Omaha Wraps Up Season at Summit League Tournament
May 14, 2016 | Softball
FARGO, N.D. ā Omaha softball closed out its season in the Summit League Softball Tournament Friday falling to No. 1 seed North Dakota State 8-7 in game one of the day and being eliminated by No. 6 seed IUPUI 14-13 in game two.
The Mavericks finish their season with a 30-29 overall record and finished second in the Summit League regular season with a 12-5 mark.
Game One: North Dakota State 8 Omaha 7
The Mavericks struck first in the contest, as senior Campbell Ditto blasted a 2-2 pitch over the left field wall.
The Bison would not be silent for long.Ā After the first batter of the inning struck out, NDSU strung together three straight singles to tie the game, 1-1.Ā They loaded the bases when Julia Luciano was hit by a pitch.Ā Bre Beatty walked to drive the second run of the inning and to keep the bases loaded.Ā Jackie Stifter became the second batter of the inning to get hit by a pitch which allowed another run to score.Ā Omaha starter Laura Roecker settled down and was able to get out of the inning without surrendering any more runs.
Senior Bailey Schulenberg drew a one out walk and moved to third on sophomore Kelly Pattison's double down the left field line.Ā NDSU starter Jacquelyn Sertic was able to get the next batter to pop out for the second out of the inning.Ā Junior Lia Mancuso hit a 1-0 offering down the right field line allowing Schulenberg and Pattison to score and tie the game, 3-3.
Omaha took the lead in the top of the third.Ā Senior Sydney Hames led off the inning with a single and moved to second on an error.Ā Sophomore Kylie Schwarting pinch ran for Hames and moved to third on a wild pitch.Ā Freshman Kourtney Pock lifted a sacrifice fly to right allowing Schwarting to score and put Omaha ahead, 4-3.
Lia Mancuso opened the fourth getting hit by a pitch.Ā Junior Nicole Warren roped a double to right field moving Mancuso to third.Ā Hames hit a line drive that was caught by the NDSU centerfielder, but Mancuso was able to tag and come in to score as the UNO increased its lead, 5-3.
The Mavericks went up 7-3 in the top of the fifth when Pattison hit a two-run home run over the center field wall.
North Dakota State rallied for four runs in the bottom half of the fifth to tie the score, 7-7.Ā Beatty singled to open the inning and scored on Stifter's homer.Ā After retiring the next two batters, Katie Shoultz reached on an infield hit and came in to score of Logan Moreland's home run.
Omaha retired the first two batters in the bottom of the seventh before Moreland walked and moved to second on a wild pitch.Ā The Mavericks intentionally walked the next two batters to load the bases.Ā Luciano brought home the winning run as she was hit by a pitch.
Roecker pitched a complete game allowing eight runs on eight hits and seven strikeouts.
Pattison went 2-for-2 at the plate with a double, a home run and two RBI.Ā Mancuso went 1-for-3 with a double and two RBI.
Game 2: IUPUI 14 Omaha 13
Omaha jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as Sydney Hames scored on Bailey Schulenberg's double.
IUPUI responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning.Ā Taylor Chitwood hit a two-out double and scored on Maggie Good's single.Ā Roni Patterson hit a two-run home run to give IUPUI a 3-1 lead after an inning.
The Mavericks went back on the offensive in the second.Ā Junior Lizzie Noble singled to start the inning and moved to second as senior Tara Trede reached on a fielding error.Ā Both runners moved up a base on a passed ball.Ā Nicole Warren drew a walk to load the bases.Ā Hames hit a fly ball deep to right field that was caught, but Noble and Trede were able to tag up and score to tie the game, 3-3.
IUPUI regained the lead in the bottom of the second thanks to a single, two walks and a sacrifice fly, 4-3.
Kelly Pattison put Omaha back in front with a two-run homer to center field in the third, 5-4.
Omaha took a 7-4 lead in the top of the fourth.Ā Warren led off the inning with her 20th home run of the season.Ā Later in the inning, the Mavericks loaded the bases and scored when Pattison was hit by a pitch.
The Jaguars came roaring back in the bottom of the inning.Ā Delilah Wright reached on a bunt single and moved to second when Morgan Schlobohm reached on an error.Ā Laura Roecker replaced starter Abbie Clanton with two on and one out in the inning. Ā Chitwood welcomed Roecker to the game with a three-run home run to center field.Ā Kaitlynn Moody's two-out single put IUPUI on top, 8-7.
IUPUI held Omaha scoreless in the top of the fifth and added five more runs in the bottom of the inning for a 13-7 lead.
Omaha was not going to go down without a fight.Ā Schulenberg led off the sixth with a walk and scored on Pattison's second homer of the game.Ā Lia Mancuso hit a two out double and moved to third as Warren beat out an infield hit.Ā Mancuso came in to score on Hames' single up the middle and cut the lead to three, 13-10.
IUPUI added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth, 14-10.
Schulenberg led off the seventh with a solo home run to center field.Ā IUPUI brought in Moody to close out the game.Ā Moody retired the first batter she faced and then walked Noble.Ā Ā Trede lifted a fly ball that found its way over the center field wall to cut the deficit to one, 14-13.Ā Moody was able to retire two of the next three batters she faced to give the Jaguars the win and eliminate the Mavericks from the postseason.
Pattison went 2-for-4 at the plate with two home runs and five RBI.Ā Schulenberg and Trede each had two RBI for Omaha.Ā Hames went 2-for-4 with three RBI.
Roecker (17-14) took the loss for the Mavericks.
Notes
- Omaha set school records in doubles (102), home runs (83), walks (198), and slugging percentage (.536) this season.
- Omaha set Summit League records with 83 home runs and 350 RBI in a season.
- Four different players hit 10 or more home runs (Campbell Ditto-10, Kelly Pattison-11, Sydney Hames-14, and Nicole Warren-20).
- Five different players had 30 or more RBI (Lizzie Noble-35, Pattison-36, Kourtney Pock-38, Hames 55, and Warren 58).
- Warren set a Summit League record with 20 home runs in a single season.
