OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha baseball program sets its sights on a day-night doubleheader against in-tow foe Creighton, this Tuesday, April 30.
The Mavericks play host to the Bluejays with a 1 p.m. tilt at Werner Park, before making the quick trip to TD Ameritrade Park for a second game at 6:30 p.m.
LEADING OFF
• Omaha comes into the week after dropping two of a three-game series to South Dakota State.
• The Mavericks still have a four-game lead on first place in The Summit League standings.
• Omaha looks for its first mid-week win this season. Despite winning 25 games, the team is 0-4 on Tuesday-Thursday games. • For mid-week road games, Omaha fell 12-2 at Wichita State and 7-2 at Kansas State. The team dropped both Werner Park mid-week games to Nebraska, 8-5, and again to Kansas State, 9-2.
• As a team, Omaha ranks second in the nation for fielding percentage at .982.
• The squad also has 29 sacrifice bunts that rank 49th nationally, and the 8.11 hits allowed per nine innings as a team rank 45th.
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Brett Bonar likes to have a runner on third with one out or less, as he ranks 10th nationally among Division I athletes with six sacrifice flies this season.
• The catcher was also selected to The Summit League Preseason Players to Watch list prior to the 2019 campaign. •
Parker Smejkal dropped to second in the league rankings for batting average at .354, but still has a league-best .519 on-base percentage that ranks sixth nationally.
• He also has a team-best five home runs this season.
• In relief,
Cal Hehnke has a Summit League-best six saves thus far. He also has a 2-1 record this year. His six saves also etch him in the record book, as he is tied for the sixth-most in a single season.
SCOUTING CREIGHTON
The Bluejays sit at 25-10 overall with a 6-3 mark in BIG EAST play. Recently, the Jays lost a four-game series to Xavier, 1-3. Jake Holton has a team-best .403 batting average and has started all 35 games. Jackson Berney, Jared Wegner and Isaac Collins roundout out the Creighton squad of players batting .300 or higher. They are led by 16th-year head coach Ed Servais. Omaha trails the all-time series 62-55 against Creighton.
LOOKING AHEAD
Omaha has a three-game road stint at North Dakota State in Summit League action. The Mavericks battle the Bison May 3-5.
