For the first time since May 7th, 2016, the Creighton Bluejays tossed a shutout.
The opponent in that game?
The Georgetown Hoyas. At TD Ameritrade Park.
This game occurred back when Michael DeRenzi, the right fielder for the Hoyas, was one of the top-of-the-class players in the BIG EAST.
Now, in his senior year, DeRenzi is batting below the Mendoza line and his Georgetown Hoyas – aside from their stellar middle infielders in second baseman Jake Bernstein and freshman shortstop Eddie McCabe – are struggling to keep their heads above water in league play.
This game certainly didn’t help their confidence, as Creighton doused Georgetown 8-0 on Friday night.
Ryan Tapani methodically shut down Georgetown on Friday night (Spomer / WBR) $CLICK TO BUY$
For the first three innings it appeared that Georgetown might have had an upper hand as their aggressiveness at the dish was counteracting Ryan Tapani’s quick pace. The Hoyas made a lot of contact, swinging early and often, and pushing back against Tapani’s first pitch strike approach. They managed to get two runners on in the first, both by way of singles to left, and two runners on in the third, by way of singles to… left.
Tapani, with runners at first and second and one out in the third, had a quick meeting with Mike Emodi. Up until that point, Tapani’s pace had been quick, delivering the ball with a seemingly unsatiated lust to end the game.
After the meeting, Tapani’s pace slowed, becoming more methodical, taking time to look back runners and time to force the batters into their own minds.
Back-to-back strikeouts later, it was clear that this was going to be a different sort of night.
Tapani proceeded to get a runner on 2nd in the 4th, 5th, and 6th innings. None of those baserunners would make it past second. Tapani managed to either induce weak contact or strike out the following hitter, utilizing the same slow pace that got him out of the jam in the 3rd, lulling the over-aggressive Hoya batters to sleep.
Speaking of sleeping, it appeared that the Hoya corner outfielders were wholly unprepared for the bright lights of TD Ameritrade Park.
Literally.
Will Robertson got things going for the Jays on offense Friday night (Spomer / WBR) $CLICK TO BUY$
Will Robertson, with the bases loaded in the sixth inning, lofted a ball into deep right field. DeRenzi looked skyward, took a few awkward steps back, then watched in amazement as the ball caromed off the base of the wall a good 15 feet behind him. By the time DeRenzi’s panic had subsided, Robertson had made it a 6-0 game.
In the 7th, with Tommy Luevano on first base, DH Ryan Mantle lofted a ball into deep left field. With the wind blowing out, it appeared that the ball might get enough push to send it out of the ballpark, but Hoya left fielder Austin Shirley appeared to have the ball locked in his sights. Shirley’s fluid movement appeared to mirror the flight path, so it was easy to assume that he’d settle under it right at the wall.
Instead, the ball caromed off the wall 10 feet to his right, damn near taking out the center fielder – who was in a half-assed pursuit – and allowing Mantle to round first and second with relative ease as the Hoyas struggled to get the ball back into the infield.
This made it 7-0, and a RBI groundout by Jason Allbery later, the score was 8-0 after seven.
Jacob Voss, a 6’9, 260lb JuCo pitcher, came into the 9th inning to relieve Ryan Tapani, who threw eight innings of eight hit ball, striking out nine, while doling out just one walk in his 111 pitches.
Notes:
- Georgetown’s dugout and coaching staff uses giant cardboard signs to relay pitch calls to the pitcher. Typically, teams will relay signals to the catcher, who then relays those signs to the pitcher, yet that system either seemed too complex or just too fundamental to try.
Coach Servais had never seen it before.
“Everybody’s got their way of signaling. If it works for them, great. If it keeps four or five players engaged in the game because they’re flipping the cards and stuff. The thing that was very interesting to me was that the pitcher looked to their bench and didn’t look to the catcher.”
Ryan Tapani, also, had never seen this before:
“It’ll be interesting to see tomorrow to try to figure out what they’re doing. I like to mess around and try to pick signs, it never works, but it’s fun to mess around with.
- Tomorrow night’s game against Georgetown is ‘Military Appreciation Night,’ where former service men and women will be honored throughout, as well as a pre-game flyover, a pre-game event involved men dropping from the sky in parachutes, pre-game $1 beer, and post-game fireworks. The tickets are free, and according to a few people I’ve talked to, they’ve given out 10-17,000 tickets, depending on who you ask. It should be an interesting spectacle.
- Ryan Mantle, Creighton’s DH, has been on a bit of a tear lately. He’s reached base safely in five consecutive games, raising his OBP% to .398 on the season. His batting average has also jumped up to .276, giving the Jays a formidable bat in the latter part of their lineup.
- Creighton improved to 25-11 on the year, surpassing their overall win mark of 24 from last season, and they still have 14 games left on the schedule.