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OMAHA, Neb. – Behind the bat of freshman Alex Mortensen and outstanding effort by the Maverick pitching staff, the UNO baseball team earned a 3-2 win over in-state rival Creighton on Tuesday night at TD Ameritrade Park. With the win, the Mavericks improve to 8-16 on the year, while CU drops to 11-11.

Mortensen, a product of Millard North, finished 2-for-4 at the plate with a run scored and two driven in. After scoring the Mavs' first run in the seventh, he added a two-run single in the eighth that scored the tying and go-ahead runs to put the Mavs up 3-2.

Senior left-hander Curtis Smith (2-1) earned the win on the mound, throwing three scoreless innings of relief. The Calgary, Alberta, native allowed just two hits and struck out four while issuing no walks. Starting pitcher Matt Tew went 5.2 innings, giving up two runs on just one hit. Tew had a stellar outing, holding the Bluejays hitless through the first five innings, and went on to strike out three with pair of walks. As a staff, the Mavericks limited Creighton to just three hits for the night.

The loss went to Reese McGraw (2-3), who surrendered two runs on three hits over the last two innings. CU starter Nick Musec lasted 5.1 innings and gave up no runs on two hits with five strikeouts.

Senior Derek Landis grabbed his second save of the year, accounting for the final strikeout of the game.

Senior Colby McCord also went 2-for-5 with a run scored, while senior Connor McCrite was 2-for-4 with an RBI. In addition, senior Brady Hohl tallied a single to extend his team-leading hitting streak to 16 games.

Both teams were scoreless until the sixth, when Creighton plated a pair of runs. Scott Thornburg led off with a single to left and was relieved by pinch runner Jordan Makovicka, and Jake Peter drew a walk to put two runners on. Chance Ross' sacrifice bunt then advanced both into scoring position, and Makovicka came in on Brad McKewon's sacrifice fly to right. Peter put up CU's final tally of the inning with Nick Judkins' RBI single through the left side, spotting the Bluejays a 2-0 advantage.

UNO quickly made it a one-run ballgame in the top of the next frame. Mortensen reached on a single to center, later scoring the Mavs' first run of the night on McCrite's RBI double down the left field line that made it 2-1.

In the top of the eighth, the Mavericks loaded the bases with one out, as McCord doubled to the right field corner, senior Mark Waldron walked and sophomore Caleb Palensky was hit by a pitch. Mortensen then knocked in McCord and Waldron with a two-run single up the middle, allowing UNO to surge ahead to its final score of 3-2.

Tonight's win halted Creighton's streak of 10 straight victories in the series with UNO. The two squads will face each other again this year with a rematch on May 9 at TD Ameritrade Park, which also marks the Mavericks' final game of the 2012 season.

UNO returns to action on Wednesday, March 28, traveling to Iowa. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Duane Banks Field in Iowa City, Iowa, and links to live stats and live audio will be available on OMavs.com.