Pacific’s Cory Popham scattered six hits over five innings of one-run ball, and the Tigers’ 1-through-4 hitters drove in five runs as Pacific defeated Creighton 5-2 on a chilly afternoon at TD Ameritrade Park.
Creighton starter Nick Musec wasn’t sharp to start the game, and Pacific took advantage scoring on a sacrifice fly by shortstop Dustin Torchio after designated hitter Brett Sullivan reached third base on a mental error by the Bluejays. Pacific third baseman Curtis Gomez bunted down the first base line, Musec fielded and threw to first for the out. While that was going on Bluejay third baseman Frederico Castagnini was out of position and the throw to get Sullivan at the bag was just late.
“I thought we got him,” said sophomore second baseman Jake Peter. “That was kind of a mental lapse on our part not having a guy at third base, but it was a close play and could’ve gone either way.”
After the game, Creighton head coach Ed Servais was more troubled by his team’s mistake on the play than the call of the umpire. “That’s a play that can’t happen at this level,” Servais said. “You’ve to keep [Sullivan] at second base. If we do that they don’t score that inning.”
Creighton’s Kevin Lamb had two more hits to raise his average to .400, but the Bluejays lost to Pacific 5-2 (Mike Spomer/WBR)
Creighton tied it in the bottom the second when catcher Kevin Lamb singled over a leaping Torchio at short to bring first baseman Reagan Fowler around to score.
Unfortunately for the Bluejays, they would go just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position the rest of the game, stranding 12 men in the process. Last night Creighton stranded nine, but also delivered more times than not in clutch situations by drawing bases-loaded walks, executing squeeze plays, and driving in runners when presented with scoring opportunities. One reason, according to Peter, today was different was due to an adjustment by the Pacific pitching staff.
“I think they saw that we had a fastball approach last night, and they tried to work us more softly,” said Peter, who ended up with another four-hit performance that now makes him 8-for-10 in the first two games of the series.
Pacific got to Musec again in the fifth. It started with a lead-off double by left fielder Gio Brusa, followed immediately by a bunt single from center fielder Tyler Sullivan to put runners at the corners with nobody out. A sacrifice fly by Brett Sullivan scored Brusa, then Torchio lined one off Musec’s hip to bring Sullivan home and give Pacific a 3-1 lead. Musec finished the inning, but didn’t return for the sixth.
Pacific tacked on two more in the seventh thanks to a pair of RBI singles by Gomez and first baseman Erik Lockwood to make it 5-1 Tigers.
Creighton threatened in the ninth inning. A one-out rbi single by Jake Peter brought left fielder Brad McKewon around to score, but the Bluejays grounded into fielder’s choices to end the game and even the three-game series at one apiece heading into tomorrow afternoon’s 1:00 p.m. rubber match.
Creighton will send junior right-hander Brett Swain (1-0 0.00 era) to the hill against Pacific’s Michael Benson (2-0 1.78 era).
Coach Servais hopes to see more energy out of his club at the beginning of tomorrow’s game as opposed to the way his team has come out of the gates in two of the past three games.
“Sometimes we take some of this stuff granted like the opportunity to play in a ballpark like this, and the opportunities to play at home,” said Servais. “We have to pull back a little bit, get a good night’s rest, and come out tomorrow with a little bit more of a sense of urgency.”
Box Score:
Pacific – 1 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 5 11 1
Creighton – 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 11 1
W: Popham (2-0) 5 ip, 6 h, 1 r, 1 er, 3 bb, 4 k
L: Musec (0-2) 5 ip, 5 h, 3 r, 3 er, 2 bb, 1 k
SV: Hammann (1)