Box Score EMERSON, Ga. -- The Omaha baseball team exploded for a season-high 21 hits Friday afternoon, defeating Saint Louis 16-2 at Perfect Game Complex. With the win, the Mavericks improved to 3-2 (0-0 Summit League), while the Billikens dropped to 0-5 (0-0 Atlantic 10).
Senior right-hander
Tyler Fox (1-1) recorded his first win of the season, tossing 7.0 shutout innings while allowing three hits and one walk with seven strikeouts. The loss went to Matt Eckelman (0-2), who gave up six runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts in 1.2 innings of work.
Sophomore
Cole Patterson led the way with a 4-for-5 day at the plate, scoring twice and driving in two more runs.
Seniors
Cole Gruber and
Collin Leif and sophomore
Ryan Cate matched each other, finishing 3-for-5 for the afternoon. Gruber and Cate both scored twice, while Cate drove in two runs and Leif added three RBI.
Senior
Clayton Taylor also went 2-for-4 with two runs and four RBI, including his team-leading second home run of the season. Senior
Alex Schultz joined him with a 2-for-5 effort while scoring twice and driving in a run, and sophomore
Adam Caniglia was 2-for-5 with a pair of scores.
Additionally, freshman
Riley Herold drove in four runs and scored twice, highlighted by his first career homer.
After a scoreless first inning, the Mavericks put up six runs on five hits in the second to get their scoring started. Cate singled and Caniglia doubled to put two on for Herold, whose three-run dinger to right quickly made it 3-0. Schultz then drew a two-out walk and Gruber got on with a bunt single, and Taylor's three-run homer to right tacked on another three runs for a 6-0 lead.
In the third, Caniglia led off with a triple to right center, then scored on an RBI single to center by Patterson, extending the lead to 7-0. The Mavericks added another run in the fifth when Leif singled up the middle to score Patterson, making it 8-0.
The sixth inning saw Omaha erupt for eight runs on seven hits. Gruber and Taylor started it off with singles and junior
Sam Palensky walked to load the bases for Cate, who singled to center to drive in the first run. Patterson then singled to the pitcher to score Taylor, and a bases-loaded walk by Herold allowed Palensky to score.
Leif followed by knocking a two-run double to center that plated Patterson and Cate, followed by an RBI single to left by Schultz that scored Herold. After a Gruber walk loaded the bases again, another free pass for Taylor pushed Leif across. Cate finished off the sixth-inning scoring stretch with an RBI single to center to score Schultz, giving Omaha a commanding 16-0 lead.
Saint Louis avoided the shutout by putting two runs on the board in the bottom of the ninth. Trent Leimkuehler led off with a double to right center, then scored on another double to the same spot by Josh Bunselmeyer. With two outs, pinch hitter Kyle Fletcher's sacrifice fly to left drove in Bunselmeyer, leaving the final tally at 16-2.
Omaha returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 27 for a doubleheader with Morehead State. First pitch is set for Noon (CT) at Perfect Game Complex in Emerson, Ga., and links to live stats and audio will be available on OMavs.com.
