OMAHA, Neb. -- The Omaha baseball team was swept in a doubleheader with North Dakota State Thursday afternoon, falling 2-0 in 10 innings and 2-1 at Seymour Smith Park. The Mavericks are now 11-17 (7-4 Summit League), while the Bison improve to 13-14 (6-5).
GAME 1 -- NORTH DAKOTA STATE 2, OMAHA 1 (10 inn.)
The opening game proved to be a pitchers' duel.
Joey Machado had a quality start with a season-long 8.0 innings, allowing one run on two hits and a walk while striking out six. NDSU's Riley Johnson allowed one run on four hits with three strikeouts in 7.1 innings of work in his start.
The win went to NDSU reliever Kevin Folman (2-1), who threw the final 2.2 innings with one hit, no runs, two walks and two strikeouts.
Cal Hehnke (0-2) took the loss, surrendering the go-ahead run in the 10th with two hits, a walk and two strikeouts.
Grant Suponchick was 2-for-4 to lead Omaha offensively, and
Max Gamm was 1-for-4 with the Mavericks' only RBI.
Omaha took an early lead with a run in the second. With two outs,
Ben Palensky was hit with a pitch and
Adam Caniglia singled to right center to put two Mavericks aboard. Gamm's RBI single through the left side put Omaha up 1-0.
NDSU stalled the game at one apiece in the fourth when Bennett Hostetler led off with a double to left center, advanced on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a sacrifice fly with a two-base fielding miscue.
The game remained locked until the top of the 10th. Jayse McLean singled up the middle and Logan Busch walked, after which McLean stole third and scored on a sacrifice bunt by Sean Noel for a 2-1 lead. In the bottom of the 10th, Folman worked around a one-out error and walks by Suponchick and
Hunter Hughes, ending the game on a strikeout.
GAME 2 -- NORTH DAKOTA STATE 2, OMAHA 0
Blake Stockert (3-1) limited the Mavericks to just three hits with his complete-game shutout in the second game. He gave up two walks and issued six strikeouts on the day.
Spencer Koelewyn (2-2) was tagged with the loss, allowing one run on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts over 6.0 innings.
NDSU provided Stockert offensive support with a run in both the sixth and eighth frames. In the earlier inning, an RBI single by Nick Emanuel scored McLean, and a Tucker Rohde RBI single up the middle in the eighth brought in McLean again for the 2-0 advantage.
Omaha and NDSU cap their series with a single game on Saturday, April 7 at 2 p.m. at Seymour Smith Park. Links to live stats and audio will be available on OMavs.com.
