Creighton Bluejays (19-9, 5-4 MVC) vs. Southern Illinois Salukis (18-18, 2-7 MVC)
- Friday: 6:30 p.m., TD Ameritrade Park Omaha
- Saturday: 2:00 p.m., NET Sports TV
- Sunday: 4:00 p.m., ESPNU TV
Overview
Creighton entered last weekend atop the Missouri Valley Conference standings. A three-game sweep at the hands of Indiana State sent the Bluejays back to the middle of the MVC pack. The Jays bounced back for a mid-week win against Kansas, and now they welcome the Salukis to Omaha for the final time as conference mates.
If Ed Servais’ team wants to entertain the notion of winning a regular season league championship, the Bluejays need to defend the home diamond against an SIU team that is only 2-7 in league play entering the weekend.
Media Menu
Creighton baseball fans aren’t relegated to huddling around the radio or a computer to catch the Bluejays in action this weekend. Sunday’s series finale can be seen on ESPNU, while Saturday afternoon’s game will be televised on Nebraska Educational Television (NET).
You can watch the webcast of the games here. You can listen to John Bishop, Dave Gustafson, and Jake Ryan on KOZN 1620 AM all weekend (stream here). You can catch the live stats here, and follow in-game tweets from the @gocreighton and @cu_baseball Twitter accounts.
Weather
Mother Nature has been cruel to Creighton baseball this season. Thirteen CU games have been adversely affected by the weather so far in 2013. This weekend will start cold, maybe warm up a bit Saturday and Sunday, but end with a chance of thunderstorms during the 4 p.m. CU-SIU game.
Last Weekend
The Bluejays lost three games in Terre Haute last weekend. Sketchy umpiring played a role in two of the games, but that’s not an excuse: the Jays just couldn’t score enough runs against the Sycamores, dropping games 6-1, 5-4, and 5-3.
In Carbondale, the Salukis scored some runs against Missouri State but couldn’t get the pitching necessary to avoid losing the series. SIU salvaged Sunday’s game 8-5, but lost to the Bears 7-3 Friday and 14-6 Saturday.
Series History
The last time these two teams met, the Bluejays capped a remarkable run through the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament with an 8-6 win over SIU in the championship game. Earlier last season, the Salukis swept CU in Carbondale. Overall, SIU is 63-56 all-time against the Jays.
On the Mound
Probable Starters
- Friday: CU’s Tommy Strunc (4-1, 3.68 ERA) vs. SIU’s Cody Forsythe (1-2, 2.79 ERA)
- Saturday: Nick Musec (0-4, 5.70) vs. Derek Fogel (0-1, 3.48)
- Sunday: Austin Groth (2-0, 4.72) vs. Sam Coonrod (3-2, 3.51)
The Saluki pitching staff posts the second best team ERA in the Valley (3.61), while Creighton’s squarely in the middle of the MVC (4.00). The two teams lead the league and are virtually tied in opponents’ batting average (SIU .247, CU .248).
SIU’s Forsythe will tie the career record for starts as a Saluki (44) when he toes the rubber this weekend in Omaha. He’s among the league leaders in ERA (2.79), opposing batting average (.225), and walks allowed (only 11 issued in 58 innings pitched).
Strunc, Creighton’s Friday night starter, suffered his first loss as a Bluejay last weekend. He surrendered 4 runs while issuing 5 walks and not striking out a Sycamore in 5 innings of work. The Jays need Strunc to bounce back against the Salukis, as Forsythe isn’t likely to give CU much wiggle room on the offensive end of things.
If the Salukis get the ball to Todd Eaton late in the game, he’s proven he can close games. He’s third in SIU history with 16 career saves, 6 of which came so far this season. The same can be said for his counterpart at Creighton, Jake Peter, who has 5 saves in 2013.
At the Plate
The Bluejays outpace the Salukis in batting average (.301 to .282) and on base percentage (.407 to .365). But that’s not to say SIU doesn’t pack some pop — the Dawgs are two off the league lead in home runs (17), with 10 more dingers than the Jays (7).
Individually, Austin Montgomery leads the Salukis with a .348 average, 12 doubles, 4 homers, and a robust .518 slugging percentage. Matt Jones hits .338 with a team-high 31 runs batted in. And Jake Welch hits .304 with team highs in runs (35) and stolen bases (14).
A season after the Bluejays struggled to find anyone who could hit at a .300 clip, Creighton has six regulars hitting .316 or better. Kevin Lamb (.379) leads the way, who along with Jake Peter (.375) and Reagan Fowler (.357) are among the top six in the MVC in average.
Brad McKewon (.336) and Mike Gerber (.319) are also about .300, with Gerber third in the Valley in slugging percentage (.558) and leading the Jays with 4 home runs. Frederico Castagnini (.316) is back from injury and playing well.