OMAHA, Neb. – Omaha softball ran its winning streak to 12 straight games with a 12-2, five-inning thumping of Creighton in a non-conference game Tuesday night at
Connie Claussen Field in front of 1,006 fans.
Along with Omaha's 3-2 win at Creighton back on April 1, it marks the first time the Mavericks (33-9) have beaten the Bluejays (19-23) multiple times in one season since 1991. Also, Omaha has outscored their opponents, 69-14, during its win streak and the Mavericks have allowed two runs or less in 11 of the team's past 12 games.
Creighton – which has dropped three of its last four games – got on the board first with a run in the top of the first inning, but the Mavericks matched it in the bottom half when
Maggie O'Brien doubled, moved to third on a flyout by
Sydney Thomason, and then came home when
Katherine Johnson reached on a fielder's choice.
An RBI double in the top of the second gave the Bluejays a 2-1 advantage, but again Omaha responded in the bottom half of the inning. The Mavericks scored four runs on four hits – the biggest blows being an RBI single by
Rylee White and a two-run double by Thomason –to open up a 5-2 lead after two innings.
Omaha blew the game open in the third, scoring five more runs on just two hits to go up 10-2. A walk, hit batsman and a single loaded the bases for
Rylinn Groff, who drew a walk to bring home the first run. That brought up Thomason, who smacked a pitch over the left field wall for a grand slam, giving Thomason a Summit League-leading 13 homers on the season.
The Mavericks added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth, using an error, fielder's choice, a run-scoring single by White and a sacrifice fly by O'Brien to plate a pair of runs to give Omaha a 12-2 lead and close out the scoring.
White led the Omaha offensive attack by going 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored. Thomason finished up 2-for-3 with her grand slam, double, and six RBIs, O'Brien was 1-for-2 with a double, an RBI, and scored three runs, Groff was 1-for-1 with a double, an RBI and scored two runs, and
Marra Cramer was 1-for-3 with a double and scored a pair of runs as well.
Backed by a powerful offense, Omaha starter
Grace Hornbuckle (1-0) got rolling and retired the final eight batters she faced, not allowing a hit after the second inning. Hornbuckle earned her first collegiate win, giving up two runs on two hits with four strikeouts and a walk in five innings of work.
Omaha now hits the road for a Summit League series at South Dakota State in Brookings, S.D., this weekend. The series starts with a single game on Friday before a doubleheader on Saturday. The Mavericks close the regular season with five straight road games before they head to the Summit League Championship May 7-10 in Brookings, S.D.
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