Leading Off
The homestand continues this week as the Mavericks (4-10) begin the week with another matchup with an opponent from a power conference as they host K-State (9-5) on Wednesday at 5 p.m., before opening conference play over the weekend against St. Thomas (6-6) beginning Friday at 3 p.m.
Upcoming Schedule
Wednesday: 5:00 p.m. vs. K-State at Tal Anderson Field
Friday: 3:00 p.m. vs. St. Thomas at Tal Anderson Field
Saturday: 2:00 p.m. vs. St. Thomas at Tal Anderson Field
Sunday: 1:00 p.m. vs. St. Thomas at Tal Anderson Field
Around the Horn
• Omaha began its home slate last week by going 1-2 against SIUE. The team was outscored 20-15 in the series, but thanks to strong pitching in Sunday's doubleheader, that number changed to an Omaha advantage at 9-6 in the final two games.
• Due to the team's seven errors, only seven of the 14 runs allowed in last week's series opener were earned.
• In game one of the doubleheader, Omaha's pitchers allowed just a single earned run.
Brayden Curtis got the day started with two scoreless innings, before being relieved by
Cameron Teinert who had his best outing yet with six innings with just a single earned run and three hits allowed vs. eight strikeouts. He started his day by retiring seven in a row and would later end his outing by setting down nine straight.
• After getting shutout in game one, Omaha's bats heated up in game two as a six-run fifth inning was enough to carry the day. With the game tied at 1-1, back-to-back RBI singles from
Noah Greise and
Grant Sommers, followed by a sac fly from
Blake Stenger gave Omaha its first lead of the series. Then, with two outs,
Tyler Palmer ripped his first career triple to make it 6-1, before
Henry Zipay capped off the inning with another RBI single.
• The pitching was also sharp in game two, with
CJ Hood lowering his ERA to 4.15 on the season after allowing just one run and striking out six in his fourth start of the season.
Luke Gainer would get the win with a scoreless inning of relief, while
Isaac Cychosz and
Matt Dreher closed out the day with two scoreless.
• Hood, along with fellow transfer
Ben Weber, are both holding opponents this year to sub .200 averages at .174 and .193, respectively.
Scouting K-State
K-State comes into this week with a 9-5 record and a five-game winning streak. The streak started with a 14-3 win over Sam Houston, followed by a 9-6 win against Nebraska and a three-game sweep over William & Mary in which they had a 41-13 run advantage. On Tuesday, before facing Omaha, the Wildcats will take on Creighton.
The Wildcats currently have three batters with an OPS above 1.000: Maximus Martin (1.735), AJ Evasco (1.259), and Seth Dardar (1.184). Martin is slugging over 1.000 alone and leads the team in RBIs (23), runs (17), and home runs (seven).
Starting pitchers Jacob Frost and Lincoln Sheffield both have sub 4.00 ERAs (3.78 and 3.97), with Michael Quevedo not far behind at 4.24. Quevado and Sheffield both have over 20 strikeouts as well. Meanwhile, the bullpen is led by Donte Lewis, who owns a 1.86 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, and 11 strikeouts in 9.2 innings. Also notable are Blake Dean (3.77 ERA, 14.1 IP), and Ty Ruhl (3.00 ERA, 9.0 IP).
Scouting St. Thomas
The reigning Summit League Regular Season champion St. Thomas is Omaha's first opponent of league play. The Tommies come into the week with a 6-6 record, most recently going 1-2 against Austin Peay.
Similar to K-State, St. Thomas' offense features four batters with an OPS above 1.000: Max Moris (1.185), Matthew Maulik (1.111), Joe Vos (1.152) and Joe Roder (1.070). Moris leads the team with 17 RBIs and five doubles, while Vos' three home runs pace the Tommies.
The rotation is led by Walker Retz and his 4.11 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 15.1 innings. Fellow starters Bryce Leedle (7.36 ERA) and Marcus Kruzan (12.66 ERA) have not fared as well, though. In the bullpen, Carl Cano and Kody Dalen each sport sub-2.00 ERAs in a combined 10.1 innings.
