BATON ROUGE, La. - The Mavericks pulled off the biggest upset of the year as they took down the highest ranked opponent the team has ever faced with a 5-4 victory in game one today against No. 3 LSU, before falling 12-1 in game two.
Omaha ends its time in Louisiana with a 2-5 record, while the Tigers suffer their first loss and move to 5-1.
Game 1
Ben Weber started his second game of the year getting in and out of trouble in the first two innings as the Tigers twice loaded the bases and twice came away empty handed as Weber ended both innings by inducing a couple of pop flies. Weber would settle in and retire his next five batters in order, before allowing
Luke Gainer to come in and get the final out of the fourth to keep it 0-0. Gainer kept up the dominance over the fifth and sixth as he tossed a pair of 1-2-3 innings with three strikeouts to keep the Tigers hitless through six.
Finally, in the top of the seventh, it was the Mavericks who broke through on offense as
Trent Burkhalter and
Drew Borner were each hit by a pitch to open the inning. Then, after a wild pitch brought Burkhalter to third,
Eli Hoerner knocked his first career hit to left to bring in Trent and make it 1-0. Another wild pitch would allow Borner to score, before
Jackson Trout came up with two outs and got the biggest hit of the day with a first-pitch swinging three-run bomb to left to make it 5-0.
From there it was up to the Mavericks bullpen to finish the game off, starting with
Oliver Mabee worked a scoreless seventh and eighth. Omaha's combined no hitter was eventually broken up with two outs in the eighth, but Mabee ensured the runner did not get any farther than first base.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Tigers mounted one final comeback and very nearly roared back to win it. The first six batters all reached base to plate two runs, followed by a sac fly to give Omaha the first out but also to cut the lead to 5-4. With two on and one out, though,
Matt Dreher was able to settle in, striking out the next batter before getting the next one to fly out to center and secure the save.
Game 2
The Mavericks were unable to carry their momentum on from game one as the Tigers took an early lead in the second and never looked back. After a scoreless first, LSU tacked on runs in four of the next five innings to take an 8-0 lead. Omaha had its chances, getting runners on in the first, third, and fifth innings, but each time came away empty handed.
In the seventh, the Tigers would add four more runs to extend their lead to 12-0. Omaha's lone run of the game would come the next inning on a bases-loaded walk to Burkhalter.
Inside the Box Score
- Hoerner went 3-for-7 across both games today, driving in one run and scoring another.
- Gainer and Mabee combined to retire nine straight batters between the fourth and seventh innings of game one.
Up Next
The Mavericks have another Power 4 matchup next week when they take on Kansas in a four-game series beginning Thursday at 3 p.m. in Lawrence. Game three of the series will be played at Riverfront Stadium in Wichita.
