GREELEY, Colo. - Entering the day with a half game lead for the fourth spot in the Summit League Tournament, the Mavericks will now have to beat Northern Colorado in tomorrow's regular season finale to advance to the playoffs as they were defeated 9-6 today.
Omaha is now 20-26 with an 8-14 conference record, while the Bears improve to 11-33 and 8-15 in the Summit, putting them half a game behind the Mavericks.
Innings 1-3
After a scoreless first two innings, the Mavericks managed to strike first today when they plated two runs in the third. With two outs and nobody on,
Haiden Hunt reached on a single to second, followed by a seven-pitch walk to
Mike Boeve and an infield single from
Devin Hurdle to set up
Brennen Bales for a two-run single through the left side.
On the mound,
Harrison Kreiling got off to another dominant start, allowing only two hits and a single run in the third while striking out four.
Innings 4-6
Kreiling continued to cruise into the middle innings, only needing seven pitches to get through the fourth and capping things off with a three-pitch strikeout. However, after a quick fifth that saw
Eduardo Rosario catch his 13th baserunner of the year, Kreiling ran into trouble in the sixth, allowing a bases-clearing triple to jump start a five-run rally to put Northern Colorado up 6-2.
Innings 7-9
Omaha got back within two runs in the top of the seventh as Rosario kicked things off with a towering leadoff homer to left to get make it 6-3, before Hurdle made it 6-4 with a triple to right that bounced off the diving right fielder's glove.
This momentum would be short lived, though, with the Bears adding three more runs in the bottom of the inning to make it 9-4. Despite a balk and another RBI for Hurdle in the ninth keeping Omaha's hopes alive, it was too little too late as Northern Colorado took game two of the series.
Inside the Box Score
Kreiling ended his day with six strikeouts, putting him at 98 in his career.
Rosario's home run was his sixth of the year and 31st RBI. With one game left in the regular season, he is one home run and three RBIs away from matching his career highs in both which he set last year.
Up Next
It's all or nothing tomorrow as a win for the Mavericks will punch their ticket to the Summit League Tournament, while a loss will end their season right then and there. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. tomorrow, with
Preston Tenney set to take the mound.
