PHOENIX – The Omaha Mavericks (1-2) plated a run in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 4-4 tie and held on to defeat the North Dakota State baseball team (0-3), 5-4, in the Grand Canyon University Classic finale on Sunday, Feb. 15, at Brazell Stadium in Phoenix. The game was a non-Summit League contest.
North Dakota State is scheduled face the Arizona Wildcats (3-0) in the first of two games on Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 6 p.m. MT (7 p.m. CT) at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Ariz.
Drew Fearing led the Bison at the plate, going 3-for-5, while
Paul Funk and
Ben Petersen each hit a double and tallied a RBI.
Mason Pierzchalski also drove in a run in the contest.
NDSU starting pitcher
Trent Keefer pitched five innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts and two walks, but recorded a no-decision. Reliever
Blake Stockert took the loss on the mound for the Bison to fall to 0-1 on the year.
The Bison jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after scoring a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. NDSU plated the opening run of the game on a double-play before Pierzchalski singled to right field, scoring Funk, to make it 2-0.
NDSU increased its lead to 3-0 in the top of the fourth after Petersen's RBI double to left field scored
JD Larimer. The Mavs started chipping away at the NDSU lead in the bottom-half of the inning, though, plating a run on an Adam Schultz infield single to trim the deficit to 3-1.
The Bison pushed their lead to 4-1 in the top of the fifth when Funk doubled to left field, allowing Fearing to cross home plate. Omaha answered, though, scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to pull within 4-3 after Ryan Cate's 2-RBI double to right field.
The Mavs were able to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh after Alex Mortenson singled home Ryan Cate, who hit a two-out triple to right field before Mortenson's at bat.
NDSU had a chance to regain the lead in the top of the eighth after
John Skrbec led off the inning with a single to center field and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, but two consecutive ground outs ended the opportunity. Omaha recorded what proved to be the game-winning run in the bottom-half of the inning on a RBI single to center from Cole Gruber.
