TULSA, Okla. – Omaha starter
Charlie Bell picked up where
Caleb Riedel and
Joey Machado left off.
One day after his teammates shut out preseason Summit League favorite Oral Roberts 1-0, the right-hander kept the Golden Eagles scoreless until the bottom of the sixth of the second game of the series.
The Mavericks, however, couldn't score off ORU starter Ledgend Smith either. And through the first 15 innings of their weekend series, the two teams combined for one run – a
Drew Reetz homer on Friday.
The Golden Eagles eventually broke through, though. Mac McCroskey and Caleb Denny hit consecutive home runs off Bell (2-3) to open the sixth to spur Oral Roberts (17-10) on to a 6-1 win to even the series.
Omaha (10-14) managed only four hits, one of which was another solo blast by Reetz, off Smith (4-2) in his seven innings of work. He walked only one and struck out eight before leaving with a 3-1 advantage.
The Mavericks got the potential game-tying run to the plate in the eighth, but reliever Cade Denton got
Mike Boeve to fly out with a runner on to end the threat. The Golden Eagles scored three more runs off reliever
Tanner Howe in the bottom half to pull away.
The teams meet in the rubber match of the series at 1 p.m. Sunday.