Drake 1, UNO 0
Drake 5, UNO 0

DES MOINES, Iowa - The UNO softball team dropped a pair of games at Drake on Wednesday night, 1-0 and 5-0.

The losses put the Mavs at 23-16 heading into the Great West Conference Tournament, set for May 13-14 in Farmers Branch, Texas. Drake improved to 25-27.

In game one, UNO outhit Drake 8-3, but the Bulldogs scored the game's only run in the fourth inning on a solo home run by Hayley Nybo. The Mavs stranded nine runners in the game, including two runners on base in the third, fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

The Mavs' best chance to tie the game came in the top of the seventh inning. Kiley Thalken and Tonya Peterson each recorded one-out singles. After Lindsay Redding fouled out, Lauren Larson singled to centerfield, and Thalken tried to score from second but was tagged out at home to end the game.

Peterson and Larson each had two hits for the Mavs. Dana Elsasser (13-8) took the loss, allowing just three hits and one run on the homer by Nybo. Drake's Jordan Gronewold earned the shutout win to improve to 17-19.

In game two, the Mavs mustered just three hits, but the Bulldogs didn't break the scoreless deadlock until they scored three runs in the fifth. Drake added two more in the sixth for the 5-0 win.

Drake got on the board first when pitcher Rebekah Schmidt scored from third after beating out a throw home on an infield grounder. Amy Pierce added a two-run triple later in the inning to break open a 3-0 lead.

In the sixth, Drake scored on RBI hits from Jaimie Duffek and Gronewold. Kat Barrow (8-6) took the loss after allowing five runs on six hits. Schmidt (8-8) pitched the three-hitter for Drake.

Amber Lutmer, Katelyn Hinton and Mara Eeman each had singles for the Mavericks.

The Mavs will play Houston Baptist in the first round of the Great West Conference Tournament on May 13 at 12:30 p.m.