Creighton baseball was picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley Conference this season, according to the preseason MVC poll. The poll is voted on by the league’s head coaches. Besides taking into account the reputations and traditions of the different schools, the coaches also look at the players.
“I think most coaches look at where your team ended up the previous year, and then who’s returning, especially on the mound,” head coach Ed Servais said. “If you return a lot of pitchers, coaches are gonna give you probably a higher ranking, understanding that that’s a very important position. Obviously, it’s important to have as many returning pitchers as possible.”
Creighton received 66 points, behind the Missouri State Bears who received 80 points. Behind the Jays were Wichita State and Southern Illinois, who received 63 and 45 points respectively.
“It is nice to see that we were picked to finish [second], and it shows that the coaches around the league respect or program and the direction we are headed,” senior first baseman Darin Ruf said.
Although a second place ranking is good, the Jays have set their sights higher.
“Honestly, a lot of teams may be happy with a preseason second place,” junior pitcher Kirk Clark said. “We really are fueled as a team to prove everyone wrong who tabbed us as second. We believe we work the hardest as a team, and that fuels our fire on top of working the hardest, to work towards being No. 1 at the end of the season.”
The 2009 team will feature 17 newcomers, which includes 12 freshmen, on the 36-man roster. The newcomers will look to replace last year’s seniors and fill some of the holes.
“The new players, especially many of the junior college transfers, are going to need to step up and help us immediately,” Ruf said. “For the freshmen, the most important job, as much as they want to help immediately, is to learn and accept their roles, whatever they may be.”
Clark transferred to Creighton from Iowa Western Community College, and is among those competing for the closer’s role, looking to pick up where Pat Venditte left off at the end of last season.
“Pat sure does have big shoes to fill as a player,” Clark said. “I’m sure we as a bullpen will help fulfill that role. It affects us because so much is put on our shoulder. But we do have the relief of one of the best defensive teams in the nation, so no matter what we do in the pen, we have the best in the nation behind us, so that helps our confidence.”
The Jays are starting the 2009 season with a 14-game road trip. The trip will take the team to Huntsville, Texas, Phoenix, Ariz., Manhattan, Kan., Conway, S.C. and Wilmington, N.C. They won’t play a game at home in the CU Sports Complex until their three-game series against South Dakota State, which starts on March 13.
“It would be nice to play at the complex, because we have such an advantage there, but this is Nebraska, and we can’t count on the weather being ‘baseball friendly’ so early in the spring,” Ruf said.