MINNEAPOLIS – The steady rain in the latter innings couldn't dampen the spirits of the Mavericks after this one.
Omaha scored six runs in the top of the 11th inning to beat Minnesota 10-7 Tuesday at Siebert Field.
The inning started innocently enough for the Mavericks, who improved to 24-26 with their fifth win over a Big Ten opponent in 10 tries, as
Will Hanafan singled to center field to open the decisive outburst.
The ball, however, rolled through Minnesota center fielder Brett Bateman, allowing Hanafan to advance to third base.
Harrison Denk followed with a sacrifice fly that broke a 4-4 tie and put Omaha up for good.
Garrett Kennedy then walked and stole second. With two outs,
Eduardo Rosario singled him in and moved to second on a throwing error.
Devin Hurdle followed an intentional walk to
Eddie Satisky with a ground-rule double to center that scored Rosario.
Drew Hmielewski,
Drew Reetz and Hanafan then walked in succession before Denk capped the Maverick scoring with an RBI single through the right side.
The Golden Gophers (15-34) scored three runs off winning pitcher
Parker Weddle in the 11th, but
Brady Posch came on to record three outs in his first save of the season. Omaha used five pitchers in the win.
Harrison Kreiling started on the mound for the Mavericks and was brilliant through six innings. He allowed only one hit and walked three while striking out five. The run scored against him was unearned.
Reetz got Omaha going, offensively, with an RBI ground-rule double down the right-field line in the second inning.
Jack Lombardi then singled him in as the Mavericks took an early 3-0 advantage.
After Minnesota scored its unearned run in the fifth, Omaha quickly pushed its lead back to three with an RBI single by Denk in the sixth. He finished with two hits and three RBIs to pace the 14-hit attack.
Every Omaha starter had at least one hit, including
Mike Boeve. The third baseman singled on an 0-2 pitch in the ninth inning to extend his hitting streak to 25 games. Five different Mavericks had two hits.
