Omaha Continues Road Stretch At Minnesota, Western Illinois

Wednesday, May 8

Minneapolis, Minn.

6 p.m.

Omaha

Minnesota

Omaha Continues Road Stretch At Minnesota, Western Illinois

May 7, 2019 | Baseball

Game Notes (PDF)BTN PLUS (WATCH)Live Stats (MINN)Live Stats (WIU)

OMAHA, Neb. – Omaha baseball opens a four-game road trip this week, starting with a single game against Minnesota in Minneapolis this Wednesday, May 8, at 6 p.m. The Mavericks then stay on the road for a crucial, three-game road series in Macomb at Western Illinois, May 10-12.

LEADING OFF
• Omaha baseball enters the week with a two-game in The Summit League standings over South Dakota State for first place.
• The Mavericks aim for their first mid-week win of the season, as they sit at 0-5 overall.
• Minnesota marks the third Power Five conference opponent for Omaha this season, as the team has faced off against Kansas State twice (0-2), USC to open the season (1-2) and Nebraska (0-1).
• The weekend mound duo of Payton Kinney and Spencer Koelewyn are a combined 12-1 with a 2.58 ERA between the two of them.
• Kinney, a three-time Summit League Pitcher of the Week this season, has a league-best 1.55 ERA and eight victories.
• The southpaw Koelewyn has the third-fewest hits allowed per nine innings in the nation at 4.47.
• Omaha held the nation's best fielding percentage for multiple weeks this season. The team now ranks fifth nationally at .982.
• Omaha has only allowed 85 runs this year in conference play. That is 28 less runs than the second fewest allowed, 113 by Oral Roberts.

SCOUTING MINNESOTA
Minnesota is 21-23 overall with an 11-7 mark in the Big Ten. The Golden Gophers are led by 37th year head coach John Anderson, who is 1,288-860-3 all-time at the program.

The Golden Gophers lead Omaha 4-1 all-time in the series history. The last time Omaha defeated Minnesota was on March, 2013 (10-9, 11 innings). They sit third in the Big Ten after sweeping Ohio State last week.

The game against the Mavericks marks the final non-conference matchup for the Golden Gophers this season. Eli Wilson leads the team with a .305 batting average in 43 appearances. Jordan Kozicky has a team-high 40 RBI this season and bats .250 with nine home runs.

SCOUTING WESTERN ILLINOIS
Western Illinois is coming off a series win on the road at Oral Roberts last weekend. The Leathernecks are currently tied for fourth with North Dakota State, but the Bison own the head-to-head series over WIU.

On the mound, two-time Summit League Pitcher of the Week Javin Drake has a team-best 4.25 ERA, followed by Jace Warkentien, who posts a 4.50 ERA. Drue Galassi posts a team-high .302 batting average in 44 appearances and 42 starts. In the previous series, Omaha swept the Leathernecks at home.

OUR PAL CAL
Cal Hehnke has become Omaha's main reliever for the 2019 season. This season, the senior has a league-best six saves over the span of the 2019 campaign. Through 16 mound appearances, Hehnke has a 4.05 ERA and a 3-2 record through 40.0 innings pitched. Most recently, he posted a career-high nine strikeouts through 5.0 shutout innings against South Dakota State on April 28. He notched his first save of the season at Seattle University on Feb. 22.

His most recent save came in the 5-2 series-opening win over South Dakota State on April 26. Hehnke is also the active-career leader in innings pitched, mound appearances and strikeouts for the Mavericks squad. Hehnke had his first win of the season March 31 against Western Illinois at home, where he tossed 1.1 innings with three strikeouts. He recorded his second win in the second game at South Dakota State on April 6, where he tossed 1.1 innings with a strikeout.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Mavericks take on Creighton in a Tuesday, May 14, matinee. The first pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. at TD Ameritrade Park.