MARION, Ill. – The Omaha baseball program improved to 6-4 on the season with a pair of wins in the Saturday doubleheader over Northern Illinois and Chicago State.
The Mavericks (6-4) captured a 9-5 win over Northern Illinois in the first game and cruised to a 4-1 victory over Chicago State to close out the twinbill.
GAME ONE: Omaha 9 Northern Illinois 5
A career day for
Spencer Koelewyn helped pace the Mavericks to the four-run win. The southpaw tossed a career-high 10 strikeouts through 6.0 shutout innings with just two hits and four walks allowed. He also improved to 2-0 on the season. Behind the plate,
Chris Esposito went 3-for-4 with two triples for two RBI and a run scored.
Omaha went up 2-0 in the second after Esposito tripled and set up a Lombardi RBI-single.
Harrison Denk then grounded out, but notched an RBI that scored Lombardi. Two more runs followed for the Mavericks happened in the fifth as Esposito hit his second triple for two RBI. An inning later, Omaha went up 7-0 on a Denk double for an RBI and
Parker Smejkal's sacrifice fly.
Northern Illinois eventually got on the board with two runs in the seventh, but Omaha made it a seven-run game (9-2) on
Keil Krumwiede's sac fly and Smejkal's double to left center for a pair of RBI. The Huskies were not quieted late, as they plated three more runs in the ninth as Omaha struggled to get the final three outs. The Mavericks, however, were able to hold on for the 9-5 win.
GAME TWO: Omaha 4 Chicago State 1
Behind the plate, Krumwiede led the way on 2-for-3 hitting with a home run, a double and three RBI.
Easton Smith improved to 2-1 on the season with five strikeouts through 4.0 innings, one earned run and two hits allowed. In relief,
Josiah Scott tossed 2.0 scoreless innings with three strikeouts, while
Jacob Mohler earned his fourth save on the season with a pair of scoreless innings and three strikeouts as well.
Krumwiede homered for the second time in as many days and put the Mavericks ahead 2-0 in the second. Later on in the fourth, Chicago State was able to net a sacrifice fly and get on the board. The Mavericks, however, extended their lead in the bottom of the fifth on another Denk groundout for an RBI, which made it 3-1.
The Mavericks tacked on another insurance run when Krumwiede doubled for an RBI that plated Denk to make it 4-1 in the eighth. Mohler was able to leave to Chicago State runners on base and closed out the game with a strikeout and two fly outs for his fourth save.
UP NEXT
Omaha closes out the four-game weekend with a Sunday, March 1, showdown against Chicago State. The first pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. (CT) as fans can follow via live stats on OMavs.com.
