OMAHA, Neb. – Omaha faces South Dakota State for a three-game weekend series prior to Easter weekend. The series marks the first Summit League road test of the season for the Mavericks.

UNO will play a doubleheader on Friday, April 3 at Jackrabbit Softball Stadium followed by a single game on Saturday morning. The first game on Friday is slated for a Noon start with game two set to start approximately at 2:00 p.m. Saturday's first pitch is set for 11:00 a.m. Links for live stats and audio will be made available on OMavs.com.

Leading off for Omaha

• As a team, the Mavericks are batting .246 on the season, but own a .259 average in Summit League play.
• In conference play, Omaha owns a .415 slugging percentage while holding the opposition to a .250 slugging percentage.
• UNO has outscored its opponents 140-121 and have outscored conference foes by a 23-9 margin. Among its 16 wins this season, Omaha has recorded four run-rule victories, five come-from-behind wins and two decisions in its favor in extra innings.
• Omaha has smashed 29 homeruns this season and allowed only 13.
• Omaha has a 2.97 ERA this season with 144 strikeouts and only 67 walks.
• Head coach Jeanne Scarpello is two wins away from earning her 650th career victory in 16 seasons of leading the Maverick program.

D.Y.K.? (Did You Know?)
1. Allie Mathewson led off game one against Wichita State with a homerun. This was the second time this season that the senior has accomplished the feat.
2. Kelly Pattison went 3-for-7 in Tuesday's double header against Wichita State with a double and two RBIs.
3. Mathewson and Tonya Peterson each have 21 RBIs on the season to lead Omaha, while Mathewson and Campbell Ditto are tied for the team lead with six homeruns.
4. Ditto, Mathewson, Peterson, and Tara Trede are the only Mavericks to appear in all 33 games this season.
5. Omaha and South Dakota State will be meeting for the 90th time in the history of both programs. The two teams first met each other in 1981 with the Mavericks winning 10-0.

About the Mavericks
Omaha lost a pair of games to Wichita State on Tuesday afternoon in Wichita, Kan. The Mavericks have opened conference play with a 4-2 mark and currently sit in second place behind North Dakota State (5-1).

This season Omaha owns a 10-9 record at neutral sites and a 6-2 home mark, but are 0-6 on the road this season.

Allie Mathewson owns a .318 batting average to lead the Mavericks. The senior leads the team in runs scored (26), hits (34), doubles (six), slugging percentage (.561), and stolen bases (10). She is also tied for the team lead in homeruns (six) and RBIs (21). Junior catcher Campbell Ditto is tied for the team lead in homeruns with six and has 17 RBIs. Tonya Peterson is tied with Mathewson with 21 RBIs and owns a .291 batting average with 25 hits. Lia Mancuso has a .286 average with six stolen bases.

In the circle, Kat Barrow leads the team with a 7-5 record and a 1.85 ERA. The senior has 72 strikeouts this season along with two shut-outs. Freshman Jaylee Hinrichs is 7-7 overall with a 3.09 ERA. Hinrichs has earned two Summit League Pitcher of the Week honors. Calry Nielsen and Lizzie Noble each have picked up wins this season. Nielsen also has the teams only save.

Collectively, the Mavericks are hitting .246 with 33 doubles, four triples, 29 homeruns and 133 RBIs. Omaha has a .405 slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .329. UNO is 34-for-40 in stolen base attempts and has drawn a total of 81 walks. The Mavericks' pitching staff has posted a 2.97 ERA, good for the third-lowest mark in the league, in 210.0 innings of work while striking out 144 and allowing 67 walks. In the circle, Omaha has five shut-outs and threw back-to-back shutouts against Fort Wayne on March 21-22.

Catching the Jackrabbits
South Dakota State is 3-2 over its past five games and own a 10-14 overall record and sit in fifth place in the Summit League standings with a 1-2 league mark. Last time out, SDSU swept a doubleheader from Southwest Minnesota State, 10-0 and 2-0.

The Jackrabbits feature four players hitting over .300 on the season. Elyse Eitel leads the team with a .397 average with 10 doubles and 16 RBIs. Devan Larsen owns the team lead in homeruns with seven and is tied for the team lead in RBIs with 17. Christian McKone has swiped 11 bases on the season and is hitting .284.

In the circle, Ashlyn Bender leads the team with a 6-6 record and a 4.18 ERA in 70.1 innings with 51 strikeouts and 28 walks. Bryana Clark owns a 3-7 record with a 5.63 ERA and 41 strikeouts and 26 walks in 54.2 innings of work. Each pitcher has thrown a shut-out this season.
Krista (Unger) Wood took over the Jackrabbit softball program in August of 2014 after eight successful seasons at Wayne State College in Wayne, Neb., where she posted an overall record of 270-154, with a 133-60 mark in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Prior to her coaching career, Wood was a stand-out pitcher at UNO.

Series Information
This will be the 90th all-time meeting between the two programs dating back to 1981. Omaha leads the series 76-13-1 overall.

Last season, Omaha swept the three game series in Brookings. The Mavs won the doubleheader on Friday 6-0 and 11-2. The next day, UNO completed the sweep with a 12-4 victory.

On Deck
Omaha will play the next five games at the friendly confines of Westside Field at Westbrook. UNO will a pair of non-conference doubleheaders on April 7-8. The Mavs will have a rematch against Kansas City on Tuesday, April 7 with games at 3 p.m. and 5: p.m. The next day, North Dakota visits Omaha with games slated for 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. The Mavericks wrap up the home stand on Wednesday, April 15 with a single game against Nebraska at 6:00 p.m.

Maverick Background
South Dakota State head coach Krista (Unger) Wood shined as a standout player at Omaha from 1999-2003. She helped the Mavericks to the NCAA Division II National Championship in 2001 as a sophomore and finished her career as the all-time winningest pitcher in Maverick softball history with 106 wins and 858.1 innings pitched. She also is second on the all-time chart with 530 strikeouts.

In the 2001 National Championship game, Wood tossed a two-hit shutout with five strikeouts in a 4-0 win over Lewis University. She also ranks second in career shutouts at UNO with 43, and earned numerous honors as a player at Omaha, earning First Team All-NCC honors three times, while also collecting three All-NCC Academic Team awards. She earned NFCA All-Region First Team honors in 2002 and a Second Team All-Region selection in 2001. Wood also earned North Central Conference Freshman of the Year in 2000.