Baseball Renews In-State Rivalry With Nebraska On Tuesday
4/5/2010 7:00:00 PM | Baseball
Creighton
Baseball Game Notes
Game #22 • Creighton (13-8, 3-3 MVC) at
Nebraska (15-13, 3-6 Big 12)
KOZN 1620 • NET
Channel 11 and HD Channel 712
April 6, 2010 • 6:30
p.m.
Hawks
Field at Haymarket Park (8,486)
The Series
Nebraska holds a 70-37-2 edge over Creighton in the all-time series. The Bluejays stomped the Huskers in Lincoln last season, 15-0, before falling 4-3 in a 12-inning game at Rosenblatt Stadium
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 .645 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 423-214-1, with his Creighton mark standing at 240-132.
Mike Anderson (Northern Colorado, 1990) has guided the Husker program to a 295-157-2 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 .651 winning percentage.
Scouting The Huskers
The Huskers have lost two of three games in each of their three Big 12 series thus far, sitting in eighth place in the conference. One of the bright areas for the Huskers has been mid-week games, as they are 7-0 in games played on Monday-Thursday. Senior Adam Bailey has been the main offensive threat for the Huskers, as he is hitting .433 with 10 home runs and 37 RBI. The pitching staff has had its troubles, with a 5.14 team ERA. Casey Hauptman leads the regulars with 33 K's and a 3.57 ERA in nine appearances.
Last Time Out
Creighton dropped the weekend series to Indiana State, but managed to win the last game with a T.J. Roemmich walk-off single in the ninth. Creighton brought a 12-game winning streak in Omaha over Indiana State into the series, and hadn't lost a series to the Sycamores in Omaha since 1992.
A Glance At The Series
Creighton is 6-13 against Nebraska during the Ed Servais era. Tuesday's match-up will be the third straight in which the Huskers aren't ranked after 11 of 14 such games. The Jays have won two of the last three games at Hawks Field and have outscored the Huskers 20-5 in those games, including a 14-1 margin in the 7th thru 9th innings.
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 eight games against the Huskers since 2007 - this year's senior class' freshman season. The Jays are 3-5 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 2-0 .667 1 2-3 0 0 0 2 0-0
Jimmy Swift 3-2 .333 1 3-9 0 0 0 1 0-0
Elliot Soto 5-5 .286 3 6-21 2 0 0 1 0-0
T.J. Roemmich 4-2 .222 2 2-9 2 0 0 5 0-0
Robbie Knight 8-8 .188 8 6-32 2 0 0 5 3-4
Ian Dike 4-2 .143 0 1-7 0 0 0 0 0-0
Carson Vitale 2-2 .111 1 1-9 0 0 0 1 0-0
Zane Hinkel 2-0 .000 1 0-1 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
Mike Nihsen 0.00 1-0 1-0 0 5.0 0 0 2 2
Kurt Spomer 0.00 0-0 1-0 0 0.2 0 0 0 0
Jack VanLeur 1.50 0-0 3-0 0 6.0 1 1 2 3
Greg Hellhake 4.35 0-1 3-3 0 10.1 5 5 4 5
B. Koenigstein 9.00 0-0 1-0 0 1.0 1 1 1 2
Bobby Lackovic 7.94 0-1 4-0 0 5.2 6 5 2 4
Matt Patterson 18.00 0-0 3-0 0 2.0 4 4 0 5
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
Last Year at Hawks Field...
Creighton's 15-0 win over Nebraska in Lincoln last year marked several milestones in program history. Below are some notable achievements from that game:
-First shutout over NU since a 6-0 win on April 4, 1990.
-Largest win over the Huskers since a 19-1 game on April 1, 1992.
-Largest win against any Big 12 team since the same 19-1 win over Nebraska.
-Worst defeat Nebraska has suffered in Haymarket Park history.
-Most runs scored in a true road game for CU since a 16-0 victory over
Indiana State on April 22, 2007.
-Creighton had scored 15 runs combined in its previous five regular-season games at Hawks Field and had never scored more than eight runs in 12
all-time games at Hawks Field (including the 2005 NCAA Tournament).
An 'Extra' Note
Last year's extra inning game at Rosenblatt Stadium was just fifth in series history, and the first played between the two teams in Omaha. Creighton is 2-3 in those games, with the last CU, extra-inning win coming in 2001 in Lincoln (11-8 in 10 innings).
Close Calls
Nearly 25 percent of the games between the Huskers and Jays have been decided by one run. The Jays are 9-16 all-time in those contests after last year's 4-3, extra inning affair.
Arms Race
The Bluejay pitching staff has played a key role in the team's recent success in Lincoln. Over the past three games, the Bluejay pitching staff owns a 1.73 ERA at Haymarket Park.
Welcome Back, Welcome Back, Welcome Back
Mike Nihsen spent his first two years of college as a member of the Husker baseball program. In his lone career appearance against Nebraska last season, Nihsen retired the first eight men he faced and would throw five shutout innings to earn the win in relief. He allowed just three hits and two walks while striking out a pair.
In addition to Nihsen, Bluejay teammates Clay Cuno (2008) and Jordan Makovicka (2009) have also previously attended Nebraska, with Makovicka redshirting for the football team.
This trio isn't the first Bluejay triumvirate to face Nebraska. On April 5, 2005, former Huskers Colin Shockey, Matt Daeges and Chase Odenreider combined for six of Creighton's seven hits in a 4-3 walk-off win at
Rosenblatt Stadium.
Sycamore Stronghold Ends
Twelve straight losses in Omaha did not intimidate this year's Indiana State team. The Sycamores won two of three games in the series, including both games at Rosenblatt. Going into the weekend the Jays had not lost a series to the Sycamores in Omaha since 1992.
Home Opener Streak Ends
Another CU streak fell by the wayside Friday, as the loss to Indiana State marked the first home opener loss since the 2001 season (a 5-3 loss to Northern Iowa). It was just the second home opener loss since 1995 for the Bluejays.
Rubber Arms
When Jonas Dufek (7.1 IP), Brandon Koenigstein (7.1 IP) and Ty Blach (8.0 IP) all worked at least seven innings this past weekend, it marked the first time Creighton had three starters throw at least seven innings in the same series since April of 2003 vs. Wichita State. Tom Oldham (7.2 IP), Jeff Daneff 7.0 IP) and Chris Appuhn (7.0 IP) did it over the course of that four-game set.
The Key: Key Hits
Three categories in which Creighton has been solid this year all saw significant drops this past weekend. Here's a look at three categories that saw the Jays falter:
With runners on base: .229 (11-for-48)
Overall: .330
With two outs: .179 (5-for-28)
Overall: .308
RBI opportunities: .280 (7-for-25)
Overall: .325
With that said, Creighton has left 10 or more men on base in three of its last four losses.
Blach-ing Out The Offense
Ty Blach's 8.0 innings yesterday was the longest appearance by a CU baseball freshman pitcher since Steve Grasley on May 12, 2001. The eight innings was the longest outing by a Creighton pitcher, while the 123 pitches were also the most by a Creighton starter in 2010. Brandon Koenigstein is the only other pitcher to throw 100 pitches in an outing this season. He did it twice; first at Minnesota on March 13 (102) and then again on Saturday (104) against Indiana State.
Staehely's Swingin'
Alex Staehely's 11-game hitting streak is the longest by a Creighton freshman since Dave Schultz hit safely in 15 straight games from March 14 - April 5, 2003.
Staehely has waited until the ninth inning to extend his streak in three of the past seven games, including Sunday's double to lead off the bottom of the ninth in CU's walk-off 7-6 win.
His streak has highlighted a turnaround, as he is 19-for-47 (.404) after a 2-for-22 start to the season.
Bullpen Woes
Late-game situations have been rocky for the Jays. That was evidenced this weekend as the team blew two leads after the seventh inning. Creighton's bullpen had a gaudy 15.19 ERA, raising its season ERA from 4.48 to 5.07.
Hinkel Heroics
Zane Hinkel had just two career hits in limited action going into Sunday's game. Hinkel blasted a momentum-swinging two-run homer after replacing an injured Robbie Knight for his first career long ball. The shot also gave him single-game highs in RBIs and total bases.
Two It Is
T.J. Roemmich has been the most consistent member of the Bluejay lineup. The senior posted two hits for the fourth consecutive, and eighth in last nine games on Sunday. Roemmich tied the second March 27 SIU game with a two-out single, and won last Sunday's game vs. Indiana State with a walk-off single. Roemmich has a hit in all but two games this season.
