UNO 6, MWSU 4

CANYON, Texas - The 15th-ranked UNO softball team won its first round game at the South Central 2 Regional on Friday with a 6-4 victory over the Missouri Western Griffons at Lady Buff Yard, home site of West Texas A&M University.

The second-seeded Mavericks fought back from a 4-3 deficit with a three-run fifth inning to overtake the third-seeded Griffons and move on to the regional semifinal at 2 p.m., on Saturday. Ashley Lynch had the go-ahead RBI single and scored the insurance run for the Mavericks. Beth Haley picked up the win in relief to improve to 21-3 on the year.

UNO will play No. 4 seed St. Mary's for a spot in Sunday's championship game. The Rattlers knocked off top-seed West Texas A&M, 2-1, on Friday night.

Lindsey Slocum earned the start at pitcher for UNO and worked with 35 mph wind gusts blowing in from left field. Missouri Western struck first in the first inning when Toni Dance hit a double to center field to score Blair Stalder from second for a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom half, Molly Feichtinger doubled and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Sarah Elliott. After Lauren Larson was intentionally walked and Katelyn Hinton struck out, Feichtinger scored on a wild pitch by Jackie Bishop to tie the game at 1-1 after the first.

In the second, UNO took the lead when Alli Hukill tripled to right center to score Lindsay Redding from first, who had reached on a bunt single. The Mavs tacked on another run to make it 3-1 when Sarah Elliott singled to center, scoring Hukill.

Missouri Western's Ashley Hudson led off the third inning with a triple off the wall in right, then scored on a bloop single to right center by Stalder to pull within 3-2.

Missouri Western took a 4-3 lead in the top of the fifth on a two-run home run by Brittany Douglas into the wind over the 12-foot tall wall in left field. Beth Haley came in to relieve Slocum after Keri Lorbert singled and retired the final batter of the inning.

The Mavs fought back to take the lead though when Slocum singled home Jamie Nash, who was pinch-running after a Larson single in the bottom of the fifth. Slocum advanced to second on the throw, and later scored on a single up the middle by Ashley Lynch for a 5-4 Maverick lead. Redding then hit a grounder to third, but the throw to first was wild, allowing Lynch to score to make it 6-4 at the end of five.

In the top of the seventh, Maegan Roemmich led off with a double off the left field wall to pose a Griffon threat, but Haley recorded two strikeouts and the game ended when Larson threw to Feichtinger at second to catch a Griffon runner trying to steal second base.

The Mavs have now won seven in a row and have won first round regional games in back-to-back years.