Mavericks Go For First Place as They Host St. Thomas in Home Finale

Friday, May 10

Omaha, Neb.

7 p.m.

Omaha

St. Thomas

Photo by: Garrett Hawkins

Mavericks Go For First Place as They Host St. Thomas in Home Finale

May 9, 2024 | Baseball

game notes

Leading Off
The Mavericks (15-26-1, 13-10-1) wrap up their home slate this week as they host St. Thomas (18-22, 12-8) in a battle between the No. 1 and 2 seeds. If Omaha wins the series, the team will take over first place with just one week to go.

Upcoming Schedule
Friday: 7 p.m. vs. St. Thomas at Tal Anderson Field
Saturday: 7 p.m. vs. St. Thomas at Tal Anderson Field (Alumni Day)
Sunday: 1 p.m. vs. St. Thomas at Tal Anderson Field (Senior Day)

Around the Horn

Omaha went 1-2 at Oral Roberts last week, dropping both games of Friday's doubleheader before coming out on top in a 14-inning marathon on Saturday.
With the loss, Omaha's consecutive series win streak ended at five, tying the 2024 team for the longest streak in the program's D1 history.
Harrison Kreiling set the tone early on Saturday as he went six innings with just one earned run allowed and five strikeouts. He has now gone at least five innings in four consecutive starts, striking out 20 and allowing just five earned runs in this span.
The bullpen on Saturday did not allow a single earned run over the final eight innings, with Joe Hackmann, Luke Gainer, Tyler Mattingley, Matt Dreher, and Cooper Prososki shutting the door on ORU. Despite ORU getting multiple runners into scoring position in the 10th, 11th, and 12th innings, from Gainer and Dreher killed their momentum.
Overall, Omaha's six pitchers allowed just 4 ORU hits. Hackmann, Gainer, Mattingley, and Dreher did not a single hit.
Henry Zipay was the hero for Omaha on Saturday, driving in a career-high three runs. In the top of the 14th, he put Omaha ahead for good as he lined one down the right field line for a two-run homer for his first home run of the season.
Matt Goetzmann was named the Summit League Peak Performer of the Month after slashing .438/.549/.789 with 33 total RBIs and runs, 11 XBHs, four multi-RBI games, and five multi-run games in April, all while reaching base safely in every game.
In addition to wrapping up his hitting streak at 11 straight games last week, Goetzmann's on-base streak also ended after 17 straight games.
In their first meeting this season, Omaha won the series 2-1 at St. Thomas to open the month of April. It was a close series, with the Mavericks taking game one 6-5 and game two 12-10, before falling 9-8 in the series finale. Goetzmann drove in six runs and scored six runs in the series, while he, Noah Greise, and Trent Burkhalter all hit at least one home run.
As the final home series of the season, Saturday is Alumni Day, with the 2007 Division II CWS team making a special appearance. Sunday will be Senior Day, with Charlie Bell, Matt Goetzmann, Haiden Hunt, Harrison Kreiling, Drew Lechnir, Zach Lechnir, Tyler Mattingley, Joe Hackmann, Cooper Prososki, Caleb Riedel, and Sid deMayo all being honored.

Scouting St. Thomas
Despite losing last week's series 2-1 to North Dakota State and falling 15-14 to Northern Illinois on Wednesday, St. Thomas remains in first place in the league at 18-22 with a 12-8 conference record. Omaha won its first ever series against St. Thomas earlier this season after taking two of three at home.

The Tommies are still one of the league's top hitting teams with a .296 AVG and .819 OPS.
Matthew Maulik (.356 AVG, .969 OPS) and Brigs Richartz (.346 AVG, .953 OPS) are UST's top hitters, being first and second in total bases (87 and 85), home runs (seven and four), and in RBIs (40 and 30). Ben Vujovich is their top baserunner, leading the league with 17 steals and ranking fourth in runs (40).

On the mound, starters Devon Schewe (2.81 ERA, 1.28 WHIP) and Jacob Mrosko (3.91 ERA, .160 BAA) are UST's top arms, with the rest of the rotation all owning ERAs above 5.00. Out of the bullpen, Carl Cano leads the staff with five saves despite a 5.89 ERA, while Tucker Huhn leads all relievers with at least 10 innings pitched with a 4.15 ERA.

Chris Olean was a three-time NCAA Division III Coach of the Year before the Tommies moved up to D1. In the final season before the transition, he led St. Thomas to a runner-up finish in the national championship series.