Die-hard baseball fans likely won’t have much to complain about at TD Ameritrade Park today, except for perhaps damp conditions. Powerful storms yesterday afternoon and steady rain late last night forced Valley officials to postpone the last game of day one of the MVC tournament — which just so happened to pit the host Creighton Bluejays against Bradley.
The result is an optimistic goal to complete five games Wednesday, beginning with the matchup between the Bluejays and Braves. The loser will play later in the afternoon, against Southern Illinois. The winner will wait until likely late evening to play Missouri State.
Oh, and it is supposed to rain all day in Omaha. So, make sure you check out MVC-Sports.com and the championship’s live blog for weather updates and more information.
(NOTE: All games will be streamed live on MVC-Sports.com, for free. Or, follow the tournament’s live blog.)
9:00 a.m. — #1 Creighton (39-13 / 15-6) vs. #8 Bradley (22-30 / 4-17)
Everything I wrote in this spot yesterday still stands. But win or loss, one has to think that Ed Servais and Rob Smith face difficult decisions with their pitching staff. Jonas Dufek is scheduled to start against Bradley, but now he and Ty Blach will pitch on the same day (Blach likely in game two, which could be as early as 4 p.m. this afternoon and as late as near midnight tonight).
Fans can speculate about how much those two could pitch later in the tournament, but the slim margin of error allotted for teams in a double-elimination tournament format likely evaporated late Tuesday night. If Dufek and Blach can put the Jays on their right and left shoulders, respectively, CU can earn back that wiggle room. If not, Johnny Wholestaff will be on call for the rest of the week, likely eliminating Creighton’s strength.
Approx. 12:30 p.m. — #3 Illinois State (0-1) vs. #7 Evansville (0-1)
The Redbirds got a solid start from Corey Maines, but a few early Indiana State runs held up because Illinois State couldn’t secure a clutch hit against wild by effective Sycamore pitcher Colin Rea. Meanwhile, the Trees did just enough offensively to advance in the winner’s bracket and send Illinois State to an early day two game against Evansville.
The Aces, like the Redbirds, had plenty of chances to win their opening round game Tuesday. But the inability to pick up clutch hits doomed Evansville against Wichita State, even though Cody Fick pitched a tremendous game against the Shockers. UE lost 2-1, but had at least one base runner every inning.
Kyle Lloyd will start for the Aces against Illinois State’s Dan Savas.
Approx. 4:15 p.m. — #5 Southern Illinois (0-1) vs. Loser of #1 Creighton-#8 Bradley
We’ll know more about this matchup when Wednesday’s first game is in the books.
After mounting a late rally Tuesday night, the Salukis couldn’t plate the go-ahead run with the bases loaded and nobody out. Missouri State escaped into the winner’s bracket, while SIU lost the game and possibly start pitcher Cody Forsythe to a forearm injury. The All-MVC pick was hit by a line drive by MSU’s Kevin Medrano and left the game in agony. According to reports X-rays were negative for broken bones.
Approx. 8:00 p.m. — #2 Wichita State (1-0) vs. #6 Indiana State (1-0)
Charlie Lowell surrendered 8 hits in less than 7 complete innings, but he worked effectively with runners on base and allowed Evansville just 1 run in Wichita State’s 2-1 victory Tuesday afternoon. The Valley’s Pitcher of the Year turned things over to closer Cale Elam, who got out of a tough bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning and then saved the game thanks to a tremendous defensive play in center field by Kevin Hall.
The Sycamores had a bit more cushion during their 5-2 win against Illinois State, thanks to timely early hitting led by All-Valley performer Robby Ort and outstanding relief of starter Rea by Reggie Hochstedler and . Ort finished 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored and a run batted in, while Hochstedler pitched three innings of one-run relief.
Brian Flynn will pitch for Wichita State today, while Indiana State will send Sean Manaea to the mound.
Approx. 11:30 p.m. — #4 Missouri State (1-0) vs. Winner of #1 Creighton-#8 Bradley
We’ll know more about this matchup when Wednesday’s first game is in the books. But the Bears have to be happy winning their first game in Omaha — they’ve been in town since their final regular season series against Creighton last week.