Mavs Face Wichita State in Midweek Tilt
Mar 5, 2013 | Baseball, General
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Leading Off
The Omaha baseball team hits the road for a midweek tilt at Wichita State on Wednesday, March 6. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Eck Stadium in Wichita, Kan., and links to live stats and live audio will be available on OMavs.com.
UNO is in its second year as a reclassifying Division I school in 2012-13 and officially joined The Summit League in July 2012 with a full regular-season conference schedule ahead. The Mavericks are led by head coach Bob Herold, who is in his 14th year at the helm of the UNO program with a career record of 420-283-2.
Quick Hits
•In its first year of reclassifying to NCAA Division I, UNO completed the 2012 season with an overall record of 12-36.
•The Mavs return four position starters and 12 total letterwinners from the 2012 squad. UNO's roster includes 19 newcomers and three redshirt freshmen.
•The Mavericks played three straight games last weekend without committing an error.
•In every game of the UTSA Classic, UNO tied or outhit its opponent. In the weekend finale with Penn State, the Mavericks posted eight hits to PSU's five.
•When leading off an inning, Omaha's batters are hitting a combined .481. Junior Brett Bass leads the way, as he is 5-for-5 when leading off.
•Redshirt freshman Connor Messinger came through for UNO last weekend in two-out situations, going 3-for-4.
Scouting the Wichita State Shockers
Wichita State is 5-4 (0-0 MVC) through games of March 4. The Shockers most recently nabbed a 5-3 win over Iowa on Sunday in Little Rock, Ark., rallying from a 3-1 deficit. Cody Bobbit finished 3-for-5, while Tyler Baker and Micah Green each had two hits, and Johnny Coy drove in two RBI. Shocker reliever TJ McGreevy earned the win with four shutout innings with four strikeouts, and Brandon Peterson picked up his second save with a scoreless ninth.
Head coach Gene Stephenson (Missouri, 1968) is in his 36th year at Wichita State. Stephenson is second among active coaches for career victories and is second on the all-time NCAA wins list. He captured his 1,800th career win with a 9-5 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock two weeks ago, becoming the fastest coach to achieve the feat.
Omaha leads the all-time series, 6-2, and the Mavericks have won five straight against the Shockers. The two programs last met in 1970, with UNO taking both games, 3-1 and 7-0.
On the Hill
•Midweek starter Cole Volkers, who will take the mound against WSU, went 1-2 last year with one save and a 3.16 ERA. As a freshman, Volkers struck out 21 batters over 31.1 innings of work and held his opponents to a .183 batting average.
•True freshman Tyler Fox earned the start against Penn State last Sunday, throwing five innings for the longest outing of any Maverick pitcher this year. He held PSU scoreless with two hits and four strikeouts, which ties senior Matt Tew for the most strikeouts in a game this season.
•Senior lefthanded pitcher Cory Buckley, who started Saturday against Stephen F. Austin, returns after being granted a medical redshirt in 2012. Buckley suffered a season-ending injury in a collision while playing in the outfield at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. The senior compiled a record of 1-2 on the mound with 5.62 ERA and 10 strikeouts, and he hit .244 with three doubles in 12 games played.
•Tew had the most starting appearances of any pitcher on the 2012 staff. The senior right-hander had 13 starts over 14 appearances in his junior season, and he had a team-leading 38 strikeouts.
Going Streaking
Three Mavericks -- senior Tyler Splichal, junior Brett Bass and freshman Cole Gruber -- secured at least one hit in each of UNO's three games last weekend and carry a three-game hitting streak into Wednesday's contest at Wichita State. Bass led the Mavericks offensively at the UTSA Classic, hitting .455 with back-to-back multi-hit games against Stephen F. Austin and Penn State.
Fresh Faces
Twenty-five Mavericks saw the field last weekend at the UTSA Classic, 14 of whom were newcomers. Six true freshmen were part of the lineup: Cole Gruber, Alex Schultz, Collin Leif, Sam Murphy, Marcus Ethen and Tyler Fox. Schultz and Gruber both started in the outfield all three games, while Fox had the start on the mound against Penn State, throwing a staff-best five innings of scoreless ball with two hits allowed and four strikeouts.
On Friday, Schultz led Omaha with a 2-for-3 night at the plate, while Gruber notched a single in all three games for the weekend.
Palensky, Mortensen Earn Preseason Recognition from College Sports Madness
Junior Caleb Palensky and sophomore Alex Mortensen earned preseason all-league recognition from College Sports Madness, the online publication announced on Jan. 21. Both players were named to the All-Summit Second Team.
In 2012, Mortensen's .292 batting average as a freshman was fourth on the team, and he finished with a squad-leading 26 RBI, nine doubles, one triple and a team-best four home runs. Palensky hit .250 in his sophomore year with nine doubles, two triples, two homers and 17 RBI, and he drew a team-leading 19 walks.
Herold at the Helm
Head Coach Bob Herold is in his 14th year as the skipper of the Nebraska Omaha baseball program in 2013, having compiled a career record of 420-283-2. Herold earned his 400th career win on April 22, 2011 against Fort Hays State, becoming the third coach in school history to reach the milestone. He joined Bob Gates (464-473) and Virgil Yelkin (439-196) in the prestigious club, and Herold now needs 45 more wins to pass Gates as the all-time winningest coach in UNO history.
Over his Maverick career, Herold has guided Omaha to seven NCAA Division II postseason appearances and three conference championships.
Herold's most recent draft pick was righthanded pitcher Joe Holtmeyer, who was taken in the 22nd round (No. 682 overall) of the 2011 Major League Baseball amateur draft by the Boston Red Sox. Holtmeyer was the fifth Maverick drafted under Herold and the second-highest pick of any player during the Herold era.
Herold is assisted by assistant coaches Chris Gadsden, in his 14th year, and Evan Porter, in his first year, as well as volunteer pitching coach Dan McGinn, who is in his 13th year.
Home Sweet Home
After playing just five games at home last year, the 2013 season will see the Omaha baseball team play 24 home contests, including 14 conference tilts. UNO will play at three different venues around town: Westside High School for its first home series this weekend, followed by time split between Werner Park and the Ballpark at Boys Town.
Welcome to The Summit League
The 2013 season marks UNO's first year with a full regular-season Summit League schedule. UNO will play all five of its Summit League foes, once in Omaha and once on the road. Although the Mavericks will appear in the Summit League standings, they cannot qualify for the Summit League Championship or the NCAA Tournament until 2015-16.
Mixed Schedule Takes Mavericks Around the Nation
Omaha's 2013 schedule includes 56 games against 17 different Division I opponents, and the team will play in 12 states across the country. UNO will match up with opponents from eight different conferences: Big 12, Big Ten, Great West, Missouri Valley, Mountain West, Southland, the Summit League and Western Athletic (WAC).
Two foes were 2012 NCAA Tournament qualifiers: Missouri and Creighton. CU played in the Los Angeles Regional, while MU was sent to the Tucson Regional.
The Mavericks have never faced three of their 2013 opponents -- UTSA, Penn State and Western Illinois -- and they hold a combined all-time record of 195-195 over all teams on the slate entering this season.
MAVERICKS VS. OTHER CONFERENCES IN 2013
Big 12 -- 0-0
Big Ten -- 0-1
Great West -- 0-0
Missouri Valley -- 0-0
Mountain West -- 0-0
Southland -- 0-1
Summit League Preseason Poll Announced
In its first year as a member of the Summit League, Omaha was picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll released by the conference office last month.
North Dakota State was favored to capture its first Summit League Baseball Tournament title in a preseason vote among the league's six head coaches. The Bison received five first-place votes and a total of 25 points. South Dakota State placed second with 17 points, followed closely by Oakland who received the final first-place vote and 16 points. Western Illinois (15 points), Fort Wayne (nine points) and league newcomer Omaha (eight points) rounded out the poll.
Former Maverick Cloyd Makes MLB Debut With Philadelphia Phillies
Former Omaha baseball player Tyler Cloyd made his Major League debut on Aug. 29, as he was called up by the Philadelphia Phillies. Cloyd debuted against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park, giving up three runs on seven hits over six innings of work, striking out five and walking two. Cloyd became just the second Maverick to play in the Majors, joining Bruce Benedict, who played 12 seasons with the Atlanta Braves.
A native of Bellevue, Neb., and the Phillies' 18th-round pick in the 2008 Draft, Cloyd also went 15-1 overall in the Minor Leagues last season. His stint with the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs resulted in a 12-1 record with a 2.35 earned-run average, which led all pitchers the International League.
Cloyd lettered two seasons at UNO (2006-07), earning third-team All-America honors and first-team all-region recognition in his final season. A two-time All-NCC honoree, he was twice named NCC Most Valuable Pitcher.
Senior Trio Named Independent All-Conference
Three former Maverick players were named to the 2012 Independent Baseball All-Conference Teams, College Sports Madness announced last May. Colby McCord was a first-team honoree, while Brady Hohl and Mark Waldron were second-team selections.
McCord batted a team-leading .366 with 18 doubles, three home runs, 20 RBI and 27 runs scored. He topped the Mavericks with 18 multi-hit games and finished his career ranked ninth in school history for career games played (163) and 11th in doubles (33).
Hohl capped his senior campaign with a .297 batting average, 12 doubles, two home runs, 22 RBI and 24 runs scored, as well as a team-high 14 stolen bases. He also completed his career among the best in school history in multiple categories: third in hits (218) and at-bats (632), fifth in games started (159) and runs scored (140), sixth in games played (181) and seventh in doubles (37).
Waldron hit .272 for the season with eight doubles, a home run, 24 runs scored, 21 driven in and 16 walks drawn. He was honored by College Sports Madness as Independent Player of the Week on March 20.
Up Next for the Mavericks
Omaha returns to action this weekend, hosting its first home series in Omaha. The Mavericks welcome North Dakota, March 8-10, at Westside High School. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. on Friday, followed by Noon games on Saturday and Sunday. The game will be broadcast live on MavRadio and KVNO 90.7 HD-2 with student broadcasters Jared Meyer and Paul Dobler on the call. Links to live stats and live audio will be available on OMavs.com.
