Creighton University
Bradley
Baseball Hammers Bradley, 17-2, Advances To Title Game
5/25/2007 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
Creighton will now face No. 10 Wichita State (48-18) tomorrow and will have two chances to beat the Shockers and claim their first-ever MVC Tournament baseball title. Game one will start at 1 pm and be televised live in
Creighton slugged 15 hits while tying its season high with 17 runs. Ross Sinclair and Chad Ogden both had three hits, while Robbie Knight, Andrew Small and Steve Winkelmann each scored twice. Five players had multiple RBI while six players scored two or more times.
The Jays scored twice in the first inning against Bradley starter Collin Walker. Sinclair singled with one out and moved to second on a two-out walk to Valley Player of the Year Darin Ruf. Sinclair came plateward on a single to right by Small, while Ruf scored on a single through the left side by Winkelmann to make it 2-0.
Bradley, two-hit the night before by CU's tandem of Zak Moore and Andy Masten, opened the game with back-to-back hits from Dan Brewer and Paul Rice to put runners on the corners. Brewer later scored when Valley batting champ Ryan Curry grounded into a double play, closing within 2-1.
CU then scored four runs on just one hit in a second inning that could best be described as wacky. TJ Roemmich walked to lead off the frame. He'd move to second when Michael Lam reached on a throwing error by Bradley shortstop Brewer. Knight's reached on his subsequent sacrifice bunt when first baseman Mike McMillan slipped, then threw wide to first to load the bases. Roemmich came home on Sinclair's infield single and Lam also scored when third baseman Rice threw wildly. CU's final two runs came on an RBI groundout by Chris Gradoville and sacrifice fly from Ruf.
Creighton put two more runs on the board in the top of the third inning. Two-out walks to Roemmich and Lam preceded a double down the line by Knight. The two-base hit gave CU a 8-1 lead and snapped an 0-for-22 skid by the freshman centerfielder.
BU answered with one run in the third inning, when Ryan Curry singled up the middle to score Brad Jones. The Braves promising uprising was squashed when Knight threw out Rice trying to go from first-to-third on Curry's hit.
Creighton continued its trend of crooked numbers with a three-run fourth inning to take an 11-2 lead. Gradoville scored on a sacrifice fly by Winkelmann, while Ruf and Small scored on a two-run double down the left-field line smashed by Roemmich.
The Jays also scored three runs in the sixth. WInkelmann scored on a bases-loaded walk to Lam,
CU's three runs in the seventh came on
Mancuso, who improved to 10-2, threw his second complete game of the year. The MVC Pitcher of the Year gave up seven hits and two runs, striking out eight and walking two. He is just the second junior in school history with 10 or more wins in a season, joining Dan Smith in 1990.
Brennan dropped to 3-6 with the loss, giving up eight runs (five earned) in three innings of work. Jon Goebel surrendered six runs in two innings while Eitan Barbalat and Ramie Hamdan both allowed three runs in one inning of relief.
Creighton is expected to start Marc Lewis (8-1, 3.73 ERA) in the championship game, while
NOTES: Bradley eliminated host Missouri State in the first game of the day, 8-3, before Wichita State knocked out Evansville with a 12-1 victory called after eight innings due to the league's 10-run rule ...Creighton has scored in the first inning 16 times in the past 26 games ...Bradley starter Collin Brennan was 2-0 with two saves in 21.1 scoreless innings against Creighton last season ...Creighton has now turned at least one double play in 14 consecutive games, 21 of the last 22 and 34 of the last 36 games ...Bradley, which made three errors, had made more than two errors just twice before tonight ...Creighton has scored 10 runs or more in five of Ben Mancuso's 12 starts this season and averaged nine runs of support on Mancuso's behalf ...TJ Roemmich walked three times after entering the game with two career bases on balls ...Creighton has won 18 straight games when scoring first ...The only previous time Creighton had won three straight MVC Tournament games was in 1992, when it fought through the loser's bracket ...Creighton is 36-1 under Ed Servais when scoring eight runs or more against Valley teams (including MVC Tournament games) ...In the last 26 games, opposing starting pitchers are 0-23 with a 6.32 ERA against the Jays ...Creighton's two hit batsmen moved their season total to 104, which ranks tied for second nationally and 10th in NCAA single-season history ...Creighton had scored a total of 13 runs in four previous victories over Bradley before tonight ...Creighton last beat the same opponent twice at the MVC Tournament in 1992, when it Bradley twice.
