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GREELEY, Colo. – The UNO baseball team opened a three-game series at Northern Colorado on Friday, falling 9-5 to the Bears at Jackson Field. With the loss, the Mavericks drop to 2-11 on the year, while UNC improves to 2-6 (0-0 Great West).

Senior Colby McCord and sophomore Beau Suponchick each had multiple-hit games, with McCord going 2-for-5 with a run scored and another driven in. Suponchick finished 2-for-4 with one RBI, extending his team-best hitting streak to seven games. Freshman Alex Mortensen also notched his first career home run with a two-run shot in the second inning to give UNO its first lead of the day.

Joe Willman (1-2) earned the win, surrendering five runs on six hits with one strikeout and one walk over five innings. Junior Matt Tew (0-2) took the loss, giving up eight runs – of which seven were earned – on 11 hits. Tew walked one and struck out one over 4.1 innings of work. Jess Amedee got the save in the final two scoreless innings, allowing no hits.

Northern Colorado scored first with a run in the first inning, but UNO responded immediately in the top of the next frame. With one out, Mortensen sent a two-run homer over the left centerfield wall, putting Nebraska Omaha up 2-1.

The lead was short-lived, however, as UNC plated two more runs in the second behind three hits and two UNO miscues. The Mavericks then came back for another two runs of their own using a string of three consecutive hits in the third. Hohl and McCord each singled, and Suponchick doubled to right center, knotting the score at 3-3. McCord then came in on junior Tyler Splichal's sacrifice fly to left, making it 4-3.

In the fourth, the Bears tied the game again at 4-4 when Ben Packard singled and later scored on Jensen Park's RBI triple to left.

UNO regained the lead with a run in the fifth, as senior Brady Hohl reached on a fielder's choice and advanced to second on a balk. McCord delivered a single to right that scored Hohl, bringing the tally to 5-4.

The 5-4 lead was UNO's last of the game, as Northern Colorado chalked up four runs in the bottom of the inning on five hits and capitalized on a Maverick error to go ahead 8-5.

UNO managed two hits and left four runners on base in the final four innings, while the Bears added one more run in the eighth to bring the final score to 9-5.

UNO returns to action against Northern Colorado with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 10. First pitch is set for Noon (CT) at Jackson Field in Greeley, Colo., with the first game a seven-inning contest followed by a nine-inning series finale.