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The UNO baseball team returns to Omaha this weekend, hosting North Dakota State in the Mavericks' only home series of the 2012 season. Friday's game is set for a 1 p.m. first pitch at the Ballpark at Boys Town, followed by a 10 a.m. doubleheader at Werner Park on Saturday, which will also be Senior Day. On Sunday, the two squads return to the Ballpark at Boys Town for the series finale will be played at Noon. Games at Boys Town will be free of charge, while admission at Werner Park is $7 for adults and $5 for youth. Links to live stats will be available on OMavs.com.

Nebraska Omaha is in its first year as a reclassifying Division I school in 2011-12 and will officially join The Summit League next year with a full conference schedule in 2013. The Mavericks are led by Head Coach Bob Herold, who is in his 13th year at the helm of the UNO program with a career record of 417-263-2.

Mavericks Honor Seniors on Saturday
Saturday's doubleheader at Werner Park will also be Senior Day, as UNO will hold festivities between games to honor its nine seniors: Cory Buckley, Scotty Donner, Landon Fall, Brady Hohl, Colby McCord, Andrew Reck, Curtis Smith, Mark Waldron and Brandon Winkelmann. A presentation is scheduled between games of the doubleheader to recognize each player and his parents.

Briefly
•After knocking off Creighton (3-2) and Iowa (3-1) last week, UNO suffered a three-game sweep at future Summit League foe IPFW. The Mastodons won 4-0 on Friday, 6-3 on Saturday and 13-7 on Sunday.
•The Mavs' weekend rotation will include three righthanders: senior Andrew Reck (1-3), junior Matt Tew (1-2) and sophomore Josh Bullock (0-2). Sunday's starter has yet to be determined. Tew had a no-hitter through five innings against Creighton last week, finishing his outing with two runs surrendered on one hit over 5.2 innings of work. Reck earned the win at Iowa, allowing one run over six innings with three strikeouts and a walk.
•While playing in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational earlier this month, Nebraska Omaha played in the longest game of any Division I team this year. The marathon against LIU Brooklyn lasted 19 innings and clocked in at over five hours, resulting in a thrilling 3-2 win for the Mavericks. Senior Andrew Reck keyed the game-winning hit in the bottom of the 19th, singling past the diving third baseman to score sophomore Caleb Palensky.
•The Mavericks' most notable loss in 2012 is righthanded pitcher Joe Holtmeyer, who was drafted in the 22nd round (No. 682 overall) of the 2011 Major League Baseball amateur draft by the Boston Red Sox. Holtmeyer was the fifth Maverick drafted under Head Coach Bob Herold and the highest pick of any player during the Herold era at UNO.

Hohl-y Hitting Streak
Senior Brady Hohl enters the weekend with a team-best 20-game hitting streak in place since Feb. 28. The Omaha native and product of Millard North is second on the squad with a .305 batting average, 11 doubles, two home runs, 15 runs scored and 14 RBI. Hohl is also 9-for-10 in stolen bases.

In 2011, Hohl's outstanding play earned him a slew of awards to cap his junior season. He was selected as a second-team all-region honoree by Daktronics, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and Rawlings/the American Baseball Coaches Association. Hohl started all 55 games of his junior season, batting a team-leading .408 with 59 runs scored, 35 RBI, 11 doubles and five homers. He also drew a team-leading 23 walks and had a team-high 15 stolen bases.

Hohl grabbed further attention during summer ball, playing for the Anchorage Glacier Pilots of the Alaska Baseball League. He was named to the All-ABL All-Star Team and batted .302 with a team-leading 26 RBI, 20 runs, seven doubles and a pair of home runs. Hohl was the third-ranked hitter in the league during ABL play.

Last Time Out
UNO last took the field on Sunday, April 1, falling 13-7 at IPFW. The Mavericks took an early 4-0 lead but saw it snatched away when the Mastodons scored eight runs in the fifth inning at Mastodon Field in Fort Wayne, Ind. Freshman Alex Mortensen led the way at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a run scored and another driven. 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.

Scouting the North Dakota State Bison
North Dakota State enters the weekend with an overall record of 19-5 (0-0 Summit League) and a 13-game win streak alive since March 9 at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. The Bison blanked Minnesota 7-0 on March 20, followed by another 6-5 win in Minneapolis the next day. They also swept four games against in-state rival North Dakota last weekend and defeated Valley City State 14-4 on Tuesday.

Against Valley City, Max Casper finished 4-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI, and Zach Wentz went 3-for-4 while scoring twice. Wes Satzinger and Nick Anderson both finished 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored, and Anderson had two RBI to his credit.

UNO leads the all-time series with North Dakota State, 18-17. The two squads last squared off on March 15, 2010, with the Bison taking a 12-11 win in Auburndale, Fla.

McCord On the Board
Senior Colby McCord has worn a variety of hats for the Mavericks this season, serving as UNO's starting catcher while also seeing time at first base and putting in one appearance as a relief pitcher. The Papillion, Neb., native is batting a team-leading .389 with 15 doubles, 18 runs scored and 13 RBI. He also tops the Mavs with a .602 slugging percentage and a .463 on-base percentage.

In the 19-inning game against LIU Brooklyn in Florida, McCord (1-0) earned the win on the mound after starting behind the plate. Over the last seven innings, he struck out a career-high 11 batters and issued just one walk while allowing two hits in relief. It marked his first appearance on the hill in two years, as he last pitched in 2010.

Mortensen Makes Strong Debut
True freshman Alex Mortensen has had a solid start to his Maverick career, posting a team-leading 21 RBI over 27 games. For the year, the Millard North product is batting .289 with seven doubles, a triple and three home runs. In last week's 3-2 win over Creighton, it was Mortensen's bat that propelled the Mavs to victory, as he went 2-for-4 with a run scored and two driven in. After scoring UNO's first run in the seventh, he added a two-run single in the eighth that scored the tying and go-ahead runs to spot the 3-2 lead.

Mortensen homered in back-to-back games of the Northern Colorado series while scoring three times and accounting for five RBI. In the opening weekend at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, he went 3-for-6 at the plate over three games. He started twice, putting up a double and two RBI while scoring once. In Saturday's nightcap, Mortensen entered the game as a pinch hitter, drawing a bases-loaded walk that scored Tyler Splichal and gave the Mavs the 2-1 win. On Sunday, Mortensen added a 2-for-3 effort in the series finale.

Mavericks Reclassify to Division I
Nebraska Omaha announced in March 2011 its plan to reclassify from NCAA Division II to Division I, beginning with the 2011-12 school year. UNO, which was previously a member of the MIAA, accepted an invitation to join The Summit League and will compete as a full-fledged member with a regular-season conference schedule in 2012-13.

Mavs Return All-Conference Infield Trio
Nebraska Omaha has three players on its roster who have previously earned all-conference recognition in the Mavs' former league in Division II, the MIAA. Senior infielder Brady Hohl was a two-time All-MIAA honoree, taking a first-team award in 2011 and a second-team nod in 2010. Last season, Hohl topped the Mavericks with a .408 batting average while starting all 55 games at shortstop and third base. He led UNO with 59 runs scored, 23 walks and 15 stolen bases while adding 35 RBI, 11 doubles and five home runs.

Junior infielder Tyler Splichal was a second-team All-MIAA selection in 2010 and was voted MIAA Freshman of the Year that same season. As a freshman, Splichal had a team-best .410 batting average, and he followed up in 2011 with a .322 effort with 13 doubles, five homers, 35 runs scored and 29 RBI.

Sophomore infielder Caleb Palensky garnered All-MIAA honorable mention accolades after his freshman campaign, when he was also named the 2011 MIAA Freshman of the Year. Palensky started 47 games at second base, batting .366 with a team-leading 14 doubles, two triples, four home runs, 36 RBI and 35 runs scored.

Herold at the Helm
Head Coach Bob Herold is in his 13th year as the skipper of the Nebraska Omaha baseball program in 2012, having compiled a career record of 417-263-2. Herold earned his 400th career win last season on April 22, 2011 against Fort Hays State, becoming the third coach in school history to reach the milestone. He joined Bob Gates (464-273) and Virgil Yelkin (439-196) in the prestigious club, and Herold now needs 49 more wins to pass Gates as the all-time winningest coach in UNO history.
    
Over his Maverick career, Herold has guided Nebraska Omaha to seven NCAA Division II postseason appearances and three conference championships.

Mavs Open Division I Era at Texas A&M Corpus Christi
Nebraska Omaha began its first Division I season with a four-game series at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, going 1-3. After the Friday opener was rained out, the Mavericks began with a Saturday doubleheader, falling 3-0 before taking a 2-1 win in the nightcap. On Sunday, the Islanders won both games, 3-2 and 7-2.

Junior infielder Tyler Splichal had six hits and batted .375 for the weekend with an RBI and a run scored. He also tallied the game-winning run on Saturday. In the same game, redshirt freshman Zach Williamsen (1-0) made his career debut on the mound and earned his first victory in relief. Williamsen tossed 3.0 innings of scoreless ball, allowing just two hits.

New Kids on the Block
UNO's 2012 roster features 13 new faces, with nine true freshmen and four transfers. The Maverick freshmen include Papillion La-Vista South teammates Tyler Lane, Joe Mancuso and Justin Paul, as well as in-state products Alex Mortensen (Millard North), Clayton Taylor (Mount Michael), Sam Raetz (Lincoln Pius X) and Max Ayoub (Grand Island). Jared Patton comes to UNO from Basehor-Linwood High School in Kansas, and Cole Volkers played at Alta Loma High School in California.

Ryley Cidlik (Kansas State) and Bellevue East product Ryan Keele (Northwestern State) have both transferred from Division I universities. Dylan McGill comes from Southeast Community College, while Steven Schoonover joins the program after beginning his career at Yakima Valley Community College.

After the first third of the season, nine newcomers have seen playing time: Mortensen, Mancuso, Patton, Lane, Schoonover, McGill, Cidlik, Volkers and Ayoub.

Mixed Schedule Takes Mavericks Around the Nation
UNO's 2012 schedule of 49 games, its first as a reclassifying institution, is composed entirely of Division I competition.  The team will play in 12 different states and all four time zones across the country. The slate matches UNO with one independent school and opponents from 12 different conferences: The Summit League, Pac-12, Big 12, Big Ten, West Coast, Missouri Valley, Ohio Valley, Southland, Mountain West, Great West, Patriot League and Northeast.

Three Summit League squads -- IPFW, North Dakota State and Oakland -- will give the Mavs their first taste of future conference competition, which begins officially in 2013.

UNO Finishes Final Year in Division II Among Nation's Best
UNO finished the 2011 season ranked 10th nationally in team batting average in the NCAA's final Division II statistical rankings released last June. The Mavericks, who compiled a team batting average of .332, were also 16th in home runs per game (0.91), 12th in total home runs (50), 13th in total hits (578) and 12th in slugging percentage (.487).

Next Up for the Mavs
UNO returns to action April 13-15, traveling to UNLV for a four-game road series. Friday's game will be played at 8:05 p.m. (CT) , followed by a 3:05 p.m. (CT) doubleheader on Saturday. The series finale is Sunday at 3:05 p.m. (CT), and links to live stats, live video and live audio will be available on OMavs.com.