MACOMB, Ill. - Dana Elsasser pitched back-to-back shutouts to lift the Omaha softball team to 4-0 and 8-0 (5 inn.) wins in Friday's doubleheader at Western Illinois.
Elsasser, now 26-7 on the season, allowed just four hits in game one and three hits in game two to run her shutout streak to five straight games. Elsasser has not allowed a run in her last 33 innings pitched.
The Mavericks are now 32-16 overall and 11-6 in the Summit League heading into the last game of the season. Western Illinois fell to 18-25-1 and 4-12 in league action.
The series wraps up on Saturday at Noon.
Omaha 4, Western Illinois 0
Omaha broke through with two runs in the third inning. Tonya Peterson singled and scored on Allie Mathewson's single to right field. Mathewson then came around to score when Campbell Ditto was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Amber Lutmer's 17th home run of the season, a solo shot to lead off the fifth, put UNO up 3-0. The Mavs added a run in the seventh when Mathewson tripled and scored on a single by Lizzie Noble.
UNO outhit Western Illinois 8-4 in the game. Mathewson, Lutmer and Peterson each had two hits. Elsasser struck out eight and walked one in her four-hit shutout.
Omaha 8, Western Illinois 0 (5 inn.)
Allie Mathewson led off the game with a home run, and Campbell Ditto added one of her own three batters later, and the Mavs never looked back.
Omaha busted it open with a six-run third inning. Tara Trede singled to start the inning, and Mathewson and Amber Lutmer walked to load the bases. Sydney Hames knocked a double to left center to score Trede and Mathewson for a 4-0 lead. Lizzie Noble brought home Lutmer on an infield single, and later with the bases loaded, pinch-hitter Nicole Warren laced a triple to clear the bases. Warren was thrown out at home attempting an inside-the-park home run.
Nevertheless, the Mavericks were able to win the game by run-rule thanks to Elsasser's dominance in the circle. She allowed three hits and one walk with six strikeouts.
The Mavs had just six hits for their eight runs, and the hits were spread out among six different players.
