STILLWATER, Okla. – The Omaha softball team split its opening day of competition at the Mizuno Classic, as the Mavericks bested Saint Francis, 7-6, in 11 innings and fell to host Oklahoma State, 8-0, in five innings.
In the opener, Omaha rallied twice to defeat Saint Francis 7-6 in 11 innings. Aubrey Hacker (2-2) pitched 8.0 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win.
In game two, Oklahoma State pounded out 12 hits as the Cowgirls defeated Omaha 8-0 in five innings.
The Mavericks continue tournament play on Saturday, March 3, against Saint Francis at 1:30 p.m. and Oklahoma State at 6:30 p.m. Links to live stats and video are available on OMavs.com.
Omaha 7, Saint Francis 6 (11 innings)
Mikayla Bower and Jordan Seneca each hit solo home runs in the second inning as Saint Francis jumped out to a 2-0 lead. The Red Flash added two more runs in the third on RBI knocks from Bower and Kassidy Troxell.
Emily Klosterman singled and stole second to start the bottom of the third inning.
Crystal Pablo followed with an RBI single through the right side.
Faith Romero worked a two out walk and moved to third as
Demi Dobbs reached on an error. Romero came in to score on a wild pitch to trim the lead to 4-2.
The Mavericks' first four batters reached in the bottom of the fourth as Omaha took the lead, 5-4.
Natalie Mostek reached on an error and moved to second as
Jessica Nelson reached on a fielder's choice. Klosterman reached on another error to load the bases. Following a pitching change,
Kelly Pattison hit a two-run single to tie the game. Pablo followed with an RBI single through the right side to put UNO in front 5-4.
The Red Flash took advantage of two Maverick errors in the top of the seventh to tie the game at 5-5.
As the game went to the ninth inning, the International Tie Breaker put a runner at second for each team the rest of the way. Saint Francis went ahead in the top of the ninth on a Hayley Norton double. Omaha responded in the bottom half of the inning as
Hailey Bartz was placed on second and moved to third when
Lexi Burchfield reached on a fielder's choice. Bartz came in to score as Dobbs grounded out.
In the bottom of the 11th inning, Klosterman started the inning on second and moved to third on a fielder's choice. She then came in to score on a Red Flash passed ball.
Klosterman, Pablo and Pattison each had two hits to lead Omaha. Klosterman stole a base and scored three times, while Pablo and Pattison each had two RBI.
Laura Roecker started and pitched 3.0 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits. Hacker pitched 8.0 innings in relief allowing two unearned runs on three hits with eight strikeouts.
No. 24 Oklahoma State 8, Omaha 0 (5 innings)
Emmie Robertson (5-3) got the win for Oklahoma State, limiting Omaha to one hit over five innings with seven strikeouts.
Sydney Hampton (6-3) took the loss, allowing six runs on seven hits and three walks in 2.0 innings of work.
Halley Jones pitched the final 2.1 innings allowing two runs on five hits and two walks.
Pablo had the only hit for the Mavericks.
The Cowgirls put up eight runs on 12 hits, led by a 3-for-3 effort by Sydney Pennington. Whitney Whitehorn went 1-for-4 with a homerun and four RBI.
