Isaac Collins came around to score for the Bluejays in the bottom of the first, but that was their best highlight of the night (Spomer / WBR) CLICK TO BUY PRINT
It all started so well.
The baseball field was open to the paying public, offering those who were fortunate enough to purchase a seat the opportunity to look upon a brilliant green field with brown and volcanic red accents in the northern portion of downtown Omaha.
For those adorning their red sweaters and winter jackets, they were treated to one helluva ballgame. For those sporting their white and blue, they were offered a ray of hope to start and then a subsequent let down as the game ate deeper and deeper into the night.
Creighton Saturday starter and midweek opener Denson Hull started things off by mowing down the first three Huskers he saw. That gave way to the bottom of the first where Isaac Collins sent an 0-1 offering into the left center gap. With some hustle, he managed to slide into second successfully, opening the offense with an extra base hit. Will Robertson then mashed a double deep over the right fielder’s head for an easy RBI stand-up double, giving the Jays a 1-0 lead.
They’d have that lead for just two more outs.
In the top of the second the Huskers compiled back-to-back doubles, tying the game up. A sac bunt, an infield single, and an error by Jordan Hovey at third then gave the Huskers a 2-1 lead.
The bottom of the second was a listless measure in futility for the Jays, and the Huskers came back to the plate and pushed across three more runs, giving them a 5-1 lead.
The Bluejays left a few opportunities to score on the field (Spomer / WBR) CLICK TO PURCHASE PRINT
For the next three innings, nothing of note really occurred. The Jays left some men on. John Sakowski pitched his damn arm off, throwing 71 pitches while striking out five, walking three, and keeping all runners from touching home plate. Unfortunately, the Jays left some men on. And by some, I mean all.
In the top of the 7th the Jays ran into trouble. With Sakowski out, Ryan Connolly took over and promptly grounded a dribbler back at the mound. He threw well wide of first, letting Mojo Hagge take second with ease. A pop out later, Hagge was on third base with one gone.
“We don’t like those guys over there.” – John Sakowski
Connolly was replaced after allowing a walk, and Jonah Smith took the mound only to dole out a meat unit to load the bases up. A vicious laserbeam off the bat of Gomes got Will Hanafan into a dead sprint into center field. He reached skyward with his glove, still in stride, and firmly caught the ball. Hagge tagged and scored, giving the Huskers a 6-1 lead, but the athleticism by Hanafan drew admiration by all. The third out was recorded with a grounder to Collins, and the inning ended without a lot of damage done.
The Jays were able to add a run in the bottom of the eighth after Jack Strunc shot a single up the middle and Parker Upton followed with an RBI lasershot double into the left center gap. Upton was then subsequently doubled off after a linedrive was caught by the shortstop and dove for the bag just as Upton was getting back.
It was that sort of night. When it seemed like the offense was bound to break free with countless opportunities, they just fizzled and flailed.
It was that kind of night for the Jays (Spomer / WBR) CLICK TO PURCHASE PRINT
The ninth inning featured back to back outs by Wegner and Collins, giving the Jays one out to work with to try to mount a comeback. On the second pitch of his at bat, Robertson shot a ball up the middle that caromed off the short stop’s glove and into center field. Holton followed with a single and Strunc singled after him, giving the Jays their third run of the game and sent Upton to the plate representing the tying run.
He struck out.
Creighton managed to leave 11 runners on base throughout the game. The bizarre thing is that Nebraska left ten on, they just happened to cash in when it mattered.
The Jays will try to be back this weekend with Illinois State coming to town, though the highs are in the low 40’s with rain in the forecast for Friday night.
See Photos from the game courtesy of Mike Spomer.