When last we saw the Creighton baseball team, the Bluejays beat Georgia in the first game of the NCAA Tournament Corvallis Regional before losing to Oregon State and the Bulldogs. The NCAA Tournament appearance was the first for the Bluejays since 2007. The 2012 Creighton baseball team begins its defense of last season’s Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament championships this weekend, when the Jays start their season at Central Arkansas.
WBR will preview Ed Servais’ 2012 squad all week. Today we take a look at the projected Creighton infield.
Click here for a preview of the CU pitching staff.
Continuity is the key term to describe Creighton’s infield in 2012. The Bluejays return starters at third base, shortstop, first base, and catcher. Familiar faces abound up and down the Bluejay batting order, led by shortstop Alex Staehely (Jr.). Third on the 2011 team in at bats, Staehely is Creighton’s leading returner in batting average (.285), hits (65 last season), doubles (23), and total bases (103).
Alex Staehely anchors the Creighton defense at shortstop (Adam Streur/WBR)
Third baseman Chance Ross (Sr.) joins Staehely to anchor the left side of the infield. Ross started every game for the 2011 Bluejays, racking up 216 at bats and hitting .218.
Chance Ross played a solid third base in 2011, his first season at CU (Adam Streur/WBR)
Nick Judkins brings a left-handed bat to first base for the Bluejays (Adam Streur/WBR)
On the other side of the diamond, Nick Judkins (Sr.) returns to play first base for the Bluejays. Judkins, who hit .227 as a junior, was outstanding defensively in 2011, committing just two errors and posting a .997 fielding percentage.
The Bluejays enter 2012 without Jimmy Swift, their senior second baseman last season. Replacing him will be Michael Mutcheson (Sr.), who hit .273 in 2011.
Anthony Bemboom (Sr.) and Scott Thornburg (Sr.) return behind the dish for Ed Servais and the Bluejays.
Bemboom, a preseason All-MVC pick in 2012, started in 49 of the 55 games in which he played in 2011. He hit .233 with three triples and four home runs.
Thornburg enters his final year as a Bluejay, having played in 90 games as a sophomore and junior after leading the 2009 freshman class in playing time. Thornburg started 37 games in 2011 as designated hitter or catcher. He hit .274 with 16 RBI.
Anthony Bemboom scores the winning run against Missouri State (Adam Streur/WBR)
Gabriel Thibodeaux (Sr.) adds experience to the Bluejays bench. He earned 43 at bats in 21 games as a first-year player in 2011, hitting .256 and driving in 4 runs. Three of his 11 hits were doubles. Joining Thibodeaux on the bench are newcomers Petr Zyma (Jr.), Jake Peter (Fr.), Reagan Fowler (Fr.), Tommy Clouthier (Fr.), and Trevon McGill (Fr.).
Scott Thorburg split time at catcher and DH in 2011 (Adam Streur/WBR)
Each of the newcomers brings his own unique experience to the Bluejays. Zyma played for the Czech National Baseball Team in 2010. Peter led his Mason City (IA) High School team to back-to-back state tournaments, all while picking up loads of individual hardware for his offensive output. Fowler, from nearby Millard South, was second-team all-state as a senior, during which time he hit .457 for the Patriots. Clouthier comes to Creighton from Mountain Vista High School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, where he holds the record for career varsity games played. And McGill, from Lincoln was first-team all-state in Nebraska and represented Team Nebraska in a tournament in Chicago in July 2010.
