OMAHA, Neb. – Though it was not the most dramatic of finishes, the Mavericks still managed to walk it off vs. Northern Colorado to take the opening game of the series 5-4 on Friday.
Omaha improves to 8-11 on the season and is back to .500 in Summit League play at 2-2. As for the Bears, they drop to 4-18 overall and 2-2 in the conference.
Innings 1-3
The Bears came out to an early 4-0 lead in the first on a grand slam from Craig Kenny. This would prove to be all the offense they would get, however, as Caleb Riedel recovered immediately and retired the side with a couple strike outs on seven pitches. He continued to roll over the next two innings, setting down all six batters in order.
The Mavericks managed to get within one in the bottom of the second after Eddie Satisky sent one up the middle to get Omaha on the board. Devin Hurdle followed up by driving in a pair with a bullet off the glove of the shortstop, though, he was thrown out trying to stretch his single into a double to end the inning.
Fortunately, Noah Griese came in clutch the next inning as he tied up the game at 4-4 with a double down the left field line.
Innings 4-6
Riedel continued to dominate in the middle innings, working around a leadoff single in the fourth by punching out the next three batters on just 10 pitches. He set down two more the next inning, including his 10th of the day, giving him a new career high in Summit League play. In the sixth, Riedel had his quickest inning yet, needing only eight pitches and two and a half minutes to retire the side in order.
Innings 7-9
With yet another 1-2-3 inning in the seventh, Riedel officially completed seven innings for the first time this season and the third time in his career. He would come back out in the eighth and record one more out before being relieved by Rans Sanders, who held the Bears scoreless despite getting runners on second and third with one out.
Following a scoreless top of the ninth from Sanders, Eduardo Rosario began the bottom of the inning with a single to left. With Garrett Kennedy in to pinch run, he proceeded to steal second with one out. Haiden Hunt was then intentionally walked and Cam Frederick singled to left to load the bases for Mike Boeve. All Boeve had to do was watch as the pitcher walked him on five pitches to secure the walk-off victory for Omaha,
Inside the Box Score
With 12 strikeouts today, Riedel now has two double-digit strikeout performances this season. Coincidentally, his first of the season was a 13-strikeout game vs. Stonehill in which he set his overall career-high in single-game strikeouts. With 7.1 innings pitched, this was the second time in Riedel’s career that he has pitched into the eighth.
This was the fifth ever walk-off at Tal Anderson Field by the Mavericks and the first since March 27, 2022 vs. St. Thomas.
Up Next
The series will continue tomorrow with first pitch set for 2 p.m.
