Leading Off
The Omaha baseball team continues its road swing this weekend, facing Chicago State for a three-game neutral-site series at Perfect Game Park South at LakePoint in Emerson, Ga. The Mavericks open on Friday, Feb. 20 at Noon, followed by 11 a.m. start times on both Saturday, Feb. 21 and Sunday, Feb. 22.
    
Quick Hits
•The Mavericks return 19 letterwinners and five All-Summit selections from a year ago: junior right-handed pitcher Tyler Fox, junior infielder Clayton Taylor, junior outfielders Cole Gruber and Alex Schultz and senior outfielder Daniel Jewett. Fox was also tabbed 2014 Summit League Pitcher of the Year.
•UNO's five returning all-conference selections are the most of any team in the Summit League.
•Omaha opens the year with 15 straight road games, its most since 15 in 2012.
•UNO ended the 2014 season on a seven-game win streak, and in two years in the Summit League, the Mavericks have compiled a 35-15 record in conference play.
•UNO is 114-91 all-time against the five other teams in the Summit League and 229-229 against all opponents on the schedule this year.

Scouting the Chicago State Cougars
Chicago State enters the weekend with a record of 0-3 (0-0 WAC) after dropping a three-game series at Charleston Southern last weekend, 8-1, 10-8 and 12-11. The Cougars return a 2014 second-team All-WAC selection in senior infielder Mattingly Romanin, who was second on the team with a .312 batting average last season. Romanin led CSU in the series finale at Charleston Southern, finishing with two hits and four RBI.

Steve Joslyn (North Central (Ill.), 1986) is in his third season at CSU with a record of 27-85.

Omaha leads the all-time series against Chicago State, 2-1. The two squads last met on Feb. 28, 2014 at the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla., with the Mavericks earning a 13-10 win. In that game, Cole Gruber and Alex Schultz combined for 14 of Omaha's 23 total hits to key UNO to victory.

Opening Weekend
Omaha went 1-2 at last weekend's GCU Classic in Phoenix, Ariz., falling 6-1 to Bradley and 8-1 to host Grand Canyon before earning a 5-4 non-conference win over North Dakota State. Juniors Alex Mortensen and Alex Schultz batted an identical .400 (4-for-10) with a run scored for the weekend. Mortensen added two RBI, and Schultz drove in another run and was 2-for-2 in stolen base attempts.

Junior righty Gregg Gausden (1-0) earned his first career win on Sunday, throwing 4.2 innings of scoreless relief against NDSU. He allowed just three hits -- all singles -- and no walks.

In the win over NDSU, redshirt freshman Ryan Cate went 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI. Schultz, Mortensen and junior Cole Gruber also had two hits, a run and an RBI apiece.
    
Picked to Win It
Omaha is favored to repeat as the Summit League's regular-season champion in a preseason vote among the league's head coaches, the conference office announced Feb. 5. It marked the second straight season that UNO was tabbed No. 1 in the league's preseason poll.

The Mavericks received three first-place votes and 23 total points. Oral Roberts came in second with the remaining three first-place votes and 21 points. In third place was South Dakota State with 17 points, followed by North Dakota State (15), Western Illinois (eight) and Fort Wayne (six).

UNO capped 2014 with an overall record of 31-20 and a league mark of 15-9. The Mavericks won their second consecutive regular-season title in just their second year as a member of the league and their third year as a Division I school.

What Does the Fox Say?
Right-handed pitcher Tyler Fox is back for his junior season in 2015 after earning Summit League Pitcher of the Year plaudits as a sophomore. The Thornton, Colo., native was outstanding on the mound last year, recording a league-leading nine wins to go 9-1 with a 2.59 ERA. He tallied 57 strikeouts in a team-high 78.2 innings pitched and finished a perfect 5-0 in league play with a 2.40 ERA in seven appearances. Conference foes struggled at the plate against Fox, batting just .255 for the year.

What's Back on the Mound
Of the 432.2 innings pitched by Omaha's staff last season, the Mavericks' returning hurlers accounted for 303.1 innings thrown (70 percent). The returning members of the pitching staff also accounted for 200 of UNO's 283 total strikeouts in 2014 and combined for a record of 25-13 with two saves.

Going the Extra Mile
When registering three or more extra-base hits in a game, UNO went 14-7 last season, and the Mavericks have started the 2015 in similar fashion with a 1-0 mark. The 2014 Omaha squad finished with 107 extra-base hits, the most of any team since registering 159 in 2011, the Mavericks' last year in Division II.

Herold at the Helm
Head Coach Bob Herold is in his 16th year as the skipper of the Omaha baseball program in 2014, having compiled a career record of 479-324-2. Herold earned his 400th career win on April 22, 2011 against Fort Hays State, becoming the third coach in school history to reach the milestone. He joined Bob Gates (464-273) and Virgil Yelkin (439-196) in the prestigious club, and with Omaha's 7-0 shutout at Bradley on April 22, 2014, he officially became the winningest coach in UNO history with his 465th victory.

Over his Maverick career, Herold has guided Omaha to seven NCAA Division II postseason appearances and four conference championships. In 2013 and 2014, he was honored as Summit League Coach of the Year.

Herold's most recent draft pick was right-handed pitcher Joe Holtmeyer, who was taken in the 22nd round (No. 682 overall) of the 2011 Major League Baseball amateur draft by the Boston Red Sox. Holtmeyer was the fifth Maverick drafted under Herold and the second-highest pick of any player during the Herold era.

Herold is assisted by assistant coaches Chris Gadsden, in his 16th year, and Evan Porter, in his third year, as well as volunteer assistant coach Brian Strawn, who is in his first year.

Double Digits
As a team, Omaha produced double-digit hits in 22 games last season, including a season-high 23 hits against Chicago State on Feb. 28, 2014. Last year, UNO was 18-4 when producing 10 or more hits in a game, similar to its mark of 18-6 for double-digit hits in 2013. Already this season, the Mavericks are 1-0 with a double-digit hit total.

Mixed Schedule Takes Mavericks Around the Nation
Omaha's 2015 schedule includes 56 games against 20 different opponents, and the team will play in 11 states and three time zones across the country. UNO will match up with opponents from 12 other conferences: the ACC, Big 12, BIG EAST, Big Sky, Big Ten, Colonial, Missouri Valley, Mountain West, Northeast, Southland, Sunshine State and WAC.

Two foes -- North Dakota State and Nebraska -- were 2014 NCAA Tournament qualifiers. NDSU, which finished fifth in the Summit League's regular-season standings and went on to win the tournament championship for a berth to the NCAA Tournament, lost to Oregon State and UNLV in the Corvallis Regional. Nebraska played in the Stillwater Regional, where it defeated Binghamton and lost twice to Cal State Fullerton.

Additionally, three opponents finished in the top 100 for RPI in 2014: Nebraska (No. 32), Creighton (No. 70) and Oral Roberts (No. 96).

The Mavericks have never faced six of their 2015 opponents: Saint Leo, Boston College, Northeastern, Mount St. Mary's, Oral Roberts and Incarnate Word. Omaha holds a combined all-time record of 229-229 against all teams on the slate this season.

Next Up
Omaha travels to Port Charlotte, Fla., for the 2015 Snowbird Classic. The Mavericks will open the tournament against Saint Leo on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 4 p.m.