Noah Greise put a rough April at the plate behind him when he opened this month with a pinch hit against Kansas Wednesday. Prior to the single, he had recorded only one hit in his previous 22 at-bats.

Greise returned to Omaha's starting lineup for the first time in two weeks on Saturday and delivered a decisive blow against South Dakota State. His three-run homer sparked the Mavericks to an 8-3 victory.

Omaha (21-23) and the Jackrabbits (17-18) were tied 1-1 when Greise clubbed a Cody Carlson offering over the fence in left field with two runners on in the third inning. The Mavericks tacked on three more runs in the fifth to pull away and even their Summit League series at one game apiece entering Sunday.

"I didn't think it was going out, but I heard the crowd cheering. It was awesome," Greise said. "Obviously, it felt good. Everyone kind of piggybacked off that. We took the game into our hands and didn't let them come back. I'm very happy with the outcome and what our guys are doing right now."

Jack Lombardi paced a 12-hit Omaha attack with a pair of singles and an RBI double that pushed the lead to 5-2 in the fifth. He and Harrison Denk then scored on a wild pitch and an ensuing throwing error.

Mike Boeve singled to lead off the third inning to extend his hitting streak to 20 games. Eduardo Rosario followed with a single to put two men on. One out later, Greise launched his first homer of the season.

Maverick starter Mark Timmins left with a 4-2 lead in the fifth but didn't qualify for a win. Tyler Mattingley (2-1) recorded the final two outs of that frame and allowed only two hits in 4.2 innings.