Creighton University
Wichita State
Venditte MVP As Baseball Shocks Wichita State, 10-9, In 12 Inning Tourney Final
5/26/2007 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
With the win, 25th-ranked Creighton (44-14) earned the Valley's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, where 12th-ranked Wichita State (49-19) will surely be picked as an at-large team when the field is announced on Monday.
The emotion-filled game had both players and fans from both sides mere outs from victory, only to comeback against ace relievers from both sides.
The Shockers, who won a 2-1 pitcher's duel over Creighton earlier in the day to force the if-necessary championship game, trailed 6-1 in the top of the eighth before scoring five runs against Bluejay closer Andy Masten. The Valley Newcomer of the Year, Masten had entered the game with a 0.98 ERA and 16 saves while allowing just five earned runs all season.
The WSU rally was keyed by five straight hits off Masten to lead off the eighth, including a two-RBI double by Conor Gillaspie, an RBI single from Tyler Hill, and a sac fly from Danny Jackson that drew the Shockers within 6-5. MVC all-time appearance leader Scott Reese would replace Masten and escape a two-on, no-out jam to preserve the lead heading to the ninth.
Andy Dirks led off with a double off the glove of diving leftfielder Andrew Small, then moved to third on a grounder by Derek Schermerhorn. He would score on a sac fly by Matt Brown.
Wichita State parlayed that late-game momentum into three runs in the top of the 11th inning against Reese. Dirks would rip a two-run double, ending Reese's night. Dirks later scored on a ground-out by Brown to give WSU a 9-6 seemingly safe lead in the 11th.
However, the Bluejays showed some tenacity by tying the game with two outs in the bottom of the 11th. Chad Ogden singled to lead off the frame. Two strikeouts by Shocker closer Noah Krol later, Robbie Knight reached on shortstop Josh Workman's first error of the season on a hard hit ball up the middle. Down to the team's last strike, Ross Sinclair then doubled into the left-field corner to score Ogden and bring up Johnny Bench Award semifinalist Chris Gradoville. Gradoville also doubled into the left-field corner, scoring Knight and Sinclair. Following an intentional walk to Darin Ruf, Steve Winkelmann's deep blast to the centerfield wall was brought in an incredible catch by Dirks.
After winning pitcher Casey Schmidt (5-1) set down the Shockers in order in the top of the 12th, the Jays offense went to work. Freshman TJ Roemmich walked on five pitches from losing pitcher Kohl Nanney to open the frame. Pinch-runner Knox was then bunted to second base by Ogden, before scoring when Small's deep drive to left-center that bounced between Tyler Hill and Dirks. That set off a mad dogpile to the right of home plate as part of a Bluejay celebration.
Pat Venditte, the nation's only ambidextrous pitcher, added to his legend on Saturday night as Creighton led 6-1 when he departed with one out in the seventh. Also named Tournament MVP, Venditte was simply marvelous in his first career start after 70 relief appearances. The switch-pitcher lowered his ERA to 1.83 with a career-high 6.1 innings of one-run ball. Venditte yielded five hits and one walk while tying his career-best with 10 strikeouts. He threw 92 pitches (60 with his left arm, 32 with his right arm) before departing.
Creighton scored twice in the top of the third, knocking out WSU starter Max Hutson in the process. Small singled up the middle and moved to second on a sac bunt by Michael Lam. Small went to third on a single from Knight and scored on a Sinclair single through the left side. CU's second run came when Valley Player of the Year Ruf singled up the middle against reliever Kyle Touchatt to make it 2-0.
Wichita State cut the deficit in half while snapping Venditte's incredible scoreless streak at 43.2 innings. Dirks and Schemerhorn singled with no outs to put runners at the corners. Brown then lifted a sacrifice fly and advanced both runners, including Dirks home for WSU's first run. However, Venditte showed some of his legendary mental toughness by fanning Tyler Weber and getting Workman to fly out to end the inning.
Creighton answered with a four-run bottom of the sixth to take a commanding 6-1 lead. Ruf singled with one out and motored home on a double down the line by Steve Winkelmann. Following a walk to Masten, Kansas native Ogden belted a three-run homer to deep left to put CU ahead 6-1. It was his tournament-high third dinger of the weekend and tied him for the team-high with eight this season.
After Venditte struck out Ryan Jones to open the seventh, he gave way to Masten and was greeted by a thunderous standing ovation as he left the field.
Hutson lasted just 2.2 innings in his seventh start of the year, giving up four hits and two runs before yielding to Touchatt in the bottom of the third.
Sinclair led CU with three hits on the night, while Knight, Ruf, Ogden and Small each had two hits each. WSU was paced by three hits and three runs by Dirks.
The Creighton baseball team and coaches invite the fans and media to DJ's Dugout in Bellevue (2440 Cornhusker Road) for Monday's 11:30 am NCAA Tournament Selection Show pairings, which will be shown on ESPN.
NOTES: The start was Pat Venditte's first after 70 career relief appearances ...Pat Venditte has now made 36 appearances this season, one shy of Scott Reese's school record set in 2005 ...Michael Lam set up Creighton's first run with the team's 89th sacrifice bunt of the season, a figure that ranks seventh in NCAA history ...Pat Venditte extended his scoreless streak to 43.2 innings before it was snapped on a sixth-inning sacrifice fly by Matt Brown. The streak spanned 17 appearances and dated to April 11th at Kansas State... Pat Venditte extended his streak without giving up an extra base hit to was 40.2 innings ...Creighton has won 19 straight games when scoring first ...Creighton has now turned a double play in 16 straight games, 23 of the last 24 and 36 of the last 38 games ...The Shockers comeback came against a Bluejay bullpen that hadn't allowed a run in 27.1 innings. It also helped CU extend its streak to 43 straight wins when leading after six innings and 48 straight wins when leading after eight ...Creighton's Pat Venditte was named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player, and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Darin Ruf (1B), Michael Lam (2B), Chad Ogden (SS), Ross Sinclair (OF) and Zak Moore (P) ...Creighton became the first team to win baseball and softball tournament titles in the same year since Missouri State in 1997 ...The Jays also won tourney titles in men's basketball and men's soccer during the 2006-07 season ...Creighton improved to 53-3 when scoring 10 runs or more under Ed Servais.
