Butler started off the 2021 season by splitting a pair of contests Friday in Cedar Falls, Iowa as part of the Doc Halverson UNI-Dome Classic.

The Bulldogs defeated Omaha, 2-1, in the event's first game before falling to host Northern Iowa by a score of 6-5 later in the afternoon.

Junior Karli Ricketts was dominant in the circle in the opener, striking out 10 Omaha batters. Omaha used two of their four hits on the morning to push across a single run in the bottom of the fourth for a 1-0 lead.

Butler sophomore Loren Simpson tied the game at 1-1 with a home run to right field to lead off the top of the sixth inning.

The winning run came in the top of the seventh as Lauren Fey's squeeze bunt scored Alyssa Garcia. Garcia led off the inning with a ground-rule double. Fey had two of the team's five hits.

In Butler's second game of the day, Northern Iowa pushed across a pair of runs in the bottom of the third to turn a 3-3 tie into a 5-3 lead. UNI held off a seventh-inning rally by the Bulldogs to take the 6-5 decision.

Butler's run in the top of the first came on a hit by pitch and three walks. A pair of Bulldog runs in the second came on an RBI fielder's choice by Maddie Moore and a Ricketts RBI groundout.

UNI was trading runs with the Bulldogs with two runs in the first followed by a single run in the second before the third-inning tie-breaking runs. A second Ricketts RBI groundout pulled Butler within a single run at 5-4 in the fourth. UNI picked up an important insurance run in the bottom of the sixth.

Trailing by two in the top of the seventh, Mallory McMahon picked up the first hit of her Butler career with a solo home run down the left field line. Butler would get runners to second and third with two outs before UNI closed the door.

Garcia had three of Butler's seven hits in the afternoon contest. Mackenzie Griman came on in relief of starter Alyssa Graves and allowed four runs in 4.1 innings of work. She took the loss. The Bulldogs left 11 runners on base.

The Bulldogs are back in action Saturday with games against Iowa State and Drake. ESPN+ will stream both match-ups.