Leading Off
The No. 4 Omaha Mavericks (21-26, 9-14) open their fourth consecutive Summit League Tournament this Wednesday at 12 p.m. when they face the No.1 seeded Oral Roberts Golden Eagles to open the Championships in Fargo, N.D. The No. 2 North Dakota State Bison and the No. 3 South Dakota State Jackrabbits will face each other in Wednesday's second matchup.

Upcoming Schedule
Wednesday: 12 p.m. at Newman Outdoor Field
Thursday: 12 p.m. (If Game 1 Loss) or 6 p.m. (If Game 1 Win)
Friday: 4 p.m. (If Game 1 Loss and Game 2 Win)
Saturday: 1 p.m. (Championship Game)

Around the Horn

• The Mavericks officially punched their ticket to their fourth consecutive Summit League Tournament last week after winning the final game of the season at Northern Colorado.
• The league announced its All-Summit honorees on Tuesday, with four Mavericks making the cut: First Team Third Baseman Mike Boeve, First Team Shortstop Devin Hurdle, Second Team Utility Player Brennen Bales, and Honorable Mention Starting Pitcher Harrison Kreiling.
• A no-doubter, Boeve is now 3-for-3 in First Team honors after finishing the regular season with career highs in average (.401) and OBP (.515). He capped off the season with the game-tying home run at Northern Colorado on Saturday for his fourth of the season. The home run also marked his 32nd RBI of the season, giving him 94 in his career. 
• Across 157 at bats this season, Boeve only struck out 9 times, by far the fewest of any Summit League hitter with at least 150 at bats.
• Hurdle earned his first ever Summit League honor after taking a massive step forward this season. Year over year, the shortstop increased his average from .230 to .377, his OBP from .315 to .435, and his SLG from .335 to .556. He also greatly cut down on strikeouts, going from 54 to 25. 
• Two-way Bales made a huge impact in his first season in Omaha, hitting .283 with five home runs and 25 RBIs, while also making 12 relief appearances, striking out 12 and earning one win.
• Kreiling also earned his first All-Summit honor after returning from injury and making 10 appearances with eight starts for Omaha, compiling a 4.60 ERA with 45 strikeouts. He was named the league's pitcher of the week on May 8 after setting a career high with 11 strikeouts in six shutout innings vs. Western Illinois. Kreiling fell just short of reaching 100 career strikeouts last week, recording six to end the regular season with 98. Should he reach the milestone this week, he will join Caleb Riedel and Charlie Bell as active Mavericks in the century club.
• The hero of last week's clincher at UNC was Wyatt Sellers, who had one of the greatest relief outings in Mavericks' history as he entered the game in the seventh with Omaha up for the first time and proceeded to throw three shutout innings in which he allowed just one hit vs. six strikeouts. Though he found himself in a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, he preserved Omaha's lead with a crucial strikeout to end the inning.
• Also making a major impact this year were the Lechnir brothers, with Zach Lechnir and Drew Lechnir coming to Omaha and combining for seven home runs, seven doubles, 38 RBIs, and 44 runs scored.
• On the bump, rookie pitcher Preston Tenney had an impressive debut season as he took over as the team's No. 1 starter after Riedel went down with injury. With two complete game shutouts and a Pitcher of the Week award, suffice it to say Tenney more than earned the spot.
• This is the fourth season in a row that the Mavericks have qualified for the Summit League Tournament (not including the 2020 season). In this span, the Mavericks have gone 110-110-1.
• The Mavericks scored a total of 271 runs this season for an average of 5.77 runs per game. Facilitating this offense was a .284 team batting average, .372 team on-base percentage, and .435 team slugging.

Scouting Oral Roberts
The Golden Eagles enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed after finishing with a near undefeated record in the conference at 23-1, including a 3-0 record against Omaha this season. The team's 12 All-Summit honorees are also a league high. Leading the way for them on offense is Summit League Player of the Year Jonah Cox, who slashed .425/.484/.692 (1.176) with nine home runs, 16 doubles, eight triples, and 55 RBIs. Four more players finished with an average above .300, including fellow First Team honoree Matt Hogan and his 16 home runs, 61 RBIs, and .713 SLG.

On the mound, First Team honoree Jakob Hall fronts a strong rotation with this 3.56 ERA and 80 strikeouts, while Summit League Pitcher of the Year Cade Denton leads the bullpen with a 1.51 ERA and 12 saves. 

Scouting North Dakota State
As the No. 2 seed, the Bison went 16-7 in league play and 3-2 against the Mavericks and had nine All-Summit honorees this year. First Team second baseman Peter Brookshaw paces their offense with a .313 average and .979 OPS. Also having standout seasons are Druw Sackett, who leads the team with 13 home runs and 52 RBIs, and Cadyn Schwabe and his 26 steals.

All three NDSU weekend starters earned All-Summit honors, as Parker Puetz (2.64 ERA), Cade Feeney (3.99 ERA) and Trusten Roehrich (4.10 ERA) had excellent seasons and combined for 13 wins and 198 strikeouts.

Scouting South Dakota State
The Jackrabbits are the No. 3 seed at 13-11 in the conference, sweeping three games from Omaha. Their seven All-Summit honorees are led by First Team catcher Ryan McDonald, who batted .417 with a monstrous .929 slugging percentage and 1.504 OPS after clubbing 17 home runs and 10 doubles. Also producing noteworthy seasons on offense are Dawson Parry (.317 BA) and Cade Stuff (.913 OPS).

Jake Goble is the lone Jackrabbit starting pitcher to make the All-Summit team after finishing with a 4.91 ERA. SDSU's bullpen features a solid one-two of Eli Sundquist (3.67 ERA) and Ryan Bourassa (3.89 ERA, eight saves) who combined for 34 appearances and 64 innings pitched.