Mavericks Host 2023 CWS Participant ORU

Thursday, March 28

Omaha, Neb.

5 p.m.

Omaha

Oral Roberts

Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann

Mavericks Host 2023 CWS Participant ORU

Mar 27, 2024 | Baseball

game notes

Leading Off
The Mavericks (4-18) take on the reigning Summit League Champions and 2023 College World Series participants this weekend when the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (9-16) come to town for three games.

Upcoming Schedule
Thursday: 5 p.m. vs. Oral Roberts at Tal Anderson Field
Friday: 5 p.m. vs. Oral Roberts at Tal Anderson Field
Saturday: 1 p.m. vs. Oral Roberts at Tal Anderson Field

Around the Horn

Omaha went 1-3 last week, dropping their only game against Nebraska this season on Tuesday before going 1-2 at Northern Colorado over the weekend. Despite the record, the team's 23 runs last week were its second most in any week this season.
In his first career start in game one of Saturday's doubleheader, Jackson Trout not only recorded his first career hit in the second inning, but in the top of the third he crushed a three-run home run to give Omaha the lead for good.
Also recording a career first in that game was Sid deMayo, who drove in his first ever RBI with a sac fly in the sixth.
Caleb Riedel reached 150 career strikeouts after a 10 K performance against UNC that earned him his second win of the season. He now has three games in his career with at least 10 strikeouts, previously doing so twice in 2023.
Joe Hackmann relieved Riedel in the sixth inning of his start and proceeded to fire 3.1 shutout innings in relief with a career-high seven strikeouts to earn his first save.
Mavericks pitchers totaled 32 strikeouts against UNC last week. This accounts for just under 50% of all outs recorded by Omaha in the series.
Tyler Bishop (6-for-14), Drew Lechnir (6-for-11), and Grant Sommers (5-for-11) each recorded a hit in all three games at UNC. Bishop picked up his team-leading sixth double and third home run in the series, while Lechnir and Sommers each increased their average over .300.
There are now four Mavericks batting above .300 (min. 40 AB): Bishop (.326), Lechnir (.316), Noah Greise (.313), and Sommers (.303).
Cardel Dick not only scored a run in all three games last weekend, but also drove in his first RBI since February 25 at LBSU. He ended the day with two RBIs and one run scored, accounting for three of the team's five runs.

Scouting Oral Roberts
Oral Roberts is off to a comparatively slower start than last year entering the weekend at 9-16 with a 1-5 record in the Summit League. On Tuesday, they lost their third in a row after getting shutout 10-0 in seven innings at Oklahoma.

Since transferring from Tennessee, senior outfielder Kyle Booker has started every game for ORU and leads the team with a .915 OPS and .333 AVG. Holden Breeze (.320) and Elijah Rodriguez (.314) are the other two Golden Eagles batting over .300, with Rodriguez also leading the team with seven steals and 22 runs. Meanwhile, senior infielder Drew Stahl is first on the team in RBIs with 22 and Alex Rodgers is the first player on the team to reach 10 doubles on the season.

ORU starters Jakob Hall (5.72 ERA), Brooks Fowler (7.90 ERA), and Joshua Caravalho (5.19 ERA) are all off to slower starts than last year when each one posted a sub-4.00 ERA. Out of the bullpen, Price Allman has yet to allow an earned run in four appearances, while Dalton Patten owns a 1.93 ERA through eight appearances.

Head Coach Ryan Folmar is in his 12th season leading the Golden Eagles and 21st overall with the program including his time as an assistant coach. During this career, Folmar has helped lead ORU to 16 NCAA Tournament appearances (six as head coach), including their first trip to the CWS since 1978 last year. He has also been named Summit League Coach of the Year six times.