Since going 1-2 in a season opening series with Washington State, the Creighton baseball team has won six of its last eight games and look to carry some momentum into this weekend’s four-game, home-opening series with Chicago State.
The 7-4 Bluejays return home from an 11-day, spring-break road trip that had the team flying and driving all over the country.
“It was a long time to be on the road,” Creighton head coach Ed Servais said. “Everyone, players, coaches and trainers, are excited to be home and to play our first home series against Chicago State. And we are really excited to start conference play a week from Friday.”
The Jays’ road trip began with a five-game sweep in the state of Tennessee. Creighton swept a three-game weekend series at Tennesse-Martin Feb. 29-March 2 and a mid-week doubleheader at Memphis on March 5.
After a rain-out, the Bluejays took both games of Saturday’s doubleheader, 9-4 and 12-1. Junior first baseman Darin Ruf, senior utility man Brett Mieras, and junior shortstop Vicente Cafaro teamed up on offense for a combined eight runs and six extra-base hits.
On Sunday, Creighton picked up the series sweep, beating the Skyhawks 8-2. Senior pitcher Pat Venditte recorded the win for the Jays, allowing just one hit in 4.1 innings of relief.
Eight of Creighton’s 11 hits were for extra bases, including homers by Ruf and junior outfielder Brandon Knox.
At Memphis, the Jays came away with victories of 11-3 and 10-8.
Senior third baseman Steve Winkelmann hit a grand slam in game one and a three-run homer in game two to lead the offense. Redshirt freshman pitchers Joe Bonfe and Greg Hellhake picked up the wins.
The Bluejays and their 6-2 record then boarded a flight to Houston to play in the Rice Classic last weekend.
Their first opponent in the tournament was Western Carolina. The Catamounts jumped on the Bluejays early, scoring eight runs in the first three innings.
Creighton bounced back to within one run of the Catamounts thanks to a three-run double in the fourth inning by Winkelmann and a solo home run by junior right fielder Nick Nordgren in the fifth inning.
Western Carolina scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth and added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth as they went on to win 11-8, ending the Bluejays’ five-game win streak.
Looking to shake the loss and jump back on the winning train, the Bluejay bats caught fire Saturday against Michigan State. The Jays took advantage of four Spartan errors, scoring 11 unearned runs in the game. They went on to win 15-1.
At 1-1, the Bluejays went into a Sunday showdown with the Rice Owls, a team ranked sixth in the nation. In a back-and-forth game, the Bluejays took a 2-1 lead in the top of the second inning with back-to-back home runs by Winkelmann and Nordgren. The Owls quickly jumped back on top in the bottom of the second with a two-run inning.
In the top of the fifth inning, the Bluejays tied the game at 3-3 as senior left fielder Joe Servais singled and later scored on a throwing error. The Bluejays took a 4-3 lead in the same inning with an RBI single by sophomore center fielder Robbie Knight.
The Bluejay lead was again short-lived as the Owls pulled ahead 5-4 in the bottom of the fifth inning.
But the Bluejays weren’t done yet. They added two more runs in the top of the sixth inning. A sacrifice fly by Servais tied the game, and then Nordgren scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch to take a 6-5 lead.
The Owls added two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to go ahead 7-6 and then retired the Creighton side in the top of the ninth, handing the Bluejays their fourth loss of the season.
“This was our first loss with holding the lead after six innings in sixty-four straight games,” Servais said. “We haven’t had many of these close games so far this season. I think we will have 15-18 more close games like this and we need to learn how to finish them.”
Winkelmann finished the week with three home runs, two doubles and 17 RBIs. His efforts earned him both the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week award and the Co-National Player of the Week by CollegeBaseballInsider.com.
The Jays have their home opener today as the Chicago State Cougars come to town for a four-game series at the CU Sports Complex.
Chicago State is 3-7 so far on the season, matching their total number of wins from the 2007 season. Their pitching staff owns a 7.89 ERA with 43 walks, 45 strikeouts and has already served up 11 home runs. No pitcher has an ERA below 6.50.
They are led offensively by junior Josh Appelbaum, who has the highest average on the team at .438 with six of the team’s 10 home runs and 16 of 39 RBI’s. He also has one of the three pitching wins for the Cougars.