Omaha Meets Air Force, UC Davis in Midweek Play
Mar 27, 2017 | Baseball
Leading Off
The Omaha baseball team enters the week on three-game win streak, welcoming Air Force on Tuesday, March 28 at 4 p.m. and UC Davis on Wednesday, March 29 at 1 p.m. Both games will be played at Seymour Smith Park, and student broadcasters Noah Sullinger and Justin Doering will have the radio call on the MavRadio broadcast. Links to live stats and audio will be available on OMavs.com.
Quick Hits
•Junior Cole Patterson, sophomore Riley Herold and freshman Cole Thibodeau enter the week on a six-game hitting streaks, the longest of any Maverick this season. Patterson and Thibodeau's streaks are both career-long.
•Senior Sam Palensky carries a career-long 14-game reaching base streak, also the longest of any Maverick this year.
•Sophomore Grant Suponchick batted a team-leading .500 over four games last week with an .857 slugging percentage and a .562 on-base percentage, and he was 7-for-10 in Omaha's sweep of Fort Wayne. He scored four runs on two doubles, two walks and a homer with a pair of RBI.
•Junior Corey Binger is one of 14 pitchers in the country with two or more complete games this season.
•Twenty-eight players have seen playing time in the Mavericks' first 23 games.
•Omaha played a three-game series at No. 6 Louisville Feb. 24-26, marking the highest-ranked opponent Omaha has faced in the Division I era.
•The 2017 season marks Omaha's second with full NCAA Division I postseason eligibility for the Summit League and NCAA Tournaments. The Mavericks completed a required four-year Division I reclassification period from 2012 to 2015.
•UNO returns 19 letterwinners this year, including six position players with starting experience: Palensky, Herold, Suponchick, juniors Ryan Cate and Adam Caniglia and sophomore Jack Kalina.
•Cate is the Mavericks' lone returning All-Summit selection.
•UNO was picked fourth in the Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll for the second straight season. In 2016, the Mavericks went on to finish as the league's regular-season runner-up.
•Omaha is 258-296 all-time against all opponents on the schedule this year and 148-129 all-time against the five other teams in the Summit League. The Mavericks have compiled a 68-48 record in Summit League play since 2013.
Scouting the Air Force Falcons
Air Force enters the week with a record of 10-13 (2-10 Mountain West) after a three-game weekend series at Nevada last weekend. The Falcons fell 10-2 on Friday, won 7-3 on Saturday and dropped the Sunday finale, 9-8.
Head coach Mike Kazlausky is in his seventh season at Air Force, carrying a career record of 131-217.
Omaha leads the all-time series with Air Force, 7-5. The two teams last met on April 26, 2016, when the Mavericks picked up a 7-4 win at Werner Park.
Scouting the UC Davis Aggies
UC Davis carries a record of 6-10 (0-0 Big West) after winning 12-1 at Creighton on Sunday. The Aggies will square off with CU twice more between Monday and Tuesday before visiting Omaha on Wednesday.
Head coach Matt Vaughn is in his sixth season at UCD with a career record of 122-170-1.
Wednesday marks the first meeting all-time between Omaha and UC Davis. The two teams were scheduled to play in February at the UNLV Classic, but the game was rained out.
Suponchick, Murphy Sweep Weekly League Honors
Omaha swept the Summit League's weekly conference awards on Monday, as sophomore Grant Suponchick was named Player of the Week and senior left-hander Sam Murphy was honored as Pitcher of the Week, recognizing the duo's performances March 20-26.
Suponchick earned the first player of the week award of his career after leading Omaha to a sweep of Fort Wayne with three multi-hit games. The Papillion, Neb., native tallied three hits, including his first home run of the season in the series finale, and he added a pair of hits in games one and two. Suponchick batted .500 (7-for-14) for the week with an .857 slugging percentage and a .562 on-base percentage, and he scored four runs on two doubles, two walks and a homer with a pair of RBI.
Murphy collected his second career pitcher of the week honor after tossing a seven-inning complete game in Friday's 14-1 victory at Fort Wayne. The Lake Worth, Fla., native recorded a career-high 16 strikeouts, the most of any Omaha pitcher since 2010, while setting the Mavericks' Division I record. Murphy allowed just two walks, one earned run and one extra-base hit to notch his first win of the season.
Leading the League
Freshman Cole Thibodeau ranks 32nd nationally and leads the Summit League with five sacrifice bunts. Senior Sam Murphy is first among league hurlers for strikeouts (34) and strikeouts per game (11.3), while junior Corey Binger leads the way for games started (six) and complete games (two).
As a team, Omaha is 12th in the country and the league's top squad for sac bunts (22).
Suponchick vs. the Summit League
Sophomore Grant Suponchick has batted a team-leading .588 (10-for-17) against Summit League competition over the last two weekends, posting two doubles, a home run, four runs scored, two RBI and three walks. In those six games, the Papillion, Neb., native owns an .882 slugging percentage and a .650 on-base percentage.
Bombs Away
Junior Parker Smejkal belted two home runs in the same game last Friday in game two of a doubleheader against Fort Wayne, the second time this season a Maverick has had a multi-home run performance.
Junior Cole Patterson joined Smejkal with a third Maverick homer in that game. The last time UNO hit three or more roundtrippers in a game was Feb. 19, when Ryan Cate had two and Adam Caniglia had another at UNLV.
Palensky Makes the Move to Short
After starting all 56 games at second base as a junior, senior Sam Palensky made the switch to shortstop for his 2017 campaign and has had the starting nod there in all 23 games. Offensively, the Papillion, Neb., native owns a team-leading six multi-hit performances so far and has reached base in 14 straight contests, which leads the Mavericks.
Palensky is following in the steps of his older brother, Caleb, a four-year starting infielder from 2011-14.
A "Cole-giate" Debut
Freshman Cole Thibodeau started all four games of the opening weekend at the UNLV Classic, making his collegiate debut in the Friday game as Omaha's starting right fielder. The Elkhorn, Neb., native also played second base over the next three games that weekend, as well as a relief appearance on the mound. It marked the second straight year Omaha has had a true freshman in its opening day lineup, as sophomore Riley Herold was also an opening day starter in 2016.
In league play, Thibodeau has hit .320 in six starts, tallying two doubles, five runs scored and an RBI with two walks.
On March 15, Thibodeau went a perfect 3-for-3 on the basepaths at K-State. The last Maverick to register three stolen bases in a game was Cole Gruber, who achieved it three times last season -- most recently at South Dakota State on April 9, 2016.
2017 Slate Takes Mavericks Around the Nation
Omaha's 2017 schedule includes 55 games, and the team will play in 12 states against schools from 10 other Division I conferences. Four opponents – Louisville, Nebraska, Saint Mary's and Oral Roberts – played in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Entering the season, the Mavericks had never faced two of their opponents in Saint Mary's and Louisville. Omaha holds a combined all-time record of 258-296 over all teams on the regular-season slate.
Porter Enters First Season as Head Coach
Head coach Evan Porter enters his first year as the skipper of the Omaha baseball program in 2017 after serving four years as an assistant coach. One of the most decorated players in UNO history, Porter was four-year starter at shortstop from 2005-09 and a two-time All-American. He was also a three-time all-region selection from 2007-09, earning awards from Daktronics and Rawlings/ABCA. Additionally, Porter was a two-time All-NCC pick (2007-08) and was first-team All-MIAA in 2009.
Porter's name runs through the Omaha record books, as he remains the program's all-time leader in games played (239), at-bats (869), hits (323), doubles (75), home runs (43), runs batted in (249) and total bases (527). His 97 hits recorded as a senior were a UNO single-season record that still stands.
A member of the UNO squad that earned a berth to the 2007 NCAA Division II College World Series, Porter was part of two Maverick teams (2006, 2008) that set a school record with 45 wins. During his time, UNO made four straight NCAA regional appearances and won the 2008 NCC championship.
Following his senior campaign, Porter was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 23rd round. He has played professionally overseas for the Solingen Alligators in Germany (2010), Gothenburg Sharks in Sweden (2011), Victoria Park Reds in Australia (2011-12), ADO AamigoO Lakers in Holland (2012) and Sölvesborg Firehawks in Sweden (2014, 2016).
Porter is assisted by assistant coach Chris Gadsden, in his 18th year, and pitching coach Brian Strawn, in his second year, as well as volunteer assistant coach Brett Swain, who is in his first year.
Double Digits
As a team, Omaha produced double-digit hits in 28 games in 2016, going 22-6 in those games. This year, Omaha notched a season-high 16 hits March 25 at Fort Wayne and is 3-2 with double-digit hits.
Over the last six years of Division I play, UNO is a combined 93-37 when keying at least 10 hits.
Going the Extra Mile
When registering three or more extra-base hits in a game, Omaha went 13-5 in 2016 and is 5-1 this season. On the flip side, the Mavericks were 20-7 last year when limiting their opponents to less than three extra-base hits in a contest and are 4-1 in 2017.
Offense Keying Wins
In the last five seasons (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017), Omaha has gone a combined 78-13 when outhitting its opponent. Last year, the Mavericks were 18-1 in those games, with the only loss coming vs. Fort Wayne in the opening game of the Summit League Tournament.
Up Next
Omaha returns to action on Friday, March 31, welcoming North Dakota State. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. at Isaacson Field at Seymour Smith Park, and links to live stats and audio will be available on OMavs.com.
