OMAHA, Neb. – Omaha softball will host Northern Iowa in its final home game of the season Tuesday at 4 p.m.
Omaha is 28-22 overall and sits in second place in the most recent Summit League standings with a 12-2 mark. Northern Iowa is 34-14 overall and is 13-6 in Missouri Valley play.
Last week, Omaha swept a non-conference doubleheader from North Dakota on Tuesday. The Mavericks then took a three-game Summit League series from South Dakota over the weekend.
Leading Off
The Omaha offense leads the Summit League in almost every category. The Mavericks lead the league in doubles (84), hits (389), extra base hits (166), home runs (68), runs (323), RBI (300), slugging percentage (.530), triples (14), total bases (705), and walks (168). The Mavericks also lead the league in shutouts (6).
On the National Scene
The Omaha offense is making some noise on the national scene. The Mavericks are 10th nationally in home runs per game (1.36), 14th in slugging percentage (.530), 14th in doubles per game and 20th in scoring (6.46 runs per game).
Nicole Warren is 9
th nationally in home runs with 16, while
Sydney Hames is 31
st with 13. Warren is also 19
th nationally in RBI (50).
The 2016 Mavericks
Senior Sydney Hames leads the Mavericks with a .375 batting average, .696 slugging percentage, and 117 total bases. Hames also leads the team in hits (63) and doubles (13). She ranks in the Summit League top five in hits, total bases, slugging percentage, assists (121), home runs (13) and RBI (46).
Junior Nicole Warren leads the Summit League in runs scored (52), RBI (50), assists (131), homeruns (16), triples (3) and total bases (118). She has also swiped six bases on the season. The shortstop has a .297 batting average this season and a .686 slugging percentage.
Senior catcher Campbell Ditto is hitting .331 on the season with nine home runs and 25 RBI. Ditto had her first multi-homer game of her career blasting two dingers at Western Illinois on April 16 and launched a grand slam against IPFW on April 3. Ditto earned Summit League Player of the Week honors on April 18 for her performances against Iowa State and Western Illinois. Defensively, she has thrown out 10 runners attempting to steal.
Freshman Kourtney Pock leads the team with a .443 on-base percentage. Pock is also second on the team and fourth in the Summit League with a .351 batting average. She has 10 doubles and eight home runs with 35 RBI. Two of her six homers this season have been grand slams. Pock earned back-to-back Summit League Player of the Week awards on March 14th and 21st.
Junior Lia Mancuso has a .329 batting average this season with eight doubles, two triples, three home runs and 17 RBI. Mancuso has a .585 slugging percentage and a .430 on-base percentage. She has also stolen six bases this season. Mancuso's first career homerun was one to remember as it was of the walk off variety at home against South Dakota State on April 10.
Sophomore Kelly Pattison leads the team with nine stolen bases in 10 attempts. Pattison also has seven home runs and 26 RBI.
Freshman Alexis Parker is now hitting above .300 this season. Parker is batting .302 in 32 games.
Freshman Laura Roecker leads Omaha in the circle with a 15-10 record with a 4.91 ERA in 155.1 innings. Roecker has thrown 15 complete games and four shutouts. The right-hander leads the league in appearances (36) and starts (30). She is second in wins and innings pitched and is fourth in strike outs (87). Roecker fired a no hitter on April 6 at home against Drake, for the second UNO no hitter of the season. The freshman has earned two Summit League Pitcher of the Week honors this season on March 14th and 28th.
Abbie Clanton is second on the team with 33 appearances (14 starts). This season, Clanton has an 11-9 record with a 4.91 ERA and 60 strike outs. The junior fired a no-hitter at Northern Colorado on March 8. She earned Summit League Pitcher of the Week honors on April 4 for picking up two wins in three appearances with a 0.68 ERA. Clanton is third in the league in wins, shutouts, and appearances.
The Mavericks are led by 17th year head coach Jeanne Scarpello. Scarpello is the program's winningest coach with a career mark of 682-254-1. 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.
Northern Iowa Panthers
Series Record: Northern Iowa leads the all-time series record over Omaha, 10-4.
Earlier this season, UNI topped UNO, 8-0, at the Jayhawk Invitational in Lawrence, Kan.
Scouting the Panthers:
Northern Iowa is 34-14 this season, including a 13-6 mark in Missouri Valley action. The Panthers took two out of three from Missouri State over the weekend. UNI swept the Saturday doubleheader winning, 4-2 and 11-8, but dropped the Sunday contest, 9-8.
Chelsea Ross and Alyssa Buchanan have become the Panthers two-headed monster with both of them pacing UNI in the circle and at the plate.
Ross is hitting .381 with a team high 11 homers and 41 RBI. She also leads the Panthers in appearances (31), starts (26), and strikeouts (154) in the circle, going 14-5 with an ERA of 2.39.
Buchanan leads Northern Iowa with a batting average of .388 and has tacked on six homeruns and 25 RBI this season. In the circle, Buchanan is 15-6 with a team best 2.38 ERA in 24 appearances and 14 starts.
UNI softball Head Coach Ryan Jacobs is entering his ninth season at the helm of a Panther squad that has posted a 463-204 record since he took over in 2008. His teams have set or tied six single-season school records while 30 players have received All-Missouri Valley Conference honors to go along with three MVC Newcomer of the Year honorees.
New Power Record
Last week, Omaha hit 15 home runs over five games to break the program record for homers in a single season. The Mavericks now have 68 long balls this season and average 1.36 homers per game. With six games left in the regular season, Omaha has the chance to add even more to its total.
There have been 11 different players who have left the yard this season. Sydney Hames and Nicole Warren each have over 10 homers this season, while Kourtney Pock and Campbell Ditto are closing in on double digits as well. Lia Mancuso and Tara Trede each have hit their first career home runs this season. Megan May hit two home runs in the same inning against North Dakota.
Keys to Victory
Last week, Omaha outscored the opposition 49-17 over five games. This season, UNO is 22-4 when scoring six or more runs and 23-7 when holding the opposition under five runs.
One of the biggest factors in Omaha's success this season is scoring first. The Mavs are 20-5 when putting the first run on the scoreboard. If the opposition gets on the board first, UNO is only 8-17.
The Mavericks gain more and more confidence when leading after four innings. This year, they are 19-1 when leading after four innings and 13-0 when leading after six innings.
Hitting is key for the Mavs. They are 24-2 when outhitting the opponent, but only 4-20 when getting outhit. Omaha is 16-2 when they hit two or more home runs, but only 5-14 when they do not go deep.
Omaha has scored 61 runs in the third inning this season, the biggest run total of any inning. They have put up 58 runs in the fourth and 53 runs in the fifth inning as well.
On Deck
Omaha wraps up the season next week with a doubleheader at Kansas City on Monday and a three-game weekend series at North Dakota State.
