For the third time in as many meetings, Omaha's game with Nebraska came down to the final pitch.

There was no walk-off hit this time. Instead, Maverick reliever Harrison Kreiling struck out Husker slugger Colby Gomes with the bases loaded to preserve a 6-5 win on Wednesday at Tal Anderson Field.

The victory was second for Omaha (12-14) in three meetings with the Huskers (12-15) and the fourth for the Mavericks in six games against Big Ten competition. They went 2-1 against Rutgers at Tal Anderson in March.

Omaha got an RBI single from Mike Boeve and a two-run double from Eddie Satisky during a three-run first and led the entire way. But the Mavericks held on by the slimmest of margins after an NU rally.

Gomes hit a three-run homer during a four-run Nebraska eighth to cut a 6-1 Omaha lead to one. Kreiling got Omaha out of that inning with a strikeout then walked two in the ninth to fill the bases with one out.

The right-hander then struck out Luke Sartori and Gomes consecutively on 3-2 pitches with three on.

"When the bases were loaded, I really just knew I needed to throw strikes and trust my defense," Kreiling said. "I knew that my fastball was on today, and I just needed to throw it for a strike."

Jackson Gordon started for the Mavericks and left with a 3-0 lead after two innings. Reliever Joey Machado (4-1) claimed the win, because Gordon didn't pitch long enough to qualify, by working the third and fourth innings. The Huskers got an unearned run off him in the third after two Omaha errors.

The Mavericks padded their lead by scoring a single run in three consecutive innings. Noah Greise plated one with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth. Devin Hurdled doubled in a run in the sixth. And Jack Lombardi did the same in the seventh, when he sent a ball the opposite way to the wall in right field.

 Omaha coach Evan Porter was pleased with his team's start, then credited its continued work.

"The single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh were even bigger," he said. "You never know how quickly a game can turn when you're playing an offense like they have. Those single runs ended up being the deciding factor. That's a testament to our offense sticking with it and not being satisfied or complacent."

Reliever Tyler Mattingley retired nine of the first 10 Huskers he faced after replacing Machado in the before the fifth. Nebraska rallied against him in the eighth, though, when Gomes hit a three-run homer.

Kreiling came on after Wyatt Sellers issued back-to-back walks to get the Mavericks out of trouble in the eighth. He then got himself back into a tight spot in the ninth with two walks before the two strikeouts.

"Our guys did a good job of finding a way to outlast this game," Porter said. "We put ourselves in that position – where we had to find a way to outlast – because we were in control the entire ball game. [We were] even up until there were two outs in the eighth inning. And then, boom, they put up a four spot."

Kreiling was on the brink of walking the last two hitters and then came through with two 3-2 fastballs.

"When it's on, it's really good," he said. "And it was on today."