Omaha Takes Down Western Illinois in Opener, 6-1

Friday, April 1

Ballpark at Boys Town

1:00 PM

Omaha

15-11, 0

Western Illinois

6-17, 0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Western Illinois	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	8	1
Omaha	3	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	X	6	7	1

Omaha Takes Down Western Illinois in Opener, 6-1

Apr 1, 2016 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Omaha Athletics

OMAHA, Neb. -- The Omaha baseball team kicked off its weekend series with Western Illinois Friday afternoon, picking up a 6-1 victory at the Ballpark at Boys Town. With the win, the league-leading Mavericks improve to 15-11 (6-1 Summit League), while the Leathernecks drop to 6-17 (4-3 Summit League).

Senior right-hander Tyler Fox (6-1) earned his sixth consecutive win in his start. The Thornton, Colo., native went 7.0 innings, allowing one run on seven hits -- all singles -- and two walks with four strikeouts. The loss went to WIU starter Aaron Michel (1-4), who gave up five runs on six hits and a pair of walks with five strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work.

Senior Clayton Taylor led UNO offensively, finishing 2-for-5 with a triple, a run scored and three more driven in to increase his nation-leading RBI total to 44.

Omaha scored in each of the first two frames, opening with three runs on two hits in the first inning. Senior Alex Schultz led off with a single to left and senior Cole Gruber was hit by a pitch to put two on for Taylor, who promptly tripled down the right field line to score both runners. Sophomore Ryan Cate then drove in Taylor with a sacrifice fly to center, building the Mavericks a 3-0 lead.

UNO added another run in the second inning, when senior Collin Leif was hit by a pitch and later scored on Taylor's two-out RBI single to right for a 4-0 advantage.

Western Illinois used three hits to cut into the Mavericks' lead with a run in the third inning. Roman Visintine got on with a bunt single and advanced to second on a balk before Colton Pogue singled up the middle to put runners at the corners. Conner Currier then walked to load the bases with two outs before Nick Schrader came through with an RBI single to center that scored Visintine to make it 4-1.

Omaha then got a run back on one hit in the fifth. Cate drew a one-out walk, then advanced on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Riley Herold and finally scored on freshman Grant Suponchick's RBI single to center for a 5-1 score.

The Mavericks tallied their final run on one hit and an error in the eighth. Suponchick worked a leadoff walk and junior Sam Palensky singled through the left side to put two runners aboard. After Schultz reached on a Leatherneck fielding error to load the bases, Gruber walked to score sophomore Isaac Holt -- pinch running for Suponchick -- which brought the game to what would eventually be its final score, 6-1.

Omaha and Western Illinois resume their series on Saturday, April 2, with first pitch at 1 p.m. at the Ballpark at Boys Town. Links to live stats and audio will be available on OMavs.com.