The Creighton Baseball team was 2-1 after winning two out of the three games in their road series in their first weekend of the season. Last weekend, the Bluejays flew to Southern California to compete in the Tony Gwynn tournament, which went from Friday to Sunday for Creighton.
Creighton started their performance in this tournament with a heartbreaking 8-7 loss at the hands of the UC San Diego Tritons on Friday night. Creighton’s offense showed impressive consistency in the game, putting up a run in seven different innings, but their defense struggled in the bottom of the seventh when the Tritons managed to score five of their eight runs.
In the top of the second, senior outfielder Teddy Deters scored a run thanks to a sacrifice fly from redshirt junior outfielder Issac Wachmann. The Tritons responded with 2 runs in the bottom of the second due to an RBI single from graduate student outfielder Nick Costello, followed by a sacrifice fly from junior infielder/outfielder Antony Potestio.
Creighton’s consistency then allowed the Bluejays to build a lead. Senior catcher Nate McHugh’s RBI allowed sophomore infielder Nick Venteicher to score, tying things up in the third. The Bluejays took a 3-2 lead in the fourth when graduate student infielder/outfielder Chris Baillargeon hit a solo homerun to left center. The Bluejays then expanded their lead in the fifth inning when junior catcher Connor Capece had an RBI that caused Deters to put on another run, making the score 4-2 in favor of the Bluejays.
The Tritons responded with an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth which cut Creighton’s lead to 4-3. However, Creighton took advantage of an unearned run themselves in the 6th, and an RBI from Wachmann in the top of the seventh, Creighton was doubling up the Trion’s with a score of 6-3 going into the stretch.
The bottom of the 7th inning is when things started to fall apart for the Bluejays. The Tritons hung 5 runs on the Bluejays which gave them a 2-run lead going into the eighth inning at 8-6.
The 8th inning was scoreless for both teams, with the score remaining 8-6 going into the ninth. The Bluejays knew they had to tie or take the lead in the top of the inning to extend the game. Creighton was able to score a run when Capece had an RBI that led Deters to score, but they failed to score a tying run. The game ended with an 8-7 loss, putting Creighton’s record at 2-2.
The 2nd game was played against another foe from the city of San Diego. Creighton’s Saturday game was against the San Diego Toreros at 7 p.m. in San Diego.
The Toreros started doing their damage early. Senior catcher Jayden Lobliner hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning, giving San Diego a 2-0 lead. The Toreros created significant separation in the second; they put five runs on the Bluejays, and Creighton trailed 7-0 going into the third inning. Graduate student outfielder Andrew Gauna had an RBI in the 4th, expanding San Diego’s lead to 8-0.
In the top of the 5th, the Bluejays started showing life. Venteicher had a base hit that allowed Creighton to score two runs. The Bluejays would then put on another run when Wachsmann had an RBI, making things 8-3. Creighton tacked more on, as graduate student infielder Ben North’s RBI double knocked in two runs, tightening the score to 8-5.
Unfortunately for the Bluejays, the Toreros scored three more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Creighton would never recover and lost by a final score of 15-5, dropping the Bluejays to a record of 2-3.
Creighton’s third and final game of the weekend was against the Utah Utes at 1 p.m. on Sunday. In the top of the first, Capece got an RBI. The Bluejays notched two more runs after McHugh scored on a passed ball, and graduate student Chris Baillargeon scored on a wild pitch. All of a sudden, Creighton enjoyed an early 3-0 lead.
The Utes came back with a vengeance, scoring in the second and fourth innings and stifling the Bluejay offense to make the game 3-2. The fifth inning was a struggle, as Utah scored six runs, building an 8-3 lead. The Bluejays claimed an unearned run in the seventh. In the ninth inning, Utah junior outfielder Jake Long scored off an RBI.
Utah ended up winning the game by a final score of 9-4, dropping the Bluejays to 2-4 on the season. One positive note for the Bluejays in this game was starting pitcher Eli Nissan. During the first four innings of the ballgame, Nissan only allowed two runs on four hits.
The Bluejays are back in action this evening against the Tarleton State Texans to begin the REV Texas Tournament.