UNO 2, ESU 0
ESU 3, UNO 2

OMAHA, Neb. - The 7th-ranked UNO softball team split with No. 18 Emporia State on Friday at Claussen-Westgate Field, winning game one, 2-0, before falling 3-2 in game two.

With the split, UNO moved to 39-7 overall and 16-2 in the MIAA. Emporia State is now 37-12 overall and 16-4 in conference play. UNO maintained a one-game lead over the Hornets in the MIAA Standings heading into Saturday's doubleheader with third-place Missouri Western.

UNO has four conference games remaining because of a make-up series at Truman on Monday, while the Hornets have just two games with Northwest Missouri State on Saturday to close the regular season.

Beth Haley led UNO to the game one win with a two-hit shutout. Haley struck out five and walked three in the dominating performance.

UNO got run support on a second-inning RBI single by Emma Wright to score Lindsey Slocum. The Mavs tacked on another run in the fourth when Slocum hit a blast to right center into a strong wind for her eighth home run of the season. The homer gave Slocum 151 career RBIs, leaving her just eight shy of breaking the school record of 158 RBIs in a career. She finished 3-for-3 in the game with an RBI and both runs scored.

In game two, Emporia State came out strong with two runs off of Slocum in the first inning and another in the second for a 3-0 lead. UNO answered with a run in the bottom of the second on an Ashley Lynch single that scored Katelyn Hinton.

However, Jennifer Heerey kept the UNO bats quiet for the most part. UNO built a threat in the bottom of the seventh when Amber Lutmer hit a double off the wall in centerfield to score Hinton to make it 3-2 with only one out. But Heerey retired the final two Mavs to earn the series split. Hinton finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored.

UNO and Missouri Western begin their doubleheader on Saturday at 12 p.m. The Mavs will honor their three seniors between games - Haley, Slocum and Alli Hukill - as well as celebrate all UNO softball alumni as part of Alumni Day.