Omaha Hosts Oral Roberts for Weekend Set

Friday, March 23

Seymour Smith Park

Noon

Omaha

Oral Roberts

Max Gamm and the Mavericks host Oral Roberts for a three-game Summit League series this weekend.

Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann

Omaha Hosts Oral Roberts for Weekend Set

Mar 22, 2018 | Baseball

Game Notes

Leading Off
The Omaha baseball team welcomes preseason Summit League favorite Oral Roberts to Seymour Smith Park this weekend, hosting a three-game series March 23-25. First pitch on Friday is set for 4 p.m., followed by 2 p.m. on Saturday and Noon on Sunday. Links to live stats and audio will be available on OMavs.com.

Quick Hits
• Omaha had a double shutout of Fort Wayne last weekend, 15-0 in seven innings and 7-0. The last time the Mavericks had back-to-back shutouts was May 15-16, 2014 at Western Illinois.
• The Mavericks have registered 10 or more hits in five straight games since March 10 at BYU.
• Omaha's three shutouts this season lead the Summit League and rank 10th nationally.
• Cole Thibodeau's five sacrifice bunts lead the league and are 17th in the country.
• Ben Palensky's grand slam last Saturday vs. Fort Wayne was Omaha's first since Jack Kalina on April 9, 2016.
• Spencer Koelewyn struck out eight batters last Saturday, which is the second-highest single-game total of any Maverick this season.
• Grant Suponchick, Adam Caniglia and Braden Rogers carry identical six-game hitting streaks into the weekend, which ties three other Mavericks for the longest of any Omaha player this season.
• Keil Krumwiede is on a 17-game reaching base streak, in place since Feb. 18.
• The Mavericks have generated the most runs in the fourth inning this year (17).
• Omaha returns 12 letterwinners, including five position players who were starters last season: Adam Caniglia (51 starts in 2017), Grant Suponchick (47), Thibodeau (44), Parker Smejkal (40) and Jack Kalina (35).
• Suponchick is the Mavericks' lone returning All-Summit selection, as he was a first-team pick as a DH in 2017.
• Omaha was picked fifth in the Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• Omaha's four captains are Adam Caniglia, Payton Kinney, Cal Hehnke and Keil Krumwiede.
• Omaha is 216-276 all-time against all opponents on the schedule this year and 157-145 all-time against the five other teams in the Summit League. The Mavericks have compiled a 77-64 record in Summit League play since 2013.

Scouting the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles
Oral Roberts enters the weekend with a record of 12-7 (0-0 Summit League). The Golden Eagles swept a three-game series from South Dakota State last weekend, 14-9, 16-12 and 4-3, then split a midweek series with Nebraska with an 11-4 win on Tuesday and an 11-10 loss on Wednesday.

Head coach Ryan Folmar is in his sixth season at ORU, carrying a career record of 189-118.

Friday marks the 19th meeting all-time between Omaha and ORU, and the Golden Eagles lead the series, 16-2. The two teams last met May 14, 2017 in Tulsa, Okla., where ORU won 6-5.

Success in Summit League Openers
Omaha has won all but one of its Summit League openers since joining the league in 2012-13, having outscored its
opponents a combined 52-15 in those five games. The Mavericks' last 3-0 start to conference play was 2016.

Maverick Mound Notes
• Right-hander Joey Machado (1-3) redshirted in 2017. He has started five games so far this year and earned his first career win last weekend with a shutout of Fort Wayne, throwing 6.0 innings with five hits. Machado leads the team with 19 strikeouts this season.
• Left-hander Spencer Koelewyn (1-1) made his second start last Saturday vs. Fort Wayne, picking up his first career win with 6.0 shutout innings and two hits. Koelewyn has not allowed a run since Feb. 26 at Kansas, compiling 12.0 shutout innings over three appearances since then.
•Right-hander Jake Pennington (2-2) followed Koelewyn on the mound last Saturday, tossing the final 3.0 innings to preserve the shutout. He allowed just one hit.

Rogers, Koelewyn Pick Up Weekly Summit League Honors
Omaha won a pair of weekly awards Monday, as Braden Rogers was named Summit League Player of the Week and Spencer Koelewyn was tabbed Summit League Co-Pitcher of the Week for their performances March 12-18.

Rogers earned his first career player of the week award after recording four multi-hit performances to help the Mavericks to a 3-1 record on the week, including a sweep of Fort Wayne. In the series opener against the Mastodons, the junior from Enid, Okla., went 3-for-3 with a double, an RBI and three runs scored. He added three more hits in the series finale. For the week, Rogers batted .667 (10-for-15) with a .733 slugging percentage and a .722 on-base percentage alongside seven runs scored, four RBI and three walks.

Koelewyn's pitcher of the week honor was also the first of his career. The freshman from Harrisburg, S.D., recorded his first career win in Omaha's 7-0 shutout over Fort Wayne on Saturday, throwing 6.0 innings with eight strikeouts and just two hits.

Suponchick vs. the Summit League
Grant Suponchick batted a team-leading .323 against Summit League competition last season, up from .224 in non-conference games. In those 28 league contests, the Papillion, Neb., native posted six doubles, two home runs, 10 runs scored, 15 RBI and 11 walks. He also had nine mound appearances and a pair of saves in league play.

Suponchick's junior campaign is off to another roaring start, as he hit .636 in the opening weekend of conference play, an increase from .290 in non-conference. Suponchick had a double, a triple and a home run with six runs scored and six more driven in in Omaha's three-game set with Fort Wayne.

DeBonville Named to Summit League Players to Watch List
Junior Thomas DeBonville was included on the Summit League's Players to Watch List released Feb. 8. The transfer was a two-time all-conference and all-region pick at Eastern Arizona College and ranked fifth nationally among junior college players for stolen bases (39) in 2017. He hit .419 last season with five doubles, six triples, two homers and a .597 slugging percentage.

DeBonville joined the Omaha lineup on Feb. 24 and has started all 16 games since then, hitting .281 with four doubles, a triple, a home run, team-leading ei14ht runs scored and nine RBI.

2018 Slate Takes Mavericks Around the Nation
Omaha's 2018 schedule includes 54 games, and the team plays in 11 states against schools from six other Division I conferences. Four opponents – Ohio, BYU, Oral Roberts and Nebraska – played in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.

Entering the season, Omaha had never faced just one of its opponents -- Ohio. The Mavericks hold a combined all-time record of 216-276 over all teams on the regular-season slate.

Porter in Second Season as Head Coach
Head coach Evan Porter enters his second year as the skipper of the Omaha baseball program in 2018. Porter assumed duties last season 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 coaches Chris Gadsden, in his 19th year, and Brian Strawn, in his second year, as well as pitching coach Brett Swain, who is in his second year.

Double Digits
Omaha produced double-digit hits in back-to-back games to open the season vs. Northwestern, with 18 in game one of the doubleheader sweep and 10 in game two. The Mavericks have now recorded 10 or more hits in five straight games from March 10-18.

Last season, the Mavericks had 10 or more hits in 15 games, going 9-6. This year, they are 6-2.

Over the last seven years of Division I play, UNO is a combined 102-44 when keying at least 10 hits.

Up Next
Omaha visits Kansas State for a midweek matchup on Tuesday, March 27 at Tointon Family Stadium. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m., and links to live video, audio and stats will be available on OMavs.com.