Creighton Bluejays (21-26, 5-12) vs. Wichita State (33-22, 10-8)
- Thursday: 7:00 p.m., TD Ameritrade Park Omaha
- Friday: 7:00 p.m.
- Saturday: 1:00 p.m. (Senior Day)
The Bluejays welcome the Wichita State Shockers to Omaha this weekend as the Shox make their first regular season trip to TD Ameritrade Park Omaha. Who doesn’t remember their last game in Omaha when Creighton won the 2011 Valley tournament?! Being so excited to come to Omaha, I can imagine their trip to Omaha went something like this.
With the conference tournament just around the corner, this series starts on Thursday and runs through Saturday compared to the normal Friday through Sunday series. The Bluejays sit in 8th place in the Valley standings while the Shockers are in 3rd, two back in the loss column behind 2nd place Missouri State.
Creighton has followed a 5-game winning streak last week with three straight losses. The Bluejays are making strides offensively but is it too little too late? They have one more week of regular season action before heading to Springfield, Missouri, for the conference tournament.
Media Menu
Thursday’s broadcast will be aired on NETV. In the booth will be Kevin Kugler and John Bishop. All three games will be on KOZN 1620 AM with Jake Ryan and Dave Gustafson bringing the action on Thursday. Bishop will rejoin Gustafson for the final two games on Friday and Saturday. Click here to listen online. You can also follow every game via Twitter @gocreighton and @cu_baseball. And as always, live stats are available.
Last Week
It has been an up-and-down week for the Bluejays. After stringing together five consecutive wins two weeks ago, Creighton was one bad inning and two bullpen collapses from going perfect from Friday on. Instead the Jays dropped the series against Dallas Baptist, one game to two, and fell to Iowa in a midweek game on Tuesday.
Ty Blach began the weekend for the Jays by pitching a complete game 5-hitter, allowing just one unearned run. The Bluejays offense had his back scoring 4 runs in the series opener against Dallas Baptist, a 4-1 Creighton victory.
Dallas Baptist used a 5-run 4th inning on Saturday to hang on to a 5-2 victory. Shane Liska took the mound for the Bluejays and served up two home runs in that 4th inning and it was enough for the Patriots for the win. Chance Ross and Nick Judkins each provided two hits for the Bluejays.
In the series finale, the Bluejays used a 5-run 5th inning to break out to a 5-2 lead. Brad McKewon finished the day going 3-4 with a pair of RBI. Erik Mattingly started for the Bluejays giving up 3 earned runs over 5 2/3 innings. The bullpen was not able to hang on to this one, giving up 4 runs in the 8th inning. The Bluejays fell 8-6.
On Tuesday, the Bluejays broke out to a 4-0 lead against the Iowa Hawkeyes due to timely hitting and an Iowa error in front of a crowd of 11,479. Judkins was a perfect 3-3 on the afternoon with a run and an RBI. The bullpen could not hold on to the lead. Nick Musec gave up three runs in 3 innings of work. Chase Webb gave up the tying run in the 8th and Mark Winkelman gave up winning run in the 9th. The Bluejays threatened in the 9th getting two runners on but dropped the game 5-4.
Historically
The series between Creighton and Wichita State has favored the Shockers historically. More than doubling CU’s win total, the mark favors the Shockers 110-44-1. A season ago, the Shockers took two of the three games in Wichita. With revenge and a Valley title on their mind, the Bluejays defeated the Shockers in the Valley tournament championship in Omaha, 3-1.
This dogpile at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha was the lasting image from the last time Creighton and Wichita State met on the diamond (Adam Streur/WBR)
On the Mound
- Thursday: CU’s Ty Blach (5-5, 2.80 ERA) vs. WSU’s Josh Smith (6-4, 2.84)
- Friday: CU’s Erik Mattingly (1-3, 2.98) vs. WSU’s Kris Gardner (4-1, 2.24)
- Thursday: CU’s Shane Liska (1-3, 3.89) vs. WSU’s A.J. Ladwig (4-1, 3.22)
Creighton continues to get solid efforts from its pitching staff. The Bluejays rank 4th in the MVC with a 3.50 team ERA. The Shockers are a notch ahead of the Bluejays sporting a 3.38 team ERA.
The Shockers bring in a pitching staff with the 3rd best ERA in the Valley. All three starters for WSU are in the top 15; Gardner is 4th, Smith is 9th, and Ladwig is 15th.
At the Plate
The Bluejay bats are coming around slowly. The Bluejays are still at the bottom of the MVC in average at .236. Nick Judkins is the lone Jay hitting over .300. He’s currently at .304. Scott Thornburg carries a hot bat into the week. He’s hit .412 during the last week. The Shockers are in the middle of the pack at .281.
The Shockers are coming off a 13-2 drumming of Nebraska. Johnny Coy led WSU going 5-5 including his 9th home run of the season, a double, and 5 RBI. Micah Green and Josh Halbert did damage against NU’s pitching staff, each going 3-5.
Weather
The forecast calls for highs in the upper 80s on Thursday and Friday. With those games at night, it will be perfect baseball weather to catch a game. Saturday there is a chance of isolated thunderstorms with a high of 84.
Promos
Each game this weekend will have a different promotion. The Opening Ceremonies for the Special Olympics 2012 Summer Games will take place prior to the Thursday game, with fireworks following the series opener. Military Appreciation Day is Friday which includes a pre-game flyover and more postgame fireworks. This also includes a performance by Jimmy Weber! The Saturday finale will be senior day for 13 seniors.