Omaha Rolls to Twinbill Sweep of Fort Wayne

Friday, March 24

Westfield, Ind.

12:00 PM

Omaha

3-18, 1-3

Fort Wayne

4-15, 1-3

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

Stats Notes

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Omaha	10	0	0	0	1	3	0	14	13	0
Fort Wayne	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	4	1

Omaha Rolls to Twinbill Sweep of Fort Wayne

Mar 24, 2017 | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Omaha Athletics

WESTFIELD, Ind. -- Powered by standout pitching performances from Sam Murphy and Corey Binger, the Omaha baseball team swept a doubleheader from Fort Wayne Friday afternoon at Grand Park, 4-1 and 14-1 in seven innings. With the wins, the Mavericks improve to 4-18 (2-3 Summit League), while the Mastodons drop to 4-16 (1-4).

GAME 1 -- OMAHA 4, FORT WAYNE 1
Binger (2-4), a junior right-hander, tossed a complete game for the win in the opener, allowing one run on eight hits and a walk with a career-high eight strikeouts. Jake Weber (0-3) was tagged with the loss, allowing one run on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts.

Senior Sam Palensky went 2-for-5 and drove in a pair of runs, while sophomore Grant Suponchick was 2-for-2 off the bench with a run scored.

Omaha started it off in the top of the third inning, as freshman Cole Thibodeau got on with a ground-rule double to right center, then scored on an RBI single up the middle by junior Parker Smejkal for a 1-0 edge.

Both squads were held to two hits each from the fourth to the eighth innings, and neither team registered another run until the ninth, when the Mavericks broke through with three more runs on three hits. Sophomore Nate Mallott got on with a fielder's choice and advanced with a Suponchick single to left, then scored when senior Marcus Ethen mustered an RBI double to right. Palensky immediately pushed a two-run single up the middle to drive in Suponchick and Ethen, extending Omaha's lead to 4-0.

Fort Wayne recorded its only run in the bottom half of the inning, as Brandon Yoho doubled down the left field line and came in with Brock Logan's RBI double to left center. Binger limited the damage, however, sealing the game with a pair of groundouts for a 4-1 final score.

GAME 2 -- OMAHA 14, FORT WAYNE 1 (7 inn.)
Murphy (1-3), a senior lefty, tossed a complete-game four-hitter in game two to pick up his first win of the season. The Lake Worth, Fla., native shuttered a career-high 16 batters, which marked the most strikeouts by an Omaha pitcher since 2010 and set the Mavericks' Division I record. The loss went to Jordan Martin (1-3), who gave up 11 runs on 11 hits and three walks with three strikeouts.

Smejkal led the Mavericks' offensive charge, going 3-for-3 with two runs scored and four RBI on a pair of two-run home runs. Palensky (2-for-4, three runs, one RBI), Suponchick (2-for-4, one run, one RBI) and Thibodeau (2-for-4, two runs, one RBI) also had multi-hit efforts, as Omaha finished with 13 hits in the game.

Bolstered by eight hits in the opening frame, the Mavericks built a commanding 10-0 lead in the top of the first. Palensky and Thibodeau both singled to right and advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Smejkal, followed by an RBI single through the left side by junior Ryan Cate, which scored Palensky for Omaha's first run. Suponchick then came up with a ground-rule double to right to drive in Thibodeau, and Mallott added an RBI single to center to score Cate. After Suponchick came across on a wild pitch to make it 4-0, juniors Cole Patterson and Adam Caniglia drew back-to-back walks to load the bases with one out. Ethen then sent a two-run single through the left side to push in Patterson and Mallott for a 6-0 lead. Palensky continued the hit parade by singling in Caniglia, and Omaha followed by executing a double steal, which allowed Ethen to score for an 8-0 advantage. Smejkal then finished it off, as he sent a two-run shot to left to put the Mavericks up 10-0.

Fort Wayne tallied its only run in the fourth, as Jackson Boyce worked a leadoff walk and later scored on Yoho's RBI single to right, which cut it to 10-1.

The Mavericks added another run in the fifth, courtesy of a solo homer to left by Patterson, which made it 11-1.

Omaha struck a final time in the sixth, using two hits and an error to post three more runs. Palensky drew a leadoff walk and scored on an RBI double to left by Thibodeau, and Smejkal followed by launching his second two-run bomb of the day to right center, bringing the tally to 14-1, which held for the run-rule victory in seven innings.

Omaha and Fort Wayne complete their weekend slate on Saturday, March 25. First pitch is set for 11 a.m. CT at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind., and a link to live stats will be available on OMavs.com.