Snow remains on the ground in North Downtown Omaha, which means baseball’s here!
Creighton baseball is coming off a memorable end to the 2012, one that saw Creighton win the Missouri Valley Conference tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament. Ed Servais and the Creighton Bluejays started the 2013 season by playing their first 10 games away from the friendly and cavernous confines of TD Ameritrade Park. The Jays (7-3) kick off the home portion of their schedule Thursday with the first game of a four-game weekend home stand.
Creighton upset the rest of the MVC and took the tournament championship in 2012 (Mike Spomer/WBR)
Creighton’s return to TD Ameritrade Park will have to wait at least one more day, however. Due to poor field conditions following last weekend’s snowstorm, the Bluejays will host North Dakota at the CU Sports Complex (3:00 p.m. first pitch). The Program Formerly Known as the Fighting Sioux will be in town for one night only before giving way for the Pacific Tigers to face the Bluejays in a three-game series Friday through Sunday.
TD Ameritrade Park. CU Sports Complex. The Rasmussen Center. The Ultimate Baseball Academy batting cages. Doesn’t matter to me or to a lot of other baseball fans. We’re just looking forward to another season of watching Servais and his players grind their way through another collegiate baseball season. Rain, sleet, snow, wind, whatever. Besides, as baseball fans of a northern school, we’re used to this routine by now, right?
Media Menu
The CU Sports Complex is archaic compared to the fancy new stadium down Cuming Street. So, because the Bluejays will be between the lines on campus and not at TDAPO Thursday, there won’t be a radio broadcast of the CU-NoDak game.
But fans of radio play-by-play rejoice! John Bishop and Dave Gustafson will broadcast the games Saturday and Sunday on KOZN 1620 the Zone.
Looking for online options? There are plenty, including Twitter: Creighton Athletics (@gocreighton) and Creighton Baseball (@cu_baseball). Or, snag some live stats (here)!
Weather Forecast
We used to put the forecast part of our On Deck features near the end of each post. But, until we get to a point when the weather is more likely to be favorable than not, we’ll keep this info as much above the fold as possible.
The good news: no snow forecast for the weekend! Thursday’s highs should be in the upper 50s. Friday will see highs in the 60s. Saturday and Sunday will tone down a bit, with highs in the 40s. Whatever. NO SNOW!
Meet the Teams
North Dakota enters the weekend 7-6-1, and it won’t be their first trip to Omaha. UND took on UNO last weekend, taking two of three games from the Mavericks. Between stops in Omaha, UND lost two games earlier this week at Wichita State.
Pacific is 5-10 entering the series against CU. Their schedule includes games against some of the better programs in college baseball, including a win against Arkansas at the Coca Cola Classic in Arizona two weekends ago. The Tigers lost two of three at TCU last weekend and suffered a loss at Oklahoma State in a midweek game a few days ago.
Creighton is 3-2 all time against North Dakota. The Jays dropped the first game of a three-game series in March last season, 4-1, but rallied to sweep a St. Patrick’s Day doubleheader 12-3 and 16-3.
Creighton is 2-1 all time against Pacific, with all three meetings coming the week before the Jays’ games against North Dakota last spring. CU scored 11 and 12 runs in their wins but just 3 runs in the loss to the Tigers.
On the Mound
Fourteen Bluejays pitchers have appeared in at least one game. Tommy Strunc (3 starts), Nick Musec (3), and Matt Warren (2) all have multiple starts, while Taylor Elman and Brett Swain each started a game so far in 2013.
Strunc, a redshirt freshman, is 2-0 with a 4.60 earned run average. He is scheduled to start the weekend series against Pacific. Strunc started the second game of the season against Dallas Baptist, a game the Bluejays pulled out late. He earned his first win against BYU, limiting the Cougars to just 1 run in 7 innings. And he picked up his second win a week later against Arkansas-Little Rock, striking out 8 on his way to the victory. He leads the Jays in innings pitched (15.2)
Musec hasn’t notched a victory yet, but Creighton’s Opening Day starter is second on the team with 14.1 innings pitched. He’s tentatively slated to start Saturday’s game against Pacific.
Jays are surrendering 5.9 runs per game, compared with 4.0 runs per game in 58 games in 2012.
Mark Winkelman is one of few experienced arms on the CU pitching staff. (Spomer/WBR)
Austin Groth, who is projected to start against North Dakota, had a rough start to his CU career. The true freshman from South Sioux City, Nebraska, failed to record an out while giving up 3 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks against BYU. Groth will try to improve in his second outing Thursday.
Senior lefty Mark Winkelman (5.56 ERA) highlights a bullpen that has experienced a lot of turnover but performed admirably in the early season. Winkelman is tied with freshman left-hander Will Bamesberger (3.00 ERA) for the team lead in appearances (7) and he is third on the squad with 11.1 innings pitched (Bamesberger, in comparison, has 3.0 innings pitched). Fellow newcomers Nick Highberger (1.04 ERA in 8.2 innings), Max Ising (2.45 ERA, 3.2 innings), and Bryan Sova (9.64 ERA, 4.2 innings) join Bamesberger as the main arms in the bullpen through 10 games early in 2013.
Overall, Creighton posts a 5.28 team ERA, seventh out of the eight MVC teams. Bluejay hurlers are surrendering a .289 opponents’ batting average, also seventh.
At the Plate
Through 10 games in 2013, Creighton’s hitters are pounding out an average of 8.2 runs per game. Last season, in 58 games, the Jays averaged 4.6 runs per contest.
And don’t look now, but Servais’ team is tagging a few balls, too. The Bluejays have 5 home runs through 10 games; last season, it took the Jays 58 games to tally 16 dingers. Mike Gerber leads the 2013 team with 2 home runs, while Kevin Lamb, Jake Peter, and Alex Staehely 1 apiece.
Six players have started all 10 games for Servais’ squad. And all of them are hitting .300 or better:
- Mike Gerber (CF) .405
- Jake Peter (2B) .378
- Reagan Fowler (1B) .351
- Brad McKewon (LF) .341
- Alex Staehely (SS) .333
- Federico Castagnini (3B) .302
This group doesn’t include Kevin Lamb, who has wrestled the primary catching duties away from his competitors and boasts a Missouri Valley Conference-leading .423 batting average.
Gerber leads the team in runs batted in (14), followed by Staehely and Lamb (11 apiece). McKewon and Peter have 10 RBI each.
Mike Gerber wields a potent bat in the Bluejays lineup (Spomer/WBR)
Listen, I understand that it is early in the season. But the Rasmussen Center must be paying off, because through games on March 12 Creighton is leading the league in average (.314), slugging percentage (.421), and on base percentage (.427). The Jays have fewer strikeouts than any team in the league (58 total). And don’t worry, die-hard small-ball enthusiasts: CU is just two sacrifice bunts behind Evansville for the league lead.
I know, I know. It is early. But watching at TDAPO or listening on the radio last season as CU went 1-17 when scoring between two and zero runs drove me to drink. So, I’ll toast instead to the promise of improved offense, even if the sample size is only about one-sixth of the 2013 season so far.
Facts, Figures, Fodder
Servais is busy acclimating 17 newcomers to the rigors of Creighton baseball… That doesn’t include the fresh faces on Ed’s staff. Spencer Allen and Tom Lipari joined the Bluejays dugout this season (Allen previously coached for Servais as an assistant in 2005-2006). Allen’s last stop was Washington State in the Pac-12, while Lipari comes to CU from Pitt in the Big East… Speaking of Servais, he earned the prestigious assignment of becoming one of three assistants for USA Baseball’s 2013 Collegiate National Team. The CU skipper will coach defense and serve as the team’s first base coach… You may also notice that Servais spends his time in the first base coach’s box when the Bluejays are up to bat; Allen will man the third base coach’s box… Barring injury, Winkelman will set the record for most appearances all-time at CU. He currently has 106, just a few shy of Pat Venditte for third all time. Scott Reese holds the Creighton and MVC record with 123 appearances.