The Mavericks rallied from a 3-0 deficit by scoring five runs in the 7th inning and hanging on to beat 9th ranked Abilene Christian, 5-4 Thursday evening in the first round of the NCAA South Central Region tournament.
Down 3-0, Drew Schwab hit a one-out double down the right field line in the top of the seventh inning to represent the Mavericks’ first runner to get past first base in the game. They Travis Jacobi drove him in with a single that bounced off the shortstop’s glove and rolled slowly into center field, allowing Schwab to score. Brian Strawn, Brian Goliber and then Andrew Hansen added back to back to back RBI singles. Chris Kessinger got the win and moves to 9-4 for UNO as he threw his sixth complete game of the year. He struck out nine with three walks while allowing six hits and two earned runs.
Nebraska-Omaha, ranked 27th in the nation and seeded fifth in the region, will now take on No. 2 seed Emporia State Friday at 7 p.m. in the second round. The Mavs and Emporia State are no strangers. ESU took three of four in the regular season and then UNO beat the Hornets, 6-3 in the first round of the MIAA tournament last weekend. The Hornets won their NCAA first round game, 23-0 over Angelo State Thursday.