Creighton University
Northern Colorado
10-Run First Gives Baseball Sweep Of Northern Colorado
4/29/2007 3:00:00 AM | Baseball
Junior left-hander Ben Mancuso (7-1) earned his seventh win of the season, as for the second-straight week he was backed up by the Bluejay bats, which exploded for a season-high 17 runs and 20 hits. A majority of those runs coming in a 10-run first inning that saw the Jays collect seven hits off UNC starter Jason Banks, sending 14 total batters to the plate.
Banks (1-3) would get credited with the loss for the Bears as he lasted just a third of an inning, giving up seven runs on three hits, while walking two. Mancuso, much like Zak Moore on Saturday, had a solid outing through three innings, but struggled to get out of the fourth. Though he allowed four earned runs on nine hits, Mancuso was able to fan three UNC batters and keep the damage to a minimum, recovering in the fifth inning to stop the Bears from gaining anymore ground.
It was quite the uphill battle for the Bears though, as the Jays wasted no time in going after their seventh-series sweep of the season. Brandon Knox and Ross Sinclair led-off the inning, both reaching base on a walk and hit by a pitch before Chris Gradoville brought home the first run of the game on an RBI-single up the middle. With Gradoville moving to second on the throw and Sinclair at third, Darin Ruf wasted no time in catching up to Gradoville for the team-lead in RBI's, as he blasted another RBI-single to right field to make it 2-0 with still no outs in the inning.
Banks was finally able to get an out when Steve Winkelmann flied out right field, but the hit was long enough to bring home Gradoville on an RBI-sacrifice fly to make it 3-0. Chad Ogden followed Winkelmann reaching base on another hit by a pitch, just before Andrew Small made things worse for Banks in drawing a four-pitch walk to load the bases.
Banks would answer the threat by throwing wide of his catcher to plate Ruf from third and move everyone over one base, as Brett Mieras then doubled to right center to clear the bases to make it 6-0. Joe Sawicki would then replace Banks allowing three more runs to come across in the inning. A groundout by Michael Lam moved Mieras to third for Knox, who brought him home with an RBI-base hit to right. Sinclair followed with a single of his own to center, before Gradoville platted his second and third runners of the inning on a two-RBI to right center.
Gradoville would go on to finish his day 4-for-5 with three RBI's and three runs scored. He wasn't alone in the multiple RBI category though, as both Ruf and Knox would collect three hits on the day and drive in four, while Mieras had three hits in driving in three.
After the teams went scoreless through the next two frames, the Bears finally answered with four runs in the top of the fourth. Adam Symons, Trey Keene and Phil Santucci all collected RBI hits in the inning, as the Bears looked primed to make a comeback, trailing 10-4.
CU wouldn't let UNC gain any momentum though as Mieras collected his second RBI-double of the game in the bottom half of the inning to bring the CU lead to 11-4.
WIth sophomore Casey Schmidt replacing Mancuso in the sixth and pitching a scoreless inning, the Jays tried to put the Bears away in the sixth, adding three more runs in the bottom of the inning. All those runs would come via a three-run shot by Knox off UNC reliever Sean Peery to left field that nearly cleared the netting.
Andy Masten would give up just his second home run of the season in the eighth after pitching a strong seventh inning, as UNC's Symons took a 1-2 pitch and put it over the fence in left to make it 14-6. But that would all the more closer the Bears would get.
The Bluejays added three runs in the bottom of the eighth and a two-run homer by Ruf and an RBI-single from Lam to shut the door the on their 14th-straight win at the CU Sports Complex.
Sophomore Ty Johnston closed the game out in the ninth, as the Jays improved to 30-11 overall and kept UNC woes continuing, as the Bears lost their school record ninth-straight game to fall to 10-26.
The Bluejays will return to the field next Friday, as they open up a three-game league series with Southern Illinois at Rosenblatt Stadium. First pitch in game one will take place at 7:30 p.m., as the Jays and Salukis will play the first two games at the Blatt before playing the series finale on Sunday at the CU Sports Complex.
Notes: CU's 11-game winning streak is just one behind Le Moyne for the national-lead, who won on Sunday to improve its streak to 12-straight wins ...The Bluejays 20 hits in the game were the most they've had since a game at Air Force on Feb. 15, 2004, where they were able to collect 21 total hits ... The 17 runs were a season-high for the Jays, breaking their mark of 16 set last Sunday at Indiana State ... In its last two Sunday victories, Creighton has scored a total of 33 runs, while allowing just six ... The 10-run first inning was the most runs the Jays have had in an inning this season and was the first time they've put a 10-spot on the board since their Mar. 11 contest at Tennessee Tech last season where they scored 13 runs in the third ... Darin Ruf's two hits on the day gave him a career-high 11-game hitting streak ... Brandon Knox's three-run homer in the sixth was the first home run of his collegiate career ... CU had a total of 13 doubles on the weekend and three home runs for 16 total extra-base hits, as they hit .391 as a team ... Ross Sinclair moved his career-long hitting streak to eight games, as six Bluejays have hitting streaks of five or better after the weekend ... The Jays are now 58-7 under head coach Ed Servais when leading after the first inning, 107-7 when out-hitting its opponent, 105-3 when leading after eight innings and 47-3 when scoring 10 runs or better ... Creighton has now won 32-straight games when leading after six innings and 35-straight when leading after eight.
