Creighton University
Missouri State
Baseball Bears Send Jays To Loser's Bracket, 9-5
5/22/2008 11:45:00 AM | Baseball
WICHITA, Kan. -- Creighton scored five times against Valley Pitcher of the Year Tim Clubb, but Missouri State's offense scored eight runs in the middle innings en route to a 9-5 victory over the Bluejays on Thursday at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in Wichita, Kan.
Creighton falls to 36-20 on the season and will play right away in an elimination game against Northern Iowa at 3 PM today. Missouri State, seeking to improve its NCAA at-large hopes, is now 39-15 and will play tomorrow at 3 PM against the victor of tonight's 7 pm game between Wichita State and Southern Illinois.
Creighton wasted an outstanding opportunity in the top of the first against Clubb. Robbie Knight walked and raced to third on Elliot Soto's hit-and-run single. With the heart of the order coming up, Darin Ruf struck out swinging and Clubb escaped the jam when Steve Winkelmann grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.
Missouri State needed just two batters to break the scoreless tie. Ben Woodbury doubled to right-center and scored on Nolan Keane's single up the middle.
Creighton had two more runners on in the second inning, but once again came up empty. Vicente Cafaro singled and Nick Nordgren would reach on a fielder's choice, but Michael Lam grounded out with two outs to end the threat.
The Jays' offense broke loose in the fourth inning, stringing together five straight hits to score three times against Clubb. Cafaro and Brett Mieras both singled through the left side, then move up a base on a wild pitch. Joe Servais scored both men with a single to the right side and moved to second when catcher Kyle Paul couldn't handle the throw home that tried to cut down Mieras. Servais scored on a single by Nordgren up the middle.
Missouri State answered Creighton's big inning with one of their own, chasing Mike Nihsen and taking a 4-3 lead.Chris Plater and Ryan Mantle opened the frame with consecutive doubles to left. A looper by Paul to left scored Mantle to tie the game. Paul would move to third on a sac bunt by Curt Courtwright that ended Nihsen's day. Kevin Dooley came in and got Woodbury to fly out, but Paul scored on the play as MSU went ahead, 4-3.
The floodgates opened as Missouri State scored five times in the bottom of the fifth with two outs. Missouri State loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth when Paul singled home Josh Mazzola and Ben Carlson. Courtwright followed with an RBI single to score Mantle, and Woodbury's single scored Paul, ending Dooley's afternoon. Reliever Jack VanLeur surrendered a single to Keane that scored Courtwright before Darin Ruf's over-the-shoulder catch of a foul pop mercifully ended the inning.
The Jays got one run back in the sixth, cutting the deficit to 9-4. Servais singled to center and moved to third on first baseman Mazzola's error. Servais then scored on Robbie Knight's sacrifice fly.
The Jays scored once in the top of the eighth. Servais reached on an infield single. Two outs later, he scored on Knight's single to right-center. Soto followed with a single, leading Valley Coach of the Year Keith Guttin to summon closer Matt Frevert. With two on and two out, Frevert got Darin Ruf to ground out on one pitch, ending the Jays last good threat.
Nihsen (5-2) gave up eight hits and four earned runs -- both season highs -- in 3.1 innings of work, his shortest start since a 3.2 inning stint at Missouri State on March 23. His ERA rose from 1.88 to 2.30 in the process. After coming on for Dooley in the fifth inning, VanLeur threw a career-long 3.1 scoreless innings to save the Bluejay bullpen from any more use. Servais tied a career-high with three hits while also scoring a career-best three times.
Clubb threw 7.2 innings, allowing five runs (four earned) and 11 hits while striking out two in 128 pitches. He became the first pitcher in MSU history to start a season 11-0. It was his 10th straight start of seven innings or longer, and the Bears are now 14-0 in his starts. Frevert notched the final four outs to earn his eighth save. SIx different Bears had two or more hits, led by Paul's 2-for-3 day with three RBI and two runs scored.
NOTES: Before Creighton put two men on in the top of the first, MSU starter Tim Clubb had thrown 17.2 innings since two men were on base at the same time ... Creighton laid down its NCAA-best 91st sacrifice bunt of the season in the second inning, snapping a season-long two-game spell without one ... Creighton is the only team in NCAA history to post 91 or more sac bunts in consecutive seasons ... Elliot Soto's first-inning single gives him a six-game hitting streak, tying his season-high ... Darin Ruf moved into 20th in NCAA history in the fourth inning with 1,603 career putouts ... Missouri State's five-run fifth inning was its 21st different inning of five or more runs this year ... Missouri State had two or more runners on base in each of the first five innings ... Missouri State is now 29-0 when holding opponents to five runs or less this season.
