Box Score OMAHA, Neb. -- The Omaha baseball team bashed 17 hits en route to victory on Sunday, defeating Western Illinois 17-8 at the Ballpark at Boys Town. With the win, the Mavericks improve to 15-13 (8-4 Summit League), while the Leathernecks drop to 9-17 (5-7 Summit League).

Senior right-hander Zach Williamsen (4-4) recorded the win on the mound, allowing four runs on seven hits and a walk over 6.0 innings, all while striking out a career-high nine. WIU starter Preston Church (1-5) took the loss, surrendering five runs on six hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

Six Mavericks had multi-hit performances: juniors Clayton Taylor (2-for-4, three runs, two RBI) and Collin Leif (2-for-4, three runs, two RBI), Alex Schultz (2-for-4, two runs, one RBI), Cole Gruber (2-for-3), two runs, one RBI) and seniors Daniel Jewett (2-for-2, two runs) and Justin Threlkeld (2-for-4, one run, one RBI).

Omaha attacked first in the bottom of the first inning with three runs on a pair of hits. Schultz was hit by a pitch to lead off, and Gruber promptly tripled to right center to notch the first run. Taylor then doubled down the right field line to plate Gruber and later came in on redshirt freshman Ryan Cate's sacrifice fly to right that made it 3-0.

Western Illinois pulled within one in the top of the third. Colton Pogue opened with a double down the left field line and went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Mark Garton, then came in on Brent Turner's RBI single through the right side. Roman Visintine followed with an RBI double to left center that brought in Turner, cutting the score to 3-2.

UNO broke it open in the fifth, posting seven runs on five hits and two errors. Gruber and Taylor both singled to start, then stole second and third to put both in scoring position. Junior Alex Mortensen worked a walk to load the bases, and Gruber came in as Cate reached on a fielder's choice. With runners on the corners, freshman Adam Caniglia singled to left and advanced to second on a Leatherneck fielding error, and Taylor scored on the play. Threlkeld followed with a single to center and moved up to second on another WIU miscue, with Caniglia and Cate scoring to bring the tally to 7-2.

To continue the inning, Jewett drew a one-out walk, and he and Threlkeld were driven in with Leif's two-run double to right center. Leif then advanced to third on a wild pitch as Schultz earned a full-count walk, and Gruber walked on another 3-2 free pass to load the bases. Leif scored the final run of the inning with Taylor's sacrifice fly to center, which extended Omaha's lead to 10-2.

Western came up in the sixth and sheared the score to 10-4 as JJ Reimer singled in Visintine and Adam McGinnis singled in Jeffers for the Leathernecks.

The Mavericks capitalized on two more Leatherneck errors and pushed across three runs on a trio of hits in the bottom-half of the sixth. Freshman Cole Patterson started it off with a one-out, pinch-hit single to center and went to third on Jewett's single to left. A double steal then allowed Patterson to score and put Jewett on second with two outs. He scored as a two-error play allowed Leif to reach base and advance to second, and Schultz followed with an RBI double to center to plate Leif for a 13-4 Omaha advantage.

Western Illinois managed two runs in the seventh inning and two more in the eighth, trimming Omaha's lead to 13-8. The Mavericks made their final offensive push in the bottom of the eighth, adding four runs on four hits and a pair of errors. Sophomore Mark Handberg and Leif each singled to center, and a Schultz single to right with an error on the play pushed in both runners to make it 15-4. Later, Taylor reached on an error, which allowed Schultz to score. Two batters later, redshirt freshman Isaac Holt delivered an RBI single to right center to drive in Taylor, bringing the final score to 17-8.

Omaha returns to action on Wednesday, April 8, hosting Kansas State. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. at Werner Park, and links to live stats and audio will be available on OMavs.com.