Creighton University
Southern Illinois
Baseball Claims Fifth MVC Series Win With 7-0 Win Over SIU
5/6/2007 3:00:00 AM | Baseball
Mancuso making his ninth start of the season improved his ERA to 1.90 in the eight-inning effort, earning the win to move his record to a team-best 8-1, as he allowed just three walks and struck out five to go along with the three hits. It was the seventh-time this season, that the Omaha native has pitched without allowing a single run.
Mancuso then got help from fellow Omaha native, Robbie Knight, who went 4-for-5 on the day with three RBI's and a run scored and Darin Ruf, another Omaha native, who went a perfect 4-for-4 for the second-time this season in the winning effort. The win gave the Jays their 18th of the season at the CU Sports Complex, as they moved to 32-12 overall and 14-4 in MVC play. The Salukis fell to 29-18 overall with an MVC mark of 9-9.
The Bluejays took an early 4-0 lead into the fifth inning after collecting three runs in the bottom of the second and picking up a single run in the bottom half of the fourth. With Mancuso pitching a flawless first 4.2 innings allowing just one walk, the skies then opened with the Jays an out away from an official game, as lightning forced the two squads off the field. The rain then set in for good 30 to 40 minutes before the game was finally able to resume 65 minutes later.
Mancuso returned to the mound after the delay and got SIU left fielder Dean Cademartori to line out to first after allowing his first hit to Tyler Lairson in the first at bat following the delay, as the game became official. However, the Jays weren't done yet as they went on to add three more runs with one coming in the bottom half of the seventh and two more coming in the bottom half of the eighth, as Mancuso continued to be brillant on the mound.
The opposite could be said of SIU starter Jordan Powell, who struggled with the hot CU lineup. Powell (5-7) got saddled with the loss, as he went four innings allowing eight hits with a single strikeout. Brad Lawrence, Ian Reinhart and freshman closer Bryant George would all make apperances then out of the Saluki bullpen, as the Bluejays left Reinhart as the only SIU pitcher without an earned run.
Designated hitter Brett Mieras got the scoring started for the Jays in of the bottom of the second inning., His ground out to short allowed Andrew Small to score from third after advancing on a hit by a pitch and a balk call, as the CU took a 1-0 lead. Chad Ogden then reached on another Bluejay hit by a pitch before Michael Lam used his hot bat to advance him into scoring position with an infield single to third. That brought up Knight who with two on and one out, collected his second hit of the day sending a two-RBI double down the left field that platted both Ogden and Lam to give the Jays a 3-0 lead.
Knight struck again in the bottom half of the fourth with Lam on first, as he collected his second RBI-double of the day with one out in the inning to stretch the CU lead to four. For Knight it was his fifth double of the season, as the three RBI's set a new single-game career-high.
Ruf, who like Knight, finished his day with four hits, was then part of three-straight base hits to start the seventh that platted another Bluejay run. Chris Gradoville led-off the frame with a single to right center, which was followed by Ruf's single to through the right side, moving Gradoville to third. Small then platted Gradoville with an RBI-single to center to give CU a 5-0 lead, as they went on to add two more runs in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Gradoville and RBI-double from Ruf to win its 14th game in its last 15.
Senior left-hander Scott Reese then finished off the Salukis in the ninth allowing a single hit and recording one strikeout.
The Bluejays will return to action on Wednesday when they head to Fargo, N.D. for a doubleheader at North Dakota State. The first game is scheduled to start at noon, with the first pitch in game two coming around 3 p.m.
Notes: Scott Reese made his 116th career-apperance in the game and 115th relief appearance which moves him to 16th place tie on the all-time Division I list ... Ross Sinclair improved his career-long hitting streak to 11 games in the win ... Michael Lam moved his career-long hitting streak to eight games as he hit .545 for the series with two doubles and an RBI ...Chris Gradoville's single in the seventh improved his season-long hitting streak to nine games ... Creighton is now 18-1 this season at the CU Sports Complex ... The Jays have now won 33-straight games when leading after six and 37-straight when leading after eight ... CU has now out-scored its opponents 80 to 33 in the first two innings ... CU turned two double plays on the weekend to give them 55 on the season and at least one double play in 22 of its last 24 games ... CU is now 10-0 in games where its scores between six and nine runs and 11-3 on Sundays ... Darin Ruf now has a hit in 38 of 44 games played this season.
