by Ben Helwig, sports reporter
(TULSA)- Omaha is just one win away from history, thanks to an impressive start by Joey Machado and some clutch hitting. Omaha can clinch their first ever Summit League Tournament title with a win tomorrow at J.L. Johnson Stadium at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa.
Omaha edged the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles 3-2 in a back-and-forth, tightly knit affair. Machado anchored the Mavericks on the mound. Just his second start back after an arm injury, Machado hurled seven innings giving up only two runs on six hits, with both runs coming in the first inning. Andrew Brighton then set up the eight before Cal Hehnke picked up his team-leading seventh save.
After Oral Roberts jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, it took a while before the Maverick bats to wake up. They broke through in the fourth inning thanks to an RBI triple by Thomas DeBonville, his sixth of the year.
The real difference-maker was the seventh inning. After a leadoff single by Breyden Eckhout, Kiel Krumwiede tried to bunt him over. However, an errant throw by ORU pitcher Matt Gaskins led to Eckhout scoring from first and Krumwiede running all the way to third. The next batter, Parker Smejkal, then drove in Krumwiede to give the Mavs their first lead of the game. Oral Roberts would never get it back.
For Omaha, they can clinch the title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament with a win tomorrow. They will face the winner of South Dakota State and Oral Roberts. Whether SDSU or ORU faces the Mavericks, they would need to beat Omaha twice to win the title as Omaha has yet to lose in this double elimination tournament.
Start time tomorrow is subject to change, but is expected to begin in the afternoon. For all schedule updates, follow Mavradio.FM on Twitter.
