Weekly Release
Live Stats
The UNO softball team continues its stretch of home games with three this week. The Mavericks host Summit League foe South Dakota in a doubleheader on Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Westside Field at Westbrook. On Friday, the Mavs will play one game against Peru State at 5 p.m. Live stats will be available for all games at OMavs.com. The Mavs are 2-0 at home on the season after sweeping Nebraska-Kearney last Wednesday.
Series History
UNO leads the all-time series 74-10 against South Dakota and 4-1 over Peru State. The last time UNO and South Dakota met was at the NCC Tournament in 2008. UNO won 4-3 in eight innings, even though the teams split the regular-season series that year, 2-2. UNO last met Peru State in 2001, with the Mavs sweeping the series in Omaha, 2-0 and 8-0.
Scouting the Opponents
South Dakota, in its first year of Summit League play, is 7-25 with a 5-4 conference record entering last weekend. The Coyotes primarily throw Erica Denney and Missy Blackburn. Denney is 4-12 with a 4.38 ERA, while Blackburn is 3-8 with a 6.15 ERA. Katie Dinning hits .311 with four doubles and four triples to her credit. Alexa Rudeen hits .255 with three home runs and a team-high 13 RBIs.
Peru State, a member of NAIA Division I, was 18-11 with a 2-0 record in the Heart of America Athletic Conference entering last weekend. Since then, the Bobcats have played six more games. Devon Massengale is hitting .400 with eight RBIs but has started just seven games. Miranda Lyndes hits .362 with two home runs and 15 RBIs. Devin Choate has a .360 average and 23 RBIs to lead the team. Six pitchers have started a game for the Bobcats so far. Lauren Johnson has made the most starts - nine - and has a 4-2 record with a 2.94 ERA. Massengale is 6-2 in the circle with four complete games and two shutouts.
Lutmerjack
Amber Lutmer crushed three home runs last Wednesday in a doubleheader sweep of Nebraska-Kearney. The sophomore upped her team-leading home run total from two to five in one day alone. Last season, Lutmer had a team-high 11 home runs in her freshman campaign, making her the first Maverick freshman in eight years to hit 10 or more dingers.
Freshman Peterson Fills Big Shoes
The Mavs needed someone to step up and replace injured senior shortstop
Molly Feichtinger, and freshman
Tonya Peterson has embraced the challenge. Peterson has a .316 batting average and is third on the squad with 11 RBIs. She's also scored 13 runs of her own and has a team-high .429 on-base percentage, which has earned her the leadoff spot in the lineup the past 13 games.
Leading After Three
When leading after three innings this year, the Mavericks are 13-1, a testament to the pitching staff's performance when playing with a lead. The Mavs' only loss when leading after three innings came at Nebraska on March 20. UNO led 1-0 through three innings, but the Huskers came back to win, 2-1.
Mavs Among Nation's Best in ERA
Although UNO can't officially count in NCAA statistics because of its transition to Division I, the Mavericks would rank 20th nationally with a 1.54 ERA. Oklahoma leads the nation with a 0.74 ERA.
Dana Elsasser ranks 26th nationally with a 1.09 ERA.
Mavs Clinch No. 2 Seed at Great West Conference Tournament
The Mavericks posted a 3-3 record at the Great West Conference Cluster, good for the second overall seed in the conference tournament to be played May 13-14 in Farmers Branch, Texas. Playing three doubleheaders in three days against the other conference teams, the Mavs came out with the second-best record in the group. Utah Valley went 5-1 to earn the top seed. Houston Baptist and North Dakota each went 2-4, with HBU taking the tiebreaker and the No. 3 seed. North Dakota will be the fourth seed. The conference tournament will be played like a double-elimination regional. UNO will play Houston Baptist in the first round. The Mavs swept Houston Baptist at the GWC Cluster, 5-0 and 3-2 (8 innings).
Mavs Aim for Third Different Conference Tournament Title in Five Years
In 2012, the Mavs will have a rare opportunity to capture a third conference tournament title in the last five years playing in three different conferences. That's because the Mavs - who won a Division II North Central Conference title in 2008 and a Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association title in 2011 - will spend one year in the four-team Great West Conference before moving on to The Summit League in 2013. The Mavs will get their chance at the Great West Conference Tournament on May 13-14 in Farmers Branch, Texas. Before then, the Mavericks will make the most of their first year as a Division I softball program, beginning with four Division I tournaments in a five-week span.
Mavs' Young Pitching Staff Will Grow Up Quickly in 2012
As if jumping from Division II to Division I wasn't enough, UNO will also have to replace two All-American pitchers who graduated after the 2011 season -
Beth Haley and
Lindsey Slocum - UNO's Nos. 1 and 2 options for the past two seasons. Early on, the Mavs will turn to their lone returner, sophomore
Dana Elsasser. The Hershey, Neb., native was 10-1 last year with a 1.18 ERA. Elsasser threw four shutouts and completed seven of her 12 starts. The Mavs added two new pitching prospects in the offseason in junior college transfer
Ashton Hughes (Western Nebraska Community College) and freshman
Kat Barrow (Kearney, Mo.). The trio will replace Haley and Slocum, who combined for a 37-10 record last year and 82.2 percent of the Mavs' innings pitched.
Offensive Firepower Returns for UNO
Senior catcher
Lauren Larson will lead the way offensively after hitting .320 last year and knocking 10 home runs out. Larson was named the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year as well with a .977 fielding percentage behind the plate. The Mavs will also lean on
Katelyn Hinton and
Amber Lutmer at the plate. Hinton hit .288 last year, drove out seven homers and had 13 doubles to rank second on the team. She also scored a team-high 40 runs. Hinton was a second-team All-MIAA selection last season, as was Lutmer, who led the Mavs in home runs as a true freshman with 11 and in RBIs with 42. Lutmer finished with a .312 batting average. All-MIAA honorable mention pick
Ashley Lynch,
Mollie Jones,
Molly Negrete,
Lindsay Redding and
Emma Wright also return as veteran hitters from last season.
Injury Bug Bites Mavs
The Mavs will be without last year's starting shortstop and leading hitter,
Molly Feichtinger, to begin the 2012 season. The senior is out indefinitely to recover from nagging offseason injuries. Feichtinger, the Mavs' leadoff hitter last year, had a team-best and MIAA-best .423 average and was an All-MIAA Second-Team and All-Region Second-Team selection.
Great West Conference Welcomes UNO for 2012 Season
The University of Nebraska Omaha softball program has accepted a one-year invitation to join the Great West Conference as an associate member for the 2012 season. The Mavericks, in the midst of reclassifying from NCAA Division II to the Division I Summit League, will be a part of the four-team Great West Conference for one year before beginning Summit League regular-season conference play in 2013.
“We are very excited to be able to play in the Great West Conference this upcoming season,” Head Coach
Jeanne Scarpello said. “This is a great opportunity for our student-athletes to not only be able to compete for a trophy this season, but also to earn weekly and all-conference awards. Although we won't be able to battle for a spot in the NCAA Tournament this year, we are thrilled that our great class of seniors will have a chance to end their careers in a competitive tournament atmosphere.”
UNO joins Houston Baptist, North Dakota and Utah Valley in the Great West Conference for softball. The Mavs replace South Dakota, who left the GWC after the 2011 season to begin regular-season conference play in The Summit League in 2012.
Mavs Picked Fourth in GWC Preseason Coaches' Poll
UNO was picked to finish fourth in the Great West Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll. The league's last two champions - Houston Baptist and North Dakota - shared the top spot in the rankings with 12 points apiece. Utah Valley came in third with 11 points, while newcomer UNO tallied five points in the poll. The Mavs will play one year in the Great West Conference before beginning Summit League play next season. The 2012 Great West Conference champion will be crowned at the GWC Softball Tournament held May 13-14, at Farmers Branch, Texas, hosted by Houston Baptist.
2012 GWC Softball Preseason Coaches' Poll
Rk. Team (First-place votes) Points
T1. Houston Baptist (1) 12
T1. North Dakota (1) 12
3. Utah Valley (2) 11
4. Nebraska Omaha 5
New Division, New Conference, New Home
In addition to the jump to Division I and the one-year contract with the Great West Conference, the Mavericks will also call a new ballpark home in 2012. The Mavs will begin play at the brand new Westside Field at Westbrook on March 28, when Nebraska-Kearney visits for a 1 p.m. doubleheader. In all, UNO will host six opponents at its new digs, four of which will be doubleheaders. South Dakota will be the only Summit League foe the Mavericks host this year in a doubleheader on April 4.
Mavericks Add Six New Talents in 2012
Six student-athletes are new to the UNO program this season.
Kat Barrow (RHP, Kearney, Mo.),
Mara Eeman (OF, Ralston, Neb.),
Lindsay Gilliland (OF, Liberty, Mo.),
Tonya Peterson (IF, Omaha, Neb.) and
Kiley Thalken (IF, Bennington, Neb.) will all join the team as freshmen. In addition, junior college transfer
Ashton Hughes (RHP, Regina, Saskatchewan) will be a first-year Maverick in 2012.
“Not only are these six players athletic, but they are also quality students in the classroom,” Scarpello said. “We look forward to working with all of these young ladies. They all have strong work ethics along with a strong desire to win. They are a perfect fit to keep the winning tradition here at UNO going and take us to another level.”
Next Up
UNO travels to Sioux Falls next week for a doubleheader on Wednesday, April 11 at 3 p.m. Sioux Falls then returns to UNO on Saturday, April 14 for a 1 p.m. doubleheader.
