Box Score OMAHA, Neb. -- The Omaha baseball team pushed past a 3-3 tie on Friday afternoon, rallying for a 6-4 triumph over South Dakota State to open Summit League play at the Ballpark at Boys Town. With the win, the Mavericks improve to 7-7 (1-0 Summit League), while the Jacks drop to 8-8 (0-1 Summit League).
Junior right-handed pitcher
Marcus Ethen (1-0) recorded the win in relief, throwing 1.2 innings while allowing one run on two hits and two walks with a strikeout. The loss was tagged to SDSU starter Adam Bray (1-2), who went 6.1 innings and gave up six runs (four earned) on eight hits and a walk, all while fanning nine. Senior left-hander
Cole Volkers earned his second save of the season, tossing the final 2.1 innings with no runs on no hits and a walk.
Junior
Cole Gruber paced Omaha at the plate, finishing 3-for-4 with a run scored. Senior
Justin Threlkeld was 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI, and redshirt freshman
Ryan Cate went 2-for-4 with a run driven in.
The Mavericks struck early with a two-run, three-hit first inning, as back-to-back RBI singles from Threlkeld and Cate resulted in a quick 2-0 lead.
South Dakota State stalled the game at a 2-2 tie in the top of the third, with Tony Kjolsing sending a one-out double down the right field line to score Paul Jacobson and Eric Danforth. The Jackrabbits then took their first lead of the day in the fifth when Kjolsing delivered a sacrifice fly to center, plating Danforth again for a 3-2 SDSU advantage.
Bray's mound effort temporarily stifled UNO's offense, as he issued five straight strikeouts over the fourth and fifth innings en route to retiring 13 consecutive Mavericks. Omaha finally stormed back for three runs in the sixth, stringing together four hits and capitalizing on a Jackrabbits error. Gruber led off with a single up the middle and junior
Alex Mortensen reached on a fielding error, after which an RBI single up the middle by Threlkeld pushed Gruber across to tie it at 3-3. Facing a two-out situation, freshman
Jack Wilson came in for a pinch-hit single to left that loaded the bases, and Jewett followed with a two-run single through the left side to score Threlkeld and Mortensen for a 5-3 Maverick lead.
SDSU made it a 5-4 game in the seventh, as Kjolsing drew a walk and scored from first on Reid Clary's RBI double down the left field line.
UNO put up an insurance run in the seventh, though, when junior
Alex Schultz scored on a wild pitch for a 6-4 lead. Volkers retired SDSU in order in the eighth, after which the Jacks managed one baserunner in the ninth, but the threat was quelled as UNO went on to earn its first conference win of the year.
Omaha returns to action on Saturday, March 14, hosting South Dakota State. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. at the Ballpark at Boys Town, and links to live stats and audio will be available on OMavs.com.
