TULSA, Okla. – The Mavericks came out on top in 4-2 in 14-inning marathon in the series finale at Oral Roberts today thanks to a go-ahead home run from Henry Zipay in the 14th.
Omaha once again stands alone as the winningest team in conference play in the Summit League at 13-10-1 along with a 15-26-1 overall record. As for the Golden Eagles, they will end the week in last place still at 9-13-1 in league play and 19-27-1 overall.
Innings 1-5
Aside from a single run allowed in the bottom of the third, Harrison Kreiling was nearly flawless today. He worked around a leadoff double to keep it scoreless in the first, before retiring the side in order in the second. He proceeded to allow just one baserunner in the fourth and fifth innings while striking out three.
As for Omaha’s bats, a Trent Burkhalter marked the only hit for the Mavericks through the first four innings. Finally, in the top of the fifth, Omaha managed to get on the board after Zach Lechnir led things off with a triple to right and was promptly driven home on a single from Zipay.
Innings 6-9
Kreiling finished off his impressive outing with a scoreless sixth, striking out two more batters and completing six innings on under 100 pitches. However, ORU would break the tie with two outs in the bottom of the seventh after the second Mavericks error of the day.
Fortunately, Omaha got the run right back in the top of the eighth as Drew Lechnir reached on a leadoff walk and later came around to score on a single through the left side from Jackson Trout. Following a scoreless eighth and ninth innings from Joe Hackmann and Luke Gainer, the game was sent to extra innings.
Innings 10-14
The Golden Eagles were in prime position to walk it off in the bottom of the 10th after getting two on, only for Gainer to drop a breaking ball on the outside corner to strikeout the next batter and end the inning. Then, over the next two innings, ORU had two more chances to win it. In the 11th, they came just a single ball away from a walk-off walk in the 11th only for Matt Dreher to catch the batter looking, and in the 12th the first two batters both got on, before Dreher set the next three down in order.
Finally, after a scoreless bottom of the 13th from Cooper Prososki, the Mavericks came through in the top of the 14th as Zipay launched his first home run of the season on a two-out, two-run shot to right. All that was left was for Prososki to finish things off in the bottom of the inning, getting the second batter he faced to ground out into a double play before inducing a grounder right to Burkhalter at first to end the game.
Inside the Box Score
Relievers Hackmann, Gainer, Tyler Mattingley, Dreher, and Prososki combined for eight strikeouts and seven scoreless innings out of the pen.
Entering the day with eight RBIs on the season, Zipay drove in three of Omaha’s four runs today.
On Deck
The Mavericks conclude their road trip on Tuesday at 6 p.m. when they face Big 12 powerhouse Kansas at Legends Field in Kansas City, Mo.
