Baseball To Renew In-State Rivalry With #10 Nebraska
4/21/2008 8:00:00 PM | Baseball
On Deck - Creighton will play a home-and-home midweek series against in-state rival Nebraska, beginning Tuesday in Lincoln. Wednesday's game at Rosenblatt Stadium is a make-up of the April 1 contest that was postponed because of cold weather.
Follow Along - Creighton's athletics website, www.gocreighton.com, will offer live stats for both 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 David Gustafson on the call. The audio feed is also available at www.1620thezone.com.
TV Coverage - Both games against Nebraska will be televised locally.
Tuesday's game at Nebraska will be carried by Nebraska Educational Television on NET-1 and NET-HD. Kevin Kugler will provide the play-by-play, with Adrian Fiala offering color commentary. Free streaming video of the telecast will be available at netnebraska.org.
Wednesday's contest at Rosenblatt will be aired on WOWT 6.20, available on the Cox Communications digital package in Omaha on channel 120. Matt Kelly will give the play-by-play with color commentary and analysis provided by Ben Fogarty and Kyle Peterson.
Scouting Nebraska (28-7-1) - The Huskers are coming off a 2-1 series win over Big 12 Conference foe Kansas last weekend. However, NU will enter Tuesday's game off a loss, as the Jayhawks won 6-3 on Sunday.
Senior catcher Mitch Abeita leads the team in all three triple crown categories, including a .357 batting average, seven home runs and 31 RBIs. Outfielder Bryce Nimmo has scored a team-high 32 runs, while Jake Opitz paces the squad with 43 hits.
Nebraska's pitching has been solid all season, as the staff maintains a 3.47 ERA. Tuesday's starter, Dan Jennings, has been outstanding this season. He is 4-0 and leads the team with a 1.60 ERA in 13 appearances.
Scouting Creighton (25-13) - The Bluejays have struggled as of late, with five losses in their last seven games since a series-opening win over #5 Wichita State on April 12.
Creighton's recent struggles start with a slumping offense. After scoring at least eight runs in 18 of their first 27 games, the Jays have not reached that total in their last 11. During that 11-game stretch, CU is averaging just 3.5 runs per game and batting .180 (22-for-122) with runners in scoring position.
The pitching staff has been consistent through much of the season. The bullpen has logged two more innings than CU's starters so far this season and has 10 of the 25 victories. Bluejay relievers had posted a 1.48 ERA over a 15-game span prior to allowing six runs in Sunday's loss to Northern Iowa.
Defensively, Creighton has been solid overall, posting an MVC-best .977 fielding percentage. However, crucial errors have haunted the Jays during their recent losses.
Weekend Recap - Creighton dropped two of three to MVC leader Northern Iowa in Waterloo over the weekend. After a Friday rainout, the Jays won the first game of a Saturday doubleheader, 3-2, but lost the nightcap, 4-2. The Panthers then took the series with a 9-7 win over CU on Sunday.
Series History - Nebraska has held the upper hand recently, winning 19 of the 26 games played since 2000. However, the Jays have fared better as of late, winning the regular-season series over NU in 2005 and 2007. Last season, Nebraska won 12-10 on April 3 at Rosenblatt, but the Jays responded with a 2-1 victory on April 17 in Lincoln and a 9-2 thrashing on May 15 in Omaha.
Going For The Trifecta - Creighton will be looking for its third straight win over the Huskers Tuesday night, after winning the final two meetings against Nebraska last season. The last time the Bluejays beat the Huskers three straight games was in 1993.
The Coaches - Nebraska coach Mike Anderson brings a 242-107-1 record into Tuesday's game. The former Husker assistant is in his sixth season as the head man. He is 12-5 in his career against Creighton.
Creighton head coach Ed Servais is 184-91 (.669) 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. Servais is 5-9 in his career against Nebraska.
Rosenblatt Records - The Creighton-Nebraska matchup has drawn six of the 26 largest regular-season crowds in NCAA history. Included was the eighth-largest all-time total of 21,158 when the teams met May 16, 2006. Last season, the two meetings at Rosenblatt drew 6,524 and 18,316 fans.
Making The Sacrifice - Creighton leads the country with 61 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 13 sac bunts. Ten other Jays have at least one sacrifice bunt 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.
Home Run Drought Ends- Creighton went 10 games without hitting a home run before senior Steve Winkelmann cranked two against Northern Iowa on Sunday. The homers came on consecutive at bats for the third baseman, and increased his team-leading total to eight.
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 74 pitches, which ranks fourth nationally. Once again, Knight leads the team and ranks among the national leaders with 17 HBP. Eleven different Bluejays have been hit by a pitch, and five have been beaned by at least 10. CU has recorded at least one HBP in 34 of its 38 games.
Knight Needing Armor - Sophomore center fielder Robbie Knight has been hit by 17 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.
Stopper of the Year - On April 17, senior ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte was among 45 relievers named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List. Venditte has compiled five saves and five wins so far in 2008. Last year, Creighton closer Andy Masten was a finalist for the award.
Venditte Pitcher of the Week - Venditte was named the MVC Pitcher of the Week on April 14, after recording saves in both games of CU's doubleheader sweep of North Dakota State (April 9) and a win over #5 Wichita State (April 12). He struck out 14 batters in his four appearances that week, including seven against the Shockers.
Mr. Versatility - As the nation's only ambidextrous pitcher, Venditte has a unique advantage in that he is available to throw in almost every game. His 24 appearances this season lead the MVC and tie for most in the country.
Strikeout King - Venditte leads the MVC with 69 strikeouts in 61.1 innings. He has recorded at least one strikeout in 21 of his 24 appearances.
Righty AND Lefty - So far this season, Venditte has used both arms in 22 of his 24 appearances. He has struck out a batter using his right and left arm in 12 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, including five with six or more tallies. However, CU has managed just one four-run inning in its last 11 games, with only seven multi-run frames total during that stretch.
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. .
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 38 starts this season, he has hit safely in 28 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.
Always Available - With his next appearance on the mound, Pat Venditte will move into second on the CU career appearances list. He has made a MVC and NCAA-leading 24 appearances so far in 2008, and 97 in his career. 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 2.93 ERA after 24 appearances this season, Venditte now possesses a 2.70 career ERA to rank second 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 151 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 342 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 26 double plays in 38 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 aired 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 David Gustafson will handle the call. All games can also be heard online at www.1620thezone.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
? Creighton and Nebraska last met on consecutive days during the 2005 NCAA Regionals in Lincoln. The teams have not met on consecutive days during the regular season since 1993, when CU won 3-of-4 in a weekend series that saw the Jays win on March 26 in Lincoln (10-4) and twice on March 27 in Omaha (10-2 and 9-4) before Nebraska took the series finale (3-2) in Lincoln on March 28.
? Creighton will look to avoid its first three-game losing streak in more than two years on Tuesday in Lincoln. CU's last three-game losing skid occurred April 16-21, 2006. Since then, the Jays have won all 10 games they've played when entering with two straight losses.
? Creighton is 2-3 at Rosenblatt Stadium this season and 12-8 under Ed Servais. Since 2004, CU is 3-4 against Nebraska at the ?Blatt.
? As of Monday afternoon, over 5,000 tickets had been sold for Wednesday night's game at Rosenblatt Stadium.
? Creighton is 4-7 all-time at Hawks Field. A win on Tuesday would give the Jays five victories at the seven year-old venue, tying them with three other
programs (Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri State) for most by any visiting school.
? Creighton has scored first in 15 of its last 16 games. In the NU-CU series last year, the team that scored first won all three meetings. Each of the last four times a team in the series has scored in the top of the first inning, it has won the game.
? CU's bullpen allowed six earned runs against Northern Iowa on Sunday. CU relievers had allowed only 10 earned runs in the previous 15 games before Sunday.
? The Bluejays have recorded at least one sacrifice bunt in 11 straight games, with two or more in eight of those contests.
? CU batters have been hit by a pitch in 34 of 38 games this season, including five in the weekend series vs. UNI. On the other hand, CU pitchers have hit a batter in seven straight games.
? Five Bluejays have double-digit hit-by-pitch totals after the weekend: Robbie Knight (17), Brett Mieras (11), Vicente Cafaro (10), Steve Winkelmann (10) and Nick Nordgren (10).
? The Jays are outscoring teams 25-2 in the first inning of home games this year. The Jays have scored in the bottom of the first in 11 of 17 home games to date.
? 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 19-for-113 (.168) with two down.
? CU's last bases-loaded hit came on April 5 when Joe Servais launched a grand slam. After starting the season 17-for-34 with the bases juiced, the Jays are 0-for-9 since the Servais grand slam.
? Creighton allowed just 10 unearned runs in the first 31 games of the season, but 16 unearned runs in the past seven games.
? Of the 26 unearned runs allowed by the Jays this season, 10 have been with sophomore Mike Nihsen on the mound.
? The only two earned runs Nihsen has allowed during his past five appearances were runners that scored after he had left the game.
? Despite a 3.03 ERA in the past 10 games, Creighton is just 5-5 in that time. The Jays are hitting .226 in the past 10 contests, averaging just 3.6 runs in that time.
? Creighton had been 17-0 this season when owning more hits than its opponent prior to Sunday's loss in which it out-hit UNI, 12-10.
? Darin Ruf takes an eight-game hitting streak into Tuesday. It's the 14th different hitting streak of five or more in his three-year career. His career-long streak is 12 straight games with a hit.
? Despite its recent struggles offensively, Creighton has still scored exactly 100 more runs than its opponents this season (261 to 161).
? CU is 12-3 when Michael Lam starts at second base alongside Vicente Cafaro at shortstop, but 13-10 with all other combinations up the middle.
? 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.
? Venditte's 223 career strikeouts are eighth-most in school history and two shy of Gary McCabe (1973-76) for seventh place.
? Venditte is also tied for 10th place in CU history with 11 career saves.
? Kevin Dooley has inherited seven runners this year. None have scored.
? Prior to Sunday's outing against Northern Iowa in which he allowed three runs without retiring a batter, Dooley had compiled a 0.44 ERA over his previous 11 appearances, with multiple strikeouts in each of the last six.
? Creighton is 13-0 when Vicente Cafaro has an RBI. All 21 of his RBIs this year have come in Bluejay victories.
? Cafaro is batting .467 (21-for-45) with 12 RBIs in 13 games when hitting second in the lineup. In that spot, he has a .554 on base percentage and a .689 slugging percentage.
? Mike Nihsen has gone 37 innings since the last home run he's allowed. Jeremy Hauer has allowed only one long ball in 50.2 innings this season.
? Zak Moore has not hit a batter in 45 innings of work this year. In his 10 starts, opposing starting pitchers have hit 14 CU batters.
? Hauer has retired 52 batters on fly outs, 51 on ground outs and 43 via strikeout. Moore has induced 60 ground ball outs, with 30 fly outs.
? Brandon Knox is 8-for-25 (.320) in Creighton's wins, but 1-for-19 (.053) 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. However, CU has not reached the eight-run mark in its last 11 games.
? 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 161 right-handed hitters he's faced, but hasn't allowed a homer in 85 appearances against left-handed hitters.
? Left-handed batters have 79 at bats against Venditte, with 26 strikeouts.
? 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.
? 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.
? 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 52 times in 98 games for a .53 HBP/game average.
? 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.
? 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.
