OMAHA, Neb. – Omaha softball continues its 2016 tournament schedule over the weekend at the Montana Grizzly Classic in Missoula. The Mavericks are set to play four games in two days at the Grizzly Softball Field.
Omaha begins play on Saturday against Nevada at Noon (CT). Later that afternoon, the Mavericks square off against Montana at 2:15 p.m. (CT). Sunday brings two games against the same competition with a match-up against the Wolf Pack at 11:30 a.m. (CT). Omaha closes out its weekend against the Grizzlies at 4 p.m.
Live stats and video streaming will be available at OMavs.com for all games this weekend.
The 2016 Mavericks
Omaha is 11-16 on the season after dropping a midweek matchup at No. 23 Nebraska, 12-8. The Mavericks were led at the plate by freshman Kourtney Pock who smashed her first career grand slam. Sophomore Kelly Pattison went 2-for-4 at the plate, while junior Lia Mancuso drove in two.
This season, senior Sydney Hames leads the team at the plate with a .375 batting average, six home runs, and 21 RBI. Junior Nicole Warren is hitting .283 this season and leads the Summit League with eight home runs and 26 RBI. Pock is second on the team with a .304 average. She has two home runs and 13 RBI this season and was named Summit League Player of the Week and the College Sports Madness Summit League Player of the Week for her performance last week. Senior Campbell Ditto is hitting .297 with three homers and nine RBI. Ditto currently has a five game hitting streak.
Freshman Laura Roecker is 6-7 on the season in 16 starts. Roecker has a 5.68 ERA with 39 strikeouts and 52 walks. She leads the league in shut outs and is second in wins. The freshman has gone the distance six times with three shutouts. Earlier this week, she was named Summit League Pitcher of the Week for her performance this past weekend. Abbie Clanton leads the team with 20 appearances (five starts). Clanton is 4-6 on the season with a 6.17 ERA with 28 strikeouts, including firing a no-hitter at Northern Colorado on March 8. Lizzie Noble is 1-3 this season in 10 appearances.
The Mavericks are led by 17th year head coach Jeanne Scarpello. Scarpello is the program's winningest coach with a career mark of 665-248-1. Coach Scarpello led UNO to the 2001 NCAA Division II National Title and was part of the NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year. During the Division II era, she was a two-time MIAA Coach of the Year (2010, 2011) and a four-time NCC Coach of the Year (2001, 2004, 2006, 2008). Her teams made 12 straight NCAA DII Tournament appearances (2000-2011) while earning eight conference regular-season championships and five conference tournament championships. Coach Scarpello picked up her 500th career win on Feb. 20, 2011 against Texas A&M International.
Nevada
Series Record: This will be the first meeting between Omaha and Nevada.
Scouting the Wolfpack: This season, Nevada is 15-4 after splitting a double header at home against Sacramento State on Wednesday. The Wolfpack won the first game 4-3, before falling in the second game, 4-2.
Nevada as a team this season has 23 home runs in 19 games, three players tallying four homers on the season. Megan Sweet leads the team with a .393 batting average, 18 RBI, and 4 dingers. Raquel Martinez and Amanda Weis also have four home runs for the Wolfpack.
The Wolfpack have been stellar in the circle with a team ERA of 2.46. Brooke Bolinger is 6-2 in 10 starts on the season, with a 2.19 ERA. Bolinger has gone the distance in six games and notched two shutouts. McKenna Isenberg is 6-2 in eight starts and leads the team with 47 strikeouts. Chase Redington has made eight appearances on the season mainly coming out of the bullpen and is 3-0 with a team high 1.88 ERA and two saves.
Matt Meuchel enters his 8th season leading the Wolfpack program. Last season, Nevada finished with a 16-37 overall record and was 6-18 in the Mountain West Conference.
Montana
Series Record: This will be the first meeting between Omaha and Montana
Scouting the Grizzlies: Montana is 7-13 after going 1-1 at the Springhill Suites Invitational in Boise, Idaho last weekend. The Grizzlies defeated Idaho State, 14-9, and fell to host Boise State, 6-5.
The Grizzlies are led at the plate by freshman Sydney Stites. Stites leads the team in batting average (.426), home runs (6), RBI (14), doubles (6), and runs scored (16). Montana has four other players batting above .300: Bethany Olea (.397), Lexie Brenneis (.357), Madison Saacke (.343) and MaKenna McGill (.328).
Montana has posted a team earned run average of 6.03 on the season. Maddy Stensby leads the Grizzlies with a 4.94 ERA in 10 appearances and a 0-5 record. Sara Stephenson leads the team with 12 appearances and 27 strikeouts. Stephenson has a 5.30 ERA with a 4-3 record.
Jamie Pinkerton enters his 2nd season leading the Grizzlies program. Last season, Montana finished with a 16-34 overall record and was 8-13 in the Big Sky Conference. For his career, Pinkerton is 292-333, with stops as the head coach at Tulsa and Arkansas.
Up Next
Next weekend, Omaha will play at the friendly confines of Westside Field at Westbrook for the first time this season. The Mavs will welcome IUPUI to open up Summit League play. The Mavericks and Jaguars will play a double header on March 25 starting at noon. They will conclude the series with a matchup on March 26 at 11 a.m.
