Baseball Opens MVC Play at Southern Illinois Friday
3/24/2010 9:00:00 PM | Baseball
Creighton
Baseball
Game Notes
Games #16-18 • KOIL 1180 AM
Creighton
(10-5) at Southern Illinois (9-12)
March 26-28, 2010 • 3:00 p.m. / 2:00 p.m. / 1:00 p.m.
Abe Martin Field (2,000)
The Series
Southern Illinois comes into the weekend with a slim 57-52 advantage in the all-time series. Creighton won all four games between the two last season, and have won eight of the past 10 meetings. The two teams have had sweated out many a contest, as 30 games in the series have been decided by one run, with SIU leading that category with a 20-10 mark.
The Coaches
Ed Servais (UW-La Crosse, 1981) is in his seventh season at the helm of the Bluejay baseball program in 2009-10. His .648 winning percentage is the best in school history and he has averaged nearly 40 wins a season during his time as head coach. Servais has taken the Jays to two NCAA Tournaments and has won the Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year award three times in his five seasons. His career record stands at 420-211-1, with his Creighton mark standing at 237-129.
Dan Callahan (Quincy, 1981) is in his 16th season with Southern Illinois. Since taking over the helm of one of collegiate baseball's most storied programs, Callahan has recorded a total of 423 wins, which is the second most in Saluki baseball history. He has helped produce 20 MLB draft picks and 18 first team all-MVC selections. Callahan has guided SIU to 30 or more wins in six of the last eight seasons and the Dawgs are one of three Valley teams to make the conference tournament in each of the last eight seasons.
Scouting The Salukis
Southern Illinois is off to a 9-12 start this season. The Salukis played two games during the week, as they won a pair of games against UT-Martin (20-3) and Eastern Illinois (9-8). The team has five players hitting above .350, led by Nick Johnson (.404). Pitching has been another story, as the squad has a ERA thus far, with the low man being Nathan Forer (0.96), who will start on Saturday.
Last Time Out
Creighton suffered a ninth inning setback to Kansas in Lawrence on Tuesday. The Jays took an early, 2-0 lead on the bats of T.J. Roemmich and Scott Thornburg but could not hold the Jayhawks. Three runs in the fifth and a two-out, walk-off single in the final frame spelled the fourth straight Kansas victory over the Jays.
A Glance At The Series
Creighton has taken control of the all-time series with SIU in recent years, as the Jays are 13-5 against the Salukis since 2005. The two squads have met in the last three MVC Tournaments, with the Bluejays winning two of those games. Carbondale has not been kind to CU, as the Jays are 15-28 since 1966. CU has never gone on the road to SIU and swept a three, or four-game series from the Salukis.
Last Year's Meetings
Creighton's 4-0 record against the Salukis was the first season sweep since 1999, when Creighton engineered another 4-0 season against SIU. The Bluejays started the regular season series in Omaha, with two, eighth inning comebacks before blowing out the Salukis, 10-0. In the MVC Tourney, the Jays rode the arm of Jeremy Hauer, who threw a five-hit, complete game gem for a 5-1 victory.
Bluejays vs. SIU
Creighton has played SIU 12 times since 2007, winning nine. Robbie Knight has started all 12 of those games, and is hitting .341, but senior Ian Dike has owned the Salukis, batting a whopping .636 in five career games. Below is a glance at current players results against SIU.
Player GP-S AVG R AB-H 2B 3B HR RBI SB
Ian Dike 5-4 .636 3 7-11 0 0 0 2 0-0
Jimmy Swift 4-4 .500 6 7-14 1 0 1 2 2-2
Carson Vitale 4-3 .455 4 5-11 2 0 0 0 0-0
Robbie Knight 12-12 .341 13 15-44 3 1 0 13 1-1
Elliot Soto 8-8 .333 3 10-30 0 0 0 3 2-2
T.J. Roemmich 10-6 .071 3 2-28 0 0 1 2 0-0
Scott Thornburg 2-1 .000 0 0-4 0 0 0 0 0-0
Pitcher ERA W-L A-S SV IP R ER BB SO
Jonas Dufek 0.00 1-0 1-1 0 7.0 0 0 1 4
Bobby Lackovic 0.00 0-0 2-0 0 1.0 1 0 0 0
Mike Nihsen 0.00 0-0 1-1 0 6.1 1 0 2 6
Jack VanLeur 3.86 1-0 3-0 0 4.2 2 2 1 4
Greg Hellhake 4.50 0-1 2-2 0 10.0 6 5 7 3
Matt Patterson 7.71 1-0 2-0 0 2.1 2 2 3 2
Raiding The Janitors Closet
Last year's season sweep by Creighton was the first in the series since 1999. That year was the last of three in which one of the two squads recorded a sweep. The Jays swept the '99 series 4-0 after getting swept in four game sets in both 1998 and 1997. The three other sweeps in the series came in 1995 (CU, 2-0), 1991 (CU, 4-0) and 1984 (CU, 4-0).
By George!
Only one Saluki has appeared against Creighton at least once in the last three seasons. That man is Saluki reliever Bryant George, who has had four relief outings against CU since 2007. George, who was named to the all-Valley Preseason Team, has hurled 5.1 innings, allowing three earned runs for a 5.06 ERA and a 1-0 record.
Back-to-Back Openers
This weekend's MVC opener marks the second straight year the Jays have opened against Southern Illinois. The Jays have opened Valley play against SIU a total of six times, with a record of 3-3 in those games.
Year Result, Score
2009 W, 4-3
1998 L, 9-5
1994 L, 14-11
1993 W, 2-1
1987 L, 3-2
1986 W, 8-3
Conference Opener Numbers
With Creighton opening Valley play this weekend, here's a glance at some opening, game, road and weekend numbers (records since 1986):
First Valley Game: 12-12
First Valley Road Game: 8-16
First Valley Series: 12-9-3 (win/tie/split)
First Valley Road Series: 7-10-7 (win/tie/split)
Since 1986 there have been four opening weekend sweeps. Creighton swept Illinois State in Normal in 2005 and Bradley (two games) in Omaha in 1997. Creighton suffered two sweeps the first coming in 1996 at Missouri State (3) and in 1998 in Carbondale (4).
Adams Continues To Roll
Trever Adams continues to be a tough out for opposing pitchers. The junior has posted 10 multi-hit games this season, including a current seven-game hit streak in which six have gone for two or more hits. Adams is hitting .500 (16-for-32) with four doubles, two home runs, nine RBI and an OPS of 1.356 in those games.
Gapper!
T.J. Roemmich's slugging percentage has experienced a healthy increase in the last week. Six of Roemmich's last seven hits were for extra bases (one triple, two doubles, three home runs), as his percentage has risen from .475 to .650 on the season. Over the last five games Roemmich is slugging 1.000.
We Got Last Ups!
Creighton suffered its second walk-off loss of the season Tuesday in a 5-4 loss at Kansas. The Jays have had seven games decided in the last inning and six one-run contests this season. They are 3-3 in one-run games and 2-1 when extra baseball is played.
Home Is Where You Make It
The Bluejays have made the best of their lengthy road trip this season, posting an 8-2 record in true road games thus far. That mark is good for most road wins in the Valley.
The Knight Train
Robbie Knight kept chugging along, as his on-base streak reached 23 straight games on Tuesday. Knight has reached base in 56 of his last 57 games and is sporting a team-best OBP of .476.
Sub-Free
Tuesday's game at KU saw both teams keep their starting nine in the lineup the whole game. That's the first time this season that both Creighton and its opponent did not use any other position players on their roster. The only other time Creighton stuck with its original lineup was on March 12 at the Metrodome against South Dakota State.
We Go For Miles And Miles...
Creighton wraps up its monster road trip this weekend at SIU. The Jays will have played 18 games over 36 days at road or neutral sites to start the season. Only two other Creighton teams have faced more days on the road to begin a season.
Year # of Games Days Record 1st Home Game
2010 18 36 ? April 2
2003 20 40 5-15 March 25
1999 29 58 19-10 April 9
Ducks Remain On The Pond
Wasted opportunities were the story of the Bluejay loss at Kansas. CU left 10 men on base, five in the eighth and nine innings, and eight in scoring position. The season high in LOB for CU was 14 at UT-Arlington; an 11-5 win for the Jays.
Two-Out Terrors
Several Jays have excelled with two outs. Carson Vitale (6-for-12) and Trever Adams (13-for-26) are both hitting .500 with two down for a Creighton team that is hitting .337 in that situation.
Runners On; Balls Are Gone
A telling stat of how important Trever Adams' addition has been, is his average with runners on base. The junior is hitting .500 on the dot (20-for-40), to lead a Jay attack that is swinging the bats at a .360 clip in those situations.
Planes, Buses, Vans And Automobiles
The mileage count will be just over 8000 miles after Sunday's road trek to Carbondale. Here's a look at Creighton's travels thus far:
Destination Round Trip
Omaha-Conway, Ark.-Omaha 1170.14 miles
Omaha-Nacogdoches, Texas-Omaha 1548.86 miles
Omaha-Huntsville, Texas 834.48 miles
Huntsville, Texas-Arlington, Texas 188.07 miles
Arlington, Texas-Minneapolis, Minn. 998.12 miles
Minneapolis, Minn.-Omaha 379.25 miles
Omaha-Manhattan, Kan.-Omaha 388.92 miles
Omaha-Chicago-Omaha 937.76 miles
Omaha-Lawrence, Kan.-Omaha 505.22 miles
Omaha-Carbondale, Ill.-Omaha 1057.60 miles
8008.42 miles without a home game
