OMAHA, Neb. - The Mavericks made it close in the series finale, but were unable to close the gap on Oral Roberts as they fell 8-5 on Saturday.
Omaha is swept for the first time since their first series of the year at UCLA as they drop to 11-14 overall and 4-5 in the Summit League. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles are still undefeated in the conference at 9-0 as they climb to 23-10 on the year.
Innings 1-3
For the first time this series, the Mavericks struck first on an RBI fielder's choice from
Noah Greise. Getting the start in right field today, Greise also saved a double in the second with an impressive diving play.
Omaha's lead tripled in the bottom of the second when
Matt Goetzmann and
Eduardo Rosario cranked back-to-back home runs. Goetzmann's was the first of his Mavericks career and it was an absolute rocket with a distance of 445 feet.
Brennen Bales would make it a 4-0 game in the third with a sac fly to bring home Greise after he reached on a stand-up triple.
On the mound,
Harrison Kreiling was solid early on in his second start of the season, holding ORU scoreless through three with a couple of strikeouts.
Innings 4-6
The Golden Eagles cut Omaha's lead in half on a home run of their own from Mac McCroskey in the fourth, before tying the game the next inning on another two-run home run from Sam Thompson. With two on and no outs,
Luke Gainer was brought in to get through the fifth, nearly doing so against his first batter as
Mike Boeve,
Zach Lechnir, and
Eddie Satisky nearly turned a triple play, instead settling for a double play followed by a groundout on the next batter.
ORU was able to take their first lead of the day in the sixth at 5-4, but Satisky tied it right back up with a well placed RBI single on the right field line.
Innings 7-9
In the seventh, Bales came in to pitch in what is his second time this year hitting and pitching in the same game. After fielding a couple of easy ground outs, Bales ended the inning by striking out one of the top hitters in the league, Matt Hogan, on three pitches.
ORU still ended up breaking the tie in the eighth, however, scoring two on a home run and a bloop single, and later growing their lead to 8-5 on a sac fly in the ninth. Despite getting bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, the Mavericks were unable to bring in a run as they dropped the final game of the series.
Inside the Box Score
Greise's triple in the third inning was the first of his career, having previously gone over 200 plate appearances without hitting one.
In addition to hitting his first career Division I home run, Goetzmann also went 2-for-3 at the plate today for his third multi-hit game of the season.
Up Next
The Mavericks will be on the road next week, beginning with their second game at Nebraska this year on Tuesday at 6 p.m., followed by a three-game Summit League series at South Dakota State starting Friday at 3 p.m.
