Win No. 1 this season for the Omaha baseball team came against Arizona, a participant in the Men's College World Series last June.
At this time last February, the Mavericks garnered national attention by knocking off another perennial baseball powerhouse.
On Feb. 22 last year, Omaha built a five-run lead and went on to upset third-ranked LSU 5-4 in Baton Rouge.
LSU would end its 2025 season with a dogpile at Charles Schwab Field Omaha as the Tigers won their second national championship in the past three years.
"I get stopped and talked to more about that game than any other," Omaha head coach Evan Porter said. "Hopefully we can face those guys in a regional. That's why we schedule the Arizona States and LSUs, so when we get back (to the NCAA tournament), we aren't starry-eyed and we're ready to go."
Porter's team was ready to play when it saw the Tigers last year. LSU won the first game of the series 4-2 before the teams played a doubleheader the next day.
In the doubleheader opener, it was scoreless through six innings as Ben Weber and Luke Gainer combined to throw six hitless innings for the Mavericks.
Omaha changed that in the top of the seventh. Eli Hoerner broke the tie with an RBI single, Drew Borner scored on a wild pitch, and Jackson Trout capped the five-run rally by launching a three-run home run to left field.
What does Trout remember about that at-bat?
"I blacked out. I really don't remember anything until I touched second base," Trout said. "I was on top of the world for the next couple hours."
Oliver Mabee pitched into the ninth, as LSU didn't get its first hit until there were two outs in the eighth.
With more than 10,000 fans in the stands, LSU rallied as the first six Tigers reached safely in the bottom of the ninth.
"It's the loudest stadium I've been in," Trout said.
But Porter brought in Matt Dreher, and he recorded the final three outs for the save and a signature win for the program.
"It was definitely nice, but it was a doubleheader day, so we had to go out and play another one," third baseman Henry Zipay said. "We got in the locker room and celebrated for a minute, but then we had to get back out there."
When LSU was in Omaha last June for the MCWS, it practiced at Omaha's home park, Tal Anderson Field. Since the Mavericks took a game from LSU last season, Trout said he was pulling for the Tigers to win the MCWS.
The Mavericks are looking to make more memorable moments this spring.
"Baseball is a game where anything can happen," Porter said. "It's how you show up every day and how consistent you can be throughout the year. That's why I'm excited about this year. We have the right guys on the team."
