MINNEAPOLIS — Top-seeded Omaha dropped its opening game at the Summit League Softball Championship, 1-0, to fourth-seeded South Dakota before rebounding with a 12-2 win over second-seeded St. Thomas in an elimination game Thursday.
Omaha will need to win three more elimination games over the next two days to secure its fourth consecutive tournament title.
The Mavericks (34-11) will face the loser of Friday's South Dakota–South Dakota State matchup at 4 p.m. CT on the Summit League Network.
Junior Maddia Groff threw all 12 innings for Omaha on the day, striking out 19 while allowing one earned run.
In the elimination game, Omaha struck early and never trailed. Taylor Sedlacek hit a solo home run in the first inning, and Marra Cramer followed later in the frame with an RBI triple to make it 2-0.
After St. Thomas scored in the second, Omaha responded with three runs in the bottom half. Rylinn Groff, Sedlacek and Bailey Sample delivered consecutive RBI singles to push the lead to 5-1.
The Mavericks broke the game open with a seven-run fourth inning. Sedlacek hit her second home run of the game — her team-leading 18th of the season — and Sammy Schmidt added a two-run single before Rylinn Groff cleared the bases with a three-run double.
The top three hitters in Omaha's lineup — Rylinn Groff, Sedlacek and Sample — combined to go 9-for-11 with six runs scored and nine RBIs.
In the opener, South Dakota's Madison Evans outdueled Groff, tossing a three-hit shutout. Evans also handed Omaha one of its two conference losses during the regular season last week.
Omaha struggled to capitalize on scoring chances, leaving nine runners on base and stranding multiple runners in scoring position in the middle innings. South Dakota scored the game's only run in the fifth inning after a leadoff batter reached on an error and later scored on a single.
All three of Omaha's hits in the opener were doubles by Sample, Katherine Johnson and Alyson Edwards.
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