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The UNO baseball team closes its 2012 season on Wednesday, May 9, facing crosstown rival Creighton. First pitch is slated for 7 p.m. at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, and the Mavericks look to sweep a two-game season-long series with the Bluejays. Links to live stats and live audio 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 420-279-2.

Brief Notes
•Senior Mark Waldron enters Wednesday with a 10-game hitting streak in place since April 17. Senior Brady Hohl owns the Mavericks' longest hitting stretch of 2012 with a 21-game streak from Feb. 28 to April 7.
•With his double at Kansas State last Saturday, senior Colby McCord worked his way into the top 10 in school history for career doubles. He is tied with former Maverick Chris Weimer for 10th with 33.
•UNO has played just six games within the city limits of Omaha this season. When playing in their home city, the Mavericks have held opponents to a .286 batting average.
•Nebraska Omaha is 8-1 on the year when leading after eight innings. The Mavericks are 2-1 in extra innings.
•Nine different pitchers have started on the mound this year, topped by Matt Tew with 12 starts and Andrew Reck with 11. Zach Williamsen, Derek Landis and Curtis Smith each have two wins apiece to lead UNO.

Last Time Out
UNO last took the field on Sunday, May 6, falling 10-2 to Kansas State in Manhattan, Kan. Seniors Scotty Donner and Brady Hohl both finished 2-for-4 on the day, with Donner scoring once of UNO's two runs. Senior Colby McCord was also 1-for-3 with a run scored.

For the weekend, McCord led the way with a .364 batting average, four hits and three runs scored, including a 3-for-4 effort on Saturday. Senior Mark Waldron also drove in three runs in the K-State series.

Scouting the Creighton Bluejays
Creighton hosts back-to-back midweek games at TD Ameritrade Park, facing Nebraska on Tuesday and UNO on Wednesday. Through games of May 6, the Bluejays have a record of 18-23 (5-12 MVC). They kick off a nine-game homestand and will face nationally-ranked Dallas Baptist this weekend. Head coach Ed Servais is seeking career win No. 500, as he owns a career record of 499-271-1 in 17 years of coaching.

Last weekend, CU took two of three games at Bradley, winning 7-4 on Saturday and 4-2 on Sunday. In the series finale, Anthony Bemboom went 3-for-3, and Chance Ross was 1-for-5 with two runs driven in. Jake Peter also finished 1-for-3 with two runs scored. Reese McGraw earned the win in relief, allowing no hits with two strikeouts in the last 1.2 innings.

The all-time series between Creighton and UNO is tied at 53-53.

Flashback to the First One
Behind the bat of freshman Alex Mortensen and a solid effort by the Maverick pitching staff, UNO earned a 3-2 win over Creighton on March 27 at TD Ameritrade Park. Mortensen finished 2-for-4 at the plate with a run scored and two driven in. After scoring the Mavs' first run in the seventh inning, he added a two-run single in the eighth that scored the tying and go-ahead runs to put UNO up 3-2.

Senior Curtis Smith earned the win on the mound, throwing three scoreless innings of relief. He allowed just two hits and struck out four while issuing no walks. Starter Matt Tew went 5.2 innings, giving up two runs on only one hit. Tew held the Bluejays hitless through the first five innings and went on to strike out three with a pair of walks. As a staff, UNO limited Creighton to just three hits for the night.

Moving On Up
Seniors Brady Hohl and Colby McCord have both been four-year letterwinners for the UNO baseball program, and both will cap their careers among the school's top 10 in multiple categories. Hohl ranks sixth in games played (180), fifth in games started (158), third in at-bats (628), sixth in runs scored (139) and third in total hits (217).

McCord is 10th in games played (162), and he achieved his 33rd double last weekend at Kansas State, which moved him into 10th in UNO history.

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 two appearances as a relief pitcher. The Papillion, Neb., native is batting a team-leading .367 with 18 doubles, three home runs, 27 runs scored and 20 RBI. He also tops the Mavs with a .538 slugging percentage and a .434 on-base percentage, and he owns 18 multi-hit games.

In the 19-inning game against LIU Brooklyn in Florida, McCord 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 had last pitched in 2010.

At Indiana State, McCord caught the first 11 innings, then closed the game with three strikeouts for his first save of the season.

Hohl's Hitting Streak Highlights Senior Season
Senior Brady Hohl has had a solid senior campaign, ranking second among active players with a .298 batting average, 12 doubles, two home runs, 23 runs scored and 22 RBI. He is also 14-for-16 in stolen bases, including a perfect 2-for-2 at Indiana State. In the series finale against the Sycamores, he was a career-best 5-for-7 at the plate.

The Millard North product carried a team-best 21-game hitting streak into UNO's doubleheader against North Dakota State on April 7, in place since Feb. 28. In game one, the Bison limited Hohl to an 0-4 effort at the plate before he went 1-for-3 in both of the last two games of the weekend. Sunday's contest saw him drive in four runs for the day.

In 2011, Hohl's outstanding play earned him a slew of awards to cap his junior season, including second-team all-region recognition. 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.

Mortensen Makes Strong Debut
True freshman Alex Mortensen has had a strong start to his Maverick career, posting a team-leading 26 RBI. For the year, the Millard North product is batting .293 with nine doubles, a triple and a team-best four home runs. In the Mavs' 3-2 win over Creighton, it was Mortensen's bat that propelled UNO 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.

Hohl, Waldron Honored as Independent Players of the Week
Senior Brady Hohl was named Independent Baseball Player of the Week, College Sports Madness announced last week. Hohl batted .400 over a three-game series at Indiana State, tallying a team-leading six hits with two runs scored and another pair driven in. He also delivered a career-best 5-for-7 performance at the plate in Sunday's 12-inning win over the Sycamores. The last UNO hitter with five hits in a game was Tyler Lundy against Missouri Western in 2010.

Fellow senior Mark Waldron earned the award on March 20 after batting .357 over six games at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. The Creighton Prep product drove in a team-leading eight runs while scoring nine times himself, also delivering four doubles and three walks to help UNO to a four-game win streak.

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.

Maverick Marathon
While playing in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational in March, 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.

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 420-279-2. 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 (464-473) and Virgil Yelkin (439-196) in the prestigious club, and Herold now needs 45 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.

Herold's most recent draft pick was righthanded pitcher Joe Holtmeyer, who was taken 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 second-highest pick of any player during the Herold era.

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.

New Kids on the Block
UNO's 2012 roster featured 11 new faces, with eight true freshmen and three transfers. The Mavericks' freshman class included Papillion La-Vista South teammates Tyler Lane, Joe Mancuso and Justin Paul, as well as in-state products Alex Mortensen (Millard North), 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) transferred from a fellow Division I program, Kansas State. Dylan McGill came from Southeast Community College, while Steven Schoonover joined the program after beginning his career at Yakima Valley Community College.

This season, nine newcomers have seen playing time: Mortensen, Mancuso, Patton, Lane, Schoonover, McGill, Cidlik, Volkers and Ayoub.