Creighton vs. Southern Illinois Preview
- Friday: 6:30 p.m., TD Ameritrade Park, Omaha
- Saturday: 2:00 p.m., TD Ameritrade Park, Omaha
- Sunday: 1:00 p.m., TD Ameritrade Park, Omaha
Media Menu
All three games against the Salukis will be broadcast on 1620 AM, with John Bishop, David Gustafson, and Jake Ryan providing play-by-play and color analysis.
Saturday, Bishop will join Kevin Kugler on Nebraska Educational Television (NET) and NET-HD for the live TV broadcast. There will be a free video webcast of the game on NET’s website.
And as always, www.gocreighton.com will have streaming audio and live stats all weekend.
Last weekend…
The Bluejays hit the road and took three games from Indiana State. Creighton’s Ty Blach controlled Friday’s 4-0 win, while Anthony Bemboom hit two home runs and Jimmy Swift also smacked a dinger. Saturday saw the middle of the CU lineup collect 7 of the team’s 10 hits, as the Creighton offense backed up Jonas Dufek for a 9-5 victory. And with Sunday’s game tied 5-5 headed to the ninth inning, Nick Judkins hit a leadoff home run in the top of the frame that Kurt Spomer made stand in the bottom half, giving the Bluejays a 6-5 win and the sweep.
The Salukis are ten games under .500 overall, but enter the weekend series with Creighton at 4-2 in league play. After sweeping Evansville on the road to begin Valley play, SIU dropped two of three to Missouri State in Carbondale last weekend. Saturday, the Salukis committed four errors en route to an 11-4 loss against the Bears. But SIU bounced back to run-rule MSU 11-1 in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader, as the Dawgs collected 13 hits. The Salukis split the twin bill that afternoon, though, losing the series after giving up five unanswered runs in a 5-4 loss.
Last year…
The Bluejays and Salukis opened Valley play last season with three nail-biters, as Creighton took the series two games to one. Jonas Dufek, Ty Blach, and Brandon Koenigstein all pitched well against the Salukis in starts against SIU last season, with Dufek and Koenigstein picking up wins.
Historically…
The Salukis hold a 58-54 edge in a series that dates back to 1979. In the last eight seasons under Ed Servais, thought, the Bluejays are 15-11 against SIU, including 7-2 against the Salukis in Omaha.
On the Mound
- Friday: CU’s Ty Blach (2.18 / 6-0) vs. SIU’s Cameron Maldonado (6.23 / 3-5)
- Saturday: CU’s Jonas Dufek (2.31 / 6-0) vs. SIU’s Cody Forsythe (2.31 / 4-3)
- Sunday: CU’s Greg Hellhake (3.86 / 3-1) vs. SIU’s Brad Drust (3.56 / 1-2)
Creighton's Jonas Dufek starts Saturday against SIU (WBR/Adam Streur)
Creighton’s Friday and Saturday starters Blach and Dufek have already pitched from the mound at TD Ameritrade Park. Blach got the start Tuesday in the first game at the new stadium, throwing one shutout inning. Dufek also went one frame and didn’t allow a baserunner.
Those two star pitchers head a staff that is second in the Valley in earned run average (3.40) and first in opposing batting average (.241). Bluejays pitchers have allowed the fewest total hits, walks, and runs among MVC teams.
Blach and Dufek, who are a combined 12-0, are among the league leaders in ERA (third and fifth, respectively) and batting average allowed (seventh and third, respectively).
The Salukis, on the other hand, have allowed the most hits among Valley teams, and surrender the highest opponent batting average. Saturday starter Cody Forsythe has been the best Saluki in the rotation, matching Blach’s .231 ERA and leading the SIU staff with four wins and two complete games. Tyler Dray leads the way in the Southern Illinois bullpen, posting a 1.27 ERA in a team-high 15 appearances.
At the Plate
It could be a weekend full of pitching duals, given that SIU (.277) and Creighton (.275) bring the two worst team batting averages in the league into Friday’s game. The Jays and Salukis are near the bottom of most offensive categories in the Valley, including hits, on base percentage, and runs scored.
Despite missing an opportunity to plate the tying and go-ahead runs in the bottom of the eighth inning Tuesday against Nebraska, Trever Adams has been Creighton’s best hitter all season. Adams, named MVC Player of the Week last week, leads the Bluejays in hitting (.400), home runs (10), runs batted in (44), and triples (4). He’s in the top ten nationally in slugging percentage (.763) and OPS, which computes on-base and slugging percentages (.1207), and sixth in total bases.
Jordan Siversten is Adams’ counterpart in the maroon and black. The junior outfielder leads SIU in most offensive categories, including slugging percentage, doubles, triples, home runs, runs scored, runs driven in, walks, and total bases.
Facts, Figures, and Fodder
Southern Illinois has dedicated the 2011 baseball season to long-time SIU head coach Dan Callahan, who passed away in November after a long battle against skin cancer. He is one of just five coaches in Valley history to win 200 league games… A crowd of 22,197 watched Creighton and Nebraska open TD Ameritrade Park Tuesday night. That same night there were a dozen Major League Baseball games, only six if which had larger crowds than the CU-NU contingent… Creighton has more than two times the stolen bases (48) recorded by Southern Illinois (19), as the Salukis are 52 bags off the pace of league leader Wichita State (71)… The Bluejays are #28 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s magazine and #29 in the Baseball Writers Poll… CU is one of just 13 teams nationally that has not lost a weekend series so far this year. Others include Connecticut, Dallas Baptist, Fordham, Fresno State, Indiana, New Mexico State, Oregon State, South Carolina, Stetson, Texas A&M, Virginia, and Yale.
Weather Forecast
The local forecast calls for a cloudy Friday, but rain showers should be out of town by the time first pitch rolls around at 6:30 p.m. Saturday should see a bit of sun, while the clouds return on Easter Sunday.