Mavericks Head West for Series at BYU

Thursday, March 8

Provo, Utah

6 p.m.

Omaha

BYU

Grant Suponchick and the Mavericks visit BYU this weekend.

Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann

Mavericks Head West for Series at BYU

Mar 7, 2018 | Baseball

Game Notes

Leading Off
The Omaha baseball team continues its opening road swing, meeting BYU for a three-game series March 8-10 at Miller Park in Provo, Utah. First pitch for Thursday's opener is at 6 p.m. CT, followed by 6 p.m. CT on Friday and Noon CT on Saturday. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.

Quick Hits
• Payton Kinney picked up multiple awards last weekend after throwing a no-hitter against Ohio: NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week, NCAA.com Player of the Week and Summit League Pitcher of the Week and was one of Collegiate Baseball's National Players of the Week.
• Thomas DeBonville hit .421 (8-of-19) with four RBI over five games played last week, while Hunter Hughes played in three and batted .455.
• DeBonville and Thibodeau both tote five-game hitting streaks to BYU, the longest of any Maverick this year.
• The Mavericks have generated the most runs in the third and seventh innings with nine and 10 runs apiece, respectively, in those frames.
• Omaha returns 12 letterwinners, including five position players who were starters last season: Adam Caniglia (51 starts in 2017), Grant Suponchick (47), Cole 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 designated hitter in 2017.
• Omaha was picked fifth in the Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• Omaha's four captains are seniors Caniglia and Kinney, junior Cal Hehnke and sophomore Keil Krumwiede.
• Omaha is 213-272 all-time against all opponents on the schedule this year and 154-145 all-time against the five other teams in the Summit League. The Mavericks have compiled a 74-64 record in Summit League play since 2013.

Scouting the BYU Cougars
BYU is 5-6 (0-0 WCC) after dropping all three games in a series at No. 18 Auburn last weekend, 4-3, 21-4 and 9-5. Head coach Mike Littlewood is in his sixth season in Provo, carrying a record of 162-121 and a career mark of 341-236 over 12 years.

Thursday marks the second meeting all-time between Omaha and BYU, with the Cougars leading the series 1-0. The last matchup was in the Mavericks' first year of Division I play on March 12, 2012 at the CU Sports Complex in Omaha, where BYU won 19-9.

Maverick Mound Notes
• Right-hander Grant Suponchick (1-0) is slated to start Thursday's opener vs. BYU, marking his fourth straight weekend with the first start of a series. Earlier this season, he picked up his first career win vs. Northwestern (Feb. 17). In 2017, he made 17 mound appearances with six starts and a team-leading two saves, totaling 42.2 innings on the bump.
• Right-hander and game two starter Joey Machado (0-2) redshirted in 2017. He has started three games so far this year, throwing a season-long 7.0 innings in his last two outings, and has the lowest ERA of any starter at 3.00.
• Right-hander Jake Pennington (2-1) earned a win in relief last weekend vs. Ohio with 6.0 innings of shutout ball. Pennington has a 3.18 ERA over four mound appearances, and Saturday will mark his second start after he also got the ball in Tuesday's game at Minnesota.

Kinney's No-No Garners Slew of Attention
Senior Payton Kinney threw a no-hitter in Omaha's 4-0 shutout of Ohio last Sunday. The Firth, Neb., native went the distance for his first win of the year, striking out a career-high-tying nine batters en route to the Summit League's second no-hitter this season. It was Omaha's first no-hitter since the Maverick staff combined for one in 2015 and its second of the Division I era.

Over the next two days, Kinney garnered a slew of national attention for his performance. On Monday, he was named Summit League Pitcher of the Week, NCAA.com Player of the Week and one of Collegiate Baseball's National Players of the Week. On Tuesday, the NCBWA recognized him as its National Pitcher of the Week.

Road Warriors
Omaha opens the 2018 season with 16 straight road games in six different states, playing in Arizona once, Kansas three times, Georgia once, Minnesota once and Utah once. Out of the gate, the Mavericks see two 2017 NCAA Tournament teams between the third and fourth weekends, facing Ohio for a four-game series (March 2-4) and BYU for a three-game set (March 8-10).

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 nine games since then, hitting a team-leading .303 with two doubles, five runs, six RBI and six walks.

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 has never faced just one of its opponents -- Ohio. The Mavericks hold a combined all-time record of 213-272 over all teams on the regular-season slate.

Thibodeau On the Move to Third
After starting 43 games at second base as a freshman, sophomore Cole Thibodeau has made the move to third base in his sophomore campaign. In the opening weekend of play vs. Northwestern, Thibodeau hit .455 with three runs and a team-leading four RBI for the series. For the season, he has batted .293 over 12 games -- the second-highest average on the team -- with seven runs scored, five RBI, seven walks. He is a perfect 3-for-3 on the basepaths.

In 2017, Thibodeau ranked sixth nationally and led the Summit League with 14 sacrifice hits last season, helping Omaha as a team to 10th in the country and first in the conference for sac bunts (52). For the year, he batted .273 with 26 runs scored and had 11 multi-hit games.

Pennington Out of the Pen
Right-hander Jake Pennington played in his first game and picked up his first career win on the same night over the Mavericks' opening weekend. The freshman from Hamilton, Ohio, threw against Northwestern, tossing 5.0 innings of shutout relief, limiting the Wildcats to one hit and a walk with four strikeouts.

He picked up his second win with 6.0 more innings of shutout relief against Ohio (March 2), holding the Bobcats to six hits with no walks and two punchouts.

Pennington boasts a 3.18 ERA, and opponents are hitting just .226 against him.

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.

Up Next
Omaha visits Kansas for a midweek matchup on Wednesday, March 14 at 3 p.m. in Lawrence, Kan. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3, and links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.