OMAHA, Neb. — Tanner Foertsch worked six solid innings to lead Omaha Baseball to a 9-1 win over St. Thomas on Friday night in the series opener at Tal Anderson Field.
Foertsch allowed four hits and struck out three to earn the win.
Brayden Curtis followed with two scoreless innings, and
Tanner Hosick pitched the ninth. St. Thomas scored its lone run with two outs in the ninth.
"
Tanner Foertsch was really good tonight. That's exactly what we needed," head coach
Evan Porter said as his team improved to 14-19 and 9-6 in Summit League play. "He went six (innings), and that was huge."
Omaha pulled away offensively with a five-run eighth inning, but it was pitching and defense that kept the Mavericks in front most of the way.
Foertsch worked around trouble in the early innings, stranding eight runners through the first four innings.
"He made the pitches when he needed to," Porter said.
St. Thomas (7-29, 4-11) left the bases loaded in the third, and then the Tommies stranded more runners in the fourth as first baseman
Jackson Trout made a diving stop on a ground ball to end the inning.
Omaha scored single runs in the second inning on a
Chase Diggins double and in the third on a
Nick Riggs sacrifice fly.
The Mavericks doubled their lead in the fifth when
Tyler Bishop launched a long two-run home run down the left-field line.
With Omaha up 4-0, Curtis worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the eighth before the Mavericks put the game away with a five-run bottom of the inning.
Henry Zipay had an RBI double in the middle of that rally, and Bishop finished it when he roped a two-run double into the left-center gap to complete his four-RBI night.
Bishop, Zipay and
Mason Gaines all had two hits on the night.
"It was a great team win and hopefully something we can carry forward," Porter said.
Omaha and St. Thomas continue their series at 6 p.m. CT Saturday. Tickets are on sale now at OMavs.com/Tickets or by calling 402-554-MAVS.
For more information on Omaha Baseball, follow the Mavericks on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram,
@OmahaBSB.
