UNO 6, Alabama State 1
UNO 11, Tennessee State 0 (5 inn.)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The UNO softball team improved to 21-2 this season and 4-0 at the Tennessee State Classic with a 6-1 win over Alabama State and an 11-0 (5 inn.) win over host Tennessee State on Saturday.
The Mavericks have now posted shutouts in three of their four games at the TSU Classic and have outscored their opponents, 31-1.
UNO's 21-2 start to the season is the best since UNO began 25-2 in 2002. The Mavs will conclude play on Sunday against Mississippi Valley at 9:30 a.m.
Omaha 6, Alabama State 1
Campbell Ditto was 4-for-4 with two singles, a double, a triple and a career-high four RBIs to lead the Mavericks to a comfortable win over the Hornets (1-19).
Allie Mathewson was 2-for-5 with two triples and two runs scored, and
Molly Negrete and
Tara Trede each went 3-for-4.
Ashton Hughes pitched 5.0 innings and allowed one earned run on four hits, no walks and a career-high nine strikeouts to improve to 5-0.
Kayla Wyatt pitched the final two innings and allowed just one baserunner on a walk.
Negrete's bases-loaded single in the top of the first scored
Lindsay Redding for a 1-0 lead. In the second, Ditto tripled home Mathewson and Redding for a 3-0 lead. UNO made it 4-0 in the fourth when Ditto singled home Trede.
Mara Eeman hit a fielder's choice to second base that Negrete scored on in the fifth for a 5-0 lead.
The Hornets scored their lone run in the bottom of the fifth on a double to left center that plated a runner all the way from first, but the Mavs regained the five-run lead in the top of the sixth when Ditto doubled to score Mathewson, who had led off the inning with her second triple of the game.
Hughes allowed a double in the third and fourth innings and the lone run in the fifth, but other than that she cruised, striking out five batters in the first two innings to set the tone. She has won all four of her starts this season. The freshman Wyatt was strong in relief, walking the first batter she saw, but then retiring six straight batters to cap off the win.
Omaha 11, Tennessee State 0 (5 inn.)
Allie Mathewson hit a three-run home run, part of a 10-run third inning in which the Mavs batted around and every batter scored a run, and the Mavs toppled the tournament host Tennessee State (6-13) for their 21st win of the season.
Dana Elsasser (11-2) threw 5.0 innings of three-hit softball for her sixth shutout of the season. Elsasser walked one and struck out eight.
Amber Lutmer doubled home
Campbell Ditto, who had also doubled, for the game's first run in the top of the first inning.
UNO then blew it open with 10 runs in the top of the third. Mathewson began with a double and
Lindsay Redding reached on an error. Ditto singled to load the bases and Lutmer drew a walk to score Mathewson.
Molly Negrete then singled home Redding and Ditto for a 4-0 lead.
Tonya Peterson walked, and Lutmer then scored on a wild pitch to
Sydney Hames. Hames singled to left field, scoring Negrete and Peterson to make it 7-0. Hames moved to third on a wild pitch to
Mara Eeman. Eeman then walked and
Tara Trede reached on a throwing error by the third baseman, allowing Hames to score for an 8-0 lead. Mathewson then hit a three-run bomb to center field to clear the bases and make it 11-0, capping an inning in which all nine Mavs came around to score with Mathewson touching home twice. The Mavs totaled 10 runs on five hits in the inning with the help of two errors.
Mathewson was 2-for-3 with two runs and three RBIs for the game. Ditto was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored, part of a 6-for-7 performance at the plate on the day.
