Creighton University
North Dakota State
Moore's 10 Strikeouts Leads Baseball To 5-3 Victory Over NDSU
3/17/2007 3:00:00 AM | Baseball
Omaha, Neb. - Creighton sophomore right-hander Zak Moore (1-1) struck out a career-best 10 batters Saturday afternoon, as the Bluejays picked up a 5-3 come from behind win over North Dakota State at the CU Sports Complex. After trailing 3-1 after the first inning, the Jays (10-7) tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning and then went ahead in the bottom half of the seventh on a solo-home run from first baseman Darin Ruf, as Moore shut down the Bison (2-7) bats going eight innings allowing just one earned run on four hits.
Senior Andy Masten picked up his third save of the season in relief as he pitched the final two thirds of the ninth, recording one strikeout. NDSU reliever Ben Mathiason (0-2) was tagged with the loss going two innings allowing two runs on two hits, including the go-ahead home run from Ruf in the seventh, as CU collected six hits on the day.
Ruf would finish the game for the Bluejays going 1-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Junior Brett Mieras also added multiple RBI for the Jays as he went 1-for-2 finishing also with two RBI. Center fielder Robbie Knight would be the only CU batter to record multiple hits, as he finished 3-for-4 with one RBI and a run scored.
CU took a 4-3 lead in the game in the bottom of the seventh after Moore retired the Bison side in the top half of the inning. Mathiason replaced NDSU started Jeff Hille on the mound to start the frame as Chris Gradoville led off with deep fly out to right center. Following Gradoville's at-bat, Ruf took a 3-1 pitch and hit a bomb to left center for his first home run on the season, giving the Jays the one run they needed to get Moore in line for the victory.
Hille would end the game for the Bison going six innings allowing three runs on four hits, recording two strikeouts.
The Jays would add another run in the eighth, as Knight placed a perfectly-hit bunt just in front of the mound allowing him enough time to reach first as Steve Winkelmann came around to score from third, giving CU a 5-3 advantage.
Senior Scott Reese then came in to replace Moore at the top of the ninth and got one out, before the Bluejays turned it over to Masten to close it out and complete the comeback.
The Jays comeback started after the Bison put up a three-spot to start the game. With two outs in the inning, Kole Zimmerman and Matt Mossey drew back-to-back walks to reach base. That would setup catcher Gavin Hofer, who hit an RBI double to left field scoring Zimmerman to give NDSU a 1-0 lead. Sebastian Miles was then able to reach base on a throwing error by Ryan Urzendowski that loaded up the bases for Ryan Langlais. Langlais proceeded to hit an RBI single then to right field that scored two to give the Bison the early 3-0 cushion.
CU would fight back though in the bottom of the first, as they got an RBI from Ruf who reached first on fielder's choice that scored Knight from third to make it 3-1. Moore would recover though after the first to allow just two hits over the next eight innings, recording nine strikeouts.
With the victory, CU improved to 5-1 at home, as they will face the Bison tomorrow in the re-scheduled doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. The second game will follow shortly after the first, as live stats for both games will be available at www.gocreighton.com
Notes: Zak Moore's 10 strikeouts broke his previous single-game career-high mark of three strikeouts, which he recorded on seven different occassions ... With the win, CU is now 95-11 under coach Ed Servais when scoring five or more runs, 88-3 when leading after eight and 93-6 when out-hitting its opponents ... CU recorded five HBPs on the day upping its season total to 36 ... Robbie Knight was hit by his 13th pitch of the season in the game and is now just eight away from the single-season record of 21 set by Chad McConnell in 1992.
