OMAHA, Neb. — South Dakota Softball fell to the Summit League leading Omaha Mavericks Friday afternoon in Omaha, Nebraska.
 
Game 1 – L, 1-9
The Mavericks built a five-run lead across the second, third and fourth innings before the Yotes put their first run on the board in the fifth with an RBI single from Autumn Iversen.
 
Omaha closed out the six-inning with a three-run home run in the sixth to take a 9-1 victory.
 
Madison Evans, Autumn Iversen and Rylie Jones tallied hits for the Yotes, who were held in check by the Mavericks starting pitcher Maddia Groff who moved to 17-4 on the season.
 
McKenna Young struck out seven in the contest but takes the loss and moves to 11-7 on the year.
 
Game 2 – L, 5-6                                           
The Yotes responded early in game two, putting across two runs in the first and second innings to build a 4-0 lead. Tatum Villotta and Ella McGee led off with a pair of singles, and later in the inning with two outs back-to-back hits from Clara Edwards and Iversen brought both runners home.
 
Abi Brown led off the top of the second with a bang, her fourth home run of the year, and two at-bats later McGee sent a blast over the right field fence for the fourth USD run.
 
The Mavericks responded with three runs in the third and one in the fourth to even the score back at 4-4. Jones broke the tie in the fifth with a single up the middle that scored Evans from second. After a 1-2-3 from Edwards in the bottom of the fifth, the Mavs scored in a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to grab a 6-5 lead.
 
With two outs in the seventh, Edwards reached on a Maverick error, and pinch runner Brylee Hempey would move into scoring position on a wild pitch. However, the Mavs were able to force a groundout to close out the 6-5 win.
 
Eight Yotes tallied a hit in game two, with 12 total as a team, and McGee and Iversen each recorded two hits.
 
Edwards takes the loss in the circle after throwing all 6.0 innings and had two strikeouts. Groff closed out the final 2.2 innings for the Mavericks, struck out five, and earned her 18th win of the season.
 
The Yotes and Mavericks close out the series at Claussen Field tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.