Sophomore sensation Andrew Benintendi clubbed his 17th home run of the season with one out in the top of the seventh inning to highlight No. 21 Arkansas’ 6-2 victory over the Creighton Bluejays on Tuesday night at TD Ameritrade Park.
Benintendi, a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award given to the top amateur baseball player in the country, came into the game leading the Southeastern Conference with a .405 batting average and 16 home runs. He added to that lead in those categories as well as his team’s lead over the Bluejays with his 7th inning blast off right-handed relief pitcher Max Ising that landed amongst his teammates in the right field bullpen.
“Yeah, he’s good,” Creighton head coach Ed Servais said when asked if the Razorback center fielder was the real deal. “I didn’t think a ball was going to go out tonight … he hit it low enough and he’s got the bad speed. He’s a special player. Probably the best one that we’ve seen this year just in sheer bat speed, and then he’s got a calming way of playing the game. When you get a special player, that’s how they play. They don’t get sped up. They don’t get too anxious. He was very calm in that batter’s box, and he’s going to have a nice career at the next level.”
The SEC Player of the Year frontrunner highlighted a late surge by the Arkansas offense that produced runs in three of the final four innings after a lull in the early innings.
The Razorbacks (Overall: 31-19, SEC: 15-11) were able to scratch across a run in the top of the second inning thanks to some good hitting with two strikes and a Creighton miscue. Third baseman Bobby Wernes worked the count full before sending a single into left field off Creighton left-hander Jeff Albrecht. The next hitter, second baseman Rick Nomura, found the same hole for a 1-2 offering from Albrecht to put two men. A fly ball to deep right field moved Wernes up to third. He hustled home to give the Razorbacks a 1-0 lead after Creighton catcher Kevin Lamb couldn’t squeeze a two-out pitch that was high and outside.
The Bluejays (Overall: 27-17, Big East: 10-4) tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning. With two outs and designated hitter Matt Gandy on third base, center fielder Daniel Woodrow lined the second pitch he saw from Arkansas reliever Lance Phillips just over shortstop Michael Bernal’s glove and into center field for a game-tying RBI single.
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See photos from this game taken by WBR photographer Mike Spomer
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According to Wernes, that lit a fire under the Razorbacks who took advantage of some timely and more Creighton mistakes in the top half of the sixth inning. Designated hitter Brett McAfee started it off with a one-out walk. Then Wernes drove him in one pitch later to retake the lead on a triple down the right field line. After working a full count against Creighton relief pitcher Nick Highberger, Arkansas’ Rick Nomura recorded his second base hit of the evening, an RBI single to right field to bring Wernes in to score.
Creighton right fielder Kevin Connolly caught Nomura’s single on a hop and threw home to try keep Wernes from scoring, but his throw bounced past catcher Lamb. With nobody backing up Lamb, the ball rolled to the backstop and Nomura ended at third base on the error. Three pitches later, that error produced the third run of the inning when Michael Bernal singled to left field, Nomura scored easily to make it 4-1, Razorbacks.
“We try to make it a priority as a team where if they score, we score,” Wernes said. “That’s what we feel like we have to do to win. When they score that’s a huge opportunity for us as an offense to answer back. It all started with Brett — good at-bat, getting on base, and I had an easy job. I just had to drive him in.”
Both teams added a run in the seventh inning. Benintendi’s homer in the top half extended the lead to four runs. In the bottom half, Lamb’s RBI single cut Creighton’s deficit to 5-2. It also put runners on the corners with only one out, but Arkansas right-hander Dominic Taccolini struck out Daniel Woodrow on three pitches and then Lamb was thrown out trying to steal second base after a pitch bounced away from catcher Carson Shaddy. It didn’t get too far away, however, as Shaddy was able to retrieve the ball and gun down his catching counterpart to end the Creighton rally.
The Razorbacks added a run in the ninth inning on a double play ball with the bases loaded and nobody out that scored first baseman Clark Eagan to make it 6-2 and seal the win for the visitors. The loss was the fifth in the last eight games, and fourth in a row at home for a Creighton club that heads into Thursday’s three-game series with Villanova (Overall: 22-25, Big East: 7-8), looking to get their “mojo” back.
“We have to eliminate the mental mistakes that we made today,” senior catcher Kevin Lamb said. “I think that having our practice tomorrow, and going into this weekend with our heads on straight is very important. Especially because you want the momentum going into the conference tournament, so that’s we’ll be working for.”
With the number two seed all but completely locked up, it might not seem on paper like the Bluejays have more to play for than the Wildcats this weekend. Villanova is one of four teams fighting for the final two spots in the Big East tournament that takes place May 21-24th at TD Ameritrade Park, but with Creighton’s struggles down the stretch, Ed Servais says his team has plenty to play for as well.
“I think every game is important,” the Creighton skipper said. “I get a kick out of when people say, ‘well this game’s not important or that game’s not important.’ Hey, we’re putting our uniforms on, the scoreboard is on, they’re all important. If you’re a prideful athlete, every time you get a chance to compete it’s a big deal. We’re looking forward to Thursday. We’re not looking at any standings or anything like that. We’re just trying to get ourselves right. We’re trying to get back that competitive edge that we had a little while ago, and we have to get some guys going with the bat a little bit, too. Hopefully the weather holds up and we get our game in on Thursday, because it’s real important that we play.”
