I’ve had some pretty terrible experiences in my life at Haymarket Park, and not just because the Jays frequently lose, sometimes badly, there. I won’t get into specifics but suffice it to say words have been had with other patrons. So last night, with the threat of rain on a chilly night a reality, I opted to watch the HD telecast on NET from the warmth of my living room, where no one argues with me and the biggest threat to my health is stubbing my toe on the leg of an endtable. And it was glorious.
Granted, I watched the game on mute, since the three words from Adrian Fiala I heard before hitting the mute button were two too many. The way I see it, you shouldn’t complain about an annoyance unless you’re willing to do something about it, so I did something: I hit the mute button. With the Creighton radio feed on 1620 AM, the HDTV telecast on my big screen on mute, a couple of pizzas, and a fridge full of cold ones, good times were assured…and before my neighbors could make it over to join the festivities, the Jays already had a lead.
Elliot Soto, who was batting leadoff for the first time all season with All-MVC player Robbie Knight on the bench nursing a hamstring injury, smashed a homerun into the left-field berm to lead off the game. Moments later, Alex Staehely hit a longball that stayed fair just inside the left-field pole, and just like that, with nobody out and the game not even five minutes old, it was 2-0 Jays. Trever Adams then drew a walk, stole second, and when a routine popup was made non-routine by a gust of wind and subsequently dropped by Husker shortstop Chad Christensen, Adams scored the third run of the inning.
Former Husker Mike Nihsen started for the Jays, and after giving up a lonely single in the bottom of the first, the offense went back to work. Jimmy Swift led off the inning with a single, and Zane Hinkel was hit by a pitch to set up what everyone in the ballpark assumed was a sacrifice situation for Elliot Soto. So of course, Soto laid down a bunt…but placed it so well that it stopped in the grass almost equidistant between the pitcher and catcher, and he beat the throw for an infield single to load the bases. Nebraska starter Chase Adams, clearly rattled at this point, threw a wild pitch that scored the Jays fourth run. Staehely stepped back in the box, and with runners now at second and third, hit a fly ball deep enough to score the fifth run, and Husker manager Mike Anderson had seen enough.
Relief pitcher Sean Yost was greeted with a Trever Adams double into the gap scoring the Jays sixth run of the game, but he was able to escape further damage when he induced Carson Vitale into hitting a groundball up the middle for a double play. A 6-0 Jays lead after an inning and a half had the crowd sitting in stunned silence, and I was tempted to turn off the mute button on my TV to see what Fiala was saying about the performance so far. I resisted this temptation.
In the bottom of the frame, Nebraska loaded the bases with nobody out on two singles and a walk, but Mike Nihsen escaped by getting a clutch strikeout sandwiched between a couple of shallow fly balls. The Huskers getting no runs out of that situation, combined with Scott Thornburg smacking a solo homerun in the top of the third to give the Jays a 7-0 lead, seemed to indicate this game was under control.
Nope.
In the bottom of the third, the Huskers scored five times before two were out to chase Nihsen from the game. His final line was ugly, going just 2-1/3 innings, giving up seven hits and four runs, all earned.
A Kale Kiser double, Adam Bailey single and Tyler Farst single plated the first Husker run. Nihsen recovered to strikeout Cody Asche, but then gave up a slicing double to right-center gap to Christensen plating two runs. Mark Winkelman came out of the bullpen, and was greeted rudely by Cade Thompson who hit a line drive through the middle to cut the lead to 7-4. Another run would score in the inning, and suddenly, it was a 7-5 game. Seemed like I’d seen this game before, and it wasn’t any better the second (or tenth, or whatever) time around. Jays fans tried to hold in their worry, telling themselves this wasn’t going to be another blown lead in Lincoln.
It wasn’t.
In the fourth, Staehely got on base with a single to left, and then Trever Adams blasted a homerun that landed beyond the berm in left-field to extend the lead back out to four, 9-5. Having successfully seized the momentum back from the Huskers, the Jays bullpen would slam the door shut on any comeback hopes as Winkelman and four others allowed just one hit and no runs over the last six innings.
They would add four more in the ninth, all unearned due to two Husker errors in front of a nearly-empty crowd as the fans made an early beeline for the parking lots, and it was 13-5 Creighton heading to the bottom of the ninth. Brandon Koenigstein got the Huskers out without any nonsense, and the Jays had the victory.
The win marked the first time since 1992-93 that Creighton has won consecutive games in Lincoln. They’ve now won three of four in the capital city, and narrowed the Huskers all-time margin in the series (albeit slightly) to 70-38-2.
The Jays will take on Kansas tonight at Rosenblatt in another game televised statewide by NET, before Illinois State comes to town this weekend for a three-game MVC series.