Final Look at a Championship Baseball Season
6/8/2007 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
The 2007 Creighton baseball season was one for the record books, as it was a season filled with great success and plenty of history making moments. The Bluejays finished the year with a 45-16 overall record and a 19-5 conference mark, which gave them their best conference winning percentage in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Sophomore first baseman Darin Ruf was named Joe Carter MVC Player of the Year as he led the Bluejays in nine different offensive categories, while head coach Ed Servais was named MVC Coach of the Year for the third time in four seasons. as CU won the fourth-most games in recorded-school history. The Jays also won their first MVC Tournament championship and saw 12 different recorded school records be broken, ranging from saves in a season to being hit by a record number of pitches. Freshman Robbie Knight became the all-time NCAA single-season record holder as he was beaned by 35 pitches, while senior Scott Reese became the all-time CU and MVC career-appearances leader, making 123 career-appearances after his 28 appearances in 2007.
Reese wouldn't be alone though when it came to big accomplishments from the Bluejay pitching staff. Junior southpaw Ben Mancuso and junior ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte both garnered All-American honors for their memorable seasons, as Mancuso became just the second junior in school history to win 10 games in a season after recording seven scoreless outings. The efforts earned the Omaha native, the honor of being the MVC Pitcher of the Year. Venditte was just as impressive, as he led the Bluejays in strikeouts for the second-straight season, fanning 99 total opposing batters. The ambidextrous one also led the team in ERA and innings pitched (95.2) as his 1.88 ERA was the best in CU single-season recorded history and moved his career ERA to a Jays best 2.61.
Senior Andy Masten led the Bluejays with a single-season best 16 saves out the bullpen to earn him First-Team All-MVC honors and MVC Newcomer of the Year. Freshman right-hander Casey Schmidt also earned big honors, as he became the first Bluejay since Tony Roth in 2002 to earn Freshman All-American accolades. The Arvada, Colo. native went 6-1 in his freshman campaign and posted a 3.12 ERA, guiding the Jays to four of their biggest wins of the 2007 season (Kansas State, Nebraska, Wichita State and Albany).
Wins didn't come easily for the Jays in their first month of the season, as they went 2-4 in the month of February after going 1-2 in trips to both South Carolina and Texas. Senior left-hander Marc Lewis got his final Bluejay campaign off to a good start, as he picked up an opening-day 4-3 win for the Jays against Gardner-Webb. He would setup Masten for save number one of the season, as CU picked up just its third opening-day win of the decade.
Back-to-back losses to Winthrop and Maryland however, left CU at 1-2 following their season-opening trip. A 6-3 win over Arkansas State in Beaumont, Texas got them back to .500 at 2-2, but once again the Bluejays couldn't mount any offense and fell in the final two games of the trip to enter Spring Break at 2-4.
A 3-2 Sping Break trip though, coupled with a three-game home sweep of Saint Louis to start March, would get the Jays on the road to success. CU would end March with a big conference-opening series win at Evansville, as they took 2-of-3 from the Purple Aces before returning home to upset the 25th-ranked Missouri Tigers on a walk-off double by senior Chad Ogden. A conference home-opening sweep of Northern Iowa then set CU up for a first place MVC showdown at Wichita State, following the first Nebraska game of the season at Rosenblatt Stadium. Despite a furious comeback from being nine runs down, the Jays fell 12-10 to the Cornhuskers in game one on a 36-degree night that saw the nine-inning affair finally end after three hours and 41 minutes of battle. The loss gave CU a 18-9 record heading into Eck Stadium for a the first place battle with the Shockers.
Both CU and WSU entered the three-game set with a 5-1 league mark going into the Friday night contest, in a series that would later determine the regular-season MVC title. CU trailed 2-0 in game one going into the top of the ninth inning before Ruf and Steve Winkelmann came thru with big one-out RBI hits to give the Bluejays a 3-2 lead for Masten in the bottom of the ninth, who came in and sat the Shockers down in order to give CU its first and only lead of the conference standings at 6-1 in league play. The Shockers wouldn't let the Jays get comfortable at the top though, as they rebounded to take the final two games and re-gained control of the MVC standings.
CU would return to Kansas just two nights later for a big Tuesday evening non-conference battle at Kansas State. The game would mark the coming-out of the right-handed Schmidt, as the freshman tossed five innings of scoreless baseball in just his fourth-career start, as he allowed just three hits and struck out five in a 3-1 CU win that would mark the start of a season-long 11-game win streak. Over the course of the next three weeks, the Jays would sweep Bradley, win their second game against the Cornhuskers in Lincoln, earn a conference road sweep at Indiana State and swept non-conference opponent Northern Colorado to sit at 30-11entering the final month of the season.
The CU jugernaunt would finally be stopped by Southern Illinois in game one of a three-game set at Rosenblatt. The Salukis came out with 4-3 win in 11-innings as freshman Bryant George picked up the win in relief work, getting SIU out of a one-out bases loaded jam in the 10th inning, before platting a run in the top of the 11th to earn the win. A two-double performance though by CU's Michael Lam in game two would help lead the Jays to a 5-2 win in game two, as Mancuso led CU to series win at the CU Sports Complex on Sunday, pitching a career-best eight scoreless innings with five strikeouts. After the fourth-doubleheader sweep of the season at North Dakota State, the Bluejays took three games at Illinois State to stay in a first place tie with the Shockers at the top of the league standings going into their final MVC series of the season against Missouri State.
Before battling the Bears for a chance at the MVC regular-season title though, the Bluejays would get one final crack at their in-state rival before 18,316 fans at Rosenblatt Stadium. The red-hot Jays systematically took control of the rubber match between the two teams and went on for an easy 9-2 victory, which gave them their first regular-season series victory over the Big Red since 2005. Poised for their second MVC regular-season championship, the Jays Lewis battled MSU's powerful left-hander Ross Detwiler, pitch for pitch, in what would be a tight scoreless afair in game one. A costly error however, by Bears second baseman Matt Lawson would allow the Bluejays to plate the winning-run in the seventh inning, as CU went on for 1-0 win. MSU wouldn't hold back their pitching firepower in game two either, as right-hander Scott Carroll recorded 12 strikeouts. A single run in the seventh inning gave the Jays a 3-2 lead, which would be all they needed as they entered the final game of the regular-season still tied a top of the league standings with the Shockers.
Game three of the series just wasn't meant to be though for the Bluejays. A three-run first inning by the Bears off Mancuso, gave CU the daunting task of having to score at least three or more runs against the Bears dominating pitching staff. MSU's Tim Clubb, much like Detwiler and Carroll the two days before, was brillant in 7.2 innings of relief duty as he allowed a single run on three hits and struck out eight CU batters, as the Jays finished one game short of realizing their regular-season championship dreams.
The MVC Tournament in Springfield, Mo. presented the Bluejays with some new hope though and gave them a new opportunity to earn a championship. Coming in as the second-seed in the tournament, the Jays had a golden opportunity to earn their first-ever conference tournament championship, as they started the tournament against fifth-seeded SIU.
The Salukis let the Bluejays know early, that the road to the title wouldn't be easy. SIU jumped out to an 5-0 lead, as the CU bats continued to struggle and Lewis had one of his rougher outings of the season. A two-run homer from Ogden would give the Jays some spark though as they came from behind to earn an 8-5 win, thanks in large part to the efforts of Venditte who pitched 5.2 innings of relief where he allowed a single hit to earn the victory and continue a scoreless inning streak that he had kept since April 10th.
Two back-to-back wins over BU Braves gave the Jays a two-game cushion heading into the first championship game with the Shockers. Lewis would recover from his tournament-opening appearance to allow just a single earned run in 6.2 innings, but the Shockers dominant right-hander Aaron Shafer, who was the 2006 MVC Pitcher of the Year, kept the CU batters at bay to give WSU a 2-1 win and force a second champioship game.
With starting pitchers who had little experience in big games sitting in the dugout after game one, coach Servais put the ball in the hands of his switch-pitcher to bring home CU's first tournament championship. Venditte responsed with a performance that will go down as one of the finest in CU baseball history, as the ambidextrous pitcher tossed a career-high 6.1 innings allowing his first run in 43.2 innings on a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning, scattering five hits and tying a career-best 10 strikeouts. Thanks to Venditte's efforts the Bluejays opened up a 6-1 lead when Ogden hit a three-run homer to left field. Things were looking very good for the Jays as they went to their star closer to earn them the win.
That is when a dream situation turned into a nightmare. Masten, who hadn't allowed more than two runs in a single outing would give up a season-high four runs as the Shockers came back to tie the game up at 6-6 at the end of regulation. WSU then scored three runs in the top of the 11th to take a 9-6 lead, as it looked like CU's dream of a championship was about to end. However, RBI doubles in the bottom half of the inning by seniors Ross Sinclair and Chris Gradoville got the game knotted back up at 9-9. Schmidt, who came in and pitched two innings of scoreless relief put the Jays in position for the championship heading into the bottom half of the 12th. That is where Andrew Small forever tacked his name into the CU history books, as he hit a walk-off RBI double to plate pinch runner Brandon Knox and give the Jays a 10-9 win and their first-ever MVC Tournament championship. Venditte took home Most Outstanding Player honors for the tournament, as coach Servais completed the championship slate for the Jays by earning them both a regular-season title and tournament title in a three-year span.
The conference tournament title gave the Bluejays an automatic berth into their eighth NCAA Regional appearance. The 20th-ranked Jays earned the two-seed in the Fayetteville, Ark. Regional and were matched up with the third-seeded Oklahoma State Cowboys in game one. Despite winning 25 of their final 28 games coming into the tournament, the Jays just couldn't keep their momentum going. After falling 6-4 in the opening game to OSU, CU put together one last big win, winning 21-11 over Albany to move into a Sunday showdown with host Arkansas. That showdown was't meant to be though for the boys in blue. Razorback first round prospect Nick Schmidt would allow the Jays two hits in seven innings, as the Hogs rode a big four-hit and multiple-home run performance from catcher Brian Walker to earn a 6-0 win and end CU's season.
Though the Bluejays will be losing 10 seniors to graduation, their is no reason to think that CU can't defend their conference title next season. Barring any early departures, the Jays pitching staff will return three of its regular four starters, while also returning Venditte to the bullpen. The returning CU staff will have earned 30 of the 45 wins this season by Bluejay pitchers. CU will also see three returning infielders along with a youthful, but experienced outfield return for the 2008 season. Blend in some talented recruits and there is no reason to see why Bluejay baseball won't be a big piece of the MVC pie in the upcoming years.
Radio Broadcasts
Bluejay baseball was heard 31 times this season on KOZN 1620 AM. Nebraska Sportscaster of the Year Kevin Kugler provided the play-by-play and was joined by John Bishop who provided all the color commentary. Pregame shows aired 15 minutes prior to each first pitch, as they could be heard globally by logging on to www.1620thezone.com.
Television Broadcasts
Creighton baseball was seen on television this season on nine occasions. NET1, Cox Channel 2, FSN Midwest, Fox College Sports, Comcast SportsNet and Metro Sports all aired Bluejay baseball in 2007. Four broadcasts involved games at Rosenblatt Stadium, while both MVC Tournament title games in Springfield, Mo. were also aired. The Jays final three game of the season were then seen on CSTV at the NCAA Regionals in Fayetteville, Ark.
Quick Hits
? Each of the nation's top eight teams in fielding percentage advanced to the NCAA Tournament this season, including Creighton who was ranked sixth.
? Creighton lost only seven games in 2007 by six runs or more, as their average margin of defeat was 3.69. In comparison, the Bluejays average margin of victory was 4.73.
? Creighton's NCAA Regional victory over Albany moved CU to 8-1 all-time in its 60th game of the season. Only a loss to Texas in 2000 stands between a perfect 9-0 mark.
? Creighton ranked first in the Missouri Valley Conference in sacrifice bunts with 93 and in sacrifice bunts allowed, as they gave up 52.
? Pat Venditte was recently pictured in Sports Illustrated's 'Leading Off' section at the front of the magazine. He was also featured on the CBS Evening News on May 20th and was featured on the front cover of the New York Times this season. Rogers Sportsnet in Canada and CSTV were amongst the many other media national media appearances in 2007 for the ambidextrous pitcher.
? Pat Venditte threw 43.2 straight scoreless innings over 17 appearances in between earned runs (April 11 to May 26). Wichita State scored on a sacrifice fly to end the spell on May 26th. Venditte allowed just three runs in his last 18 appearances, a span in which he was 5-0 with two saves and a 0.20 ERA.
? Pat Venditte is sixth in Creighton history with 73 career pitching appearances. His 38 appearances this season set a new CU single-season record, as the Omaha native broke teammate Scott Reese's school mark of 37 in 2005.
? Though he is a reliever, Pat Venditte led the team with 95.2 innings pitched. His 99 strikeouts also led the team, the second-straight season he's done that
? Andy Masten hadn't allowed a run in 25.2 innings of work in the ninth inning this season, before finally allowing two against Arkansas in the final game. As a team, CU owned a 1.48 ERA in the ninth inning, giving up just eight earned runs all season.
? In the last 31 games, only two teams scored more than six runs against CU. Wichita State scored nine runs in a 10-9, 12-inning loss in MVC Tournament title game, while Arkansas scored six runs to eliminate the Jays with a 6-0 on June 3rd.
? Creighton's 21 saves this season were a school record and the most by any Valley team except Wichita State in league history.
? Michael Lam led Creighton with a .438 batting average at the MVC Tournament, going 7-for-16. He also reached on three walks and had an on-base percentage of .526.
? Ben Mancuso's 10-2 record makes him just the second junior in school history to record 10 wins in a season. Former first-round draft pick Dan Smith had 14 wins in 1990.
? Creighton had a won a nation-leading 10-straight true road games prior to its loss to Arkansas, with three of those victories by 10 or more runs and another by eight. The Bluejays were 9-0 when it scored in the first inning of true road games this year.
? Creighton was 15-0 when scoring in the fifth inning this year. However, CU did not homer in the 5th inning this year.
? Casey Schmidt was 5-0 with a 0.98 ERA in his last eight appearances, which spanned 27.2 innings. Schmidt owned wins in four of CU's biggest games of the season...at Kansas State (April 11), versus Nebraska at Rosenblatt Stadium (May 15), versus Wichita State (May 26) in the Valley Tournament championship game, and versus Albany (June 2) in the NCAA Regionals at Arkansas.
? In addition to being a school and MVC record, Creighton's 93 sacrifice bunts this season were third nationally and rank tied for sixth in NCAA single-season history. CU tied an NCAA record with six sac bunts in a May 12 win at Illinois State.
? Creighton was third in the nation with 93 sacrifice bunts on the season. That small ball philosophy paid off for the Bluejays as 62 runners that advanced on the 93 sacrifices came around to score, including five runners on six sacrifice bunts in the MVC Tournament.
? Andrew Small, who had a walk-off double in the MVC championship game, led Creighton with 10 game-winning RBI's this season.
? Creighton has turned a double-play in 25 of the last 27 and 38 of the past 41 games.
? Ben Mancuso's 10-3 record made him just the second junior in school history to record 10 wins in a season. Former first-round draft pick Dan Smith had 14 wins in 1990.
? Robbie Knight was hit by a pitch to lead off the game 11 times this year. He was hit 19 times in 24 true road games.
? Robbie Knight's 32 HBP ranks tied for second in NCAA history in a single-season, and one behind Andrew Slater's (Richmond, 1997) NCAA record. Knight has scored after 11 of those HBP's.
? Robbie Knight has reached base in the first inning in 10 of his last 19 at-bats to start a game, scoring six times. He has scored 16 first-inning runs this year, while CU opponents own a total of 27 first-frame runs.? Creighton owns 106 hit batsmen this season, a figure that ranks third-nationally this year and is 10th in MVC history. By comparison, CU pitchers have drilled just 30 opposing batters...two less than Robbie Knight's 32 HBP by himself.
? Though he was hit by 35 pitches, Robbie Knight was never hit in the eighth inning this season in 21 plate appearances.
? Creighton hit four grand slams this season. Chris Gradoville, Chad Ogden, Andy Masten and Darin Ruf each have hit a four-RBI homer. Since 2002, CU is 10-0 in games that it has hit a grand salami in.
? Creighton was 28-5 this year when Michael Lam starts at second base, and 17-11 when he didn't.
? Creighton was 26-5 when Chad Ogden started at shortstop this year.
? Scott Reese is ninth in NCAA history with 122 career relief appearances. He is 15th all-time with 123 career pitching appearances overall.
? Darin Ruf has started all 113 games Creighton has played since he joined the program last season. He has played every inning of every game this season at first base.
? Darin Ruf made two errors this season, with both coming at Rosenblatt Stadium.
? Chris Gradoville led Creighton with 20 two-out RBI's in 2007. Steve Winkelmann and Andrew Small weren't too far behind, as both had 18.
? Chris Gradoville finished just one sacrifice fly short of the CU career-record held by Bob Langer (1989-92). The Omaha native had five sacrifice flies this season to give him 14 for his career.
? Creighton's .792 winning percentage (19-5) in league games this year was the best in school history.
? Creighton's bullpen had 13 saves in MVC play this season. Creighton's league opponents did not record a save all season in 24 games.
? Creighton has picked up MVC Tournament championships in baseball, men's soccer, men's basketball and women's softball during the 2006-07 season. The last team to win both the baseball and softball tournaments in the same year was Missouri State in 1997. It's also been done by Missouri State in 1996 and Indiana State in 1986.
The last team to win the baseball and men's basketball MVC Tournaments in the same season was Wichita State in the spring of 1987.
? The Rosenblatt Stadium crowd of 18,316 for Creighton's May 15 game vs. Nebraska outdrew three crowds from Major League baseball that night (14,966 for Kansas City at Oakland; 12,769 for Florida at Pittsburgh; 8,443 for Texas at Tampa Bay).
