Leading Off
The Mavericks (20-23, 8-12) enter the final week of the regular season with a Summit League Tournament berth in their sights, first facing Creighton (23-22) on the road on Tuesday, before heading west to take on Northern Colorado (9-33, 6-15) in a crucial conference series starting on Thursday.

Upcoming Schedule
Tuesday: 11 a.m. at Creighton at Charles Schwab Field
Thursday: 2 p.m. at Northern Colorado at Jackson Stadium
Friday: 1 p.m. at Northern Colorado at Jackson Stadium
Saturday: 1 p.m. at Northern Colorado at Jackson Stadium

Around the Horn

• Omaha is currently in fourth place in the Summit League and is half a game ahead of Western Illinois (12-35, 8-13) for the fourth and final playoff spot.
• Last week, Omaha kicked things off with a bang as they blew out Penn State 16-3 in their home finale on Wednesday, before weather limited them to just two games on Sunday at North Dakota State, going 1-1 in the doubleheader.
• Omaha's win vs. the Nittany Lions was their fourth against Power 5 opponents this year, as well as their 14th win at Tal Anderson Field in 2023.
• Alex Potter earned his first win as a Maverick on Wednesday as he made just his second start of the year, going five innings and allowing just one run.
• Devin Hurdle, Cam Frederick, Zach Lechnir, and Haiden Hunt all hit a home run vs. Penn State, with the last three all being three-run homers.
• Drew Lechnir also logged his first triple as a Maverick on Wednesday and combined for four RBIs and five runs scored with his brother Zach.
• In game two of Sunday's doubleheader, Mike Boeve made history yet again this season when he ripped two doubles to reach 52 in his career, giving him sole possession of second place all-time at Omaha. Boeve also picked up two RBIs on Sunday, bringing him to 93 in his career.
• With five more RBIs last week, Eduardo Rosario reached exactly 80 RBIs in his career, good for the second most among active Mavericks. 
• Harrison Kreiling now has 92 strikeouts in his career after setting down seven more batters on Sunday. With one more start in the regular season he has a shot at becoming the third Maverick pitcher alongside Caleb Riedel and Charlie Bell to join the century club this season.
• Wyatt Sellers also had a great performance on Sunday with three shutout innings in relief along with a career-high six strikeouts to earn his second save of the year.
• Though he was saddled with the loss, Preston Tenney turned in another strong performance in game one on Sunday, pitching into the seventh inning for the third time this year and allowing three runs while striking out six.
• Maverick pitchers struck out 14 batters in game two on Sunday. This is the third time this year they have recorded 14 strikeouts and is only one short of the season high.
• Omaha is currently on a four-game winning streak against Creighton, with their last loss occurring back on March 6, 2021.

Scouting Creighton
Creighton begins their final week of the season at 23-22 and is currently on a seven-game losing streak.

Jack Grace leads the Bluejays' offense with a .908 OPS and 11 home runs, along with Hogan Helligso, who paces the team with a .322 AVG, and Nolan Sailors with a team-high 42 runs scored and 11 steals. 

Creighton's pitching staff is fronted by Ryan Windham and his 3.76 ERA, while the rest of the starters have struggled for much of the year, including mid-week starter Cade Lommel (13.50 ERA) who gave up four runs in just 0.1 innings of work vs. Omaha earlier this season.

Head Coach Ed Servais is the winningest coach in Creighton baseball history at 641-385-1, while his career record of 823-467-2 is 21st among all Division I coaches. In 20 years with Creighton, he has led them to six NCAA Tournaments.

Scouting Northern Colorado
Northern Colorado's postseason hopes took a hit last week after losing two of three at South Dakota State and falling to 9-33 with a 6-15 conference record.

Jake King's .326 AVG is the best on the team, while his .847 OPS is right in line with Caden Wagner (.846) for the team lead. Wagner is also tops in home runs with five and RBI's with 31, while King is tied with Hayden Heinze for the team lead in doubles at nine.

Northern Colorado's pitching staff has struggled to a 10.54 ERA this year, with Dylan Smith posting the best ERA among their starters at 6.33, along with a .331 BAA and 1.58 WHIP. Likewise, Murphy Gienger's 6.26 RA is the best among their relievers. 

Mike Anderson is in his first season leading the Bears. Prior to returning to his alma mater, Anderson spent nine years as head coach over at Nebraska, compiling a 339-211 record and leading the Huskers to five NCAA Tournament appearances and a College World Series berth in 2005. Anderson was twice named the Big 12 Coach of the Year.