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UNO and the College World Series

It's College World Series (CWS) time in Omaha! UNO has more than a few connections to the CWS.

  • contact: Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications (MarComm)
  • email: unonews@unomaha.edu
College World Series stadium view behind Durango

Omaha has been home to the College World Series since 1947.

It's CWS time in Omaha! Follow @unomaha on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for sights, sounds, and some Maverick history from the series.

Below are a few connections UNO has to the College World Series (CWS), courtesy of the Office of Strategic Communications and Marketing and the UNO Alumni Association.

Looking for easy travel to and from the series? UNO students, faculty, and staff can ride any Metro bus including ORBT for free with their MavCARD. There are several convenient stops near or on campus.

Explore UNO's Ties to the CWS

Getting to and from the Series

Looking for easy travel to and from the series? Check out the Omaha Metro's "Bus to the Ballpark." UNO students, faculty, and staff can ride any Metro bus including ORBT for free with their MavCARD. There are several convenient stops near or on campus.


Posers

The CWS statue outside Charles Schwab Field, "The Road to Omaha," was designed by former UNO student John Labja. He used 13 UNO students as models while designing the statue. Learn more about the statue.

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A Rematch with Durango

After a heated mascot race ended in controversy at the 2022 College World Series, Durango met up with 6-year-old Logan Smith for a rematch at UNO's Tal Anderson Field.

Read all about Round 2 race on Durango's home turf


Helping Pitchers on the Mound

Lights, cameras, fastball! Using an array of technology, UNO's Department of Biomechanics and the UNO Pitching Lab are able to help pitchers improve their pitching, identify deficiencies, and avoid injury. Learn more about how the lab helped a pitcher gain speed on his pitches.

Omaha baseball player in the biomechanics research lab


Rub a Little Dirt on It

It's a messy job, but somebody's got to do it! Three UNO Mavericks, including softball stars Alexa Sedlack (left) and Lexi Burkhardt (right) were part of the 2022 College World Series "mud crew" meaning they had to keep more than 300 baseballs rubbed in "magic mud" to give pitchers a better grip.

Alexa Sedlak, left, and Lexi Burkhardt right


On the Field Training

UNO's Athletic Training program has provided important hands-on experiences for students who seek to be the sports medicine leaders of the future. In 2019, two UNO students, Jacqui Gutierrez and Tyler Gregurich, got the chance to put their skills to use supporting the teams of the College World Series.

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Voices From the Stands

Since 2017, UNO's own student-led MavRadio has covered the entire College World Series from the press box, alongside broadcasters from local and national sports news outlets like ESPN. Students returned to the CWS in 2022 after last covering the event in 2019. Over the years, MavRadio has earned numerous broadcasting awards for their sports reporting, including their CWS coverage.


Stare Down Sammy

In 2016, Mavericks fan Sammy DiDonato went viral! Sammy was spotted sporting his favorite Mavericks apparel during a stare down with ESPN cameras.

Read more about Sammy



Scribe

UNO graduate Steve Pivovar reported on hundreds of CWS games for the Omaha World-Herald over several decades. He wrote "Rosenblatt Stadium: Omaha's Diamond on the Hill," published in 2010. The book explores the history of the former CWS home and stadium where Pivovar covered more than 1,700 games.


The Blatt

Rosenblatt Stadium was named in honor of former Omaha Mayor Johnny Rosenblatt, a student at Omaha University in 1929 who played basketball and baseball for the school.


Meet and Greets

College World Series of Omaha Inc. has hosted its quarterly board of directors meetings and others gatherings at the Thompson Alumni Center for more than a decade. The nonprofit organization, formed in 1967, is the local organizing group of the CWS.


Top Dog

Omaha University Baseball Coach Virgil Yelkin in 1962 was named director of the NCAA College World Series. Omaha University was the host school that year.


Anything But a Softball

While baseball coach Vergil Yelkin led the charge in hosting the 1962 NCAA College World Series, it was in 1969 that Connie Claussen, then-chair of the Women's Physical Education program but now Athletic Director Emertia, helped bring the first-ever women's college softball championship, which would go on to become the Women's College World Series, to UNO and Omaha before Title IX was passed in 1972. In 1975, Claussen would lead her team to the championship and, in 2021, have a brand new softball field named in her honor.


Yerrrrr, In!

One-time UNO Sports Information Director Fred Gerardi — also a part-time umpire — was behind plate for CWS games in 1975 and 1976.


Field of Dreams

A $46,000 grant from the CWS Committee in 1975 enabled UNO to lease a baseball field in the Westgate baseball complex at 84th St. and Interstate 80. It became the Mavericks' first home field in more than 10 years and was named College World Series Park. Now UNO baseball calls Tal Anderson Field home.


He Played

Clarke Lange, a third baseman on the 1982 UNO baseball team, played in the 1984 CWS with the Miami Hurricanes. The only UNO student ever to have played in the CWS, Lange later was drafted by the Houston Astros in the sixth round of the MLB draft.