Isaac Collins got things started for the Jays on Tuesday night (Spomer / WBR) $CLICK TO BUY$
You can derive joy from a lot of different things, but if you’re an internet weirdo like me, then the most joy comes from watching a baseball team systematically pick a team apart by utilizing small ball.
Looping base hits into the shallow outfield. Squibbing seeing-eye singles through the holes of the infield. Bunts. Lots and lots of bunts.
This is how Creighton managed to mentally incapacitate their intra-city rival tonight. This is how UNO fell to 12-19 on the season. This is how I got my rocks off on a chilly Tuesday night in what’s supposed to be mid-April (calling you out, “Mother Nature.”)
It all started with Isaac Collins lifting a ball high into the air, high enough for the landgulls that visited the ballpark to pick out of the air, high enough for those on the roof of the First National Building to gaze out at it’s incredible height, high enough for OPDABLE1 to fly side-by-side with the ball for an inordinate amount of time. When the ball began its descent from the heavens, waffling in the air as it felt the full force of gravity, UNO second baseman Adam Rellihan had been awaiting its presence for some time, camped out under it like he was anticipating a billionaire to drop a sack full of gold coins from the heavens. Collins rounded first base hard, getting a healthy lead, stomping to a stop, letting out a thunderous clap of the dirt, which might have been just enough for Rellihan’s attention to be arrested momentarily, for when the ball completed its fall from orbit, it bounced hard off the leather heel, tumbling to the groundskeeper’s secret dirt conditioner mix below.
Jubilation for the Omahans in Blue. Embarrassment for the Omahans adorned in red.
To add insult to Rellihan’s error, after Mike Emodi got beaned to move Collins into scoring position, Jack Strunc lifted a 2-out single into right center, just deep enough to score “Ike” from second base, giving the Jays a 1-0 lead early on in the affair.
If this ball wasn’t small enough for you, it only gets better.
It’s the third inning where it got better.
Do you want to read about it?
Okay, well, here’s how it all went down:
Coach Servais had a big smile on his face tonight with small ball in full swing (Spomer / WBR) $CLICK TO BUY$
Blake Whitecotton drew a walk to start things off. He moved 90′ after Clark Brinkman slapped a single to left field. With runners on first and second and no one out, and the zippy Collins at the dish, everyone knew what the call was. I knew what was going to happen. Ed Servais, my spirit brother, knew what was going to happen. Hell, you already know what’s going to happen.
Bunt.
Isaac Collins put down one of the most bodacious, most delicious, most valorous bunt I’ve ever laid my eyes on. The ball bounced once off the dirt in front of the plate, then gently rolled down the third baseline with enough zip on it to stray from the catcher’s fielding radius and into the proverbial “no man’s land.” Collins made it to first safely because his bunt was supreme.
No outs.
Bases loaded.
Big hitter, anti-small ball boy Mike Emodi to the dish.
Though he smashed the ball into deep right field, the result was simply one single run, as superstar fielder Jack Kalina tracked the ball down before it careened off the wall. This scored Whitecotton and moved Brinkman to third base.
Will Robertson followed with a single that squeaked between the first and second baseman, scoring Brinkman, then sending Collins to third on a throwing error. Robertson himself scooted up to second base.
Jack Strunc approached the dish and blooped a lofty single to shallow center field, scoring Collins, and making it a 4-0 ballgame in just the bottom of the 4th.
The Jays would tack on two more in the bottom of the 5th, continuing to utilize their small ball mentality, as Emodi singled up the middle. After a Robertson ground out that sent Emodi to second, Strunc slapped a single to left, which was followed by a single by Luevano, scoring Emodi. After Parker Upton flew out, Jason Allbery singled as well, scoring Strunc, giving the Jays a 6-0 advantage.
Denson Hull started the game for the Jays, but luckily the bullpen was a great support on Tuesday (Spomer / WBR) $CLICK TO BUY$
The other facet of this ballgame was the pitching for the Jays, as junior lefty Denson Hull took the mound and almost immediately ran into trouble. In the top of the second, Hull managed to get a ground out, but walked two and beaned one, giving the Mavs the bases loaded with just one out. This gave way to freshman slinger Ian Evans, who managed to induce a 5-4-3 double play to save Denson Hull and the ballgame at large.
Evans cruised for the next four innings, giving up just one hit and one earned on 48 pitches. The remainder of the game was tossed by the Bluejay Bullpen By Committee, that saw the illustrious Justin Wick, the giant Jacob Voss, the Midnight Rider Grant Spranger, the Omaha boy John Sakowski, and the young firebrand Nate Shoemaker. They all faced at least one batter, some throwing just six pitches, but they all had a ton of fun out there on the diamond.
UNO scored their one of their two runs in the sixth inning after center fielder Tyler Daugherty singled to start the inning off. After a fielder’s choice ground out, that saw Daugherty move up 90′, the Mavs got their second out on a strikeout. Grant Spranger then threw one into the dirt, moving Daugherty to third, and just two pitches later UNO DH Grant Suponchick singled up the middle, scoring Daugherty.
The scoring explosion for the Jays, however, wasn’t over yet. They responded to this single Maverick run with an unmerciful three run bottom half of the inning that birthed a Collins walk, a vintage Mike Emodi double into deep center, and an absolute rocket dongshot from Will Robertson that likely busted a few benches in the right field bleachers, putting the Jays up 9-1.
The final Maverick run was scored in the top of the 9th inning against Bluejay freshman Nate Shoemaker. Shoemaker proceeded to give up a lineout, a single, and a triple, to slowly allow UNO to come back from the depths of baseball hell, yet Shoemaker managed to strike out the remaining two batters, solidifying the Bluejay win.
With that, Creighton moves to 21-10 on the year, and head to Cincinnati this weekend to face off against the dreaded Xavier Musketeers.