Jordan McAlpine
SPORTS EDITOR
The Omaha softball team opened the 2022 season this weekend at the UNI Dome Tournament. The Mavericks got off to a disappointing 1-4 start to the season, but they did enter the win column Saturday afternoon against Drake. The win was the first under first-year head coach Mike Heard.
The Mavericks opened the tournament with a pair of losses against Nebraska and Iowa State on Friday. The Huskers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning and added home runs in the fourth and seventh innings on their way to a 6-1 win. Despite the loss, Sophie Cerveny went 2-for-3 in her collegiate debut and Rachel Weber drove in Alexa Sedlak for the Mavericks’ lone run.
The Mavericks closed out Friday’s action with a loss to Iowa State, 10-2 in five innings. The Cyclones jumped out to a 9-0 lead with four runs in the first and five runs in the second inning. The final two of those five runs were walked in by Omaha pitching. The Mavericks got on the board in the third inning as Cerveny scored on a groundout and Maggie O’Brien scored on a Jamie White double.
However, the Mavericks responded early on Saturday with a 3-2 win over Drake. Omaha compiled eight hits and Kamryn Meyer threw a complete game in the circle. The Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead in the second inning and tacked on another in the third, but the final three runs were scored by Mavericks.
Izzy Eltze singled in Cerveny and Eltze then scored on a White single to tie it. Rachel Weber then doubled home Sydney Ross in the bottom of the sixth inning, which ended up being the game-winning run. Omaha fell to the host Northern Iowa in the nightcap, 6-4, despite Sydney Nuismer’s complete-game effort in the circle.
Omaha closed out the weekend with their second 10-2 loss of the weekend in a rematch with Drake. The Mavericks actually jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning as Lynsey Tucker had her first of two hits on the day. Tucker sent an RBI single up the middle that drove in Cerveny.
However, the Bulldogs tied it right away. Drake then extended their lead to 3-1 in the third, but Tucker and Ross hit back-to-back doubles to trim the deficit to 3-2. From there on though, it was all Bulldogs. Drake tacked on four runs in the fourth inning to make it 7-2, a pair of runs in the fifth to make it 9-2, and the Bulldogs added their tenth and final run in the sixth inning.
The Mavericks will be back in action next weekend in San Antonio, Texas, at the Incarnate Word Tournament. Omaha will play two games on Friday against Boise State and Incarnate Word at 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. respectively. Omaha will face UTSA on Saturday at 10 a.m. and close out the weekend on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. against Incarnate Word.
