No. 1 Omaha Looks to Claim Second Ever Summit League Championship Title

Wednesday, May 22

Tulsa, Okla.

2 p.m.

Omaha

Northern Colorado

Photo by: Garrett Hawkins

No. 1 Omaha Looks to Claim Second Ever Summit League Championship Title

May 21, 2024 | Baseball

game notes

Leading Off
The No. 1 Omaha Mavericks (18-30-1, 16-13-1) are looking to claim their second ever Summit League Championship Title this week as they head to Tulsa, Oklahoma to open the tournament against the No. 4 Northern Colorado Bears (14-36-1, 13-16-1). Also competing are the No. 2 North Dakota State Bison (19-28-1, 14-12-1) and the No. 3 Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (24-30-1, 13-15-1). The tournament will be double elimination.

Upcoming Schedule
Wednesday: 12 p.m. vs. No. 4 Northern Colorado at J.L. Johnson Stadium
Thursday: 12 p.m. or 6 p.m. vs. TBD at J.L. Johnson Stadium
Friday (If Necessary): 4 p.m. vs. TBD at J.L. Johnson Stadium
Saturday (Finals): 1 p.m. vs. TBD at J.L. Johnson Stadium

Around the Horn

The Mavericks punched their ticket to their fifth consecutive Summit League Championship last week after taking two of three at South Dakota State. With St. Thomas ineligible for postseason play, this made Omaha the No. 1 seed and the host for the 2025 championship.
Omaha dominated all aspects of the game at SDSU, scoring at least 10 runs in all three games and striking out 42 Jackrabbits.
Caleb Riedel topped 200 career strikeouts and climbed to seventh in Omaha's the all-time strikeout list after punching out 10 on Thursday.
Haiden Hunt also continued his hot streak since returning to the starting lineup as he extended his hitting streak to five games while driving in seven runs at SDSU.
The league announced its All-Summit honorees on Tuesday, with the Mavericks taking home a league-leading 12 awards, including the second career Coach of the Year award for Head Coach Evan Porter.
Matt Goetzmann was named Defensive Player of the Year, the first Mavericks ever to win the award, and also took home First Team honors. One of the league's top hitters, he hit .314 with a .926 OPS and led the league with three triples, 22 walks, and 11 steals. He also finished in the top 10 in runs (29), hits (37), and doubles (five). At one point he also had an 11-game hitting streak and an 18-game on-base streak.
Harrison Kreiling, in his final year in Omaha, also took home First Team honors after posting the fourth lowest ERA among all starters at 3.15. His 51 strikeouts and .225 BAA both rank in the top 10 as well.
Five Mavericks were named Second Team All-Summit, led by Tyler Bishop who hit .333 and finished in the top 10 in hits (41) doubles (nine), OPS (1.005), runs (27), triples (two), home runs (six), and RBIs (27). Then there was Henry Zipay, who hit .341 and was top 10 in the league in OPS (.980), Noah Greise, who hit .261 with a .736 OPS, 16 RBIs, 15 runs, and 10 XBHs, and Drew Lechnir, who hit .298 with an .844 OPS and finished top 10 in the league with 41 hits. Luke Gainer also made the Second Team after pacing all relievers with a .183 BAA and was top three in ERA (2.48), saves (four), and strikeouts (35).
Earning Honorable Mentions are Zach Lechnir, Cardel Dick, and Trent Burkhalter. Lechnir batted .284 with a .717 OPS and at one point recorded a double in five straight games. Dick totaled 24 RBIs, seven XBHs, and three runners caught stealing. Burkhalter led the team with a .995 fielding percentage along with eight XBHs and 15 runs scored.
In addition to having the most All-Summit honorees, Omaha also led all teams in the Summit League with a total of nine Peak Performer and Peak Pitcher of the Week awards (in 28 chances). In three of those weeks Omaha swept both awards (3/11, 4/22, 4/29).
Goetzmann, Bishop, and Drew Lechnir have been Omaha's top three hitters all season, finishing as the only three Mavericks batting above .300 and recording at least 15 XBHs.
Omaha's core rotation of Riedel, Charlie Bell, and Kreiling started 39 out of 49 games this season and account for 208 of the team's 463 strikeouts. The trio are all in their final year with the team and have totaled 95 starts and 532 strikeouts over the last four seasons.
Overall, the Mavericks went 18-18-1 after an 0-12 start to the season. In league play, Omaha won six out of 10 series.
Omaha led the league with 463 strikeouts this season; 14 more than second place ORU. The Mavericks had double-digit Ks in 24 out of 49 games, including four-straight to end the season.
On the year, Omaha had two shutouts, topped 20 runs twice and 10 runs 11 times, had six games with 5+ XBHs, and allowed four runs or less 18 times.

Scouting No. 2 North Dakota State
The Bison made a late push and briefly pulled ahead of Omaha in the standings, but ultimately came up just short to settle in as the No. 2 seed at 19-28-1 overall and 14-12-1 in league play. They took home eight All-Summit awards, including First Team shortstop Jake Schaffner who hit .348 with a .889 OPS and 27 runs, and First Team reliever Joey Danielson who recorded nine saves and 23 strikeouts. Catcher Will Busch earned Second Team honors with 16 RBIs and 14 runs, while Logan Knight was their lone starting pitcher to earn All-Summit accolades with an Honorable Mention after posting a 4.44 ERA.

As a team, NDSU's offense finished fifth in the league in AVG (.273), OPS (.761), and runs (165), while the pitching staff was third in ERA (5.92) but last in strikeouts (201) and BAA (.313).

Scouting No. 3 Oral Roberts
The 2023 tournament champions overcame a slow start and went 8-3 in league play over the final three weeks of the season to claim the No. 3 seed at 24-30-1 with a 13-15-1 conference record. The Golden Eagles had seven All-Summit winners, led by Pitcher of the Year Jakob Hall and his 2.64 ERA, 69 strikeouts, and 0.98 WHIP. Drew Stahl and Holden Breeze also earned First Team honors, with the former driving in 25 runs and scoring 21 and the latter hitting .356 with a 1.015 OPS.

Overall, the Golden Eagles offense finished last in AVG (.266) and OPS (.760) and fourth in runs (204), while their pitchers were second in ERA (4.33) and BAA (.245) and third in strikeouts (245).

Scouting No. 4 Northern Colorado
The Bears also improved greatly in the second half of the season, overcoming an 0-21 start to finish fourth in the conference at 14-36-1 with a 13-16-1 league record. They earned three All-Summit awards this year (all Honorable Mentions) for Kai Wagner, Garrett Fisher, and Murphy Geinger. Wagner led the team with a .389 AVG, 1.108 OPS, six home runs, 26 RBIs, and 26 runs, with Fisher right behind him with a .358 AVG and .979 OPS. Geinger led UNC's bullpen with a 3.61 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 47.1 IP.

Northern Colorado led the entire league with 227 runs and finished fourth in team average at .278 and team OPS at .817. On the mound, the Bears are fifth in ERA (6.29), fourth in strikeouts (241), and fifth in BAA (.312).