OMAHA, Neb. -- Oral Roberts surged in the ninth, but a gutsy mound performance from Tommy Steier pulled the Omaha baseball team through for a 4-3 win Friday afternoon at Seymour Smith Park. With the win, the Mavericks improve to 8-12 (4-0 Summit League) and take sole possession of first place in the conference standings, while the preseason favorite Golden Eagles drop to 12-8 (3-1).
 
Steier picked up his second save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning, allowing no hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Starter Joey Machado (2-3) earned his second straight win in as many weeks, throwing 5.0 innings and keeping ORU to one run on four hits with five strikeouts. The loss went to Josh McMinn (0-3), who gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits and a walk with four strikeouts over 5.0 innings.
 
Keil Krumwiede was 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and another driven in, while Max Gamm had another 2-for-4 showing with a stolen base.
 
Omaha wasted no time in building a quick lead, posting a run on two hits in the first. Thomas DeBonville started it off with a one-out single to short, stole second and came in on an RBI single down the right field line from Krumwiede for a 1-0 edge.
 
The Mavericks added another run in the second. Tyler Daugherty led off with a single to right center, advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Ben Palensky and scored on a two-base wild pitch for a 2-0 advantage.
 
ORU cut the lead in half in the third with Noah Cummings' solo homer to left.
 
But the Mavericks responded in the fifth, adding another run of their own. Cole Thibodeau opened with a single to short, stole a pair of bases and scored on a Golden Eagle fielding error to make it 3-1. In the eighth, Krumwiede doubled with a gapper to right center and was driven in immediately with Braden Rogers' RBI single to center, extending the lead to 4-1.
 
ORU staged its offensive in the ninth, as Jack Rosenberg walked and Alex Schmitz singled to put two aboard with no outs. Jared Montoya then singled in Rosenberg, and an RBI single from Roark crossed Schmitz to close the gap to 4-3. The Mavericks turned to the bullpen, bringing in Steier to face the heart of ORU's order with no outs. After a sacrifice bunt by Cal Hernandez moved both runners into scoring position and put the tying run at third, Cummings was intentionally walked to load the bases. Steier buckled down from there, fanning Spencer Henson and Riley Keizor to seal the win.
 
Omaha and Oral Roberts return to action on Saturday, March 24, with first pitch set for 2 p.m. at Seymour Smith Park. Links to live stats and audio will be available on OMavs.com.
 
Noting Today's Game
-Braden Rogers and Grant Suponchick both extended their hitting streaks to seven games, the longest of any Mavericks this season.
-Keil Krumwiede has now reached base in 18 straight games.
-Omaha's last 4-0 start in Summit League play was 2016.