Crystal clear Omaha skies provided the backdrop Tuesday for what became the scene of a slow paced Creighton baseball loss to local rival University of Nebraska at Lincoln, 4-1.

This loss marks the fourth in a row for the Jays after giving up three on the road at Southern Illinois University.

With a crowd of over 9,000 in TD Ameritrade last night, it was unfortunate to see the Jays unable to find their groove on the field, especially at the plate.

“We just were not able to string anything together and gain offensive momentum,” said sophomore outfielder Bradley McKewon, who scored the Jays’ only run of the night.

Creighton mustered only three hits the entire game compared to the Huskers’ whopping thirteen.  The numerous scoreless innings were plagued with static efforts at the plate.  Two out of every nine Bluejay batters went down looking.

The Jays put their only points on the board in the sixth inning when McKewon got on base with a single and then was brought home thanks to a gap-shot double by the current team leader in RBI, senior catcher Anthony Bemboom.  McKewon, Bemboom, and junior infielder Alex Staehly had the only three hits of the night.

While the strength and consistency of Nebraska’s batting would have suggested otherwise, the Jays’ pitching seemed to be the only thing going right all night.

Bluejay relievers junior Mark Winkelman and seniors Chase Webb and Kurt Spomer each held the Huskers to scoreless innings.  Between the Jays’ five pitchers, over 150 pitches were thrown with 98 being strikes.  The Jays’ pitching boasted higher strikes-thrown percentages as well as a lower ERA numbers than that of Nebraska.

“Our pitching philosophy is to throw quality strikes and let our defense make plays,” Spomer said. “We have one of the top defensive teams in the country, so we trust that they will do their job.”

The Jays did everything in their power to create a truly diverse defensive game to thwart off the Huskers’ heavy hitters, but it was simply not enough.

With the two runs the Huskers scored in the first two innings, an additional two in the eighth gave them a seemingly untouchable lead with the final outs to go.

Tuesday’s loss drops the Bluejays’ record to 15-21 overall.  The Illinois State Redbirds will be in town this weekend to play a three game conference series against the Jays at TD Ameritrade.