OMAHA, Neb. - The Mavericks won an instant classic tonight as they came out to an early lead, lost it in the eighth, and then fought back with a late-game rally to defeat Western Illinois 11-8 on Saturday.
Omaha will hold fast at fourth in the Summit League after improving to 17-22 overall and 6-11 in the conference, while the Leathernecks drop to 6-34 with a 3-11 league record.
Today was also senior day for the Mavericks, as
Alex Potter, Brennan Bales,
Eduardo Rosario,
Eddie Satisky,
Jackson Gordon,
Will Reetz,
Drew Reetz, and
Wyatt Sellers were all honored before the game.
Innings 1-3
From the beginning,
Harrison Kreiling's fastball was on point tonight as he quickly fanned three batters in the first inning. Omaha's bats backed him up in the bottom of the inning as
Cam Frederick blooped one into no mans land in left to plate two.
In the second, WIU recorded its only two hits vs. Kreiling and got both into scoring position with no outs, only for the hard-throwing righty to set down the next three batters on a couple strike outs, and a great play on the mound where a snagged the come-backer and took it to first himself. Kreiling would then toss another scoreless inning in the third, courtesy of his sixth punch out of the day and a textbook 4-6-3 double play.
Innings 4-6
Kreiling continued to deal into the middle innings, racking up five more strikeouts through the next three to officially end his day with 11.
The Mavericks had a good opportunity to add to their lead in the fifth, getting two on with one out, only for a double play to prematurely end the inning.
Innings 7-9
Western Illinois plated its first run of the game in the seventh on a couple of two-out doubles to cut Omaha's lead in half.
WIU's momentum was short lived, however, as the Mavericks came right back and responded with three runs in the bottom of the seventh. First,
Zach Lechnir came around to score after Western Illinois' second basemen sailed one past first base, followed by a bullet off the bat of Bales that ricocheted off the glove of the shortstop and allowed another run to score. Frederick would end the rally with a sac fly for his third RBI of the day.
Things would unravel for Omaha in the eighth as the first seven Leathernecks all reached base and, assisted by a couple errors, culminated in seven runs for Western Illinois as they took their first lead of the day at 8-5.
The Mavericks were not done yet, though, as they again returned the favor in the bottom of the inning to the tune of six runs.
Mike Boeve drove in the game tying runs with a two-run double, followed by the go-ahead double from
Devin Hurdle.
Matt Goetzmann had an RBI double as well, while RBIs for Rosario and Satisky book-ended the rally.
In the bottom of the ninth, Gordon came in and shut the door on the Leathernecks to earn his first save of the year.
Inside the Box Score
With 11 strikeouts today, Kreiling not only set a new season high, but he blew past his previous career single-game high of nine.
Fittingly on Senior Day, Bales earned his win in a Mavericks uniform after getting Omaha out of the top of the eighth.
Omaha's seniors accounted for four hits, three RBIs, two runs tonight, as well as three innings out of the bullpen.
Up Next
The Mavericks will look to take the rubber game of the series tomorrow at 1 p.m., with
Charlie Bell set to start.
