Mavericks Head South for I-75 Challenge
Feb 23, 2017 | Softball
Leading Off
The Omaha softball team heads south this weekend for five games at the Interstate 75 Challenge, Feb. 24-26, in Atlanta, Ga. The Mavericks open with a doubleheader against Georgia Tech on Friday, Feb. 24. UNO visits Georgia State for a pair of games on Saturday, followed by a single game against Kennesaw State on Sunday. Links to live stats and video are available on OMavs.com.
Quick Hits
- Junior Kelly Pattison hit .600 last weekend at the Nike Invitational with a double, two home runs and four RBI, and was named the Summit League Player of the Week for her efforts.
- Senior Lia Mancuso went 4-for-9 with a pair of doubles and three RBI last weekend.
- Sophomore right-hander Laura Roecker went 1-0 in two appearances last week, while senior righty Abbie Clanton finished 1-1.
- Senior Nicole Warren has reached base in six straight games, while Pattison has reached in five straight.
- DJ Sanchez is in her first year leading the Omaha softball program.
- The Mavericks open the year with 29 straight road games.
- UNO returns eight letter winners, including four position starters: Lia Mancuso, Kelly Pattison, Nicole Warren and senior Lizzie Noble. Two starting pitchers also return with senior right-hander Abbie Clanton and sophomore right-hander Laura Roecker.
- Three All-Summit selections highlight the Mavericks' returning corps: Mancuso, Roecker and Warren.
- Omaha was picked second in the Summit League preseason Coaches' Poll.
Scouting the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Georgia Tech enters the weekend with a record of 3-8 (0-0 ACC) after falling 7-1 to Jacksonville State in a midweek game. The Yellow Jackets went 2-2 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge last weekend, losing twice to Penn State before taking two from Iowa.
Samantha Pierannunzi leads the team with a .382 average with three homers and eight RBI. Jessica Kowalewicz has a .346 average with three doubles, two homers and six RBI. Jenna Goodrich has a 2-2 record with a 6.10 ERA and 17 strikeouts. Brooke Barfield has seven appearances with a 1-3 record and a 6.07 ERA.
Head coach Shelly Hoerner is in her fourth season at Georgia Tech with a 64-99 record and owns a 522-425 career mark over 18 years. Friday will be the first-ever meeting between Georgia Tech and Omaha.
Scouting the Georgia State Panthers
Georgia State enters the weekend with a record of 8-3 (0-0 Sun Belt) after an 8-4 midweek win over Mercer. The Panthers went 3-1 last weekend at the North Florida Invite with wins over South Carolina State (8-0 – 5 innings), Kansas (5-4) and South Dakota State (5-4 – 9 innings) before dropping a 9-4 game in extra inning to North Florida.
Ivie Drake leads the team with a .385 average. Morgan Brown has a .375 average with a double, a triple and four RBI and four stolen basesAmanda Chance had made five appearances with a 3-0 record. Chance has a 2.37 ERA with six walks and eight strikeouts. Emily Soles and Kinsley Jennings each have two wins.
Head coach Roger Kincaid is in his seventh season at Georgia State with a career mark of 214-136. Saturday will be the first-ever meeting between the Omaha and Georgia State.
Scouting the Kennesaw State Owls
Kennesaw State enters the weekend with a record of 7-2 (0-0 ASUN) after going 4-0 at the UTC Tournament last week. The Owls beat IUPUI (10-1), Tennessee Tech (3-0), UConn (5-1) and Radford (3-1).
Olivia Tamewitz leads the team with a .583 batting average with a triple, three doubles and six stolen bases. Courtney Sutter has a .444 average with three home runs and six RBI. Alley Cutting and Logan Viers each have 3-1 records in four appearances. Cutting owns a 2.33 ERA with 39 strikeouts, while Viers has a 0.50 ERA with 26 punch-outs.
Head coach Pete D'Amour is in his first season at Kennesaw State with a record of 7-2. Sunday is the eighth all-time meeting between Omaha and Kennesaw State. KSU leads the all-time series 4-3 and defeated UNO in its last meeting 2-0 on Feb. 25, 2005.
Briefly: Interstate 75 Challenge
Beginning on Friday, Omaha will play five games at the Interstate 75 Challenge in Atlanta, Ga. The Mavericks have never faced two of their tournament opponents: Georgia Tech and Georgia State.
Through Feb. 24, UNO's opponents are as follows:
Georgia Tech – 3-8 (0-0 ACC), lost its last game to Jacksonville State.
Georgia State – 8-3 (0-0 Sun Belt), won its last game against Mercer.
Kennesaw State – 7-2 (0-0 ASUN), on a five-game winning streak.
A Look Back at Last Weekend
Weather played havoc with the schedule at the Nike Invitational in Stanford, Calif. last week. Omaha finished with a 2-1 mark in its three games. Weather halted play on Friday and forced the rest of the weekend's schedule to be adjusted. On Saturday, UNO defeated Stanford, 3-2, and Pacific, 5-3. The Mavericks dropped Sunday's finale 4-3 in extra innings to UC Santa Barbara.
Pattison Named Player of the Week
Kelly Pattison was tabbed Summit League Player of the Week for her performances during the week of Feb. 13-19, the league office announced Monday. It marks the first weekly award of her career.
Pattison drove in four runs with two homers in three games while scoring four times. The Lockport, Ill., native had a .600 (6-for-10) average over the weekend with a .636 on-base percentage and 1.300 slugging percentage. She currently ranks second in the league in batting average (.400).
On the Road Again
This season UNO will play its first 29 games of the season on the road and play games in all four continental time zones. Omaha opened its season with a five-game set in Iowa before heading west to California. The Mavericks will travel east the next weekend to play five games in Georgia followed by five games in Utah. The next two weeks take UNO to Oklahoma and Kansas, before finally hosting New Mexico State for its home opener on March 21.
Reaching the Summit
After the second weekend of play, Lia Mancuso and Kelly Pattison rank second in the Summit League with a .400 batting average. Pattison, Emily Klosterman, Vicky Kinney and Nicole Warren are tied for third in homeruns with two, while Mancuso leads the conference with three stolen bases. Right-hander Abbie Clanton ranks in the league's top five in ERA and saves, while fellow righty Laura Roecker is second in wins.
As a team, UNO leads the conference in homeruns and is second in doubles, extra base hits, walks, batting average, and on-base percentage. The Mavericks are also in the top five in nine other offensive categories.
First “W”
Head coach DJ Sanchez picked up her first win at UNO last Friday with a 7-4 victory over Montana in the opening game of the Ramada-UNI Dome Classic.
Under the Dome
Omaha opened the 2017 campaign at the Ramada-UNI Dome Classic in Cedar Falls, Iowa, finishing the weekend with a 1-4 record. The Mavericks started off with a 7-4 win last Friday over Montana. UNO dropped games to Drake, Northern Iowa, Toledo and Wisconsin.
Impressive Start
Emily Klosterman showed little signs of being nervous at the plate during her first season with the Mavericks. She is currently batting .304 with two homeruns and four RBI. Klosterman owns a .652 slugging percentage and a .407 on-base percentage.
The Wait is Over
After taking a redshirt season last year, Vicky Kinney made her collegiate debut at the Ramada-UNI Dome Invitational, going 4-for-14 with two home runs and five RBI. For the season, she is hitting .273 with two homers, five RBI and a .591 slugging percentage.
Youth Movement
So far this season, the Mavericks started three freshmen in the infield. Klosterman, Hailey Bartz and Emma Dargy played in every game. Redshirt freshmen Anna Albaugh and Vicky Kinney each made their first college appearances as well. Kinney appeared in every game as the designated player, while Albaugh made one appearance in the circle.
Been Caught Stealing
Catcher Megan May allowed only two stolen bases in eight attempts this season. The junior catcher threw out five would-be baserunners at the Ramada-Northern Iowa Invite and three more during the Nike Invite.
Runner, Runner
Senior outfielder Lia Mancuso swiped three bases against Toledo last weekend. Mancuso leads the team and the Summit League in stolen bases so far this season. For her career, she has 19 stolen bases on 25 attempts.
Warren Watch
Senior Nicole Warren's power surge has continued this season. She has hit two long balls this year and is third in the Summit League. Warren has hit 32 career homers and ranks fifth all-time and trails Allie Mathewson (2013-15) by three homeruns.
Three Returning All-League Picks Highlight the 2017 Roster
Three returning All-Summit picks highlight the 2017 roster: senior outfielder Lia Mancuso, sophomore pitcher Laura Roecker and senior infielder Nicole Warren. Mancuso earned First Team All-League honors, while Roecker and Warren were Second Team honorees.
Warren set the Summit League single-season record with 20 home runs and led the team and league in homers, RBIs, runs scored (60), total bases (144), and assists (148) last season.
Mancuso had the second highest batting average (.333) on the team last year. The Omaha native finished 2016 with 11 doubles, two triples, five home runs and 22 RBI.
Roecker appeared in 42 games with a 17-14 record with a 4.78 ERA and 112 strikeouts as a freshman. She led the team in complete games (19) and innings pitched (184.2).
Home Sweet Home
The 2017 season will see the Mavericks play 12 home contests, including nine league matchups. Since moving to Division I in 2011-12, UNO has enjoyed a combined record of 42-17 at home.
What Makes Up the Mavericks
- UNO returns much of its offensive production from last season, as this year's returners accounted for 45.3 percent of the Mavericks' hits, 49 percent of their runs scored, 50.6 percent of their homers, 48.8 percent of their RBI and 80.6 percent of their stolen bases in 2016.
- Omaha's returning pitchers were credited with 87.6 percent of the team's innings pitched last year, 93.3 percent of its victories, and 91.8 percent of its strikeouts.
- The Mavericks return two of their top five hitters from a year ago: Lia Mancuso (.333) and Nicole Warren (.309).
- Warren had 204 at-bats in her junior season, the most of any hitter on the team.
- Warren's 20 home runs last season set a Summit League single-season record and was one short of tying the team record of 21 set in 2006 by Leslie Svoboda.
- UNO's 2017 roster includes four seniors, three juniors, two sophomores, two redshirt freshman and four freshmen.
- The Mavericks hail from four different states. Eleven are from Nebraska, two are from Iowa, and one apiece are out of Illinois and Missouri.
Sanchez in Charge
Head coach DJ Sanchez enters her first season at the helm of the Omaha softball program in 2017. Sanchez spent four seasons leading St. Gregory's University (Okla.), before coming to Omaha last summer.
In her four seasons at SGU, she compiled a 172-47 overall record, an 81-25 mark in the Sooner Athletic Conference and advanced to the NAIA post-season four times. The Cavaliers won their conference championship last season and twice earned a spot in the NAIA World Series.
Joining Sanchez is first-year assistant coach Ryan Wondrasek. Wondrasek previously worked with Coach Sanchez at St. Gregory's University, where he helped the Cavaliers become one of the top offensive and defensive teams in the country.
Fresh Faces
Seven newcomers – freshmen, redshirts or transfers – are on the Omaha roster in 2017. Four true freshmen are in the mix: Hailey Bartz (Lincoln, Neb.), Emma Dargy (LaVista, Neb.) Kaitlynn Hunt (Ashland, Neb.), and Emily Klosterman (Omaha, Neb.). Anna Albaugh (Johnston, Iowa) and Vicky Kinney (Bennington, Neb.) redshirted in 2016, with Albaugh transferring from Lake Land College.
Home is Where the Heart Is
Eight of the 15 players on UNO's 2017 roster hail from the Omaha area and three more come from the Lincoln area. From the Omaha metro area, two players come from Papillion-LaVista, while one each is from Bennington, Central, Elkhorn, Millard South, Millard West, and Papillion-LaVista South. Additionally, the Mavericks have one player from Mead, Lincoln Southeast and Lincoln Southwest.
Summit League Preseason Poll Released
Omaha was picked second in the 2017 Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll; the conference office announced Feb. 2. Defending league champion North Dakota State was selected as the league's favorite after collecting six first-place votes and 36 total points. Omaha claimed the final first-place tally and placed second with 27 points. Western Illinois came in third with 25 votes, while South Dakota (23) was fourth. South Dakota State (19), IUPUI (11) and Fort Wayne (five) rounded out the poll.
2017 Slate Takes Mavericks Coast to Coast
Omaha's 2017 schedule includes 51 games, and the team will play in nine states against schools from 17 other Division I conference. Six opponents – LSU, Nebraska, North Dakota State, Oklahoma, Tulsa, and Utah – played in the 2016 NCAA Tournament. LSU and Oklahoma advanced to the Women's College World Series with the Sooners claiming the national title.
Getting it Done in the Classroom
The Omaha softball team registered the second-highest grade point average among NCAA Division I programs for the 2015-16 academic year, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced. The Mavericks, who had the 11th-highest team GPA in 2014-15, registered a 3.643 team GPA last year. They trailed only Grand Canyon (3.670) in Division I.
Among the Summit League schools, Western Illinois (19th), North Dakota State (59th) and South Dakota State (72nd) all made the list.
Earning NFCA Scholar-Athlete honors were Abbie Clanton, Campbell Ditto, Sydney Hames, Lia Mancuso, Lizzie Noble, Kelly Pattison, Kourtney Pock, Laura Roecker, Bailey Schulenberg, Kylie Schwarting, Tara Trede and Nicole Warren.
Mavericks Sign Six
Head coach D.J. Sanchez announced Lexi Burchfield (Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound), Aubrey Hacke (Highland, Ill./Highland), Halley Jones (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park), Madison Otte (Lincoln, Neb./Southeast), Kayla Peak (Olathe, Kan./Olathe North) and Alexa Sedlak (Gretna, Neb./Gretna) have signed National Letters of Intent to join the Omaha softball program in 2017-18.
Next Up
UNO returns to action next weekend, heading to Utah to play five games in the Red Desert Classic. Omaha opens tournament play with a pair of games on Friday, Mach 3 against Montana and Utah State. The Mavericks then play Southern Utah and No. 17 Utah on Saturday, before a Sunday rematch with UC Santa Barbara. When available, live stats will be linked on OMavs.com.
