OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha baseball team capped off its home-opening performance with a doubleheader sweep over Portland Friday afternoon at Seymour Smith Park.
The Mavericks improve to 9-4 on the season and have won five-straight, while Portland falls to 11-3 overall.
GAME ONE: Omaha 1, Portland 0
It was a battle on the mound as
Joey Machado improved to 2-1 on the season with 6.0 scoreless innings. The junior tossed six strikeouts with four walks and only one hit allowed. In relief,
Tanner Howe pitched a pair of shutout innings in the seventh and eighth, while
Jacob Mohler earned his fifth save of the season in the ninth.
Breyden Eckhout went 2-for-4 at the plate, while
Chris Esposito,
Brett Bonar and
Garrett Kennedy registered hits.
Bonar provided the lone run for the Mavericks in the bottom of the fourth. After Goldston singled to shortstop and beat the throw to first, that set up Bonar who doubled down the right field line and put the Mavericks ahead. That proved to be the only run of the game as the Maverick defense only allowed three combined runners on base in the final five innings.
GAME TWO: Omaha: 7, Portland 5
Omaha fell into a four-run hole in the fifth inning, but rallied back and scored seven unanswered runs for the sweep over Portland.
Masen Prososki registered the team's only multi-hit performance with a 2-for-4 effort at the plate and a run scored.
Chris Esposito and
Garrett Kennedy both blasted their first-career home runs in a Maverick uniform.
Gavin Pitts doubled for a pair of RBI in his first-career at bat.
On the mound,
Jacob Alcorn earned the win (1-0) while
Keil Krumwiede picked up his first save this season. Starting pitcher
Spencer Koelewyn had five strikeouts through 5.0 innings of work with four walks, six hits and four earned runs allowed.
Jake Pennington and
Tanner Howe provided an inning of relief. Portland's Connor Knutson fell to 2-1 on the hill.
In the first, a Portland double to right center gave resulted in an RBI and put Omaha in a 1-0 hole. Later on in the fourth, The Pilots homered to left field and built a 2-0 lead. The Mavericks eventually fell into a 4-0 hole in the fifth on a two-RBI single by Portland.
Omaha, however, rallied back and scored its first run after Krumwiede reached first on a throwing error by Portland which scored
Harrison Denk. An inning later, Esposito knocked one out of the park on a 1-1 count and made it 4-2. Kennedy continued the Maverick surge and blasted his home run over the left field wall in the seventh and put Omaha to within striking distance. That proved to be the first of five runs in the seventh for Omaha.
An Eckhout single to shortstop scored Prososki, which was followed by Pitts' first-career at-bat. It resulted in a double out to left and plated Eckhout and Smejkal for the 6-4 lead. Bonar then cracked his second double on the day for an RBI and brought Pitts home to make it 7-4 Omaha. Portland scored in the ninth on a single, but Krumwiede was able to get the save and leave two runners on base.
UP NEXT
Omaha stays in-town and goes down the street to TD Ameritrade Park for a 4:30 p.m. showdown against the Creighton Bluejays. For more information on how to follow the game, visit OMavs.com.
