Omaha Sweeps Fort Wayne In 9-8 Comeback Win

Saturday, March 25

Westfield, Ind.

11:00 AM

Omaha

5-18, 3-3

Fort Wayne

4-17, 1-5

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Omaha	2	0	0	1	0	0	1	5	0	9	16	1
Fort Wayne	0	0	3	1	1	2	1	0	0	8	12	1

Stats Notes

Omaha Sweeps Fort Wayne In 9-8 Comeback Win

Mar 25, 2017 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Omaha Athletics

WESTFIELD, Ind. -- The Omaha baseball team completed a weekend series sweep of Fort Wayne Saturday afternoon, rallying in the eighth for a 9-8 comeback victory at Grand Park. With their third straight win, the Mavericks improve to 5-18 (3-3 Summit League) on the season, while the Mastodons drop to 4-17 (1-5).

Freshman left-hander Cam Fowler (1-0) earned his first career win in relief, throwing the final 3.0 innings and keeping the Mastodons to one run on two hits and a walk with a season-high four strikeouts. The loss went to Fort Wayne reliever Cameron Boyd (0-2), who gave up five runs on three hits.

Omaha totaled a season-high 16 hits for the day, led by three hits apiece from junior Ryan Cate (3-for-5, one run, two RBI), sophomores Grant Suponchick (3-for-4, two runs, one RBI) and Nate Mallott (3-for-6, one run, one RBI) and freshman Cole Thibodeau (3-for-5, one run). Cate had three doubles, while Suponchick sent out his first home run of the year.

Omaha created an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Senior Sam Palensky led off the game with a four-pitch walk and Thibodeau singled up the middle on a 3-2 pitch before both advanced with a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Parker Smejkal. Cate then doubled down the left field line to score both runners, putting the Mavericks up by two.

Fort Wayne took its first lead in the bottom of the third, posting three runs on five hits. Brady Hettinger led off with a double to left center, advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Shannon Baker and scored via Jackson Boyce's RBI single up the middle. Jake Weber singled to left center and advanced on the throw to put runners in scoring position for Travis Upp, who singled in Boyce with a base hit to right. Jacob Dickson then added an RBI single to center to drive in Weber, putting the Mastodons on top, 3-2.

Omaha quickly knotted it at 3-3 in the fourth. Mallott and senior Marcus Ethen both got on with singles to put two aboard for Palensky, who sent a single through the right side to plate Mallott.

The Mastodons, though, came back for a run in both the fourth and fifth innings and two more in the sixth frame, taking a 7-3 advantage.

Omaha chipped away in the seventh, as Suponchick plastered the first pitch of the inning to left center for a solo shot that cut it to 7-4. Fort Wayne responded immediately in the bottom half of the inning when Hettinger homered to left to extend the Mastodon lead to 8-4.

But the Mavericks' bats came alive in the eighth, as a five-run, four-hit inning put Omaha back in control. Palensky was hit by a pitch and Thibodeau singled through the left side, and both stole a base to move into scoring position. Smejkal then reached on a fielder's choice, allowing Palensky to score. Cate followed by being plunked by a pitch and Suponchick singled through the left side to load the bases with one out, and junior Cole Patterson delivered next with a two-run single to center to drive in Cate and Smejkal to make it 8-7. After a Mastodon pitching change, Mallott's ground-rule double scored Suponchick and knotted the game at 8-8. Junior Adam Caniglia was then intentionally walked to load the bases, and freshman Mark Ehresman was hit by a pitch to score pinch-running senior Austin Groth for the go-ahead run that brought it to 9-8.

Fort Wayne was led offensively by Weber, who finished 4-for-4 with a run scored and another driven in.

Omaha returns to action on Tuesday, March 28, welcoming Air Force to Isaacson Field at Seymour Smith Park. First pitch is set for 4 p.m., and links to live stats and audio will be available on OMavs.com.