Leading Off
The Omaha baseball team welcomes South Dakota State for three-game Summit League series this weekend, April 22-24, at the Ballpark at Boys Town. First pitch on Friday is set for 3 p.m., followed by 1 p.m. for Saturday and Sunday's games. Links to live stats and audio will be available on OMavs.com.

Quick Hits
•Senior infielder Clayton Taylor is riding a career-long 27-game reaching base streak, the longest of any Maverick since Andrew Hansen in 2010. Sophomore Ryan Cate is also on a career-long reaching base streak of 18 games.
•Senior outfielder Alex Schultz keyed his 200th career hit on April 6 vs. Nebraska. He is one of just seven players in school history with 200 or more career hits, joining two fellow seniors who reached the milestone earlier this season -- Taylor (March 27 vs. North Dakota State) and senior outfielder Cole Gruber (March 20 vs. Fort Wayne).
•Gruber (.371) owns the highest batting average in the Summit League. He also led the league for average in 2015.
•Gruber became Omaha's all-time career stolen base leader on March 9 at Air Force, while senior right-hander Tyler Fox became UNO's all-time leader for innings pitched on March 18 vs. Fort Wayne and batters faced on March 25 vs. North Dakota State.
•On Feb. 20, head coach Bob Herold earned his 500th career victory in 17 seasons of directing the Omaha program.
•The 2016 season marks Omaha's first with full NCAA Division I postseason eligibility for the Summit League and NCAA Tournaments. The Mavericks completed a required four-year Division I reclassification period from 2012 to 2015.
•The Mavericks return 18 letterwinners, including five position starters: Gruber, Taylor, Schultz, Cate and senior catcher Collin Leif.
•Four All-Summit selections highlight the Mavericks' returning corps with Taylor, Gruber, Schultz and Fox.
•UNO was picked fourth in the Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll.
•Omaha is 229-257 against all opponents on the schedule this year and 134-116 all-time against the five other teams in the Summit League. The Mavericks have compiled a 54-38 record in Summit League play since 2012-13.

Scouting the South Dakota State Jackrabbits
South Dakota State enters the weekend with a record of 14-22 (9-6 Summit League) after defeating Maryville State 8-1 on Wednesday. The Jackrabbits swept league foe North Dakota State at home last weekend, winning 11-3 on Friday, 14-7 on Saturday and 5-2 on Sunday. Luke Ringhofer is one of five SDSU players batting over .300, leading the team with a .361 average.

Head coach Dave Schrage (Creighton, 1983) is in his fifth season at South Dakota State, and he carries a record of 128-131-1 at the school and a career mark of 662-722-2 over 25 years of coaching.

Omaha leads the all-time series against the Jacks, 78-60. UNO took two of three games in Brookings earlier this season, sweeping the Saturday doubleheader, 19-6 and 10-3, before dropping the Sunday matchup, 9-4.

Last Time Out: ORU Sweeps Saturday Doubleheader From Mavericks
Omaha was swept in a doubleheader by Oral Roberts last Saturday, falling 6-3 and 3-2 at J.L. Johnson Stadium. Freshman Grant Suponchick led the Mavericks offensively in the first game of the day, finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI. Junior left-hander Sam Murphy (2-2) was dealt the loss, surrendering six runs -- five earned -- on seven hits and two walks with a pair of strikeouts over 7.0 innings.

Sophomore right-hander Corey Binger (4-3) took the loss, giving up three runs on nine hits and two walks with two strikeouts in his 6.0-inning outing. Sophomore Adam Caniglia and freshman Riley Herold each went 1-for-3 with a run scored in the contest, with Caniglia also driving in a run.

Clayton's the Catalyst
Omaha is 11-1 this season when senior Clayton Taylor registers a multi-hit game. The Mount Michael product is a catalyst for the Mavericks' offensive production, hitting a team-high .410 with runners on base, and he has success advancing runners 56 percent of the time. In games when Taylor has at least two hits, UNO as a team averages 12.8 hits and 9.2 runs scored per game.

Climbing the Career Charts
Seniors Cole Gruber, Clayton Taylor and Alex Schultz have been four-year starters at Omaha and have steadily climbed their way up the UNO career charts. Gruber is first in school history for stolen bases (92), second for sacrifice hits (31), third for walks (94), fourth for hits (222), fifth for runs scored (144), seventh for games started (172) and eighth for at-bats (636).

Taylor is second for RBI (159), fourth for home runs (26), fifth for walks (89), total bases (341), sacrifice flies (12) and games started (174), sixth for hits (212) and at-bats (641), eighth for doubles (40) and 10th for games played (180).

Schultz is fourth for at-bats (690), walks (91), games started (180) and runs scored (145), seventh for hits (206) and doubles (41) and eighth for games played (181).

Breaking Out the Bats
UNO has put together a big offensive push in Summit League play, as the Mavericks have hit .287 in non-conference games and .299 in their first 15 league contests. They have also increased their team slugging percentage from .377 to .413 and their on-base percentage from .353 to .400 in conference play. Omaha's league batting burst has been led by Grant Suponchick's .405 batting average in those contests.

Better on the Bump
While Omaha's offense has come alive in Summit League play, so has its pitching staff. In non-conference games, UNO's staff has a 6.10 ERA but has lowered that to 4.36 in league contests.

Stealing the Spotlight
Senior Cole Gruber has made a name for himself in the Summit League for his sneaky work on the basepaths, as he led the league with 34 stolen bases in 2014 and was second with 22 swiped bags in 2015. Gruber has steadily worked his way up Omaha's career stolen bases chart, and on March 9 at Air Force became the Mavericks' all-time career stolen base leader. He registered two in the game, passing previous record holder Bryan Frew, who had 72 from 2005-08.

Gruber's career mark is now up to 92, which ranks fifth in Summit League history.

Stacking Up Nationally
In the latest NCAA statistical release, senior infielder Clayton Taylor is fifth in the nation for RBI (51) and sixth for RBI per game (1.42). Senior outfielder Cole Gruber is third for stolen bases (30) and fourth for stolen bases per game (0.83), and senior right-hander Tyler Fox is 24th for wins (six).

League Leaders
Senior outfielder Cole Gruber paces the Summit League for batting average (.371), hits (53), runs scored (36) and stolen bases (30), while senior infielder Clayton Taylor leads the league in RBI (51). Senior Alex Schultz is first for plate appearances (177), and junior infielder Sam Palensky is first in assists (119). On the mound, senior Tyler Fox has the league lead for wins (six) and games started (nine), and sophomore Corey Binger is first for games started (nine) and complete games (one).

As a team, Omaha leads the league in at-bats (1,256) and stolen bases (54).

What Does the Fox Say?
Senior right-handed pitcher Tyler Fox is back as Omaha's Friday starter in 2016, and he has been the Mavericks' most celebrated hurler over the last three seasons. The Thornton, Colo., native was the 2014 Summit League Pitcher of the Year and an All-Summit selection as a sophomore, and he has led UNO in both strikeouts and innings pitched each of the last two years. His 93.2 innings thrown as a junior were the third-highest single-season total in school history, behind only Ben Percival (100.1) in 2009 and Troy Cloyd (96.0) in 2005.

Fox has compiled a career record of 26-8 with a 3.09 ERA. On March 18, he became Omaha's all-time leader for career innings pitched, passing former Maverick Mike Metz (1975-78), who had 255.2. In addition to his 185.1 innings pitched, Fox also ranks first in school history for batters faced (1,204) and games started (48). Additionally, he is second for wins (26), fifth for strikeouts (209) and ninth for appearances (49).

Murph on the Mound
Junior left-handed pitcher Sam Murphy returned to the mound for the first time in nearly a year on Feb. 20, picking up the win in UNO's 2-1 victory over Eastern Michigan. The Lake Worth, Fla., native threw three innings of scoreless relief, allowing two hits and one walk while striking out two. Murphy had been sidelined since early in the 2015 season due to injury.

On March 4 at Grand Canyon, Murphy earned his first save of the season, throwing 2.0 innings and holding the Lopes to one run on three hits with three strikeouts.

On March 20 vs. Fort Wayne, Murphy earned a win, tossing 5.0 shutout innings in his start and limiting the Mastodons to five singles with no walks and four strikeouts. He also threw a season-long 7.0 shutout innings April 2 vs. Western Illinois. In that outing, he gave up just two singles and two walks and struck out a career-high 11, a performance that netted him Summit League Pitcher of the Week recognition.

For the season, Murphy is 2-2 with a 2.36 ERA and a 2.36:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Maverick Mound Notes
•All three pitchers in Omaha's weekend rotation have earned Summit League Pitcher of the Week awards, with senior righty Tyler Fox on Feb. 29, sophomore righty Corey Binger on March 14 and junior southpaw Sam Murphy on April 4.
•The trio is in the top 10 in the Summit League for ERA, with Murphy second (2.36), Fox fourth (3.65) and Binger 10th (5.24). Fox (41) also ranks in the top 10 for strikeouts, coming in sixth.
•Senior right-hander Robert Calvano has not allowed a walk since Feb. 21 vs. Eastern Michigan, and he has not allowed a run since March 25 at South Dakota State.
•Junior right-hander Skyler Sylvester has not allowed a run since March 12 vs. Presbyterian.
•Meltz has not allowed a run since April 6 vs. Nebraska, having made three relief appearances totaling 4.0 innings in that span.
•Sophomore left-hander Brad Olsen has not allowed a walk since April 6 vs. Nebraska. He threw 1.1 shutout innings at Kansas last Wednesday, striking out one and holding the Jayhawks hitless.

Scoring Summary
Omaha has been the most productive this year in the first inning, posting 33 total runs in the frame. The Mavericks have plated 79 runs between the first and third innings, 82 between the fourth and sixth innings and 54 between the seventh and ninth innings.

Going the Extra Mile
When registering three or more extra-base hits in a game, Omaha is 10-2 this season. On the flip side, the Mavericks are 11-4 when limiting their opponents to less than three extra-base hits in a contest.

On April 9 in the first game of a doubleheader at South Dakota State, UNO totaled eight extra-base hits with four doubles and four home runs. It was the most extra-base hits in a game since the Mavericks had nine at Northern Colorado on March 10, 2012 with five doubles, a triple and three homers.

All in the Family
 “Like father, like son” holds true for three current Mavericks who have followed in their fathers' footsteps by playing baseball at UNO. Senior infielder Clayton Taylor's father, John Taylor, lettered from 1981-82 and was an All-NCC selection. Freshman infielder Riley Herold will now play for his father, head coach Bob Herold, who was an NAIA All-American at UNO in 1971. And junior infielder Sam Palensky's father, Jim Palensky, played from 1984-85 and also previously served as an assistant coach with the Mavericks.

On the sibling side, Sam Palensky's brother, Caleb, was an All-Summit infielder and lettered from 2011-14. Freshman infielder Jack Kalina's grandfather, Phil Gradoville, played at UNO, and freshman right-handed pitcher/infielder Grant Suponchick's brother, Beau Suponchick, lettered two seasons for Omaha (2011-12).

Production Up Top
Omaha's 1-3 batters in the lineup -- seniors Alex Schultz, Cole Gruber and Clayton Taylor -- have produced a significant portion of the Mavericks' offense this year, combining to hit .319. The 1-3 hitters have accounted for 37 percent of UNO's hits, including 46 percent of its extra-base hits, as well as 45 percent of its runs scored, 45 percent of its RBI, 49 percent of its walks and 83 percent of its stolen bases.

Double Digits
As a team, Omaha produced double-digit hits in 23 games last season, going 15-8 in those games. This season, UNO is 14-5 with double-digit hits, and the Mavericks posted a season-high 22 hits at South Dakota State on April 9.

Over the last five years of Division I play, UNO is a combined 82-34 when keying at least 10 hits.

Offense Keying Wins
In the last four seasons (2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016), Omaha has gone a combined 67-11 when outhitting its opponent. Last year alone, UNO was 15-4 in such games, and this season the Mavericks are off to an 11-0 showing.

Over 16 seasons in the Bob Herold era, UNO is 418-72-1 when outhitting the other team.

Turning to the Bullpen
Omaha's bullpen has traditionally held its own late in the game, as the Mavericks are 441-41-1 in the Bob Herold era when leading after the sixth. Last season, UNO was 17-5 when leading after the sixth, and this year it is 15-4.

Herold at the Helm
Head Coach Bob Herold is in his 17th year as the skipper of the Omaha baseball program in 2016, having compiled a career record of 516-372-2. Herold earned his 500th career win on Feb. 20, 2016 against Eastern Michigan, becoming the first coach in school history to reach the milestone. He previously became the winningest coach in UNO history with Omaha's 7-0 shutout at Bradley on April 22, 2014, which gave him his 465th victory.

Over his Maverick career, Herold has guided Omaha to seven NCAA Division II postseason appearances and four conference championships. In 2013 and 2014, he was honored as Summit League Coach of the Year.

Herold's most recent draft pick was right-handed pitcher Joe Holtmeyer, who was taken in the 22nd round (No. 682 overall) of the 2011 Major League Baseball amateur draft by the Boston Red Sox. Holtmeyer was the fifth Maverick drafted under Herold and the second-highest pick of any player during the Herold era.

Herold is assisted by assistant coaches Chris Gadsden, in his 17th year, and Evan Porter, in his fourth year, as well as volunteer assistant coach Dan McGinn, who is in his 15th year.

2016 Slate Takes Mavericks Around the Nation
Omaha's 2016 schedule includes 55 games, and the team will play in 12 states against schools from 12 other Division I conferences. Three opponents – Iowa, Morehead State and defending Summit League champion Oral Roberts – played in the 2015 NCAA Tournament.

Entering the season, the Mavericks had never faced five of their opponents: NJIT, Morehead State, Presbyterian, Bowling Green and Seton Hall. Omaha holds a combined all-time record of 227-256 over all teams on the regular-season slate.

Next Up
Omaha returns to action on Tuesday, April 26, hosting Air Force. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. at Werner Park, and links to live stats and audio will be available on OMavs.com.