Baseball To Challenge Sixth-Ranked Nebraska At Rosenblatt Stadium Tuesday Night
5/12/2008 6:15:00 PM | Baseball
On Deck - Creighton will meet in-state rival Nebraska at Rosenblatt Stadium on Tuesday night for the last of three regular-season meetings between the schools.
Follow Along - Creighton's athletics website, www.gocreighton.com, will offer live stats for Tuesday's game. The link can be found under the Multimedia tab on the left side of the athletics homepage. In addition, the game can be heard on KOZN (1620 AM) and online at www.1620thezone.com, with David Gustafson and Nick Handley on the call.
Television Coverage - Tuesday's game will be broadcast statewide by Nebraska Educational Television (NET-1 and NET-HD) and live nationally by CBS College Sports TV. The crew of Kevin Kugler (play-by-play), John Bishop (color analyst) and Larry Punteney (on-field reporter) will call the action.
Scouting #6 Nebraska (38-9-1) - The Huskers are coming in after taking two of three at home from No. 6 Texas A&M. NU lost a 16-inning marathon, 6-3, on Friday before staging two late-inning comebacks to sweep a Sunday doubleheader, 9-8 and 13-10.
Nebraska is led by a strong pitching staff, as the team boasts a 3.50 team ERA. Dan Jennings (6-1, 2.23 ERA) and Erik Bird (4-1, 3.72 ERA) have been the team's midweek starters all season, and each made a start in earlier contests with Creighton in 2008. Jennings threw six innings and allowed only one run on three hits while picking up the win on April 22 in Lincoln. Bird received a no decision after allowing four runs on four hits in four innings of work on April 23 at Rosenblatt.
Offensively, Mitch Abeita has paced the squad all season. The senior catcher leads the team with a .340 batting average and seven home runs. He drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth in NU's game one win over Texas A&M on Sunday. Second baseman Jake Opitz leads the squad with 40 RBI, while outfielders Nick Sullivan and Bryce Nimmo are each batting above .300.
Scouting Creighton (33-17) ? The Bluejays wrapped up Missouri Valley Conference play with a three-game sweep of Indiana State at the CU Sports Complex last weekend. CU clinched the fourth seed in the MVC Tournament and will be the third seed if Northern Iowa loses any of its three games against Missouri State next weekend.
Creighton is led offensively by reigning MVC Player of the Year Darin Ruf, who again tops the team with a .351 batting average. He is coming off a recent 15-game hitting streak and owns 14 doubles, six homers and 47 RBI on the season. Leadoff batter Robbie Knight enters Tuesday on a 10-game hitting streak, in which he is batting .476 (20-for-42). Third baseman Steve Winkelmann leads the team with nine homers and 51 RBI.
CU's starting pitching has allowed only nine earned runs in the past nine games. Tuesday's starter, Greg Hellhake, has allowed only 10 runs in seven starts this season. Last Tuesday, the lefthander held #14 Missouri to one run on four hits in five innings. Hellhake started against Nebraska on April 22 in Lincoln, limiting the Huskers to only four hits in five scoreless innings, and left with a 1-0 lead.
The bullpen has been solid for much of the season, but it has been up-and-down as of late. Preseason All-American Pat Venditte, the anchor of the pen, ranks among the MVC leaders in strikeouts (93) and innings pitched (79), and is second nationally with 33 appearances. He is joined by right handers Bob Lackovic and Kevin Dooley and left-hander T.J. Roemmich as the workhorses of the pen, with 90 combined appearances.
Defensively, the Jays have been solid overall, posting an MVC-best .975 fielding percentage. However, errors at crucial times have haunted CU this season.
The Coaches - Nebraska coach Mike Anderson brings a 252-109-1 record into Tuesday's game. The former Husker assistant is in his sixth season as the head man. He is 14-5 in his career against Creighton.
Creighton head coach Ed Servais is 192-95 (.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 5-11 in his career against Nebraska.
Series History - Nebraska has held the upper hand recently, winning 21 of the 28 games played since 2000. Earlier this season, the Huskers won both games of a home-and-home midweek series. NU won 4-3 in Lincoln on April 22 and 16-7 at Rosenblatt Stadium on April 23. Creighton has experienced success in the rivalry of late, winning the regular-season series over NU in 2005 and 2007.
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. The first meeting at Rosenblatt this season drew 9,044 fans. Tuesday's game is expected to draw the largest crowd in the country this season, as the highest attendance so far in 2008 was 13,979 at the Minute Maid Classic in Houston, Texas on March 1. Over 12,000 tickets have already been sold for Tuesday's game.
Local Flavor - Both teams feature a multitude of players with local ties. Creighton's roster consists of 17 Nebraskans, including all but one from the Omaha area. Nebraska's roster includes 12 players from the state, with six coming from Omaha and its suburbs.
Player of the Week - Center fielder Robbie Knight was named the MVC Player of the Week on Monday after posting eye-opening numbers last week. The Omaha native reached base in 15 of his 21 plate appearances during four games. The sophomore began the week with a 5-for-5 day at the plate against #14 Missouri, homering in each of his first two at bats. The Millard North graduate then singled in his first at bat Friday against Indiana State, and followed with a walk, to reached base in nine straight plate appearances dating back to the Southern Illinois series. Knight finished the weekend with multiple hits in both games of Sunday's doubleheader against the Sycamores to extend his hitting streak to a career-long 10 games.
Making The Sacrifice - Creighton leads the country with 84 sacrifice bunts this season, 11 more than UC-Irvine's second-place total. Junior Vicente Cafaro and seniors Joe Servais and Michael Lam are tied for the MVC lead and rank among the national leaders with 15 sac bunts apiece. Twelve different Jays have at least one sacrifice in 2008. Last year, Creighton set a school and MVC record with 93 sacrifice bunts.
Shutout Mark ? Creighton pitchers have thrown eight shutouts this season, which currently leads the country. The total is one shy of the school record of nine set by the 1983 squad.
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 96 pitches, which ranks fourth nationally. Once again, Knight leads the team and ranks among the national leaders with 21 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 45 of its 50 games.
Knight Needing Armor - Sophomore center fielder Robbie Knight has been hit by 21 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 of 45 held by Dan Lawler (1998-01).
Big League Comparison - Junior first baseman Darin Ruf has started all 163 games since arriving at Creighton, the near equivalent of a full major league season. In those 163 games, Ruf has compiled a .341 batting average with 202 hits, 40 doubles, 18 home runs and 145 RBI. As a comparison, during Albert Pujols' MVP season of 2005, the St. Louis Cardinals first baseman batted .330 with 195 hits, 38 doubles, 41 homers and 117 RBI in 161 games.
Ruf Reaches 15 - Darin Ruf compiled a career-long 15-game hitting streak from April 12 to May 4, the longest for any player on the team this year. During his streak, Ruf was 23-for-55 (.418) with 15 RBI, six doubles, a triple and a homer.
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 six saves and seven wins so far in 2008. Last year, Creighton closer Andy Masten was a finalist for the award.
Historic Knight - In last Tuesday's game against #14 Missouri, sophomore Robbie Knight turned in a memorable performance. He became the first Bluejay since Chris Gradoville (March 12, 2006 vs. Tennessee Tech) to notch five hits in a game by going 5-for-5. His leadoff homer was the first by a CU player since Chase Odenreider led off a game vs. Missouri State with a long ball on May 6, 2006. Knight homered in his next at bat in the second inning to give him more round trippers in two innings (2) than in his previous 106 games at Creighton combined (1).
Nordgren's Big Week - Right fielder Nick Nordgren recorded 12 RBI and three home runs in five games from April 22-27 to earn the MVC Player of the Week award. He was also named to the College Baseball Foundation's “National All-Star Lineup.” The Norway, Iowa, native homered in both midweek games against Nebraska (April 22 & 23) and notched five RBI in Wednesday's contest at Rosenblatt Stadium. Nordgren then tallied three RBI in the series-opener against Evansville on Friday (April 25) and finished the week with a two-run homer in Sunday's (April 27) win over the Purple Aces.
Venditte Pitcher of the Week ? Pat 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, Pat Venditte has a unique advantage in that he is available to throw in almost every game. His 33 appearances this season lead the MVC and are one off the national lead held by UNC-Greensboro's James White. Venditte owns 106 career appearances, fourth-most in MVC history.
Strikeout King ? Pat Venditte leads the MVC with 93 strikeouts in 79 innings. He has recorded at least one strikeout in 28 of his 33 appearances. Last season, Venditte led the team with 99 Ks and he is bidding to lead the team in strikeouts for the third straight season.
Righty AND Lefty - So far this season, Pat Venditte has used both arms in 30 of his 33 appearances. He has struck out a batter using his right and left arm in 17 of those outings. In 106 career appearances, Venditte has fanned batters using both arms 39 times, including 10 times last year and on 12 occasions as a sophomore.
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 25-2 so far in 2008.
Closing the Door - Creighton had won 65 straight games when taking a lead into the ninth inning before falling to Missouri last Tuesday. The streak dated back to a 5-4 loss to Kansas State on April 11, 2006. CU took a 4-3 lead into the ninth against the Tigers, but Steve Gray's pinch-hit walk off homer gave MU the come-from-behind victory.
Rally Starter - Creighton has used big innings to score many of its runs this season. The Jays have compiled 23 different innings with four or more runs, including six with six or more tallies. On April 27 against Evansville, CU tallied a season-high eight runs in the fifth inning of its win.
Mancuso Sidelined - Senior pitcher Ben Mancuso has been out of action since making a season-opening start at Washington State on Feb. 22 with an injury to his throwing arm. The preseason All-American and 2007 MVC Pitcher of the Year was 10-3 with a 2.34 ERA last season.
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 RBI 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 RBI 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 RBI 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 finished second in the final standings last season after being picked fourth. 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 outing against Nebraska in Lincoln on April 22, Pat Venditte moved into second on the CU career appearances list. He has made 33 appearances so far in 2008, one shy of the national lead. Last season, Venditte appeared in a school-record 38 games -- in which he used both arms 30 times. He is the only player in Creighton history to appear in 30 games on the mound in three different seasons.
ERA Records - During his standout 2007 campaign, Pat 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. Venditte currently owns a 2.95 career ERA to rank fourth 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 163 games he has played in his career. This includes every one of Creighton's games over the past three seasons.
Mr. Productivity ? Darin 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, Darin 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 has just two errors in 492 fielding chances, and maintains a .996 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 38 double plays in 50 games.
Television Exposure - Creighton will play at least 11 games this season on TV, including five games that will be or were carried nationally by CBS College Sports TV. Nebraska Educational Television will broadcast Tuesday's game against Nebraska, after previously airing games against Wichita State (4/13), Kansas State (4/15) and Iowa (4/16) and Nebraska (4/22).
In addition, WOWT 6.20 (Cox Channel 120) televised two games during the Wichita State series and aired the Nebraska game at Rosenblatt on April 23. Two games with Louisiana-Monroe (May 15-16) at Rosenblatt will also be carried.
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.
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 is 2-4 at Rosenblatt Stadium this season and 12-9 under Ed Servais. Since 2004, CU is 3-5 against Nebraska at the ?Blatt.
? As of Monday afternoon, over 12,000 tickets had been sold for Tuesday's game.
? Creighton scored first, yet lost both meetings with Nebraska earlier this season. Last year in the NU-CU series, the team that scored first won all three meetings. The Jays have scored first in 23 of their last 28 games.
? Darin Ruf has a .452 batting average with three doubles in eight career games against Nebraska, the best marks on the Creighton team.
? Since Nebraska scored 13 runs in the fifth inning on April 23, Creighton's pitching staff has allowed just 35 runs in 94.1 innings (3.34 ERA).
? Creighton has won all six home games that Greg Hellhake has pitched in this year, including a 5-0 mark when he starts. Overall, CU is 5-2 in Hellhake's seven starts. In both losses, CU owned a lead when he was taken out of the game after five innings (Missouri - 5/6, Nebraska - 4/22).
? Nebraska pitcher Erik Bird's older brother, Brandon Bird, was a relief pitcher for Creighton from 2001-05. Brandon appeared in nine games against Nebraska in his career, allowing just four runs in 16 innings. In his final outing against NU on May 10, 2005, he picked up the save with 2.1 hitless innings, including a game-ending double play off the bat of Joe Simokaitis with Alex Gordon waiting on deck.
? Nebraska's starting pitcher, Erik Bird, has made five career appearances against Creighton. He allowed four runs on four hits in four innings on April 23 this year at Rosenblatt. Previous to that outing, Bird had not allowed a run in 2.1 innings against the Jays in his career.
? Darin Ruf and Nick Nordgren are each 2-for-2 in their careers against NU starter Erik Bird. Nordgren homered and drove in four runs off Bird on April 23 this season.
? Nick Nordgren is 3-for-7 with two home runs and seven RBI against Nebraska in two games this season. Nordgren hit a two-run homer on April 22 in Lincoln and followed with a three-run blast against the Huskers at Rosenblatt on April 23.
? During Robbie Knight's 10-game hitting streak, he owns 20 hits, five walks and four HBP and has scored 19 times. During that stretch, he owns a .569 on-base percentage and a .762 slugging percentage.
? Robbie Knight homered in each of his first two at bats against #14 Missouri last Tuesday. Prior to the power display in Columbia, he had homered only once in 106 career games.
? Pat Venditte became the third pitcher in Creighton history on Friday night to record two different seasons of 90 or more strikeouts. The other two hurlers in this elite company, Dan Smith and Alan Benes, were first-round draft picks.
? Creighton has scored in the bottom of the first inning in 16 of its 24 home games this year. The Jays have outscored teams 33-5 in the first inning of home games this season.
? Creighton is 18-0 when Vicente Cafaro has an RBI this season. All 27 of his RBI this year have come in Bluejay victories.
? Creighton owns 42 homers on the season through 50 games. By comparison, last year's club hit 37 long balls all season in 61 contests and the 2006 team had 36 homers in 52 games.
? Mike Nihsen's current ERA of 1.77 ranks as the best single-season mark in Bluejay history (min. 50 IP), just ahead of Pat Venditte's 1.88 ERA last season. The Nebraska transfer has allowed only 12 earned runs in his 12 starts.
? Mike Nihsen had thrown 24.2 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run before Indiana State tallied a first-inning run on Sunday.
? Creighton has not allowed a home run at home since the seventh inning of the April 16 loss to Iowa. Since then, the CU staff has thrown 66.1 innings and faced 243 batters.
? Pat Venditte's 247 career strikeouts are sixth-most in school history. He needs 11 Ks to catch Mike Heathcott (1988-91) for fifth place on the all-time list. Venditte is also tied for ninth place in CU history with 12 career saves.
? Mike Nihsen has gone 55.1 innings since the last home run he's allowed. Jeremy Hauer has allowed only one long ball in 73.2 innings this season.
? Notre Dame's Brett Lilley holds the NCAA record for times hit by a pitch in a career with 104 HBP in 224 games. That averages out to .46 HBP/game. Robbie Knight has been hit 56 times in 110 games for a .51 HBP/game average.
? Left-handed batters have 112 at bats against Pat Venditte, with 39 strikeouts. He had not allowed a home run pitching left handed until he gave up two in last Tuesday's loss to #14 Missouri.
? When Pat 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.
? Pat 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.
? Creighton's starting pitchers have allowed just nine earned runs in 52.1 innings over the past nine games, good for a 1.55 ERA. In that same time span, the opposing starters have allowed 41 earned runs in 53.2 frames for a 6.88 ERA.
? NU and CU own the same amount of hits (458) and nearly the same amount of doubles (99/98).
