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FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The UNO baseball team took an early lead but saw it snatched away on Sunday, falling 13-7 to future Summit League opponent IPFW at Mastodon Field. With the loss, the Mavericks are now 9-19 on the year, while IPFW improves to 8-17.

Freshman Alex Mortensen led the way for the Mavs, going 3-for-3 with a run scored and another driven in. Senior Scotty Donner was 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI, and senior Mark Waldron finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and his first home run of the season.

Senior Colby McCord also had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 with an RBI, while senior Brady Hohl tacked on a game-opening double that extended his team-leading hitting streak to 20 games.

IPFW was led by Clay Hathaway and Cody O'Neal, who both finished 3-for-5, with Hathaway tacking on two runs scored and three RBI. Carter DeBoe and Kristian Gayday each added three RBI as well.

Drew Overman (1-1) earned the win on the mound, throwing 3.2 innings of relief and allowing three runs on five hits with two strikeouts and two walks. The loss went to Curtis Smith (2-2), who gave up 10 runs – five earned – on five hits with a strikeout and five walks over 1.2 innings of work.

Hohl led off the game with a double to left, advanced to third on a wild pitch and came in on sophomore Caleb Palensky's sacrifice fly. Waldron then popped a solo home run over the center field wall, spotting UNO a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning.

In the second inning, Donner got the ball rolling with a single to left and moved to second on a wild pitch. Sophomore Ryan Tomlinson doubled to right center to score Donner, and Tomlinson later came across on McCord's RBI double to right center, stretching it to 4-0.

The Mastodons were scoreless until the fourth inning but chipped away at the four-run margin, notching one run in the fourth and a pair of scores in the fifth.

Nebraska Omaha's close 4-3 lead held until the bottom of the seventh, when IPFW exploded for eight runs on four hits and capitalized on one Maverick error. DeBoe scored the first run of the frame and also delivered a three-run homer to right later in the inning that made it 13-4.

Facing a nine-run deficit heading into the ninth, the Mavericks threatened by putting two on for Mortensen. His double down the left field line was coupled with an IPFW error, and Palensky and Waldron both scored on the play. Mortensen was then plated on Donner's RBI single to center, bringing the score to 13-7. UNO managed to load the bases with two outs, but a final strikeout from IPFW's closer Steve Danielak punctuated the game with the final score of 13-7.

UNO returns to action April 6-8, hosting future Summit League foe North Dakota State in the Mavs' only home series of the 2012 season. Friday's 1 p.m. game will be played at the Ballpark at Boys Town, followed by a 10 a.m. Saturday doubleheader at Werner Park, which will include Senior Day festivities. The series finale will be played at Noon on Sunday at the Ballpark and Boys Town.