This past weekend, the Creighton baseball team took on the Seton Hall Pirates for their second series of the Big East season. After a big 16-4 walk-off win against North Dakota State, the Jays were looking to keep this momentum heading into the series.
With the sweep, the Bluejays improved to 18-15 on the season overall and 4-2 in Big East play. In command throughout the series, the pitching staff recorded 32 strikeouts while the offense produced 23 runs on 28 hits
On Friday evening, junior Jack Pineau threw 106 pitches, allowing just four hits and one walk. He struck out eight batters and led Creighton to its first shutout of the season. He was backed by relief from Jimmy Burke and Eli Nisson for the final nine outs, ending the game 5-0.
“Anytime your Friday night guy goes out and gives up no runs and gives you six solid innings … that’s where the whole game started for us and was the most important part of the game,” head coach Mark Kingston said. “If you’re not going to score double digits, you really want your pitchers to step up, and I thought it was a good team effort that way.”
On Saturday, dominant starting pitching continued. Junior Shea Wendt delivered a career-high seven innings of one-run ball, striking out a career-high eight. Creighton’s bats heated up, as senior designated hitter Nate McHugh earned four RBIs.
Sunday’s game proved to be successful for Creighton as the Bluejays carried Friday and Saturday’s win momentum into the games.
Freshman standout Wilson Magers made his first appearance on the mound in eight weeks and looked sharp from the start. The reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year threw three hitless innings, striking out five while allowing just one run on 40 pitches.
Creighton’s offense once again delivered timely power. Redshirt junior Isaac Wachsmann tied the game 1-1 in the third inning with his team-leading seventh home run of the season, continuing his recent surge after homering in four of the last five games.
“Isaac’s been really developing over the last month or so, and I think he’s really trending in a good direction,” Kingston said. “He’s been giving us a lot of production and really quality at-bats as of late.”
An inning later, sophomore Nick Venteicher blasted his first home run of the season, a 404-foot shot above the Bluejay bullpen, scoring catcher Connor Capece. Creighton added another run later in the inning when graduate student Ben North doubled home Nate McHugh to make it 4-1.
The Bluejay bullpen kept Seton Hall quiet for the rest of the game. Freshman pitcher Jakob Ruhl earned the win after nearly three scoreless innings, while redshirt senior Jimmy Burke escaped a sixth-inning jam before Creighton broke the game open in the seventh.
North launched a three-run homer into the Creighton bullpen to push the lead to 7-1, part of a four-RBI day for the Bluejay slugger. Creighton added two more insurance runs over the final two innings to seal the victory.
North finished 2-for-4 with four RBIs, while McHugh collected three hits and extended his hitting streak to eight games.
The Bluejays’ recent success has come from a balanced formula of pitching, defense and timely hitting. On Friday, for instance, the wind and colder temperatures limited how far the ball could carry.
“It wasn’t a great night to hit, so I thought the pitching and defense really carried the day,” Kingston said.
The ability to adapt to conditions, whether it calls for shutdown pitching or opportunistic offense, has been key during Creighton’s recent stretch. Still, the Bluejays aren’t getting caught up in series results. The clubhouse remains focused on its day-to-day process.
“Every game is its own entity,” Kingston said. “The Big East schedule is 21 games, 21 individual games. It’s not about series.”
Following a 4-5 loss at Nebraska Tuesday night, Creighton returns to action in a three-game series at Villanova this weekend. First pitch in Philadelphia is set for Friday at 2 p.m. All games will be streamed on ESPN+.
