EMERSON, Ga. – The Omaha baseball team dropped both games of a doubleheader against Ohio Saturday afternoon, falling 4-1 and 5-2 at Perfect Game Park at LakePoint. The Mavericks are now 3-7 on the season.
GAME 1 – OHIO 4, OMAHA 1
Joey Machado made his third start of the season, going 7.0 innings and limiting Ohio to one run on five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts. The win went to Gerry Salisbury (1-2), who threw 8.0 innings with one run on four hits and a walk and three strikeouts.
Andrew Brighton (0-1) took the loss, allowing three runs on four hits. Jake Roehn picked up his third save.
Machado allowed a quick run in the first on an RBI single, then held the Bobcats scoreless for the remainder of his outing.
Omaha didn't get on the board until the seventh inning, when
Thomas DeBonville, who had two hits on the day, singled up the middle to start the inning. A sacrifice bunt by
Parker Smejkal moved him to second, and a
Cole Thibodeau RBI single plated him to tie the game at 1-1.
Brighton came in to pitch in the eighth inning, getting out of a jam with runners on second and third. Ohio took the lead in the ninth inning, however, when Trevor Hafner shot a two-out single through the hole to give Ohio a 2-1 lead. The Bobcats extended it when Ryan Sargent hit a two-run homerun to cap the rally, which put the game at 4-1.
GAME 2 – OHIO 5, OMAHA 2
Cal Hehnke (0-1) started on the bump for Omaha, hurling 4.0 innings and giving up five runs on five hits with a pair of strikeouts. The win went to Butch Baird (1-1), who went 6.0 innings and allowed two runs on four hits and four walks. Chace Harris picked up his first save.
Omaha grabbed the lead in the first inning, starting with a
Braden Rogers single up the middle. A sacrifice bunt by Smejkal moved him to second, and a double by
Keil Krumwiede spotted Omaha a 1-0 lead.
The Bobcats responded with a two-out, two-run double in the second to go ahead. In the top of the fourth,
Ben Palensky smashed his first career homerun to tie the game at two apiece. Ohio then responded in the fifth, blasting a three-run homer that would end up being the game-winner.
Malik Moore took over for Hehnke in the fifth and threw two scoreless innings.
James Smith then relieved Moore, accounting for two more shutout innings without allowing a baserunner.
Omaha rallied in the seventh when a Thibodeau walk and a DeBonville single put two runners aboard with two outs.
Grant Suponchick hit a line drive to the gap, but an over-the-shoulder diving catch by the left fielder ended the inning.
Adam Caniglia was the only Maverick with a multi-hit game at 2-for-3, while Thibodeau, Krumwiede, DeBonville, Palensky and Rogers each had one.
Omaha returns to action on Sunday, March 4, finishing the series with Ohio at 10 a.m. CT.
