OMAHA, NEB. – Facing the top-seeded team in the Summit League Championship baseball tournament, the Omaha Mavericks saw the 2025 season end in the elimination bracket against Oral Roberts, 8-1, Friday at Tal Anderson Field. Omaha is hosting the double-elimination tournament which ends Saturday to determine the conference representative in the NCAA post-season.
Third-seeded Omaha (20-30, 12-16) struggled on a drizzly afternoon/evening against ORU (36-21, 21-9) pitcher Brenden Asher, who pitched a complete game, allowing only three hits and one run, with six strikeouts and one walk.
Golden Eagles leadoff hitter Will Edmunson homered to start the game against grad student Joel Benes (L, 0-1, 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K), who pitched well over three innings but was tagged with the loss as the Mavs struggled to get their bats on track.
After battling through a pair of extra inning games to open the Summit League post-season tournament with a win and a loss, Omaha had only two baserunners in scoring position against ORU. Summit League Player of the Year Henry Zipay extended his on-base streak to a conference-best 32 consecutive games when he singled to right in the first and took second on an ORU error. He was stranded there. Omaha's only other runner in scoring position came in the fifth. Drew Borner singled with one out, and moved to second on a ground out. Cardel Dick then delivered a run-scoring single to left for Omaha's only run of the game.
Despite the wet conditions, the Golden Eagles were able to rap out 12 hits against six Omaha pitchers, including three homers (Edmunson, Jack Schark and Martell Davis). Both teams turned in several stellar defensive plays. Mavericks leftfielder Jackson Trout made a diving catch of Wailele Kane-Yates' sinking liner in the fourth and pitcher Carter Mick threw out a batter from a seated position after slipping on the wet field to cover a ground ball in the sixth.
Southpaw Luke Gainer put his name oin the record book when he entered the game with two on and no outs in the top of the ninth, recording three straight outs, capping his three-years in Omaha by striking out Keaton Campbell. It was Gainer's 25th appearance of the season. With 65 career games pitched in a Mavericks uniform, the senior from Waukee, Iowa equals Joey Machado's school record (2018-2022).
ORU meets North Dakota State University Saturday at 1:00 p.m.. With wins over Omaha and ORU, second-seeded NDSU advances through the winners bracket to meet the Golden Eagles, who must beat the Bison twice Saturday to win the title. All games are broadcast on the Summit League Network.
Information regarding tickets, Summit League Network broadcasts and more can be found on the Summit League's Championship page.
Ticket information and team updates can be found at Omavs.com. Fans can follow the Mavericks on social media: @OmahaBSB on X (formerly known as Twitter), @OmahaBSB on Instagram, #OmahaBSB on Facebook.
