UNO 16, Iona 0 (5 inn.)
UNO 7, Detroit 2
OMAHA, Neb. -
Allie Mathewson hit a leadoff home run for the Mavs for the third straight game to set the tone for the day as the UNO softball team defeated Iona, 16-0 (5 inn.), and Detroit, 7-2, to start the season 4-0.
The Mavs last started a season 4-0 in 2011, but the last time UNO won five in a row to begin the season was in 2002. Omaha will look to accomplish a perfect weekend at the UNCW Beach Blast on Sunday against Detroit at 8 a.m. (Central).
UNO 16, Iona 0 (5 inn.)
Mathewson, a Papillion-La Vista South product and Creighton transfer, continued the incredible start to her Maverick career on Saturday morning with a bomb to center field for her third home run in the first at bat of three straight games for the Mavs to begin the season. She added a three-run shot in an eight-run third inning to help break open the game, 9-0.
Amber Lutmer and
Molly Negrete started the third inning scoring with RBI singles, and
Bailey Schulenberg was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to produce another run.
Tara Trede singled home Lutmer and Negrete, and Mathewson capped the inning with her fourth dinger of the season.
UNO added two more runs in the fourth on Negrete's first home run of the season and five more in the fifth, highlighted by Lutmer's grand slam for her first home run of the season.
Dana Elsasser (2-0) pitched 4.0 innings and allowed one hit. Freshman
Kayla Wyatt got her first action of the season and pitched a perfect fifth inning to finish out the shutout.
Mathewson finished 2-for-2 with four runs scored and four RBIs. Lutmer went 3-for-4 with three runs and five RBIs. Negrete went 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs. Trede finished 1-for-2 with a run scored and two RBIs.
Lindsay Redding and
Campbell Ditto each scored two runs.
UNO 7, Detroit 2
Lutmer hit two home runs and the Mavs pulled away late for the 7-2 win. Detroit scored in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead, the first time the Mavs had trailed in the tournament. But it didn't last long, as Lutmer hit a three-run homer in the top of the third to claim a 3-1 lead. Redding and Trede also scored on Lutmer's second homer of the day.
Detroit drew a run back in the fifth on a solo home run off pitcher
Kat Barrow, but the Mavs answered in the top of the sixth on an RBI single by Trede that scored
Mara Eeman.
The Mavs broke it open in the top of the seventh with two homers. Lutmer hit her second homer of the game and third of the day with a solo shot, then senior pitcher
Ashton Hughes made the most of her chance as the designated player, hitting a two-run homer to score
Tonya Peterson in the seventh inning to add some breathing room, 7-2. Hughes' homer was the first of her career and was the second hit of her career, as she picked up her first in the morning win over Iona. She also drew two walks against Detroit.
Barrow (2-0) completed the game, allowing two runs on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
Lutmer finished 2-for-4 with two runs and four RBIs. Trede went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI, and Hughes finished 1-for-2 with two RBIs.
