Creighton University
Southern Illinois
Baseball Clinches Series Win With Sweep of Salukis
5/3/2008 7:45:00 PM | Baseball
Creighton improved to 30-15 on the year and 13-7 in The Valley, while SIU dropped to 25-20 and 6-11 in league action.
Creighton and
GAME ONE RECAP (Creighton 5,
Jeremy Hauer and Pat Venditte combined on an eight-hit shutout, and Darin Ruf hit his third career grand slam as Creighton blanked
Creighton took a 4-0 lead against hard-throwing Saluki ace Cody Adams in the top of the third inning. Brett Mieras reached on a throwing error by SIU shortstop Owen Mackedon to open the frame. One-out singles by Robbie Knight and Elliot Soto loaded the bases before Ruf drilled a 1-0 fastball over the fence in dead center for a grand slam. The homer snapped an 18-game homerless drought for the 2007 Valley Player of the Year, and was CU's fourth grand slam of the season.
Creighton hustled to lift its lead to 5-0 in the top of the fifth without the aid of a hit. Knight and Soto walked with one out. Knight tagged up and advanced to third on Ruf's deep fly out to center. Then, on a 2-2 pitch to Steve Winkelmann with Soto running, Knight would scamper home on a wild pitch from
Hauer (8-2) tied his career-long with 7.2 innings of work, allowing just seven hits and no walks, while throwing 90 pitches. His eight wins lead the Missouri Valley Conference. Venditte came on to get the final four outs, allowing just a two-out double in the ninth before slamming the door.
GAME ONE NOTES: Darin Ruf extended his career-best hitting streak to 14 with a first-inning single ...Nick Nordgren extended his hitting streak to nine with a second-inning single ...Darin Ruf's third-inning grand slam was his third of his career. He's had one each of the past three seasons ...Creighton now owns four grand slams this season and 11 in the past three campaigns ...Darin Ruf's homer in the third inning was CU's 38th of the season, one more than the 2007 team managed all season ...Each of CU's last three hits with the bases loaded have been homers ...Jeremy Hauer matched his career high by throwing 7.2 innings, matching the longest outing by a Bluejay all season ...Hauer's performance marked the third straight game in which a CU starter did not allow a run, a span of 16.2 innings ...Creighton scored first for the 21st time in the last 22 games and led wire-to-wire for the 19th time this season.
GAME TWO (Creighton 9,
Creighton squandered a 7-1 eighth-inning lead, scored two runs on a controversial bases-loaded walk in the top of the 10th inning, and escaped a bases-loaded no-out situation in the bottom of the 10th to post a 9-8 win in the second game on Saturday.
The Jays got on the board in the third inning. Robbie Knight singled with one out and moved to third on a hit-and-run single by Elliot Soto. Knight then scored when Darin Ruf lofted a deep fly to right. The sacrifice fly was Ruf's 15th of his career, tying a long-standing school record held since 1992.
CU's lead stretched to 2-0 on Steve Winkelmann's homer to left with two down in the fifth inning. The homer was Winkelmann's team-high ninth of the season.
SIU halved the deficit in the home half of the fifth with an unearned run. A leadoff walk to Tyler Lairson proved costly, as he would scamper to third when Winkelmann threw away a sacrifice bunt attempt by the next hitter to put runners at the corners with no outs. Lairson scored on a chopper by Chris Murphy in which CU traded the run for an out. CU starter Mike Nihsen then got Elmendorf to ground out to third for the second out. The third out was one of self-preservation, as Nihsen caught a line drive aimed towards his head off the bat of
Creighton's offense then came to life in the top of the sixth with four runs, all coming with two outs. Joe Servais reached on an infield single to open the inning. With two outs, Lam singled to left-center and Servais reached third on a close play. Servais then scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-1. Lam would score on a single up the middle by Knight to make it 4-1. A single by Elliot Soto and walk to Ruf loaded the bases and ended the day for SIU starter Shawn Joy. Winkelmann would greet reliever Tyler Choate with a two-run single to left-center, giving CU a 6-1 lead.
CU's seventh run came on an RBI single in the eighth from Ruf, which also moved his hitting streak to 15 and scored Knight.
Nihsen threw 6.1 innings of three-hit ball before giving way to Pat Venditte with two on and one out in the seventh. Nihsen, who struck out six, lowered his ERA to 1.64 and has now pitched 24 straight innings without allowing an earned run.
Venditte escaped the jam in the seventh but didn't fare as well in the eighth. After getting a strikeout to start the inning, Venditte gave up consecutive singles. He then walked pinch-hitter Chris Crank to load the bases. Venditte struck out Tyler Bullock for the second out, but Lairson's grand slam cleared the bases and pulled SIU within 7-5 and gave the home team a spark.
In the ninth, Venditte was one strike away from clinching the doubleheader sweep, but SIU fought back. With Scott Elmendorf on first, two outs and a 1-2 count on Mark Kelly, Venditte left a pich up in the zone. Kelly caught up to it and hit it the other way over the fence, nearly hitting the scoreboard in right-center. That would tie the game, a stunning comeback from down 7-1 and CU's All-American reliever on the mound.
Creighton loaded the bases with one down in the 10th inning. Tony Pechek hit a full-count chopper to first, and first baseman Hills came home to try to gun down lead runner Ruf. Hills' throw short-hopped the plate, but catcher Tyler Bullock made a great play to catch the ball and keep his foot on the plate for the forceout. Daniel Wells then came on to face the Jays TJ Roemmich. Wells' full-count offering was a borderline pitch on the inside of the plate. Home plate umpire Ben Harlow rose from his stance, but did not signal either way. As the SIU defense ran off the field in anticipation of a called third strike, the Bluejays kept running. Nick Nordgren, the runner on third scored and after Bullock rolled the ball back towards the mound Nordgren would encourage Vicente Cafaro to round third and come home too. The SIU defense, as well as coaching staff, would engage the umpiring crew in a spirited discussion that lasted more than five minutes. In the end, the walk and both runs would stand, as the umpires kept their original call.
Trailing 9-7 headed to the last of the 10th inning, SIU once again staged a rally. Bob Lackovic came on in relief of Venditte, but would not retire any of the first three men he faced. Dean Cademartori reached on catcher's interference and moved to second on Bullock's looper down the left-field line. Lairson's sacrifice bunt attempt turned into a hit when his short pop-up dropped between Lackovic and catcher Pechek, and everyone was safe. With the sacks full and nobody out, CU summoned Kevin Dooley from the bullpen to save the day. Dooley got Luke Johanns to ground into a 6-4-3 double play, but Cademartori scored on the play to make it 9-8 as the potential tying run moved to third. Dooley then got Murphy to hit a weak ground ball towards first base on the first pitch, and Ruf easily stepped on the bag for the final out.
Despite allowing a career-high six runs, Venditte would get the win to improve to 6-2 on the year. Dooley notched his third save in escaping the jam.
Six Bluejays had two or more hits in the contest, led by three each from Knight and Soto. Knight also scored three times.
SIU was keyed by a 3-for-5 game from Kelly, who also scored twice and drove home a pair. Bryant George (1-2) was saddled with the loss after being charged with the two runs.
GAME TWO NOTES: Nick Nordgren extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a double to lead off the second inning ...Darin Ruf extended his hit streak to 15 with an eighth-inning RBI single ...Darin Ruf's third-inning sacrifice fly was the 15th of his career, tying Bob Langer's school record ...Creighton has now scored first in 22 of the last 23 games ...Steve Winkelmann is now 4-for-6 with the bases loaded this year and has 12 RBI ...Pat Venditte made his 103rd career appearance in game two of the doubleheader, tying him for fourth-most in MVC history ...Mike Nihsen has not allowed an earned run in his last six starts while he's been on the mound. The only earned runs he allowed in that time were runners he left on base that a reliever inherited and allowed to score ...Robbie Knight tied a CU record with seven at-bats in the game ...Creighton's starters have not allowed an earned run in each of the last four games ...Pat Venditte has now struck out batters with both arms in the same game 37 times in his career.
