The Creighton baseball team broke out the brooms on Sunday, sweeping North Dakota in a thrilling three-game series over the weekend after weather cancellations on Wednesday and Friday.
Having lost four of five games coming into the series, the Jays righted the ship, winning by scores of 6-2, 4-3 and 8-6. The wins moved the Jays to 15-10-1 on the season.
The Jays displayed offensive firepower on Sunday as they completed the sweep. The teams combined for 24 hits and six walks in the 8-6 Bluejay win at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha.
Sophomore Taylor Elman got the start on the mound for the Jays, but it was fellow sophomore Nick Highberger who earned his first win of the season, while senior Bryan Sova picked up his sixth save of the year.
After allowing a leadoff double to start the game, Elman settled in to retire the next five hitters as the Jays jumped out to their first lead of the game. Sophomore infielder Ryan Fitzgerald knocked a huge three-run triple to center. Junior infielder David Wiedeman grounded out to bring Fitzgerald in, capping a four-run second inning for the Bluejays.
North Dakota quickly responded, however, putting up four runs off of six hits in the top of the third inning. Elman managed to tag a runner at the plate following a wild pitch to end the inning, but his day was still over. He finished having allowed four runs off of seven hits in three innings of work.
Sophomore Tommy Strunc came in to start the fourth, but only recorded one out and walked two before giving way to sophomore Nick Highberger, who ended the threat.
North Dakota took their first lead in the top of the fifth off of three hits, but left two runners on base. The Jays wasted no time in responding, putting up three runs in the bottom half of the inning.
Two errors on one play left the Jays with one out and runners on second and third for senior outfielder Mike Gerber. Gerber launched a double to center, bringing in senior outfielder Brad McKewon and junior infielder Jake Peter. Fowler singled to score Gerber, giving the Jays a 7-5 lead.
North Dakota refused to go away, and plated a run in the top of the seventh to cut the Jays’ lead to one. With runners on the corners and only one out, Fowler made what head coach Ed Servais said might have been the play of the day, fielding a grounder and tagging first before throwing home to prevent the run from scoring. The double play left the Jays with the 7-6 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh.
Gerber gave the Jays some insurance in the inning, blasting a home run to right to earn the 8-6 lead that would last for the rest of the game.
Junior Mark Lukowski allowed one hit in the eighth inning, but struck out two and preserved the Jays’ lead before handing the ball over to Sova, who allowed two singles before ending the game with a fly out.
“We needed to get a better feel for ourselves,” Servais said. “We went through a really tough stretch there with playing a lot of good teams, and then we didn’t play particularly well. I still think there’s a lot of room for improvement, but you’re starting to see our bats come around a little bit, not only during the game but in batting practice.”
The second game of Saturday’s doubleheader saw the most thrilling finish of the series, as the Jays won 4-3 on a wild walk-off in the bottom of the ninth.
Neither team scored in the first four innings of the game, but North Dakota struck first, plating two in the top of the fifth.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Jays knotted the game at 2-2. Fitzgerald and McKewon found themselves on second and third following a sacrifice bunt from sophomore infielder Tommy Clouthier after each recorded a single. A sacrifice fly from Peter advanced both runners and the bases were loaded after Murray was hit by a pitch and Fowler walked. McKewon scored off of a wild pitch before the inning ended.
A North Dakota run in the top of the ninth put the Jays in danger, but a ninth inning rally for the Jays would prove to be the difference in the game. Wiedeman singled and stole second, bringing up sophomore Brandon Mikulka to pinch-hit with two outs. Mikulka blasted a triple to right, tying the game for the Jays. With a chance to win the game, Fitzgerald hit a hard grounder to second that was misplayed by the second baseman, and a sprinting Fitzgerald beat the play at first while Mikulka scored to give the Jays the walk-off win.
“It was close, but I knew I had it,” Fitzgerald said about the play at first. “I knew I was 3-3 on the day, and 4-4 would have been even better, but just hitting it hard was good enough for me.”
Fitzgerald led the Jays with three hits in the game, going 3-4 with a run. The final play of the game was recorded as an error, not a hit. The Jays finished with seven hits and two walks. The triple was Mikulka’s first hit as a Jay.
“All the anticipation was leading up to me getting that first hit, so it’s good to get it out of the way,” Mikulka said.
Peter earned his second win of the year for the Jays on the mound, allowing one hit and striking out two in an inning of work.
The Jays dominated the first game of the series on Saturday following the weather cancellation on Friday. They cruised to the 6-2 win behind dominant pitching as sophomore pitcher Matt Warren improved to 6-0 on the year.
“When you’re a starting pitcher, you have to throw three pitches for strikes,” Servais said. “He’s one of our few that can do that, and that’s why he’s able to go six or seven innings.”
Warren turned in yet another strong outing, going 7 2/3 innings while allowing two runs (one earned) off of three hits and five walks while striking out three. The Jays were quick to give him run support, putting up two runs in the bottom of the first.
McKewon walked and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from freshman infielder Nicky Lopez before a single from Peter scored the first run of the game. Peter later scored off of a single from Fowler to give the Jays the 2-0 lead.
The Jays piled on three more runs in the bottom of the fifth to extend the lead to 5-0.
McKewon scored off of a Lopez groundout after walking, stealing second and advancing to third on an errant throw by the catcher. A single from Peter and a double from Gerber put runners on second and third for Fowler, who capitalized by hitting a triple to right.
A troublesome eighth inning saw four different pitchers for the Jays, as North Dakota trimmed the lead to 5-2. Warren recorded the first two outs while also walking two batters, giving way to Highberger. One hit ended his day, as Servais then went to Oltman. An error and a walk led to Sova entering the game, who finally recorded the final out of the inning, and eventually the final out of the game.
The Jays produced 12 hits on the day compared to the four produced by North Dakota. Peter finished 3-4 with an RBI and two runs, while Fowler finished 2-4 with three RBIs. Murray and Fitzgerald also recorded two-hit games for the Jays.
The Jays dropped a mid-week game to in-state rival Nebraska 4-2. The Jays led 2-1 heading into the eighth, but the Cornhuskers rallied for three runs in the inning to earn the victory Tuesday evening.
Creighton opens up Big East play Friday night with a three-game series against the Georgetown Hoyas. First pitch is set for 6:30 at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha.