Baseball Looks To Crack Purple Aces This Weekend
4/29/2010 8:00:00 PM | Baseball
Creighton
Baseball Game Notes
Games #37-39 • Evansville (23-17, 5-4 MVC) at Creighton
(19-17, 6-9 MVC)
1620 KOZN
April 30 • 6:30 p.m. • May 1 • 2 p.m. • May 2 • 1 p.m.
Rosenblatt Stadium
(23,100) • CU Sports Complex (1,000)
The Series
Creighton holds a 36-24 advantage in the all-time series with Evansville. The Jays have won seven of their last games with the Purple Aces, and have swept three of the last four series in Omaha. Evansville did grab a series win over the Jays in Omaha in 2006, taking two of three games.
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 .636 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 428-223-1, with his Creighton mark standing at 246-141.
Wes Carroll (Evansville, 2001) was named the 12th head coach in UE baseball history on July 2, 2008. In his first year as head coach, Carroll quickly pointed the UE program in the right direction, helping the Purple Aces to 11 more victories than a season prior, while posting the second-highest single-season victory total by a first-year baseball coach in UE history. His current record in just over 1.5 seasons is 48-47.
Scouting The Purple Aces
The Purple Aces are just two wins away from matching their 2009 win total of 25 games. That is due in large part to a well-rounded offense. Greg Wallace is leading the league and is third in the country with 62 RBI, while returning all-conference performer Cody Fick has blasted 12 home runs. The Purple Aces are also a constant threat on the basepaths, as Eric Stamets is fourth in the country with 35 stolen bases. Overall the squad has 99 stolen bases, and has four players with double digit swipes.
The pitching staff has an ERA of 5.91. Corey Davisson leads with a 6-1 record and 4.46 ERA in 25 relief appearances. Tom Heithoff has eight saves, while Keegan Dennis and Sam Johns, have combined for seven wins in 16 starts.
Last Time Out
The Bluejays saw a large lead over Iowa quickly evaporate in the wind tunnel that was Rosenblatt Stadium on Wednesday night. After the Jays got out to a 14-0 lead, the Hawkeyes cut it to 15-10 in the ninth inning, bringing the tying run on deck.
A Glance At The Series
From 2006-09 Creighton lost just three series at home. Evansville was one of the teams to accomplish that, taking two of three from the Jays in 2006. Aside from that series triumph, the Jays have won seven of the last eight games with the Purple Aces, and have only dropped that one series since 2002. Evansville had the upper hand in the beginning stages of the rivalry, as they were 15-10 against the Bluejays from 1993 (first meeting) through 2001.
Last Year's Games
The Jays and Purple Aces played three tightly contested games last year in Evansville. Game one went CU's way, 7-4, but the final two games were closer. Evansville won game two 4-3, stranding the Bluejay tying run on second in the ninth. The Purple Aces nearly pulled out game three as well, scoring two runs in the ninth to tie it, before Creighton put up a 5-spot in the tenth to take the series with a 10-5 win.
Bluejays vs. Evansville
The 2010 seniors have a 7-2 record against Evansville. Robbie Knight is the only current Bluejay to appear in every game against the Purple Aces, but that streak figures to end this year, as he is nursing a hamstring injury. Below is the numbers for all the current Jays against Evansville:
Player GP-S AVG R H-AB 2B 3B HR RBI SB
Carson Vitale 3-3 .429 3 6-14 1 0 0 4 0-0
Scott Thornburg 2-2 .429 2 3-7 0 0 0 0 0-0
Elliot Soto 6-6 .381 4 8-21 1 0 0 7 1-2
Robbie Knight 9-9 .314 9 11-35 4 1 0 3 1-2
Jimmy Swift 3-3 .308 3 4-13 1 0 0 4 0-0
T.J. Roemmich 4-4 .200 3 3-15 0 0 1 4 0-0
Ian Dike 4-2 .000 0 0-10 0 0 0 0 0-0
Joey Bowens 1-0 --- 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 1-1
Pitcher ERA W-L A-S SV IP R ER BB SO
Greg Hellhake 0.00 2-0 2-2 0 8.0 0 0 5 5
Mike Nihsen 0.00 1-0 1-1 0 6.0 0 0 0 5
Bobby Lackovic 2.25 1-0 4-0 0 4.0 1 1 2 4
Jonas Dufek 3.86 0-0 1-1 0 7.0 3 3 0 10
Jack VanLeur 8.10 0-0 2-0 1 3.1 3 3 0 2
T.J. Roemmich 9.00 0-0 1-0 0 1.0 1 1 2 1
Matt Patterson 99.00 0-0 1-0 0 0.0 2 2 1 0
He's Seeing It Well...
Carson Vitale had the best single-game performance by a Bluejay in quite some time on Wednesday against Iowa. The senior backstop was a perfect 5-for-5, hit two home runs and drove in eight runs. He came a triple short of the cycle in the 15-10 win. The senior now has three career home runs at Rosenblatt, including one last season.
The Three Homermen
With his two home runs, Vitale joined Clay Cuno and T.J. Roemmich as the only two Jays with multiple home run games this season. Cuno hit two vs. Northwestern State on Feb. 27 and Roemmich launched two against Illinois-Chicago on March 19.
Three Scores Four
Jimmy Swift also had a career game against the Hawkeyes. Swift matched career highs with four hits and four runs scored in the game. Since Swift moved into the two-hole in the batting order 10 games ago, he is hitting a team-best .368 with 12 runs scored. His OPS is .876 over that time as well.
Nihsen Gets 'Em Missin'
With Iowa clawing its way back into the game on Tuesday, Mike Nihsen was summoned from the bullpen. Nihsen sat down the only man he faced with the bases loaded and the tying run on base for his first career save.
Double Dips-appointment
Creighton came into last weekend's series with Missouri State sporting a 63-21 record in doubleheaders since 2004. Creighton uncharacteristically were swept in a Sunday twinbill, then were swept again in Tuesday's two-spot with Air Force. Creighton hadn't lost two doubleheaders in one season since 2003 and hadn't lost all four consecutive games in doubleheader for since 2001, when Southern Illinois swept four games from the Jays.
A CU Sports Complexity
Creighton's two losses at the on-campus CU Sports Complex on Tuesday dropped the Jays to 1-5 on the season there. The Jays other two home victories have come at Rosenblatt Stadium, as the Jays will try to even their 2010 mark there at 3-3 on Friday.
Purple Aces Looking Green In Opener
Creighton has owned the series opener all-time against Evansville. Since 1998, Evansville has won game one of the series just twice. That happened in back-to-back years in 2006 and 2007.
Four It Is
Creighton allowed 10 runs in Wednesday's game with Iowa, marking the fourth time it has allowed double digit runs. CU has had opponents score 10 or more runs four times in each of the last two seasons (2008-09). That marked the lowest amount since 1975 when the Jays allowed 10+ three times in 44 games.
Hellhake Hurls It Well
Greg Hellhake certainly looked liked his old self on Wednesday. Hellhake matched a career high with five strikeouts in five shutouts innings to get his first win of the season over Iowa. The win was his first since April 24 of last year.
So, So, Good
Elliot Soto's recent seven-game hit streak ended, but the junior still has Rosenblatt Stadium to look forward to. Soto is a .315 lifetime hitter in 23 career games at the 'Blatt (29-92). Soto also has three doubles and nine RBI to go with his torrid hitting.
