The reigning Summit League pitcher of the week capped another strong weekend by Omaha's starters.
Mark Timmins (2-1) handcuffed Northern Colorado over eight shutout innings Sunday as the Mavericks (14-15) captured their fourth consecutive series with an 7-0 victory over the Bears at Tal Anderson Field.
Omaha allowed only one run, which came in a 1-0 loss on Friday, during the series. Its starting pitchers –
Caleb Riedel,
Charlie Bell and Timmins – combined for 19 scoreless innings against UNC's offense.
"It's been nice," Timmins said. "All of our pitchers have been doing a really good job. We're just focusing on attacking hitters and letting our defense work. And, hopefully, our offense will give us enough runs."
It did again Sunday. After putting up 10 runs against the Bears on Saturday, the Mavericks broke the finale open with a five-run third.
Mike Boeve highlighted the outburst with a two-run opposite-field single that made it 3-0. He then capped the scoring for Omaha with a two-run home run an inning later.
Boeve's second straight four-RBI day, and
Matt Baughn's two-run single in the second, gave Timmins all the run support he needed as he cruised through his second consecutive scoreless outing. He retired 13 straight Bears after Cade Moeller opened the game with an infield single that Timmins got a piece of.
"That next batter, we got a double play," Timmins said. "I was just doing the same thing I was doing. I didn't want to press or anything like that. I was just trusting my pitches and letting my defense work."
Northern Colorado managed only three hits in the game – a pair of infield singles and a pop-fly double that Boeve nearly made a catch on down the left-field line. Timmins finished with eight strikeouts.
Omaha, now 6-3 in the Summit League, threatened to run-rule the Bears for a second consecutive day.
"We had the bases loaded and nobody out in the sixth and [we got] zero runs," Maverick coach
Evan Porter said. "We've still got some work to do, offensively. But when your starting pitching is pitching the way our guys are, we should be in every ballgame if we just play okay defense."
