Without a home, Mavs blazing a trail and making history.

Somewhere around Omaha, the Omaha Mavericks baseball team are making due with what they have. Cold and snow altered a big chunk of the start to the year.

Now, after six home games, the Mavs have played in three different ballparks around town, none of which are their usual Seymour Smith Park. They have made a home of Millard North High School, Creighton Prep High School, and Skutt Catholic High School.

But it has not stopped Omaha from rolling. The Mavericks have won ten straight, their longest winning streak since moving up to division 1, and highlighted it with a record-setting 26-0 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne. The Mavs potent offense has outscored their opponents 72-18 in that stretch.

The offense is highlighted by Parker Smejkal, who is batting .412 and recorded Omaha's first grand slam in over a year as part of the rout over Purdue Fort Wayne.

The starting rotation has been equally impressive, with multiple Mavs hurlers garnering Summit League Pitcher of the Week honors, but none has been more impressive than senior Payton Kinney. Kinney (5-0) has recorded a blistering ERA of 0.69 in 39 innings of work.

Omaha will hit the road after their much-needed home stretch, visiting Wichita State Tuesday. They will then return home for another 4-game home stand: a three game series against Western Illinois before a midweek game against Creighton. The games will be at another two venues; Seymour Smith and Werner Park, bringing the total number of home fields for Omaha to 5.

State of Nebraska Postpones Baseball's Opening Day

Today was supposed to be the Home Openers for Nebraska and Creighton, but with the forecasted weather, their games against Omaha and Northern Colorado were canceled over a week ago.

Today's high temperature in Omaha is 19 degrees. There is still more than 6 inches of snow covering all grass, with a forecast of 3-6 inches of snow between Wednesday and Thursday this week.

Here's how home games are faring in the Northern Midwest:


Kansas: Feb 20 vs Omaha (Canceled)
Kansas State: March 1 vs. San Francisco (Relocated to Fort Worth, TX)
Creighton: March 5 vs. Northern Colorado (Canceled)
Nebraska: March 5 vs. Omaha (Postponed)
Iowa: March 6 vs. Simpson College (Canceled)
Kansas State: March 8 vs. Old Dominion (As Scheduled)
Omaha: March 15 vs. North Dakota State (As Scheduled)
Michigan: March 15 vs. Manhattan (As Scheduled)


Other Notes:

• South Dakota State will play their first home game against Dakota State on April 3rd.

• North Dakota State will play their first home game against Purdue Fort Wayne on April 5th.

• Minnesota will play their first home game against Nebraska on March 29th

• After canceling their home opener against Omaha, Kansas will play their first home game against Baylor on March 29th.

• Michigan State will play their first home game against Central Michigan on March 20th.

End of Regular Season for Jays is Historic, Bittersweet

Creighton Coach Jim Flanery hugs senior Audrey Faber after their game Sunday

Creighton Stuns, Hangs On to Upset #13 Marquette

The Creighton Bluejays could not have asked for a better start to their weekend. Entering Friday, Creighton was sitting at 7-9 in conference, and on the wrong side of their postseason hopes. In front of them was Marquette, who had just clinched a share of the Big East championship, and was looking for their first outright championship since 2000.

That didn't stop Creighton from exploding to the tune of a 20-0 run across the 1st and 2nd quarters against the #13 team in the nation, on their way to a 71-65 victory in DJ Sokol Arena. The run was highlighted by a stretch in which the Jays hit their first 8 shots in the paint to offset the hot start that Marquette had, hitting their first 3 shots from long range.

"[Marquette] didn't help as much on the dribble, we were able to finish without that help coming," said Jim Flanery after the game.

That large cushion softened the impact of 16 second-half turnovers for Creighton, which allowed Marquette to fight back, bringing the final score to a 6-point victory for the Bluejays.

Marquette would end up playing without two key players: Erika Davenport is out for the season after suffering an injury against Butler, and Danielle King fell hard and awkward early in the 4th quarter, and was carried back to the locker room by a trainer.

Turnovers, DePaul Spoil Senior Day

The turnover troubles continued for Creighton into Sunday, when they committed another 21 turnovers and allowed DePaul to come back, despite holding a lead for the first 33 minutes, and leading by as many as 13 points in the 3rd quarter.

Creighton found creative ways to keep DePaul in the game, including traveling, carry, over and back, 3-seconds, and 5-seconds (twice).

Audrey Faber scored 20 points and recorded 5 assists in what will likely be her final game in Omaha. Temi Carda provided fire off the bench with 15 points and 7 rebounds.


Noteworthy

• Friday's victory was the first in Creighton's history over a top-15 team. Creighton was 0-18 against top-15 opponents going into the game.
• The team has come a long way since their 5-game losing streak, and the coach and players have displayed a noticeably different attitude recently.
• The attendance for Senior Day (1,148) was the highest since their game against in-state rival Nebraska (1,533), which was also a sibling rivalry between Brook and Taylor Kissinger.
• Creighton locked in the 6-seed for the Big East tournament, winning the tiebreaker over Providence.