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.
The 2012 Creighton Bluejays baseball season starts this afternoon. We’ve previewed Ed Servais’ 2012 squad all week. Today we take a look at the projected Creighton outfield.
Click here for a preview of the CU pitching staff and here for a preview of the Bluejays infield.
The loss of right fielder Trever Adams leaves a gaping hole in Creighton’s outfield production. Adams was the prominent power threat in the heart of Ed Servais’ lineup last season. The first Bluejays outfielder since 2000 to be named first team All-MVC, Adams led the Jays in almost every offensive statistic imaginable. Adams hit almost twice as many home runs in 2011 (14) as the rest of the team’s returning outfielders in 2012 combined (8). His 57 runs batted in also eclipsed the 40 runs batted in by the rest of the team’s outfield.
The Bluejays are counting on Mike Gerber (So.) to improve on a solid freshman season. He hit .280 in 2011, and improved his average to .317 in Missouri Valley Conference games. He was second on the 2011 squad with 7 home runs, and he knocked in 23 runs while playing an errorless center field. Gerber received recognition as a second-team All-MVC selection, while Collegiate Baseball named him a Freshman All-American. He strikes out too much (a team-high 61 SOs in 2011), but has the potential to put up impressive offensive numbers.
Freshman All-American Mike Gerber returns to the Creighton outfield in 2012 (Adam Streur/WBR)
Brad McKewon (So.) will back up Gerber in center field and pinch hit in key situations. McKewon, a native of Omaha, played in 20 games as a freshman in 2011.
Three returners will battle for the starting job in left field. Michael Blatchford (Jr.) played in 23 games in 2011, battling injuries for the second consecutive season. Jordan Makovicka (Jr.) played in 16 games and hit .333 in limited at bats. Erik Mattingly (Sr.) played in 22 games, but is probably best known among Bluejays fans for his win out of the bullpen in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament against Missouri State.
Brennan Murphy (Jr.), a transfer from Butler Community College, will get an early season opportunity to claim the starting right fielder job Adams vacated. Murphy was a key cog in two NJCAA Playoffs teams at Butler. Pushing Murphy for playing time is returner Jerry Mitchell (So.) and newcomer Brandon Mikulka (Fr.). Mitchell didn’t play as a freshman, but adds depth as a backup catcher too. Mikulka comes to Creighton from Washington state, where he was a second-team all-state honoree as a senior.