Baseball Travels To MVC Leader Northern Iowa For Weekend Series
4/17/2008 4:30:00 PM | Baseball
On Deck - Creighton will travel to MVC-leader Northern Iowa this weekend for a crucial three-game series in Waterloo.
Follow Along - Creighton's athletics website, www.gocreighton.com, will offer live stats for all three games. The links can be found under the Multimedia tab on the left side of the athletics homepage. In addition, each game will be broadcast on Omaha's KOZN (1620 AM) with John Bishop and Dave Gustafson on the call. The audio feed is also available at www.1620thezone.com.
Scouting Northern Iowa (21-10, 8-1 MVC)-The Panthers enter the weekend on a seven-game winning streak after a 9-8 win over Minnesota on Wednesday. UNI leads the conference at 8-1, with sweeps of Evansville and Illinois State, but has not faced a league opponent with a winning record.
The UNI offense is led by a pair of preseason all-Valley picks in Deric Manrique and Brandon Douglas. Manrique has returned after missing 13 games with an injury to lead the team with a .439 batting average. Douglas is not far behind at .409, and the second baseman leads the MVC with 16 doubles.
The Panthers will run out a formidable weekend pitching rotation. Friday starter Guido Fonseca leads the league with seven wins and is second with 57 strikeouts. Taylor Sinclair is 4-1 in his Saturday role, while Sunday starter Nick Kirk has recorded a no-hitter this season.
Scouting Creighton (24-11, 7-5 MVC) - After averaging 8.2 runs per game through the first 27 contests, the CU offense has scored only 27 in the last eight contests (3.4 per game).
The Jays have put runners on base and advanced them thanks to a nation-leading 55 sacrifice bunts, but CU is batting just .157 (13-for-83) with runners in scoring position during the eight-game stretch. The team has no home runs and only eight extra base hits combined in those eight games.
Creighton's bullpen has been impressive lately, posting a 1.49 ERA in the last 13 games. During that stretch, the pen has recorded 63 strikeouts, while walking only 11.
Defensively, the Bluejays lead the MVC with a .976 fielding percentage, despite committing seven errors in the last four games.
Midweek Recap - Creighton split two games at Rosenblatt Stadium, defeating Kansas State 6-5 in 11 innings on Tuesday before falling 8-3 to Iowa on Wednesday. Senior reliever Pat Venditte picked up the win against K-State, throwing the final three innings and allowing just one hit while striking out four. Starter T.J. Roemmich suffered the loss on Wednesday, allowing three runs on four hits in two innings. Darin Ruf was 3-for-7 with a double and two RBIs in the two games.
Series History - The series has been very competitive in recent years, as the teams have split the past 12 meetings. Creighton swept a three-game series in Omaha last season (March 30-April 1), but UNI took two of three from the Bluejays the last time the teams met in Waterloo on May 18-20, 2006.
The Coaches - With Wednesday's win over Minnesota, Northern Iowa coach Rick Heller moved to the .500 mark at 238-238-1 in his nine seasons. He has compiled a 17-13
record against Creighton in his career.
Creighton head coach Ed Servais is 183-89 (.673) in his fifth season with the Bluejays. His teams have averaged nearly 40 wins per season and he has been named MVC Coach of the Year three times in his first four seasons. Against Northern Iowa, Servais has a 7-6 career record.
K Leaders - Creighton's Pat Venditte and UNI's Guido Fonseca rank 1-2 in the MVC with 65 and 57 strikeouts, respectively.
Stopper of the Year - On Thursday, Venditte was among 45 relief pitchers named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List. The senior ambidextrous hurler has compiled five saves and four wins so far in 2008. Last year, Creighton closer Andy Masten was a finalist for the award.
Making The Sacrifice - Creighton leads the country with 55 sacrifice bunts this season after setting a school and MVC record with 93 in 2007. Junior Vicente Cafaro leads the team and ranks in the top-10 nationally with 11 sac bunts. Nine other Jays have at least two sacrifice bunts in 2008.
Shutout Mark - With shutouts in both games of a doubleheader against North Dakota State on April 9, the Creighton pitching staff increased its season total to seven. That mark ties Tulane for the national lead and surpasses last season's total of five.
Call To The Bullpen - Creighton's relievers have thrown 8.1 more innings than its starters this season and recorded 42 more strikeouts. The bullpen has performed admirably lately, with 63 strikeouts and a 1.49 ERA in the last 13 games. For the season, the pen has compiled nine wins, eight saves, 147 strikeouts and a 3.01 ERA.
Dominant Dooley - Senior reliever Kevin Dooley owns a 0.44 ERA in his last 11 appearances, which spans 20.1 innings. Each of his last six outings have been two innings or more, with multiple strikeouts in each. He leads the team with a 1.17 ERA in his 14 appearances this season.
Home Run Drought - Since hitting two homers on April 5 at Bradley to give the team 29 long balls in the first 27 games, Creighton has gone eight games without hitting a round tripper.
Black and Blue(jays) - Creighton set a school record after being hit by 116 pitches last season, which was one shy of national leader UC-Irvine. Seven players were hit by at least nine pitches, including new NCAA single-season record holder Robbie Knight, who was beaned 35 times.
So far in 2008, Creighton batters have been hit by 69 pitches, which ranks top-five nationally. Once again, Knight leads the team and ranks among the national leaders with 16 HBP. Eleven different Bluejays have been hit by a pitch, and CU has recorded at least one HBP in 32 of its 35 games.
Knight Needing Armor - Sophomore center fielder Robbie Knight has been hit by 16 pitches in 2008 after breaking the NCAA record last season with 35 bean balls. On March 29 against Illinois State, Knight was hit by three pitches to break the CU career record. He now has 51 HBP in only 95 career games.
Venditte Pitcher of the Week - Senior ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte was named the MVC Pitcher of the Week on April 14. He recorded saves in both games of CU's doubleheader sweep over North Dakota State last Wednesday. He then picked up the win over #5 Wichita State on Saturday with seven strikeouts in four innings of work. He fanned 14 in his four appearances.
Mr. Versatility - As the nation's only ambidextrous pitcher, Venditte has a unique advantage when it comes to availability in a greater number of games. His 22 appearances this season lead the MVC and tie for most in the country.
Strikeout King - Venditte leads the MVC with 65 strikeouts in 55.2 innings. He has recorded at least one strikeout in 20 of his 22 appearances.
Righty AND Lefty - So far this season, Venditte has used both arms in 20 of his 22 appearances. He has struck out a batter using his right and left arm in 11 of those outings. Last season, Venditte recorded 10 different appearances in which he had at least one strikeout with each arm, as he led the squad with 99 Ks.
Rally Starter - Creighton has used big innings to score many of its runs this season. The Jays have compiled 19 different innings with four or more runs. CU has also scored six or more in an inning on five occasions.
Late-Inning Leads - Rice's two-run eighth-inning rally to defeat Creighton on March 9 marked the first time the Jays had lost a game when leading after the sixth inning since 2006. CU was 35-0 when leading after the sixth inning last season, and are 18-1 so far in 2008.
Closing the Door - In addition, Creighton has won 61 straight games when taking a lead into the ninth inning. The streak dates back to a 5-4 loss to Kansas State on April 11, 2006.
Mancuso Sidelined - Senior pitcher Ben Mancuso has been out of action since making a season-opening start against Washington State on Feb. 22. He began throwing again on March 31 and could return to game action in the coming weeks as his health improves. The preseason All-American and 2007 MVC Pitcher of the Year was 10-3 with a 2.34 ERA last season. He was victorious in his only start in 2008, allowing two earned runs in five innings at Washington State.
Hitting Streak - Senior Steve Winkelmann posted the team's longest hitting streak of the season, as he began 2008 with a hit in each of the first 12 games. In his 35 starts this season, he has hit safely in 26 games.
Back-to-Back Jacks - When Darin Ruf and Steve Winkelmann hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning of CU's win over South Dakota State on March 25, it marked the second time the Jays had accomplished the feat this season. Winkelmann and Nick Nordgren went back-to-back against #6 Rice on March 9. Even more interesting, on both occasions the home runs came on consecutive pitches.
Senior CLASS Nominees - Senior pitchers Pat Venditte and Ben Mancuso were two of 30 nominees for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. The honor recognizes seniors for their success both on and off the field, including work in the classroom and community, and overall character. Neither were named among the 10 finalists.
Winkelmann Receives National Honor - Senior third baseman Steve Winkelmann was honored on March 10 as the MVC Player of the Week after collecting 17 RBIs in five games the previous week. On March 12, Winkelmann was selected by CollegeBaseballInsider.com as its Co-National Player of the Week. He recorded eight RBIs in a doubleheader sweep of Memphis (3/5), blasting a grand slam in game one and a three-run homer in the nightcap. He then hit three-run doubles in consecutive games against Western Carolina (3/7) and Michigan State (3/8) at the Rice Classic, and tallied five RBIs total against the Spartans. He concluded his impressive week with a solo home run against No. 6 Rice on March 9.
Last Season - Creighton finished 2007 with its second 45-win season in the past three years, ending with a 45-16 record. The Bluejays placed second in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 19-5 mark, then captured its first MVC Tournament title in school history, defeating 12th-ranked Wichita State in the championship game. The Jays advanced to their eighth NCAA Tournament in school history, finishing with a win over Albany and losses to Oklahoma State and Arkansas. The team featured the MVC Player of the Year (Darin Ruf), Pitcher of the Year (Ben Mancuso), Newcomer of the Year (Andy Masten), Coach of the Year (Ed Servais) and Tournament Most Outstanding Player (Pat Venditte).
MVC Preseason Poll - Creighton was picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley Conference, as voted by the league's coaches. The Bluejays were picked fourth last season, but finished second in the final standings. In addition, first baseman Darin Ruf, starting pitcher Ben Mancuso and relief pitcher Pat Venditte were named to the 14-member all-MVC Preseason Team.
Preseason Recognition - Senior ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte, the 2007 MVC Tournament MVP, has received a multitude of preseason honors. He was chosen to the Golden Spikes and Brooks Wallace player of the year watch lists. He was also named a first-team preseason All-American by Rivals.com and Ping! Baseball and a second-team choice by the NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball. Fellow senior pitcher Ben Mancuso, the reigning MVC Pitcher of the Year, was also named to the Brooks Wallace Watch List and was voted a third-team preseason All-American by the NCBWA and Ping! Baseball.
More On Venditte - Pat Venditte currently ranks third on the CU career appearances chart after making a MVC and NCAA-leading 22 appearances so far in 2008. Last season, Venditte appeared in a school-record 38 games -- in which he used both arms 30 times.
ERA Records - During his standout 2007 campaign, Venditte established a new school record with a 1.88 earned run average. This number was aided by a 43.2-inning scoreless streak from April 11 to May 26, which spanned 17 appearances. With a 2.59 ERA after 22 appearances this season, Venditte now boasts a 2.60 career ERA to rank first in school history.
Jays in the Pros- Three players from the 2007 squad were selected in last June's MLB Draft. Pitcher Marc Lewis was a 20th-round selection of the Florida Marlins, catcher Chris Gradoville was selected in the 24th round by the Texas Rangers and pitcher Pat Venditte was chosen in the 45th round by the New York Yankees. Infielder Chad Ogden also signed a free agent contract with the Rangers. In addition, freshman shortstop Elliot Soto was a 13th-round pick of the Minnesota Twins. Venditte and Soto both turned down the opportunity to play professionally and are part of the 2008 Bluejay team.
Who Needs A Day Off? - Junior first baseman Darin Ruf, the 2007 MVC Player of the Year, has started all 148 games he has played in his career. This includes every one of Creighton's games over the past three seasons.
Mr. Productivity - Ruf led Creighton and ranked in the top-five of the MVC last season in 10 different offensive categories, including batting average (.374), on-base percentage (.463), slugging percentage (.587), total bases (135), doubles (19), RBIs (57), hits (86), runs (53), walks (35) and home runs (8).
Gold Glove - Maybe a better player defensively, Ruf was awarded a Rawlings Gold Glove last season as the nation's best fielding first baseman. He committed only two errors in 611 chances. So far in 2008, he is errorless in 310 fielding chances, and maintains a .997 career fielding percentage.
Turning Two - Creighton led the MVC last season with 77 double plays. In 2005, the Bluejays led the country in the category with 85 twin-killers. CU ended last season with at least one double play in 38 of its last 41 games. So far in 2008, CU has turned 24 double plays in 35 games.
Television Exposure- Creighton will play at least 11 games this season on TV, including four games that will be or were carried live or tape delayed nationally by CBS College Sports TV. Nebraska Educational Television has already carried games against Wichita State (4/13), Kansas State (4/15) and Iowa (4/16), and will broadcast Creighton-Nebraska matchups on April 22 in Lincoln and May 13 at Rosenblatt Stadium.
In addition, WOWT 6.20 (Cox Channel 120) televised two games during the Wichita State series and will air the contest against Nebraska at Rosenblatt on April 23, as well as two games with Louisiana-Monroe (May 15-16) at Rosenblatt.
Radio Coverage- KOZN (1620 AM) will broadcast 23 regular season Bluejay baseball games, including 14 home games, nine road games and all postseason contests. John Bishop and Dave Gustafson will handle the call. All games can also be heard online at www.1620thezone.com. In addition, nine home games will be available in an audio-only webcast on gocreighton.com.
Local Mix- The 2008 Bluejay roster consists of 17 Nebraskans, including 12 players from Omaha. All 17 Nebraska natives came to Creighton from communities within 60 miles of the campus.
No-Hit Winner - Creighton was no-hit for the first time in recorded school history in game one of a doubleheader with North Dakota State on April 9, but won the game 2-0 thanks to nine walks and a hit batsman. According to Boyd Nation, this freak no-hitter scenario was the first in college baseball since Maryland-Baltimore County's Eddie Bach held Hartford hitless and lost 1-0 in a seven-inning game on April 30, 2006.
According to Baseball-Reference.com, there have also been two Major League games in which a team has had a no-hitter thrown for them but lost. The first occurred on April 23, 1964, as Ken Johnson of the Houston Colt .45's was beaten 1-0 by the Cincinnati Reds. Three years later, in 1967, Steve Barber and Stu Miller of the Baltimore Orioles pitched a combined no-hitter, but lost 2-1 to the Detroit Tigers.
Quick Hits
? Northern Iowa's campus is located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, but the baseball team plays its home games at Riverfront Stadium in nearby Waterloo.
? Creighton pitching has not walked a batter in the past 15.2 innings. Excluding an intentional walk to Wichita State star Conor Gillaspie on Sunday, the CU bullpen has not walked a batter in its last 17.2 innings of work.
? The Bluejays have recorded at least one sacrifice bunt in eight straight games, with two or more in six of those contests.
? Darin Ruf, who scored 26 times in CU's first 27 games, has not scored in the past eight games. Last year Ruf was 4-for-10 with four runs, two homers and 10 RBIs in three games against UNI.
? Pat Venditte has pitched in five of CU's last six games against UNI. He owns a 0.00 ERA in 8.2 career innings of work with 10 strikeouts and no walks against the Panthers.
? Since April 5, CU is just 21-for-120 (.175) with runners on base. Prior to that time, the Jays had been hitting .315 (152-483) with runners on.
? On April 5, Creighton scored 11 of its 12 runs with two outs in a 12-3 win at Bradley, hitting 11-for-22 (.500) with two outs. Since that game, CU is 10-for-77 (.130) with two down.
? CU's last bases-loaded hit came on April 5 when Joe Servais launched a grand slam. Since then, the Jays are 0-for-5 with the bases full.
? Since 2002, Creighton has had a pitcher record seven or more wins on seven occasions. All of those players were left-handed (or ambidextrous), with the exception of Steve Grasley's 12-4 season in 2004. This year's wins leader, Jeremy Hauer (6-1), is also left-handed.
? Steve Winkelmann is hitting .524 (11-for-21) with 10 RBIs and nine runs scored in Hauer's seven starts. As a team, CU has allowed just 17 runs total in the seven games Hauer has started.
? Sunday starter Mike Nihsen is 1-0 with a 1.02 ERA in his last three starts. Both runs he's given up in that time scored after he left the game.
? Since March 15th, CU's weekend starters (Hauer, Nihsen, Zak Moore) have allowed just two home runs in 83 innings of work.
? Nihsen has gone 32 innings since the last home run he's allowed. Hauer has allowed only one long ball in 46.2 innings this season.
? Moore has not hit a batter in 38.1 innings of work this year. In his nine starts, opposing starting pitchers have hit 10 CU batters.
? Bluejay pitching had allowed just one unearned run in the last 143.2 innings (a span of 16 games) before surrendering eight in last Sunday's doubleheader against #5 Wichita State.
? Creighton is 7-1 when scoring four or more runs in MVC games this season, but 0-4 when it scores three runs or less.
? Creighton has scored first in each of the last 13 games, going 9-4 in those contests.
? The Jays are 2-0 in MVC night games this season, having won series-opening games against both Bradley and Wichita State.
? Pat Venditte's four strikeouts against Kansas State (4/15) moved him past Dan Gooris (1998-2001) and into eighth in CU history with 219 career strikeouts. Next on the list is Gary McCabe, who whiffed 225 from 1973-76.
? Venditte has also moved into a tie for 10th place in CU history with 11 career saves.
? CU is 13-0 when Vicente Cafaro has an RBI. Cafaro's last RBI came on April 5 at Bradley.
? Cafaro is batting just .231 (12-for-52) in the 18 games since league play began on March 21. In the season's first 17 games, he hit .408 (20-for-49) with 15 runs and 14 RBIs.
? Cafaro made his collegiate debut with a 4-for-4 performance against Washington State on Feb. 22 in the season opener, notching two doubles, an RBI and two runs scored.
? Brandon Knox is 8-for-25 (.320) in Creighton's wins, but 0-for-12 (.000) in losses.
? Creighton's offense has scored 15 or more runs three times this season, 10 or more eight times and eight or more 18 times.
? CU committed three errors in both games against Wichita State last Sunday. The Jays hadn't made three errors in a game all year before that.
? Opposing starting pitchers are 6-19 with an 7.30 ERA this year against Creighton, averaging just 4.2 innings per start. Last year, starting pitchers were 10-36 with a 5.10 ERA against the Jays.
? Pat Venditte allowed four runs on six hits in suffering the loss at #6 Rice on March 9. He had previously allowed only four runs total in his past 22 regular-season appearances.
? When Venditte takes to the hill, NCAA rules dictate that he declare which arm he will throw with before the batter steps into the box. Venditte is only allowed to switch pitching arms between batters, and not in the middle of a pitch count.
? Last year, Venditte did not allow a homer to a right-handed batter despite facing 253 of them. This year, he has allowed five homers among the 140 right-handed hitters he's faced, but hasn't allowed a homer in 82 appearances against left-handed hitters.
? Left-handed batters have 76 at bats against Venditte, with 24 strikeouts.
? Last season, Robbie Knight was hit by an NCAA record 35 pitches, including 11 times when leading off a game. He tallied seven games in which he was beaned more than once and set a school record with four HBP against Oklahoma on March 7. Despite the repeated drillings, Knight missed only one game in 2007.
? Knight has been hit multiple times in a game on 10 occasions in his career.
? Notre Dame's Brett Lilley set the NCAA record for times hit by a pitch in a career on April 9 with 93 HBP in his 204th game. That averages out to .46 HBP/game. Knight has been hit 51 times in 95 games for a .54 HBP/game average.
? In his first three at bats this season with the bases loaded, Steve Winkelmann produced a grand slam and a pair of three-run doubles to give him 10 RBIs on three swings.
? Cafaro is batting .487 (19-for-39) with 12 RBIs in 11 games when hitting second in the lineup. In that spot, he has .554 on base and .744 slugging percentages.
? Cafaro is the only player on the team with a four-hit game this season, accomplishing the feat against both Washington State (2/22) and Western Carolina (3/7).
? No Creighton starter had made it through seven innings on the mound until Jeremy Hauer and Mike Nihsen each posted seven scoreless frames in CU's series against Illinois State (March 28-30). Hauer then matched that effort with seven innings in a win April 4 at Bradley.
? Venditte has been featured in many national publications during his career. He has appeared on the front cover of the New York Times, the “Leading Off” section of Sports Illustrated, in USA Today and Baseball America. He has also made appearances on ESPN's Cold Pizza, the CBS Evening News, Rogers Sportsnet in Canada, CSTV and the George Michael Sports Machine.
