Wichita State Notes
5/21/2009 3:30:00 PM | Baseball
Scouting the Bluejays
Creighton goes into its second game of the MVC Tournament, looking to go 2-0...The Bluejays defeated Southern Illinois on Wednesday, 5-1, behind a complete game five-hitter from Jeremy Hauer...The nine innings established the longest Hauer has gone in a game, in what could be the last game of his career...Leading the way for the Jays offensively on Wednesday was Jimmy Swift who went 2-3 with two runs scored...In the game Robbie Knight tied a season-high as he was hit by a pitch twice...Knight, a second-team Al-MVC selection leads the Bluejays with a .459 on-base percentage...Nick Becker has been the team's hottest hitter of late going 20-50 (.400), with four doubles and a home run to go along with eight RBI...His home run on May 8 against Missouri State was the first of his CU career.
Scouting the Shockers
Wichita State comes into Thursday night's matchup at 1-0 in the MVC Tournament, after the team used a eight-run eighth inning to defeat Indiana State 15-7 in game one on Wednesday...The team has won four in a row...Ryan Jones was the hero last night, launching two home runs on the evening, including a first inning grand slam...Thursday's starter is scheduled to be Jordan Coooper...Cooper held the Jays in check last Saturday, carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning and finished with allowing just one run on one hit, helping the Shockers to a 11-1 victory and secure the three-game sweep...He comes into the game with a 7-5 record and a 3.00 ERA in 81.0 innings...First-team All-MVC first base selection Clint McKeever leads the team with six home runs and 41 RBI, while also owning the team-lead in slugging percentage at .530.
Series History Against Wichita State
Thursday's matchup against the Shockers will be the 146th meeting between the two squads. Wichita State has dominated the series thus far, owning a 104-41-1 all-time advantage, including a three-game sweep to close the regular season last weekend.
Getting Off to a Good Start
Under head coach Ed Servais, Creighton has had great success in the first game of the MVC Tournament, going 6-0 after a 5-1 defeat of Southern Illinois on Wednesday.
CU is the first team to open with a win in six straight tournaments since Wichita State's 10 straight from 1980-89.
Being Comfortable on the Road
Creighton has not been intimidated by the surroundings of Shockers fans. With its performance Wendesday against Southern Illinois the Bluejays have now played eight straight errorless games at Wichita State's Eck Stadium, successfully handling 294 straight chances since an error in a 2007 game.
Avoiding a Four-Spot
On Thursday, Wichita State will be looking for its fourth win of the season over Creighton. CU has not lost four games to an opponent since dropping four to the Shockers in 2005, when he two teams played six games, including the MVC Tournament.
CU has not suffered a four-game season sweep since dropping all four to Northern Iowa from April 18-20, 2003.
Dominating the Dawgs
The season sweep of Southern Illinois was a rarity for Creighton. The last time CU managed to capture every game in a series against SIU was April 9-11, 1999, when the Jays also managed a four-game sweep.
The last four-game sweep over any team was in 2007, when the Jays won all five of their games against Bradley.
Saving the Best for Last?
In what could prove to be the final start of his career, Jeremy Hauer had arguably his best during his two years at CU. Hauer went the distance on Wednesday against SIU, throwing a career-high 9.0 innings, allowing just one run on five hits. It was the first complete game of any length for the southpaw senior.
Playing the Odds
The last two odd numbered years, 2005 & 2007, Creighton has had success in the postseason. In 2005, the team received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, after winning the regular season championship and playing in the MVC Tournament Championship game against Wichita State. In 2007 the team won the MVC tournament to receive the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
NCAA Leader?
First baseman Darin Ruf is one of eight players in NCAA history to record 2,000 or more career putouts, ranking fifth with 2,216. Ruf owns a .996 career fielding percentage in 2,319 career chances, making only eight errors in the last four years.
Ruf has averaged 10.94 putouts per game in 2009. At that rate, he would need to play in seven more games to break the NCAA record held by Wichita State's Logan Sorensen (2001-04) of 2,289 career putouts.
NCAA Record Book, Career PO's
Player, Team Years G POs
Logan Sorenson, Wichita St. 2001-04 258 2,289
Jeff Ontiveros, Texas 1997-00 258 2,263
Tom Guardino, Stanford 1975-78 246 2,220
Darin Ruf, Creighton 2006-Pr. 221 2,216
