Creighton Bluejays (15-21, 2-10 MVC) vs. Illinois State Redbirds (22-15, 4-7 MVC)
- Friday: 6:30 p.m., TD Ameritrade Park Omaha
- Saturday: 6:30 p.m.
- Sunday: 1:00 p.m.
Creighton continues a four-game home stand with a weekend series against conference foe Illinois State. The Redbirds enter the weekend 4-7 in Missouri Valley Conference games, three games ahead of the Bluejays in the loss column. CU is in last place in the league, having lost 14 of the last 18 games. During that stretch the Bluejays have scored three runs or fewer 12 times, and they’ve been shut out completely in five games.
Click here for a great table pulled together by Steve Pivovar and the folks at the Omaha World-Herald, dissecting Creighton’s individual offensive production during the first 18 games and second 18 games of the 2012 season.
Media Menu
John Bishop and David Gustafson will broadcast the entire weekend series on KOZN AM 1620. You can also track live stats here, and/or get in-game updates via Twitter updates at @gocreighton and @CU_baseball.
Last Week
The Bluejays suffered a sweep against Southern Illinois in Carbondale. Ed Servais and his team returned to Omaha but couldn’t recapture their winning ways, dropping Tuesday’s non-conference home game against Nebraska 4-1.
Illinois State snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Bradley in the second and third games of the two rivals’ three-game series in Normal last weekend. After dropping the first game 13-2, the Redbirds beat up on the Braves 12-3 and 13-5 to win the series. ISU’s only other conference wins came against Wichita State and at Indiana State. The Redbirds come to Omaha having lost a close midweek game to Purdue 3-2.
Historically
Creighton’s won more than twice as many games as Illinois State in the all-time series, holding a 68-33 edge. CU went to Normal in 2011 and took two of three from the Redbirds, after having lost all three games against ISU in Omaha in 2010. CU is 18-6 against ISU during Servais’ tenure as head coach.
On the Mound
- Friday: CU’s Ty Blach (3-4, 2.90 ERA) vs. ISU’s Chris Razo (4-4, 5.76)
- Saturday: CU’s Erik Mattingly (0-2, 2.08) vs. ISU’s Dylan Craig (5-2, 5.62)
- Sunday: CU’s Shane Liska (1-2, 3.62) vs. TBD
Ed Servais and CU pitching coach Rob Smith will tweak the weekend rotation again, moving Ty Blach back to the Friday night starter role against the Redbirds. Blach didn’t record a decision against ISU last season, when he left the series opener with a lead and one out in the sixth inning. The Bluejays bullpen couldn’t hold it, though, and CU dropped the game 5-4.
As a team, Creighton boasts a much better team ERA (3.54) than Illinois State (5.22). And while CU’s ERA has increased incrementally in MVC play, the Redbirds are allowing more than a run and a half more in conference games compared to the season overall. Their 5.22 ERA is last in the MVC, while Creighton’s 3.54 is fourth best among Valley teams.
Teams hit .282 against Illinois State pitching, compared to .251 against Bluejays pitchers. Only Creighton (228) has struck out fewer opponents than Illinois State (249) among MVC teams.
The Bluejays hold a 2.13 ERA in home games this season, but are only 8-8 in those games.
At the Plate
That’s because the Jays simply can’t score enough runs. They are the only MVC school that hasn’t cracked 200+ runs scored in 2012, and they aren’t close: in 36 games CU has plated 155 runs, 4.3 per game. In MVC play that average plummets to about 2.7 runs per game. The Jays are hitting .205 as a team in MVC games, and .234 for the season.
Illinois State, meanwhile, rakes. The Redbirds lead the league with a .306 average, a number that dips to .278 in league games.
Nick Judkins (.299) and Chance Ross (.279) pace Creighton’s offense, while Anthony Bemboom leads the team in runs batted in (25). No CU regular hits better than .300. Conversely, Ty Wiesemeyer (.354), Zac Johnson (.352), Matt Mirabal (.341), and Eric Aguilera (.340) are all among the league’s top ten hitters for average. Kyle Stanton and Kevin Tokarski round out a group of six ISU players who hit better than .300.
Wiesemeyer is the reigning MVC Player of the Week after hitting .471 with a .824 slugging percentage in four games last week.
Facts, Figures, and Fodder
Creighton’s 279th out of 291 teams nationally in batting average, and 244th in scoring… ISU’s Johnson is in the top five in the MVC in average, slugging percentage, and runs batted in… The Redbirds are in the top three league-wide in average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs scored, runs batted in, and home runs… Creighton is last in the Valley in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs scored, hits, RBI, total bases, walks, and stolen bases… Bemboom is riding a career-high 7-game hitting streak.
Weather Forecast
Rain, rain, go away. Precipitation is in the forecast all afternoon/evening in Omaha Friday. The rain gives way to just cloudy skies Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. But if you’re headed to TD Ameritrade Park take a jacket and a blanket; temps are supposed to be in the upper 50s and lower 60s.
