NEW ORLEANS, La. - Trailing by five runs early, the Mavericks battled back multiple times to tie the game late but were unable to go the distance as they fell 12-10 in the season opener at Tulane.
Innings 1-3
Brayden Curtis looked as sharp as ever through the first 2.2 innings, holding Tulane to just one hit while striking out five. With two outs in the bottom of the third, however, the Green Wave got to him as the next five batters all reached base and came around to score and make it 5-0.
Omaha had its chances to get on the board early, getting the lead-off man on in the second and third, only to come away empty handed as the Mavericks left four runners stranded.
Innings 4-6
The Mavericks managed to get on the board in the top of the fourth as
Noah Greise laced a lead-off double to right center and later came around to score on an opposite field single from
Grant Sommers.
Kael Babin immediately followed up Sommers with his first career hit and RBI as he drove in
Henry Zipay to cut the lead to three.
After
Brady LeJeune-DeAcutis made his long-awaited debut after missing the last two seasons and tossed a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth, Omaha would get back-to-back two-out, two-run singles from
Jackson Trout and
Cardel Dick in the top of the sixth to give the Mavericks their first lead of the night. The lead would not last long, though, as Tulane immediately responded in the bottom of the inning with a five spot to go back up 10-6.
Innings 7-9
Neither team scored in the seventh, with
Landon Mueller making his Mavericks debut with a 1-2-3 inning capped off by his first career strikeout. Then, in the top of the eighth, after Babin walked to lead off the inning, Dick would bring him home three batters later for his third RBI of the day. With a new pitcher in for Tulane,
Tyler Bishop wasted no time getting to him as he sent the fourth pitch he saw past the diving shortstop to make it a two-run game. Later, with two outs, Zipay came up with Omaha's biggest hit of the night as he ripped one to left to drive in two and tie the game at 10-10.
The Green Wave quickly broke the tie in the bottom of the inning off a first-pitch solo home run from Andrew McKenna, before tacking on another run on a wild pitch. Despite a two-out double from Trout to give the Mavericks some late life in the top of the ninth, the Mavericks did not have another late comeback in them as they came up just short in the end.
Inside the Box Score
Omaha's 17 hits tonight would have been tied for the team's second most in all of 2024. In the five games the Mavericks recorded at least 15 hits in last year they won every one.
For Dick this was his sixth career game with at least three runs batted in.
Up Next
Game two of the series gets underway tomorrow at 2 p.m. RHP
Ben Weber makes his Mavericks debut on the mound opposite RHP J.D. Rodriguez.
