IPFW Stuns Omaha 8-6 in League Tournament Opener

Wednesday, May 25

Tulsa, Okla.

1:00 PM

Omaha

28-27

Fort Wayne

32-24

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Fort Wayne	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	6	8	11	0
Omaha	0	1	2	1	0	0	1	1	0	6	15	0

IPFW Stuns Omaha 8-6 in League Tournament Opener

May 25, 2016 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Omaha Athletics

TULSA, Okla. -- The Omaha baseball team saw its four-run lead slip away Wednesday afternoon, falling 8-6 to Fort Wayne in the opening game of the Summit League Tournament at J.L. Johnson Stadium. The Mavericks are now 28-27 on the season, while the Mastodons improve to 32-24 and extend their win streak to 11 games.

The win went to IPFW reliever Brandon Phelps (3-1), who allowed one run on two hits with no walks in the eighth inning. The loss went to junior right-hander Eric Moreno (0-2), who surrendered three runs on one hit and two walks over a third of an inning. Jake Weber picked up his 12th save of the year for the Mastodons, throwing the final inning with three hits, no runs, no walks and a strikeout.

Senior right-hander Tyler Fox had a solid start for UNO, throwing 7.0 innings and limiting Fort Wayne to one run on seven hits with no walks and a pair of strikeouts.

Omaha finished with 15 hits as a team, led by three hits apiece from senior Alex Schultz (3-for-5, one run, one RBI) and freshman Grant Suponchick (3-for-5).

Sophomore Adam Caniglia finished 2-for-3 with a run and two RBI, drilling his third home run of the season. Freshman Jack Kalina (2-for-5, one RBI) and junior Sam Palensky (2-for-5, one run) also tallied multiple hits.

Omaha got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning. Palensky reached on a fielder's choice, advanced on a wild pitch, then scored when Schultz ripped a double to right center for a 1-0 lead.

The Mavericks added to it in the third with a pair of runs on two hits. Senior Clayton Taylor was hit by a pitch and advanced two bases with the help of a sacrifice bunt by senior Cole Gruber and a passed ball, then scored courtesy of sophomore Ryan Cate's RBI single to second. After a wild pitch put Cate in scoring position and Caniglia walked, Kalina sent an RBI single up the middle to plate Cate for a 3-0 advantage.

Fort Wayne, which managed one hit through the first three innings, notched its first run in the fourth. With two outs, Shane Trevino and Brock Logan both singled through the right side, and Evan VanSumeren followed with an RBI double to the right field corner, which cut it to 3-1.

The Mavericks responded immediately in the bottom half of the inning, coming back for one run. Schultz led off with a single to center and Suponchick singled through the right side, putting runners on the corners for freshman Riley Herold. He then drove in Schultz with a sacrifice fly to left, extending Omaha's lead to 4-1.

In the seventh, UNO added another run when Caniglia lifted his solo homer to left, which made it 5-1. Fort Wayne came back in the eighth with a dinger of its own when Greg Kaiser sent one to left, which cut the score to 5-2. Omaha, though, got the run back in the eighth via a Caniglia RBI single to left that plated Taylor for a 6-2 score.

The Mavericks' lead unraveled in the top of the ninth though, as Fort Wayne scored six runs on three hits. With one out, back-to-back walks by Jonathan Reece and Shannon Baker and a Jackson Boyce single loaded the bases. Following a pitching change, Brandon Soat singled to drive in Reece, and Kendall Whitman was then hit by a pitch to score Baker. Kaiser added a sacrifice fly that brought Boyce across, and a Trevino walk loaded the bases once more. After another pitching change, Logan blasted a base-clearing double to left, giving the Mastodons the lead at 8-6.

In the ninth, Omaha mustered singles by Palensky, Suponchick and Herold to load the bases, but IPFW halted the threat with a strikeout and a groundout that secured the 8-6 final.

Omaha returns to action in an elimination matchup on Thursday, May 26, facing the loser of tonight's South Dakota State/Oral Roberts game. First pitch is set for Noon at J.L. Johnson Stadium in Tulsa, Okla., and links to live stats and video will be available on OMavs.com.