Baseball Looks To Make It Three MVC Road Series Wins at Missouri State
4/22/2010 10:00:00 AM | Baseball
Creighton
Baseball Game Notes
Games #31-33 • Creighton (17-13, 5-7 MVC) at Missouri State (15-20, 1-5 MVC)
KOZN 1620 AM
April 23-25 • 6:30 p.m. • 2 p.m. • 1 p.m.
Hammons Stadium (8,000)
The Series
Missouri State and Creighton are neck-and-neck in the all-time series with the Bears holding a slight 35-34 edge. The Bears have taken the season series the last two seasons, but the Jays got a measure of revenge in the MVC Tournament last year, when they knocked out the Bears with a 7-6, 10-inning victory.
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 .640 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 426-219-1, with his Creighton mark standing at 244-137.
Head coach Keith Guttin (Missouri-St. Louis, 1978) is in his 28th season of guiding the Missouri State baseball program. Under Guttin, the Bears are 952-593 (an average of 35 wins and 21 losses per season) and have won 62 percent of their games. Guttin has had eight 40-win seasons, and in 2003, guided the Bears to their first-ever NCAA Division I College World Series. For his efforts, Guttin was named ABCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year.
Scouting The Bears
After two games this week, the Bears are hitting .274 as a team. Kevin Medrano, the reigning MVC Freshman of the Year, has been carrying the offense with a .423 average; over 100 points higher then the next Bear hitter. Aaron Conway has also supplied 15 stolen bases to the offense.
Aaron Meade leads the starting rotation with a 3.40 ERA. Mike Kickham has four wins and 57 strikeouts to pace the team, and Grant Gordon has a team-best five saves.
Last Time Out
The Jays made their largest comeback of the season, wiping out an early four-run deficit to defeat local rival Nebraska, 8-5 at Rosenblatt Stadium on Tuesday. Robbie Knight had a key, pinch-hit double in the eighth inning and Jimmy Swift drove in pinch runner Michael Blatchford for the eventual winning run. It was CU's first win in four tries at Rosenblatt this season, and just its second home win this season.
A Glance At The Series
The games on the field have been as close as the all-time series record, as the Jays and Bears have played at least one, one-run game in seven of the last eight seasons. The two teams have played 19 one-run games all-time, with Creighton holding an 11-8 advantage in that column. The Jays are 11-10 against them in the Ed Servais era, with a 1-2 mark in Valley Tournament play.
Last Year's Meetings
Missouri State swept the Jays in Omaha last year, but the Jays got the last laugh, as they knocked the Bears out of the MVC Tournament. In game one, Missouri State came back on CU closer Jack VanLeur with three runs in the ninth for a 6-5 victory. Game two had the Bears pull away with seven runs in the middle innings for a 10-7 'W', and game three was all Bears, as they held the Jays scoreless until the ninth inning in an 8-3 victory.
Bluejays vs. Bears
Many of Creighton's position players faced Missouri State for the first time last season. Ian Dike and Elliot Soto have fared the best. The pitching side has been dicier. Aside from T.J. Roemmich's 0.2 scoreless innings, no CU pitcher has an ERA better than 4.50 against MSU. Below is how all current Jays have fared:
Player GP-S AVG R AB-H 2B 3B HR RBI SB
Ian Dike 3-1 .500 0 4-8 1 0 0 1 0-0
Elliot Soto 7-6 .360 5 9-25 0 0 0 1 1-1
Jimmy Swift 4-4 .250 3 4-16 0 0 0 2 0-0
Robbie Knight 11-10 .222 4 10-45 1 1 0 5 0-0
Scott Thornburg 3-3 .125 0 1-8 0 0 0 1 0-0
T.J. Roemmich 6-4 .111 3 2-18 2 0 0 1 1-1
Carson Vitale 4-4 .111 0 2-18 1 0 0 2 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
T.J. Roemmich 0.00 0-0 1-0 0 0.2 0 0 1 0
Matt Patterson 4.50 0-0 3-0 0 2.0 1 1 1 1
Jack VanLeur 4.76 0-1 4-0 1 5.2 3 3 0 4
Greg Hellhake 5.14 0-1 1-1 0 7.0 4 4 1 4
Jonas Dufek 7.15 0-1 2-2 0 11.1 9 9 3 8
Mike Nihsen 7.71 0-1 2-2 0 7.0 7 6 4 3
Bobby Lackovic 10.80 1-0 4-0 0 5.0 6 6 2 4
TGIF
Much of Creighton's success on the weekends have come on Friday, as the Jays are 6-2 in games played on that day. T.J. Roemmich leads the team with a blistering .394 mark with two homers and nine RBI in Friday games. Trever Adams has also posted two home runs and nine RBI, while Carson Vitale also has two long balls to his credit.
Sunday Funday
Sticking with the day theme, Sunday has been kind to a pair of Creighton regulars. Ian Dike has hit a robust .435 with two homers and five RBI. Scott Thornburg is the only other CU regular above .300, with a .375 mark in five Saturday games. Jack VanLeur's Sunday ERA is also a solid 1.35 in three appearances.
In The League
The Jays struggles in the MVC have been magnified on the offensive end, as they are only hitting .229, while averaging 4.8 runs per Valley contest. Ian Dike and T.J. Roemmich are leading in Valley hitting with marks of .326 and .313 respectively, with Alex Staehely not far behind at .310.
The three Creighton starters in Jonas Dufek, Brandon Koenigstein and Ty Blach have a combined ERA of 3.49 while the relief corps have not been as pretty, posting a 6.07 mark. Bobby Lackovic has been the exception to the rule, however. He has a 0.83 ERA in eight appearances, striking out eight in 9.2 innings.
Nebraska Bragging Rights
Creighton pulled off its second win over local rival Nebraska on Tuesday. It was the first time Creighton has won the first two games in the season series since 1993.
So Good To See You Again
Senior Robbie Knight has been hobbled by a hamstring injury for the better part of the season. On Tuesday night against Nebraska, he took a page from the Kirk Gibson handbook. His pinch-hit double set up the game-winning run in the Jays 8-5 win over the Huskers. It was Knight's first hit since March 27 at Southern Illinois and first appearances since April 4 against Indiana State.
Don't Blink When It's Wink
Freshman reliever Mark Winkelman had his best outing of the season on Tuesday. The southpaw pitched a season-long 2.1 innings of hitless ball, while also setting a new personal standard for strikeouts with three. The scoreless outing was Winkelman's third in last four outings and lowered his season ERA to 4.50.
Bullpen Boost
With Creighton trailing 5-1 in the third inning of Tuesday's game with Nebraska, the Jays needed the bullpen to stop the bleeding. The men in the pen did just that, holding the Huskers hitless from the second batter of the third until the first batter of the ninth. Kurt Spomer, Mark Winkelman and Matt Patterson held the Huskers without a hit, while Jack VanLeur earned the win and Bobby Lackovic taking the save.
Save Me!
Speaking of Bobby Lackovic, the save on Tuesday was just his second in what was his 80th career outing. His first save came almost a year to the day, as he posted it on April 19 of last year against UIC in Omaha. The senior has been lights out of late, as he has not given up a hit in his last seven appearances, and has gone without a run in his last eight. Overall, Lackovic has a 1.08 ERA in his last 15 appearances with 14 strikeouts.
Big 12? No Big Deal
Creighton posted its third win over Big 12 competition with the win over Nebraska on Tuesday. The Jays also topped ranked Kansas State and Nebraska for the three 'Ws'. Missouri State has had a good amount of success against the Big 12 this season as well, recording wins against Oklahoma State and Missouri.
Soto Swings It
Elliot Soto played a large part in the Creighton win over Nebraska Tuesday. The shortstop went 3-for-four and scored four of the eight CU runs. That matched a career high for Soto.
