OMAHA, Neb. - In their final Sunday of the season at Tal Anderson Field, the Mavericks rode an excellent pitching performance from
Charlie Bell to a 3-2 win over Western Illinois to take the rubber game of the series.
Omaha continues to hold on to fourth place in the Summit League standings at 18-22 with a 7-11 conference record. Meanwhile, the Leathernecks now fall to 6-35 on the year and 6-12 in league play.
Innings 1-3
Haiden Hunt got the Mavericks started in the first with a fly ball to right that had just enough distance to clear the wall and give him his second lead off home run of the season. The Leathernecks got the run right back in the top of the second, but a
Drew Lechnir double followed by a liner to left from
Eddie Satisky put Omaha back on top.
Bell recovered almost immediately after surrendering the run in the second, striking out the last two batters of the inning to officially top 100 career strikeouts. After a scoreless third from Bell, Omaha went up 3-1 in the bottom of the inning on a no doubter over the wall in right center from
Mike Boeve.
Innings 4-6
Bell worked a 1-2-3 fourth inning before holding WIU to just one run on a groundout in the fifth after they initially got two on with no outs. He would then work a scoreless sixth thanks in part to
Eduardo Rosario throwing out the runner at second and
Devin Hurdle making another highlight reel play at short to rob the Leathernecks of a base hit.
Innings 7-9
Pitching into the seventh for just the second time in his career, Bell showed no signs of slowing down as he retired the side in order, blowing away his final batter with a high fastball for his seventh strikeout of the day.
Joel Benes came in to pitch the eighth for Omaha and picked up right where Bell left off, needing only eight pitches to retire the side and striking out the final batter on a high breaking ball. Benes would come back out for the ninth inning where he struck out the final batter of the day to earn his first career save.
Inside the Box Score
Bell set two career milestones today as he not only topped 100 career strikeouts, but also completed seven innings for the first time ever.
This was also the first time this season Benes has gone at least two scoreless innings in one game.
Up Next
The Mavericks will play their final home game of the season next Wednesday when they host Penn State for a 7 p.m. game.
