Creighton University
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Kansas
Kansas Run in 10th Inning Spoils Baseball's Five-Run Comeback
4/14/2009 11:30:00 PM | Baseball
OMAHA, Neb. - After trailing 5-0 after four innings, the Creighton baseball team overcame the deficit to tie the score at 6-6, and force extra innings. However it wasn't meant to be as a 10th-inning sac fly gave Kansas the 7-6 win, Tuesday night at Rosenblatt Stadium.
Kansas took an early 3-0 lead as Jason Brunansky took a Kirk Clark fastball out to left-center for his second home run of the year.
KU extended its lead in the third as Jimmy Waters hit a bloop single just over the head of Elliot Soto, that scored Brian Heere.
The Jayhawks started a two-out rally in the fifth when David Nardowski doubled to left center. Robby Price was then hit by a pitch and Heere singled to right, scoring Nardowski and making it 5-0.
The Jays got a bit of a rally in the fourth as Vicente Cafaro was hit by a pitch. T.J. Roemmich then reached on a catcher's interference putting runners on first and second with one out. Jimmy Swift then lined to third and Cafaro advanced to third as KU third baseman Tony Thompson threw the ball away, trying to double off Roemmich at first. Carson Vitale followed with a single to center, scoring Cafaro and making it 5-1.
In the bottom of the seventh Swift led off the inning with a double to right. After Vitale flew out to center and Ian Dike grounded to second Nick Becker hit a ground ball to first that pitcher Colton Murray couldn't receive cleanly, allowing Becker to reach first and Swift to score. Robbie Knight then reached on an error before Soto had an infield single to load the bases. Becker scored on a passed ball. Ruf then walked to reload the bases and Cafaro was hit by a pitch bringing in Knight, making it just a 5-4 game after seven.
Kansas got an insurance run in the top of the eighth as Casey Lytle singled to center before advancing to second on a Bob Lackovic wild pitch. Zac Elgie then singled to left bringing home Lytle, pushing the lead back to 6-4.
The Bluejays cut it to a one-run game in the bottom of the inning when Becker singled to center, plating Swift from second who led off the frame with a walk. Becker then advanced to second on a wild pitch and Knight walked, putting runners on first and second with two outs. Soto then singled to center bringing home Becker. Ruf walked to load the bases before Cafaro struck out ending the inning, and making it 6-6 after eight.
Robby Price led off the KU ninth with a triple to right. Jack VanLeur then got Heere to ground out to first, struck out leading Jayhawk hitter Tony Thompson and induced a groundball to second base from Waters to get out of the inning without a run coming across.
In the top of the 10th, Lytle reached on an error to lead off the inning. Brunansky singled to right putting runners at first and third with one out. After a walk to Narodowski loaded the bases, Price lifted a sacrifice fly to left, giving Kansas the 7-6 advantage.
Creighton will return to the diamond Wednesday, as it plays a doubleheader against Air Force, beginning at 4:00 p.m., at Rosenblatt Stadium. Both games will be seven inning affairs.
NOTES: It was Clark's first career start, after going 19-4 as a starter at Iowa Western CC the previous two years...Clark set season-highs in number of pitches (72) and strikeouts (5)...His four earned runs allowed was the most by a CU starter since March 22 against Indiana State when Jonas Dufek also allowed four...With his outfield assist in the second inning, T.J. Roemmich now has seven on the season, matching last year's total...Vitale is 4-10 in games played at Rosenblatt, with two RBI...Darin Ruf recorded his 2,000th career putout in the fifth...He is just the eighth player in NCAA history to record 2,000 career-putouts...Lackovic's relief appearance was his 22nd of the season, putting him in second on the NCAA-leaderboard behind teammate Jack VanLeur who made his 23rd appearance Tuesday...Soto's single in the seventh extended his hitting streak to 14 games...With their three runs in the seventh, CU has now outscored its opponents 37-11 in the seventh inning...Dan Blair got his first at-bat since March 15 in a pinch hit role for Dike...His two at-bats tied a career-high...VanLeur's error was the Jays' first since April 5 at Evansville, a streak spanning 235 chances...The unearned run surrendered by VanLeur was his first of the season...It was Creighton's fourth extra inning game of the year...The team is now 1-3 in those games.
