2020 Omaha Softball - Year in Review
3/30/2020
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Omaha posted its best record in the opening month of February since going 12-3 in 2014. The Mavericks started the season with a 12-12 record, including a 9-9 mark in February. Throughout the 2020 campaign, Omaha collected three Summit League weekly honors, sat atop the league standings and ranked among the nation's best in various hitting categories.
Strong Start
The Mavericks began the season with a 3-2 record in the season-opening weekend at the Rambler Rumble. Omaha tallied a win in the season opener for the fourth time in the last five seasons with a 7-6 victory over IUPUI.
Omaha recorded run-rule victories over Green Bay and Miami (Ohio) and crushed seven homers in the opening weekend. The seven home runs were the most through the first five games to start a season since the Mavericks belted 11 homers to start the 2016 campaign.
Eberhart Reaches Century Mark
Head coach Amanda Eberhart recorded her 100th career win as a head coach in Omaha's 7-6 win over IUPUI in the season opener on Feb. 7.
Prior to Omaha, Eberhart had previously served as a head coach at IUPUI for four seasons, 2013-16.
WELCOME TO 100??
— Omaha Softball (@OmahaSB) February 7, 2020
Head coach Amanda Eberhart recorded her 100th career win as a head coach in Omaha's 7-6 win over IUPUI on Friday morning.#EveryoneForOmaha | #OmahaSB pic.twitter.com/BszyJhKw5k
Summit League Accolades
Emma Dargy and Sydney Hampton swept the first Summit League Player and Pitcher of the Week awards after leading Omaha in the season-opening weekend.
Dargy hit .455 at the plate with a Summit League-leading three home runs and seven RBI. Hampton became the first Maverick to earn the weekly pitching honor since 2017 after posting a 3-0 record in three appearances with a 0.44 ERA and two complete-game shutouts.
Dargy became the first Maverick to be named Summit League Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks since 2016 after collecting the honor in the first two weeks. The La Vista, Neb., native hit .429 at the plate with two doubles, two home runs, nine RBI and five runs scored in four games at New Mexico State.
Non-Conference Takedown
Omaha took down its first Big Ten opponent since 2016 with a 4-2 victory over Michigan State on Feb. 28 in Riverside, Calif.
The win was the first over a Power Five opponent for the Mavericks since defeating Stanford on the road on Feb. 18, 2017.
B1G Win for Omaha????
— Omaha Softball (@OmahaSB) February 29, 2020
The Mavericks take down their first Big Ten opponent since 2016 with a 4-2 victory over Michigan State!#EveryoneForOmaha | #OmahaSB pic.twitter.com/pQi1tbsy56
Hampton Deals No-Hitter
Sydney Hampton tossed her first career no-hitter in Omaha's 9-0 five-inning victory at UC Riverside on Feb. 28. The Durant, Okla., native shut down the first 12 batters before opening the fifth with a walk on a full count. Hampton retired the next batter before the Maverick defense turned a double play to preserve the no-hitter.
Hampton's no-hitter was the sixth in program history since 2010 and 18th since 2000.
Dynamic Duo
Emma Dargy and Jamie White were the first Maverick duo to hit multiple back-to-back home runs together in a season since Lindsey Slocum and Amber Lutmer in 2011.
The pair went back-to-back three times together in 2020 and ranked first and second individually in the Summit League in home runs and runs batted in with a combined 15 home runs and 49 RBI.
???????????????? ??????????. ??#EveryoneForOmaha | #OmahaSB pic.twitter.com/vp91RfPesm
— Omaha Softball (@OmahaSB) February 11, 2020
Trending in the Right Direction
- Omaha ranked 24th nationally with 1.17 home runs per game and 36th with a .503 slugging percentage.
- Through 24 games, the Mavericks surpassed last season's total in runs scored, triples, home runs and runs batted in.
- After hitting .219 as a team in 2019, Omaha had eight players hit .300 or better in 2020.
- As a team, the Mavericks led the Summit League in eight hitting categories and ranked second with 200 hits.
- Omaha players combined for 16 appearances in the top-five individual rankings in hitting categories among Summit League players.
- The Mavericks clubbed five home runs in a game twice this season after going the previous 153 games without reaching the mark.
- Omaha went a perfect 9-0 when scoring at least seven runs in a game.
