OMAHA, Neb. — Omaha celebrated Senior Day with a 13-8 win over South Dakota State on Saturday, closing the regular season with its third straight victory in Summit League baseball at Tal Anderson Field.
The game marked the final home appearance for retiring head coach
Evan Porter, though not his last in the dugout, as Omaha (21-24, 16-11 Summit) and South Dakota State (21-30, 12-15 Summit) both advance to the conference championship tournament beginning Wednesday.
Battling through an injury-riddled season, the Mavericks took three of four from the Jackrabbits and won seven of their final nine regular-season games.
"You want to be playing your best baseball toward the end of the season, and that's a testament to the seniors," Porter said. "This is their team."
Omaha's seniors delivered.
Henry Zipay drove in four runs with two doubles,
Tyler Bishop went 3 for 4, and
Brody Sexton,
Sam Beck and
Jackson Trout each added RBIs.
Hayden Lewis provided the biggest swing, launching a three-run homer in the second inning to give Omaha the lead. After SDSU moved ahead 4-3 in the sixth, the Mavericks responded with six runs in the bottom half, fueled by RBIs from Zipay, Sexton and Lewis. Lewis finished 4 for 5 with four RBIs and three runs scored.
Starter
Michael Sall allowed two runs on five hits over four innings, and
Tanner Hosick earned the win to move to 1-1.
"
Michael Sall set the tone, and that set up the six-run sixth," Porter said. "We found a way to score some runs, got on base, worked counts and didn't chase."
Omaha finished second in the Summit League standings behind Oral Roberts and will open tournament play against No. 3 seed Northern Colorado on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT.
The Summit League Championship will be held May 20-23 at Siebert Field in Minneapolis, with the winner earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
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