(Photo Credit: Omaha Athletics)
Ryan Matheny, General Manager
(Omaha) — Omaha’s bats erupted for 17 runs and 17 hits to wrap up a series victory 17-8 over Western Illinois on Sunday afternoon at the Ballpark at Boys Town..
The Mavericks got a solid outing from starter Zach Williamsen (4-4) who picked up the win, throwing 6.0 innings and notching a career-high nine strikeouts.
“For the most part, (Williamsen) made them swing,” said Herold. “If you don’t walk them, good things will happen.”
Seven different Omaha hitters finished with multi-hit games, led by Clayton Taylor and Collin Leif, who both finished the game 2-for-4 with 2 RBI and 3 runs scored.
After a scoreless top of the first, Omaha jumped out to a 3-0 lead when Alex Schultz was hit by a pitch. Cole Gruber followed with an RBI triple and Taylor ripped a double. Taylor would come in to score on a Ryan Cate sacrifice fly to make the score 3-0.
“It helps when you score early,” said Herold. “The other guys have to look up at the scoreboard the whole time that way.”
Western Illinois got two of those runs back in the third on an RBI single by Brent Turner, followed by a Roman Visintine RBI double.
The Maverick bats exploded in the fifth, scoring seven runs on five hits and two Leatherneck errors. Gruber and Taylor led off the inning with back-to-back singles, chasing Leatherneck starter Preston Church. After a double steal, Alex Mortensen walked to load the bases. Cate then hit a ball that landed in shallow right to score Gruber, but Mortensen was thrown out at second. Adam Caniglia would single, driving in Taylor before a Threlkeld single scored Cate and an error in the outfield scored Caniglia. Leif would double in two runs and Taylor hit a sacrifice fly to cap the big inning for Omaha.
Western Illinois responded with two in the sixth to cut the lead to 10-4. Omaha would answer right back with three of their own in the bottom half.
The Leathernecks scored two more in both the seventh and the eighth before Omaha tacked on four insurance runs in the bottom of the ninth.
The win moves Omaha to 15-13 overall and 8-4 in the Summit League, two games behind Oral Roberts.
The Mavericks will be in action on Wednesday night, hosting Kansas State at Werner Park beginning at 6:35 p.m.
