Mavs up 14-4. Augustana managed only one more run in the last half of the inning, as Nate Hewes reached on an error and came in on a single by Jake Kurth. The effort was not enough, however, as the Mavericks took the win at 14-5.

UNO returns to action on Friday, March 4, traveling to Southwest Baptist for its first conference action of the year. First pitch for the doubleheader is set for 1 p.m. in Bolivar, Mo.