SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The top two teams in the Summit baseball standings square off this weekend in Tulsa with Omaha looking to prevent Oral Roberts from securing the program’s 22^nd regular season title. The Golden Eagles earned a share of the title last season but can clinch the outright this season with just one victory over the Mavericks this weekend.

At 19-3 (.864) in Summit play, ORU has some cushion to work with while the Mavericks are likely more concerned with securing a spot in the four-team postseason field. Omaha sits at 11-9 (.550) and needs to keep the wins coming with Northern Colorado at 10-12 (.455) and South Dakota State at 9-11 (.450) looking to better their chances as well. The Bears, who hold down third, visit a North Dakota State club in fifth at 6-12 (.333), while the Jackrabbits, who are fourth, play host to St. Thomas, who is currently at the bottom with a 6-14 (.300) record.

The four-team field will be decided by overall winning percentage this season after Mother Nature forced the cancellation of several games on what was originally scheduled to a be a 30-game slate for all teams. With no further cancellations, ORU is slated to play 28 games along with Northern Colorado, while Omaha, SDSU and St. Thomas are slated for 27 and NDSU is slated for 25.

The final series will start Wednesday, May 13 with Omaha and SDSU playing the first of their four-game set, while NDSU and St. Thomas will also play a four-game series starting Thursday, May 14 with a doubleheader. Both of those series have an added game after their respective first series were wiped out by weather. Oral Roberts also visits Northern Colorado to close things out in a three-game series.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
• Omaha kept its second-place position in the Summit League standings after taking the final two games of its road series with Northern Colorado. In the finale, the Mavericks trailed 9-3 after five innings but rallied for the 12-11 victory.
• Freshman shortstop Eduardo Cornelli delivered the game-winning, two-run single as he finished 2-for-5 and posted his second multi-hit game of the series and fifth of his first collegiate season.
• Jackson Trout has hit safely in 11 of his last 12 contests with eight multi-hit games during that stretch (20-for-54; .370). His .373 overall batting average tops all Summit League players. 
• The Mavericks enter their weekend series against league-leading Oral Roberts with the top overall team batting average at .279 and have increased that to .285 in Summit action. Reigning Summit League Player of the Year Henry Zipay ranks second among all hitters with a .410 clip in conference play (32-for-78).
• The Golden Eagles can clinch their 22nd regular season title with one against the Mavericks this weekend in Tulsa. ORU enters its final home Summit series with a 19-3 overall record after posting the program’s fifth sweep in Summit play this season, taking all three games from St. Thomas.
• ORU senior Makani Tanaka stretched his hitting streak to nine games after hitting safely in all three wins over the Tommies and going 1-for-3 against Cincinnait in a mid-week tilt.
• Tanaka went 4-for-6 and belted his league-leading 10th home run of the season in ORU’s 18-14 victory in game two vs. the Tommies. He leads all Summit players with 25 extra-base hits (10 home runs, five triples and 10 doubles).
• Second baseman Martell Davis added five hits in the St. Thomas series and pushed his league-leading hit total to 33 in conference play. Davis tops the Golden Eagles with a .363 batting average in Summit play.
• UNC outfielder Ethan Mooser went 5-for-8 in the series against Omaha and reached base five times in the finale. For the week, he went 7-for-12 and hit safely and had an RBI in all four games for the Bears.
• Mooser is one of six Bear regulars that is batting .300 or better in league play. Jaden Stone tops that group with a .380 clip, followed closely by Sam Pease, who enters the weekend with a .373 batting average.
• At 10-12 in Summit play, the Bears travel to North Dakota State in another key series as they look to secure a postseason berth after missing out on the conference tournament a season ago.
• The Bison need a sweep of the Bears to vault them in the standings as they enter play with a 6-12 record after dropping two of three to South Dakota State last weekend in Fargo.
• The Jackrabbits held onto fourth place and currently own the final postseason spot with St. Thomas set to visit Brookings. SDSU holds a three-game lead on the Tommies, who will be hosting the Summit League Baseball Championship May 20-23 at the University of Minnesota.
• SDSU outslugged NDSU in the rubber match of the series, winning 16-10 behind the hot bat of Luke Luskey. The Jackrabbit designated hitter had an RBI-double in the first, a two-run homer in the third and capped his career-high seven RBI output with a grand slam in the third to stake SDSU to an early 9-1 lead.
• NDSU scored eight runs in the final four frames but a four-run seventh by the Jacks helped put the game out of reach. The teams combined for 30 hits as Luskey and NDSU third baseman Diego Trujillo each had four hits in the contest.
• Freshman outfielder Nate Wachter earned his first career Kwik Star nod after going 12-for-18 at the plate in five games last week. He went 3-for-4 in both of SDSU’s wins over the Bison and delivered the game-winning hit with a RBI-single in the sixth in the Jacks’ 5-4 game-two victory.
• Senior Ty Madison earned the weekly pitching nod for the Jacks after striking out a career-high 10 Bison in a 7.2 innings of relief in game two. After yielding an earned run in his opening full frame, Madison held NDSU scoreless over the final six as his club rallied for the one-run victory.

UPCOMING
Game | Stream/TV | Local Time
Friday, May 8
St. Thomas at SDSU | SLN | 1 p.m. CT
Omaha at Oral Roberts | SLN | 6 p.m. CT
Northern Colorado at NDSU | SLN | 6:30 p.m. CT

Saturday, May 9
St. Thomas at SDSU | SLN | 1 p.m. CT
Omaha at Oral Roberts | SLN | 2 p.m. CT
Northern Colorado at NDSU | SLN | 3 p.m. CT


Sunday, May 10
St. Thomas at SDSU | SLN | 1 p.m. CT
Omaha at Oral Roberts | SLN | 1 p.m. CT
Northern Colorado at NDSU | SLN | 1 p.m. CT


Tuesday, May 12
Oklahoma State at Oral Roberts | SLN | 6 p.m. CT


Key: B1G+ (Big Ten Plus); ESPN+ (ESPN Plus); MWN (Mountain West Network); SEC+ (SEC Network Plus); SLN (Summit League Network).

RESULTS
Friday, May 1
Northern Colorado 11, Omaha 7
Oral Roberts 7, St. Thomas 4
NDSU 8, SDSU 1

Saturday, April 25
Omaha 6, Northern Colorado 3
Oral Roberts 18, St. Thomas 14
SDSU 5, NDSU 4
 
Sunday, April 26
SDSU 16, NDSU 10
Omaha 12, Northern Colorado 11
Oral Roberts 4, St. Thomas 2
 
Tuesday, April 28
Cincinnati 15, Oral Roberts 4
Iowa 14, St. Thomas 4 (8)
 
Wednesday, May 6
NDSU 5, Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks 0

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