- Tuesday: BYU, 6:00 p.m., TD Ameritrade Park Omaha
- Wednesday: Louisiana Tech, 6:00 p.m., TD Ameritrade Park Omaha
Rejoice! Creighton baseball is back in Omaha! The Bluejays open their home schedule Tuesday and Wednesday with games at TD Ameritrade Park against BYU and Louisiana Tech. And the Baseball Gods couldn’t be happier; the forecast calls for temps in the upper 70s both days and no rain. Hallelujah!
Media Menu
Radio broadcasts for Bluejays games won’t start until later in the season. Until then, you can follow Creighton baseball via live stats on the web (here) or via Twitter updates at @gocreighton and @CU_baseball.
Last Weekend
The Bluejays wrapped up their spring break road trip through California with a series win against the Pacific Tigers, moving to 7-6 on the season.
In Friday’s game, CU ace Ty Blach paced the Bluejays to an 11-9 win. Blach was stellar, allowing just one earned run (four total) in 6.2 innings. He struck out six while walking one, picking up his second win of the season in the process.
Blach got support from the Bluejays bats, who chased Tigers starter Michael Benson after two innings of work. Erik Mattingly walked to lead off the second inning, and Mike Gerber doubled him in for the game’s first run. Alex Staehely sacrificed Gerber to third, but Jake Peter struck out for the second out. No worries; the Jays would score four two-out runs, thanks to a Brennan Murphy walk, a Chance Ross walk, a two-run single by Anthony Bemboom, and a two-run triple by Nick Judkins.
Alex Staehely scores for Creighton against Pacific (Mike Spomer/WBR)
A leadoff single helped get Creighton’s run production started again in the sixth inning, when Peter coaxed a free pass to start the frame. Murphy sacrificed him to second, but Ross struck out for the second out. Once again, the Jays did damage with two gone, as Bemboom doubled to bring Peter home and Judkins brought Bemboom in to score with a single.
Peter’s RBI triple bought Staehely home in the seventh, and then the Jays added three more runs in the eighth inning, all with two outs. Gerber’s RBI single scored Judkins and Staehely connected on a two-run double to wrap CU’s scoring for the night.
The usually solid Creighton bullpen gave up Pacific runs in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings, but Reese McGraw struck out the tying run to end the game and give the Jays the series opening win.
The Bluejays took an early 3-0 lead in Saturday’s game, but CU pitchers surrendered nine unanswered runs from that point forward, and Creighton dropped the game 9-3. The game started well enough, with Ross and Bemboom doubling and Scott Thornburg hitting a sacrifice fly to plate the first two runs of the game. Gerber added another double, scoring Bemboom, to give Creighton three first-inning runs.
The Jays took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning, but CU starter Andrew Urban was unable to get an out before leaving trailing 4-3. Mark Winkelman relieved Urban and gave up three runs, Chase Webb got through 1.2 innings unscathed, and Mark Lukowski gave up two runs in an inning of work.
Sunday’s rubber match, a 12-1 Creighton win, started well for the Bluejays. Once again Ross and Bemboom led off the game with back to back doubles, and a one-out throwing error brought in another run, giving CU a 2-0 lead. The Jays would add to it in the third inning, when they loaded the bases with one out and Peter drew a run scoring walk. Brad McKewon brought in another run with a sac fly, and the Jays led 4-0.
Pacific scratched a run across in the bottom of that frame, but the Bluejays poured it on in the top of the fourth inning, scoring four runs and taking an 8-1 lead. Thornburg scored Ross on a double, and then Gerber scored Thornburg and Judkins on a ground-rule two-bagger. He’d advance to third on a wild pitch and score on a double by Staehely.
The Jays added a run in the fifth on Judkins RBI single, and then three more in the seventh on a bases-loaded single by Thornburg, a passed ball, and an RBI groundout.
Meanwhile Nick Musec (7 innings, 5 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts) held Pacific in check, winning his second game of the season. Shane Liska and Kurt Spomer both pitched an inning in relief, with neither man surrendering a run.
As for Creighton’s midweek opponents, BYU actually got to Omaha earlier in the week and beat Nebraska-Omaha 19-9 Monday afternoon. The Cougars have yet to play a home game, traveling instead to UC Riverside (won the series 2-1), St. Mary’s (won the series 2-1), #4 Arkansas (lost two games), and UC Irvine (lost the series 2-1).
Louisiana Tech didn’t play last weekend, but will bring a 9-6 record to Nebraska this week ahead of a single game against Creighton and a four-game series in Lincoln against the Huskers. The Bulldogs already have a win against 2011 CWS participant Vanderbilt, 9-3 in Nashville.
Historically
The Bluejays and Cougars met for the first time last season, splitting a pair of games at the CU Sports Complex in March. Louisiana Tech and Creighton have met only once before, a 6-5 CU win in 1992.
On the Mound
- Tuesday: CU’s Ty Blach (2-0, 1.73 ERA) vs. BYU’s Desmond Poulson (0-0, 9.45 ERA)
- Wednesday: CU’s Andrew Urban (0-1, 4.09 ERA) vs. LTU’s Jeb Stefan (1-2, 6.00 ERA)
The Bluejays will roll out the big gun, Blach, against BYU Tuesday in their home opener. The Cougars will counter with Poulson, who started one of his two appearances and is allowing a .321 average against. Blach, meanwhile, leads Creighton in innings pitched (26) and strikeouts (15) while allowing just a .211 average against.
Wednesday’s matchup on the mound pits Urban against Stefan, with both pitchers trying to better their early season performances.
At the Plate
Nick Judkins is crushing the ball for the Bluejays right now, pacing the offense with a .404 average and 13 runs batted in. Judkins is slugging .519 and has a .516 on base percentage, both tops among CU batters. Chance Ross is performing well in the leadoff role, hitting .306 with a team-high 15 runs scored.
Tanner Chauncey leads BYU with a .414 average and 7 runs scored, while Brock Whitney (12) leads the team in RBI. Louisiana Tech is paced by Alex Williams, who leads the Bulldogs with a .431 average and 6 home runs. That’s twice as many homers for Williams as Creighton has a team. The Bulldogs have scored 92 runs in 15 games, hitting .315 as a team.
Facts, Figures, and Fodder
A few days after playing Pacific and Tigers coach Ed Sprague, the Bluejays will see another former MLB player in the opposing dugout. BYU head coach Vance Law played 10 seasons in the majors, for teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox and Cubs, Montreal Expos, and the Oakland A’s… Chance Ross has reached base safely to open each of the last five Creighton games… Brennan Murphy has five steals; no Creighton player has stolen more than 27 since 2002…Nick Musec’s seven innings of work in the 12-2 win over Pacific were a career high… the Bluejays are 9-1 in their last 10 home openers… Creighton logged more than 8,600 miles playing their first 13 games on the road.
Weather
It will feel like late May Tuesday and Wednesday in Omaha. Get to TD Ameritrade Park to celebrate the return of baseball!