Box Score OMAHA, Neb. -- The Omaha baseball team picked up its fifth straight conference win on Saturday, defeating North Dakota State 11-6 at the Ballpark at Boys Town. With the victory, the Mavericks improve to 12-8 (5-0 Summit League), while the Bison drop to 5-13 (1-4 Summit League).

Senior right-hander Zach Williamsen (3-2) earned the win, throwing 5.0 innings in his start. He allowed four runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out two. NDSU starter Trent Keefer (1-3) was tagged with the loss, giving up nine runs (four earned) on 10 hits and three walks with a pair of Ks.

Juniors Alex Mortensen and Cole Gruber both tallied a trio of hits for the day. Mortensen finished 3-for-5 with four RBI and a run scored, while Gruber was 3-for-4, scored three times and drove in another run.

Senior Cole Volkers (2-for-4), junior Alex Schultz (2-for-5, two runs, one RBI) and redshirt freshman Ryan Cate (2-for-4, one run, two RBI) also had multi-hit performances. As a team, Omaha finished with 14 hits for its third consecutive double-digit hit effort.

North Dakota State jumped out early in the game, using Aiden Hook's RBI single through the left side to go up 1-0 in the top of the first inning.

The Mavericks answered swiftly in the third with three runs on four hits and an error, all with two outs. Schultz singled to center and Gruber singled up the middle, with Schultz scoring on a throwing error on the play to knot the game at 1-1. Gruber then stole third and junior Clayton Taylor was plunked by a pitch to put runners on the corners, and Mortensen placed an RBI single through the left side that gave Omaha a one-run lead. A Cate single to center scored Taylor, which extended the lead to 3-1.

NDSU made it a one-run game at 3-2 in the fourth, with Danny Regan scoring on a sacrifice fly to right from Hook.

In the bottom half of the inning, Omaha's bats came alive for six runs on five hits and an error. Freshman Adam Caniglia led off with a walk and moved into scoring position two batters later on a sacrifice bunt from senior Justin Threlkeld. Schultz then singled in Caniglia, and Omaha loaded the bases with subsequent walks from Gruber and Taylor. Mortensen followed by keying a two-run double to center that plated Schultz and Gruber, and a fielding miscue on the play allowed Taylor to score and put Mortensen on second. He came in on an RBI single to left courtesy of Cate, and a Volkers single to center put runners on the corners. Caniglia then singled to center to drive in Cate, putting Omaha up 9-2.

The Bison posted two runs on four hits in the fifth, with one-out RBI singles from JT Core and Regan that made it 9-4. Omaha came back immediately for a run in the fifth, as Threlkeld led off with a single and later scored on an RBI single by Gruber, pushing the Mavericks' lead to 10-4.

North Dakota State made its final mark in the sixth, when the Bison packed the bases by way of a walk, a single and a fielding error. Core was then hit by a pitch to score Paul Funk, and John Skrbec's sacrifice fly brought in Ben Petersen to trim UNO's advantage to 10-6.

The Mavericks tacked on an insurance run in the eighth, with Mortensen singling to right and scoring Gruber for a final tally of 11-6. NDSU did threaten in the ninth by putting a runner on with a two-out single, but junior right-hander Marcus Ethen got the last batter with a strikeout looking to seal the win.

Omaha closes the North Dakota State weekend series on Sunday, March 22. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Ballpark at Boys Town, and links to live stats and audio will be available on OMavs.com.