Box Score COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The Omaha baseball team amassed double-digit hits for the sixth time Tuesday afternoon, finishing with 18 en route to a 12-3 win over Air Force at Falcon Field. With the victory, the Mavericks improve to 7-6 (0-0 Summit League), while the Falcons drop to 7-3 (2-0 Mountain West).

Senior Alex Schultz led the Mavericks' hit parade with a 3-for-5 showing at the plate, finishing with three doubles, two runs scored and four RBI. Freshman Riley Herold joined him with another trio of hits, going 3-for-5 while scoring twice and driving in three more runs.

Seniors Cole Gruber and Clayton Taylor, junior Sam Palensky and sophomores Cole Patterson, Adam Caniglia and Ryan Cate all added two more hits apiece for the day.

Freshman right-hander Cal Hehnke (1-0) went 6.0 innings in his first start, which gave him the first win of his young Maverick career. Hehnke allowed three runs on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts, holding Air Force scoreless over the last four innings of his outing with just one hit. Junior right-hander Shane Meltz and sophomore right-hander Riley Sweeney threw a combined 3.0 shutout innings to finish the game, limiting the Falcons to just two singles.

Nick Biancalana (1-1) took the loss for Air Force, giving up nine runs -- seven earned -- on 12 hits and two walks while striking out six.

The Mavericks used a big second inning with seven hits and an error to assert an 8-0 lead over Air Force. Singles by Caniglia and Palensky plus a Grant Suponchick walk to start loaded the bases for Herold, who ripped a two-run single to right center. Senior Collin Leif then put down a sacrifice bunt and reached on a throwing error, allowing Suponchick to score for a 3-0 tally. Schultz followed with a two-run double to left to drive in Herold and Leif to make it 5-0, and a Gruber bunt single then put runners on the corners for the Mavericks, still with no outs. Taylor came up next with an RBI double to right center that scored Schultz, and a Patterson single through the right side pushed Gruber across. Taylor scored on the next play when Caniglia grounded into a double play, giving Omaha its early eight-run advantage.

The Falcons got into the scoring column in the bottom half of the second with three runs on three hits. Nic Ready led off with a double to right center, then scored on Tyler Jones' RBI single to left center. Jones advanced to second on a wild pitch and eventually scored on Shaun Mize's RBI double down the left field line. Another wild pitch put Mize on third, and he came in for AFA's third run on an RBI groundout by Travis Wilkie that made it 8-3.

Not satisfied with its five-run edge, Omaha added another run in the fourth. Schultz led off the inning with a double to left center, advanced to third on a wild pitch and came in on Gruber's single to second base, extending UNO's lead to 9-3.

The Mavericks then plated three more runs with five hits and an error in the seventh. With one out, Palensky and a pinch-hitting Ryan Cate both singled to center, and an RBI single to right by Herold plated Palensky. Cate and Herold each moved up a base on a failed pickoff attempt, and both runners scored via Schultz's two-out, two-run double to right center that pushed the score to 12-3.

The Omaha bullpen, meanwhile, held the Falcons scoreless over the final three innings. Meltz threw 2.0 shutout innings with two hits and a walk plus two strikeouts, and Sweeney finished it off with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to seal the win.

Omaha and Air Force return to action on Wednesday, March 9. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. (CT) at Falcon Field in Colorado Springs, Colo., and links to live video and stats will be available on OMavs.com.