GREELEY, Colo. – Omaha Baseball (15-23, 9-12 Summit League) wins its second in a row with a 17-5 road victory over Northern Colorado (16-38-1, 13-16-1 Summit League) on Sunday afternoon. The Mavericks claim the weekend conference series 2-1 with the win.
Mason Gaines put the Mavericks up early in the top of the first when he belted his second home run of the season to make it 2-0, but the Bears tied the game in their half of the first.
Tied 2-2 going into the top of the second, Omaha (15-23, 9-12 Summit League) took a 3-2 lead when Henry Zipay drove in Eli Hoerner with an RBI single to right before the inning closed.
The Mavericks broke the game open at the top of the third, and it all started when Gaines singled to the right and then stole second to move into scoring position. He later moved up 90 feet when Noah Greise singled to center. Following a strikeout for the first out, Gaines later scored off Grant Sommers' sacrifice fly to make it 4-2. Drew Borner kept the inning going with an infield single to second. Greise moved to second on the play. Both runners moved up a base each off a wild pitch and a walk to Hoerner to load the bases for the Mavericks. Jackson Trout's bases-clearing single to center pushed the lead to 7-2, forcing Northern Colorado to go to the bullpen.
Zipay greeted the new pitcher with an RBI double to left, giving Omaha an 8-2 lead. Tyler Bishop kept things going with a two-out walk to put runners on first and second. Both runners later came around to score when Gaines doubled to center to make it 10-2 before the inning ended.
Northern Colorado (15-26, 7-14 Summit League) got two of the runs back in its half of the third to make it a 10-4 game.
Both teams scored a run each in the fourth, with Omaha holding an 11-5 lead. However, in the top of the fifth, the Mavericks scored three runs on four hits to increase the lead to 14-5.
In the top of the ninth, the Mavericks tacked on another three runs when Zipay tripled to left to start and then scored when Bishop singled back to the pitcher to make it 15-5. With one down, a wild pitch and an error by the Bears' catcher allowed Bishop to move all the way to third. Greise drew a walk and then lifted for pinch runner Blake Stenger. Now, with two outs and runners on the corners, Sam Beck walked to load the bases. Borner and Hoerner drove in the team's 16th and 17th runs to make it 17-5 after pitches hit both hitters.
The Omaha pitchers did not allow a run for the final five innings and only allowed three hits and a walk to lock down the victory.
As a team, Omaha tallied 18 hits and 11 walks. Five different players tallied two hits or more for the Mavericks.
Trout and Zipay led all hitters with four hits apiece. They combined going 8-for-13 with six RBIs, five runs scored, a double, two triples, and a stolen base.
Gaines finished the day going 3-for-5 with four RBIs, two runs scored, a home run, and a double.
Starting pitcher Maddox Meyer picked up his second win of the season to improve to 2-1. He allowed four runs on four hits over two and two-thirds of an inning while striking out two.
Omaha is back in action on Tuesday, April 29, when it faces its crosstown rival, Creighton University, at 11 a.m. CT.
