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The UNO baseball team hit the road Thursday for an 18-hour bus ride to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for a four-game series that starts the program's Division I era.

We'll see them again next year.

"My wife is going to get to work on her (snow) shoveling and lawn-mowing," UNO coach Bob Herold joked.

UNO's 49-game, all-Division I schedule includes 42 games outside metropolitan Omaha.

As for inside the metro area, the Mavs have: a single game with BYU — at Creighton — on March 12, games at Creighton on March 27 and May 9 and a four-game home series with North Dakota State split between Werner Park in Papillion and the Mavs' home field at Boys Town.

But that's it.

And it all starts at 6 p.m. Friday against an Islander team that finished 37-24 last season.

"It'll be quite a challenge, but we're looking forward to it," Herold said of 2012. "We're starting over, like we did when we first got the job in 1999. Back then, we took the NAIA schools off our schedule and starting playing the best Division II teams we could find to see where we stood."

That's why, Herold said, rather than playing a mix of Division I, Division II and NAIA schools like other UNO programs have done in their quick transitions to being first-year reclassifying Division I teams, he went with all Division I foes.

"We'll eventually have to get funded and (additional scholarships), and hopefully we'll have a field to recruit to," Herold said. "But we're Division I now, so you go play them and see what you have. It's all comparison shopping right now."

Herold built a solid Division II program that had a string of seven straight trips to the national tournament snapped after a 35-20 finish last year. The Mavs reached the Division II World Series in 2007.

Like other UNO programs, Herold's first Division I roster is still primarily players who were recruited to come to a Division II program. And it's difficult to convince recruits to come play for a Division I program that won't be eligible for postseason play until 2016.

"Whether or not we can be competitive this year, realistically, is a complete guess," Herold said.

The Mavs do return the top four hitters, in terms of batting average, from last season, in shortstop Brady Hohl (.408, five homers, 35 RBIs, 15 stolen bases), second baseman Caleb Palensky (.366, four homers, 36 RBIs) and outfielders Mark Waldron (.364, 32 RBIs) and Connor McCrite (.359). Hohl (Alaska Baseball League All-Star) and Palensky (All-Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League) are among the Mavs who had standout seasons on the summer circuit.

Other returning regulars include Tyler Splichal (.322-5-29), who is moving back to first base after a season at third, and catcher Colby McCord (.313-4-39).

"Success is relative to your competition level, and it'll be interesting to see how we match up," Herold said.

Herold said the bottom third of the UNO batting order for now includes converted pitcher Scotty Donner at third base, freshman Tyler Lane of Papillion-La Vista South in center field and the Mavs' designated hitter. Top candidates for at-bats include sophomore Beau Suponchick, freshman Alex Mortensen and a couple of two-way candidates in seniors Brandon Winkelmann and Cory Buckley.

The Mavs have a big hole to fill on the mound in Joe Holtmeyer, a 22nd-round pick of the Boston Red Sox who was a dominant All-American in 2010 before slipping a bit last season. Besides Holtmeyer, the Mavs also need to replace the 6823 innings logged by Ben Brown, who was 6-2.

UNO's starting rotation for the opening weekend includes some combination of steady junior Matt Tew (6-1, 2.98 ERA last year), Andrew Reck (1-3, 6.75 in 2623 innings), Buckley (5-3, 3.57) and left-handed transfer Steve Schoonover from Yakima Valley (Wash.) Community College.

Derek Landis (3-4, 5.28) is scheduled to serve as UNO's closer.

Contact the writer:

402-444-1027, rob.white@owh.com

twitter.com/RWhiteOWH

* * *

UNO roster
No., Name, Pos., B/T, Ht., Wt., Yr., Hometown
1, Tyler Lane, OF, R/R, 5-11, 170, Fr., Papillion-LaVista South
2, Josh Bullock, RHP, L/R, 6-4, 200, So, Elkhorn
3, Matt Tew, RH, R/R, 6-1, 170, Jr., Bellevue East
4, Alex Mortensen, C/INF, R/R, 6-0, 190, Fr., Millard North
5, Tyler Splichal, INF, R/R, 6-0, 185, Jr., Bellevue East
6, Brandon Winkelmann, RHP, R/R, 5-11, 200, Sr., Omaha Gross
7, Caleb Palensky, INF, S/R, 6-1, 190, So., Papillion-LaVista South
8, Brady Hohl, INF, R/R, 6-0, 190, Sr., Millard North
9, Ryley Cidlik, RHP, R/R, 6-6, 205, RFr., East Butler
10, Beau Suponchick, INF/OF, R/R, 6-0, 165, So., Papillion-LaVista South
11, Cody Brown, RHP, R/R, 6-0, 175, So., Yorktown, Va.
13, Jared Patton, C, R/R, 6-5, 205, Fr., Basehor, Kan.
14, Sam Raetz, LHP, L/L, 6-0, 185, Fr., Lincoln Pius X
15, Colby McCord, C, S/R, 5-11, 190, Sr., Papillion-LaVista
16, Landon Fall, RHP, R/R, 6-4, 200, Sr., Kansas City, Mo.
17, Connor McCrite, OF, L/L, 6-1, 180, Jr., Topeka, Kan.
18, Dylan McGill, RHP, R/R, 5-9, 185, So., Wahoo Neumann
19, Cory Buckley, LHP, L/L, 6-2, 190, Sr., Bellevue East
20, Jeff McNichols, RHP, R/R, 5-9, 185, So., Omaha Creighton Prep
21, Derek Landis, RHP, R/R, 6-6, 210, Jr., Ralston
22, Steven Schoonover, LHP, L/L, 6-5, 200, Jr., Olympia, Wash.
23, Anthony Falcone, LHP, L/L, 6-3, 170, So., Millard West
24, Scotty Donner, INF, R/R, 6-1, 195, Sr., Crofton, Neb.
26, Ryan Tomlinson, RHP, L/R, 6-6, 190, So., Omaha Westside
27, Curtis Smith, LHP, L/L, 6-5, 205, Sr., Calgary, Alberta
28, Zach Williamsen, RHP, R/R, 6-4, 225, RFr., Millard West
29, Andrew Reck, RHP, R/R, 6-1, 180, Sr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa
30, Joe Mancuso, C, R/R, 6-4, 220, Fr., Papillion La-Vista South
31, Zach Croonquist, RHP, R/R, 6-8, 220, Jr., Omaha Skutt
32, Mark Waldron, OF, R/R, 6-2, 225, Sr., Omaha Crieghton Prep
33, Cole Volkers, LHP, R/L, 6-3, 205, Fr., Alta Loma, Calif.
34, Max Ayoub, C/INF, R/R, 6-3, 205, Fr., Grand Island
35, Clayton Taylor, RHP/UTL, L/R, 6-4, 195, Fr., Elkhorn MM
Ryan Keele, OF, L/R, 6-2, 210, Sr., Bellevue East
Justin Paul, RHP/OF, R/R, 6-4, 205, Fr., Papillion-LaVista South

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