OMAHA, Neb. - On a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Tal Anderson Field, the Mavericks couldn't cool off the league's hottest offense, dropping the series finale, 13-7 to St. Thomas. Omaha (5-13, 0-3) staged a late-innings comeback, highlighted by
Tyler Bishop's first homer of the season, but the Tommies (9-6, 3-0) held on to complete the sweep of the opening Summit League series.
Innings 1-3
The Tommies scored in the top of the first for the third straight game, taking a 3-0 lead on a sac fly by Ben Vujovich, a throwing error on a double steal and an RBI single by Brigs Richartz. The Tommies built a 4-0 lead in the second on a two-out RBI double to right by Vujovich off of starter
CJ Hood (0-3).
The Mavericks responded with a two-out rally in the bottom of the second.
Paul Schuyler was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame, and three batters later centerfielder
Eli Hoerner singled to right to put men on the corners.
Henry Zipay and
Tyler Palmer followed with RBI singles to cut the lead to 4-2 after two innings.
St. Thomas threatened in the third before
Luke Gainer came out of the bullpen with two on and one out to escape the frame unscathed.
Innings 4-6
Gainer again worked out of trouble in the top of the fourth, as the Tommies put men on second and third with one out before he struck out Zan Von Schlagel and Joe Vos to end the frame. Gainer pitched 2.2 scoreless innings of relief, giving up one hit, walking two and striking out three.
St. Thomas' Matthew Maulick tagged reliever
Isaac Cychosz for a solo home run to lead off the fifth. Adam Puder followed with a single and stole second before Tanner Recchio doubled him home to give the Tommies a 6-2 lead.
Tommies freshman Riane Ritter made the most of his first collegiate start, scattering six hits over five innings, allowing two earned runs, striking out nine and walking one. He earned his first career decision with the win.
Innings 7-9
St. Thomas batted around in a five-run seventh that included Matthew Maulik's two-run homer.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Mavs got to Tommies reliever Kody Dalen for three runs.
Jackson Trout's sacrifice fly on a liner to right scored
Eli Hoerner. The next batter,
Tyler Bishop, ripped a two-run homer (1) to cut the deficit to 11-5.
After St. Thomas scored one in the top of the eighth, Omaha again answered with two in the bottom half.
Eli Hoerner's sacrifice fly and
Henry Zipay's RBI double into the left field corner cut the lead to 12-7.
Inside the Box Score
- Gainer hasn't given up a run in his last three appearances, allowing four hits in five innings, with two walks and three strikeouts.
- With a 2-3 afternoon,
Jackson Trout extended his hitting streak to four games.
Tyler Bishop's two-run homer in the seventh extended his hitting streak to five games.
- St. Thomas entered the series leading the Summit League with a .352 team batting average and hit .377 (43-114) in the three games against Omaha.
- Omaha had not been swept at home in a three-game conference series since April 4-6 in 2023 to Oral Roberts.
Up Next
Omaha visits Oral Roberts in Summit League play next weekend in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Game one on Friday night begins at 6:00 p.m. CT. First pitch for is 2:00 p.m. CT Saturday and 1:00 p.m. CT Sunday.
The Mavericks return to Tal Anderson Field for a Tuesday game against Creighton University, Tuesday, March 25 at 5:00 p.m.. Omaha hosts the University of Nebraska, Wednesday, April 2 at 6:00 p.m. CT.
Tickets for home games are available at OMavs.com/tix.
