Baseball Looks To Make It Two In A Row Over Nebraska
4/19/2010 8:00:00 PM | Baseball
Creighton
Baseball Game Notes
Game #30 • Creighton (16-13, 5-7 MVC) at
Nebraska (18-18, 5-10 Big 12)
KOZN 1620 • NET
Channel 11 and HD Channel 712
April 20, 2010 • 6:37
p.m.
Rosenblatt Stadium (23,100)
The Series
Nebraska holds a 70-38-2 edge over Creighton in the all-time series. The Bluejays stomped the Huskers in Lincoln, posting their second straight thumping of Nebraska two weeks ago with a 13-5 win. Creighton has not won the first two games of the season series with Nebraska since 1993, as they will look to reverse that tonight.
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 .639 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 425-219-1, with his Creighton mark standing at 243-137.
Mike Anderson (Northern Colorado, 1990) has guided the Husker program to a 298-162-2 record, two Big 12 titles (2003 and 2005) and the school's third College World Series appearance since 2001 (2005) in his seven seasons. The Huskers have reached NCAA Regional play in five of the past seven seasons, including three regional title games (2003, 2005, 2007) and have won 40-or-more games four times in that stretch, including a school-record 57 games in 2005. Anderson is among the top-25 active Division I coaches with a career .645 winning percentage.
Scouting The Huskers
The Huskers have failed to win a Big 12 series this year, as they have lost two-of-three in all five of their series. They currently sit in ninth in the conference with a 5-10 mark. Adam Bailey has separated himself on the offensive end, posting a .392 average with 14 home runs and 47 RBI. The Huskers have used 16 different pitchers this year, with ERA leader Casey Hauptman expected to start tonight. Hauptman has served as the squad's closer, but will make his fourth start of the season tonight. He has three saves in 14 appearances with 49.2 innings under his belt.
Last Time Out
The Bluejays rebounded a week after getting swept at home by taking their second consecutive road Valley series at Bradley. The Jays were victorious on Friday and Sunday, as Elliot Soto recorded six hits on the weekend. Ty Blach recorded his first collegiate win on Sunday and Trever Adams also added six RBI on the weekend, posting three-RBI games on Friday and Sunday.
A Glance At The Series
Creighton is 7-13 against Nebraska during the Ed Servais era. Tuesday's match-up will be the fourth straight in which the Huskers aren't ranked after 11 of 14 such games. Since 1997, The Jays and Huskers have played 17 times at Rosenblatt Stadium, with the Huskers holding a 13-4 record in those games. The last Creighton win at the 'Blatt was a 9-2 win on May 15, 2007
Last Year's Meetings
The Jays and Huskers split two games last season. The first was a 15-0 Creighton romp at Hawks Field, highlighted by Vicente Cafaro's five-hit, three double game. Mike Nihsen pitched five innings of scoreless relief in the game. Game two at Rosenblatt last season was a pitcher's duel, as the two teams could only muster a run apiece after nine. Nebraska took a 4-1 lead in the top of the 12th, but Creighton pushed two across on a Robbie Knight double with two out. Elliot Soto could not push the tying-run across as he fouled out to end the game.
Bluejays vs. Huskers
The Jays have played a grand total of nine games against the Huskers since 2007 - this year's senior class' freshman season. The Jays are 4-5 in those games. Here are how current Jays have fared against the Huskers:
Player GP-S AVG R AB-H 2B 3B HR RBI SB
Scott Thornburg 3-1 .667 2 3-6 0 0 1 3 0-0
Trever Adams 1-1 .600 2 3-5 1 0 1 3 1-1
Alex Staehely 1-1 .500 2 2-4 0 0 1 3 0-0
Jimmy Swift 4-3 .417 3 5-12 0 0 0 1 0-0
Elliot Soto 6-6 .370 5 10-27 2 0 1 2 0-1
Ian Dike 5-3 .273 1 3-11 1 0 0 1 0-0
T.J. Roemmich 5-3 .231 2 3-13 2 0 0 5 0-1
Robbie Knight 8-8 .188 8 6-32 2 0 0 5 3-4
Carson Vitale 3-3 .071 2 1-14 0 0 0 1 0-0
Zane Hinkel 3-1 .000 3 0-4 0 0 0 0 0-0
Joey Bowens 1-0 --- 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0-0
Pitcher ERA W-L A-S SV IP R ER BB SO
Kurt Spomer 0.00 0-0 1-0 0 0.2 0 0 0 0
Jack VanLeur 1.29 0-0 4-0 0 7.0 1 1 2 4
Greg Hellhake 4.35 0-1 3-3 0 10.1 5 5 4 5
B. Koenigstein 4.50 0-0 2-0 0 2.0 1 1 1 3
Mike Nihsen 4.91 1-0 2-1 0 7.1 4 4 3 4
Bobby Lackovic 7.26 0-1 5-0 0 6.2 6 5 2 4
Matt Patterson 8.31 1-0 4-0 0 4.2 4 4 1 7
Mark Winkelman 9.00 0-0 1-0 0 7.1 1 1 2 1
T.J. Roemmich 27.00 0-0 3-0 0 1.0 3 3 0 0
Jonas Dufek 99.99 0-0 1-0 0 0.0 2 1 1 0
Hellhake Gets The Nod
Tuesday will be Greg Hellhake's fourth career start versus Nebraska, and his first since throwing a scoreless first inning in CU's 15-0 win in Lincoln last season. Hellhake's first career start vs. Nebraska saw the then-freshman throw five scoreless innings in Lincoln on April 22, 2008.
More On Hellhake
This will be Hellhake's 27th career start. Creighton is 15-11 in Hellhake's first 26 starts, including a 2-3 mark against Big 12 competition. Hellhake has allowed three earned runs or less in 19 of his 26 career starts.
Flip Flop
With the 2-1 series win at Bradley, Creighton accomplished something they have not done in program history. The Jays have won their first two road Valley series, while dropping their first two home Valley series. Creighton's 13 road wins is the most among MVC teams.
Tearing Up The Basepaths
Scott Thornburg and Ian Dike flashed some rare exploits on the basepaths. The two both recorded their first career stolen bases against Bradley on Friday. To go along with that, Thornburg also recorded his first career triple, legging out a shot to the left-center gap.
Blach Nabs First Win
After several quality outings, Ty Blach finally picked up his first career win. The freshman went eight innings on Sunday, allowing just two earned runs while striking out six.
A First Time For Five
Creighton's first inning runs against Bradley on Sunday were the most this season, and the most since March 25, 2008 against South Dakota State. The last time CU put up five or more runs on a Valley opponent was April 29, 2005 when the Jays did it against Bradley in Omaha.
Moving On Up
T.J. Roemmich hit third on Sunday vs. Bradley, the first time in 139 career games he played and hit third or higher in the line-up.
Where Have You Gone Jack?
For just the second time all season, Jack VanLeur has gone consecutive Creighton games without making an appearance. He's had only one stretch in the past two seasons where he's not been used in any stretch of three consecutive games.
Want To Be Like Dike
Ian Dike has been one Creighton hotter hitters as of late. In his last 13 games, Dike has a hit in 12 of them. Over that time he is hitting .370 (17-for-46) with four doubles, two home runs and seven RBI. Dike and Alex Staehely are the only two Bluejay hitters that are hitting over .300 in the last 13 games.
Mound Presence
Creighton pitchers have handled all 67 chances in the field flawlessly this season, and 83 straight chances since last year. Creighton's last error by a pitcher came on May 10, 2009 when Greg Hellhake threw away a pickoff attempt versus Missouri State.
Like He's Throwing a Block
Ty Blach has not allowed a home run in 42 innings of work this season. Creighton's only pitcher under Ed Servais to finish a season with more than 42 innings of work without yielding a homer was all-Valley closer Brandon Bird, who posted 43.2 homerless innings in 2005.
Home Woes?
After a 15-7 record in games away from Omaha to start the season, Creighton seemed ready to take a step forward. That has been far from the case, as the Jays have stumbled to a 1-6 record at home, including an 0-3 mark at Rosenblatt Stadium. In seven home games the Jays are hitting just .197 and have an ERA of 5.20. In contrast, the Jays are hitting .305 in non-home games and have an ERA of 4.55.
Alex Staehely and Ian Dike are the only two Jays hitting over .300 at home, posting .320 and .304 marks respectively. From there, the next closest Jay is at .241.
