UNO 5, Indiana 0
UNO 9, Saint Louis 0 (5 inn.)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The UNO softball team shut out Indiana, 5-0, and Saint Louis, 9-0 (5 inn.), on the opening day of the Tennessee State Classic on Friday.
The Mavericks improved to 19-2 on the season and are now 10-0 on the first day of tournaments this season.
Dana Elsasser earned the shutout in game one over the Hoosiers, while
Kat Barrow followed with a five-inning shutout of the Billikens immediately after. It's the first time this season the Mavs have posted consecutive shutouts.
UNO continues tournament play on Saturday against Alabama State at 11:30 a.m. and Tennessee State at 3:30 p.m. Free live audio will be available for the Tennessee State game
here.
Omaha 5, Indiana 0
Elsasser pitched a complete-game two-hitter, and the Mavericks scored one run in the fourth and four in the fifth for the 5-0 win. Elsasser (10-2) pitched her fifth shutout of the season and 10th complete game. She struck out a career-high nine batters and walked one.
Indiana (10-11) put Meaghan Murphy (5-7) in the circle, and she struck out seven Mavs through the first three innings. But in the bottom of the fourth,
Amber Lutmer reached on a fielding error by the third baseman and advanced to second on an error by the first baseman.
Tonya Peterson connected on a two-out single to score Lutmer to make it 1-0. UNO then loaded the bases on a single by
Sydney Hames and a
Mara Eeman hit by pitch, but the Hoosiers got out of the jam when
Tara Trede's grounder forced out Eeman at second.
But UNO added to the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Allie Mathewson led off with a single and took two bases on back-to-back passed balls.
Lindsay Redding singled home Mathewson for a 2-0 lead.
Campbell Ditto's grounder forced Redding out at second, but Lutmer stepped in and drove a towering shot over the right field fence, her 10th of the year, to make it 4-0. After Lora Olson came in to pitch,
Molly Negrete singled and
Tonya Peterson doubled to score her for a 5-0 margin.
Elsasser surrendered just one hit the rest of the way and the Mavs picked up their fifth straight win in tournament openers this season. Mathewson, Negrete and Peterson each had two hits for the Mavs.
Omaha 9, Saint Louis 0 (5 inn.)
Barrow returned to the circle for the first time since Feb. 15 because of an injury, and the sophomore delivered the best performance of her season so far against the Billikens (4-7). Barrow (4-0) allowed just three hits and no walks while striking out three and earned her first shutout of the year and second of her career. Her three hits allowed matched the fewest in her career.
Meanwhile at the plate, the Mavs exploded for six runs in the top of the fifth inning to turn a 3-0 game into a comfortable 9-0 lead. UNO got started in the second inning when
Tonya Peterson doubled home
Amber Lutmer and
Molly Negrete for a 2-0 lead. Negrete scored again in the fourth inning on an error by the first baseman after
Tara Trede's grounder.
In the fifth, Negrete doubled home
Lindsay Redding and Lutmer, who reached via single and double, respectively. After a pitching change and a
Sydney Hames walk,
Mara Eeman drilled a three-run homer to left field, her first of the season. Trede followed with a single and
Allie Mathewson tripled her home for a 9-0 lead.
Negrete went 3-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBIs, bringing her totals on the day to 5-for-6 with four runs scored and two RBIs. Six other Mavs each had one hit against Saint Louis.
