Box Score LAWRENCE, Kan. -- The Omaha baseball team took Kansas to extras but fell just short Wednesday night, dropping a 7-6 decision in 10 innings at Hoglund Ballpark. The Mavericks are now 17-16 on the season, while the Jayhawks improve to 13-18.
Freshman
Grant Suponchick paced UNO offensively, finishing 3-for-4 with three RBI. Sophomore
Ryan Cate was also 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored, and senior
Cole Gruber was 2-for-4 as well.
Stephen Villines (4-1) earned the win for KU, throwing the final 2.0 scoreless ninnings and limiting Omaha to one hit with no walks and four strikeouts. The loss went to junior right-hander
Eric Moreno (0-1), who surrendered the winning run in the 10th on one hit and two walks with a strikeout.
Kansas got on the board with its first opportunity in the bottom of the first inning, starting a streak of four straight innings with a run scored. Ryan Pidhaichuk got on with a one-out double to left center and scored two batters later courtesy of Michael Tinsley's RBI double to the same spot for a 1-0 lead.
The Mavericks responded immediately in the top of the second, with Cate doubling to center and Palensky walking to put two runners on with one out. A balk pushed both into scoring position, and Suponchick followed with a two-run base knock to right to give Omaha the lead at 2-1.
KU came back to tie it in the bottom half of the inning, with Joe Moroney's RBI single to left scoring Owen Taylor for a 2-2 stall.
The Jayhawks added a run in the third when Tinsley scored on Joven Afenir's RBI groundout, then another in the fourth as TJ Martin came in on a wild pitch for a 4-2 advantage.
Omaha broke through and went ahead again in the sixth, putting up three runs on three hits. Taylor led off with a walk and Caniglia singled through the left side to put two runners aboard, and Taylor advanced to third on a wild pitch. Another wild pitch then allowed him to score and put Caniglia on third, and Palensky followed with an RBI single up the middle to plate Caniglia and knot the game at 4-4. Suponchick kept it rolling with an RBI single, scoring Palensky and pushing the Mavericks to a 5-4 lead.
UNO posted another run in the seventh, spurred by an error and a hit. Kalina led off the inning with a single up the middle, and Schultz reached on a KU throwing error on a sacrifice bunt, putting both runners in scoring position. Gruber then walked to load the bases with no outs, and Taylor followed with a sacrifice fly to right that scored Kalina and extended Omaha's edge to 6-4.
The Jayhawks tacked on a run in the seventh, when Tinsley put a two-out single through the right side and immediately scored on Colby Wright's RBI double to center to make it 6-5. They added another run with the help of two hits and an error in the eighth, starting the inning with Marcus Wheeler's pinch-hit single to right. Martin then reached on a fielder's choice and advanced to second on an error, and his pinch runner, Blake Shinkle, later scored with Devin Foyle's pinch-hit double down the right field line to stall the game at 6-6.
The 6-6 tie held into the 10th inning. Foyle drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second and third on Moroney's sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch, respectively. After Pidhauchuk was intentionally walked, Tinsley came through with an RBI single to right, scoring Foyle and giving Kansas the 7-6 walkoff victory.
Omaha returns to action on Friday, April 15, beginning a three-game Summit League weekend series at Oral Roberts. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. at J.L. Johnson Stadium in Tulsa, Okla., and links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
