Baseball Looks To Bounce Back Against Illinois State
4/8/2010 8:00:00 PM | Baseball
Games #24-26 • Illinois State (12-14, 2-1 MVC) at Creighton (14-8, 3-3 MVC)
KOIL 1180 (Friday, Sunday) & KOZN 1620
April 9-11 • 4 p.m. / 2 p.m. / 1 p.m.
CU Sports Complex (1,000)
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 .646 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 423-215-1, with his Creighton mark standing at 241-133.
A new era in Redbird baseball began June 10, 2009, when Mark Kingston (North Carolina, 1995) was named Illinois State's ninth head baseball coach after serving the previous season as the team's associate head coach. Prior to Illinois State, Kingston spent seven years as recruiting coordinator at Tulane and served as an assistant on the Miami team that won the 2001 College World Series. He has coached at the collegiate level for 13 years, reaching 500 wins as an assistant in 2009.
Scouting The Redbirds
The Redbird offense has gone through Kevin Tokarski this season. As of Monday, Tokarski ranked in the top-10 nationally in doubles per game (1st, 0.7), doubles (3rd, 16), on-base percent (6th, .571) and batting average (8th, .467). Not to be outdone, Matt Mirabal is also hitting .408.
The Redbirds returned all three weekend starters from last season, with Corey Maines leading the way this season. Maines is 3-2 with a 2.59 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 41.2 innings this season. Kenny Long has been superb as well, posting three saves with 31 strikeouts in 26.2 innings.
Last Time Out
Creighton lost its second 5-4 game to Kansas this season. After scoring three in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game, Tony Thompson laced an RBI-double in the ninth to send the Jayhawks back to Lawrence with a victory. Alex Staehely led the Jays with a 2.-for-4 night with a double, triple and RBI. Ten different pitchers and 22 players total saw game action on Wednesday for Creighton.
A Glance at the Series
Creighton's 66 wins all-time against Illinois State is the second most among MVC opponents (the Jays have 68 wins against Indiana State). The last time State took a series from Creighton was in 2001 in Normal. It was the third of three consecutive ILS series wins in Normal (1997, 99, 01).
The Last Meeting
The Bluejays swept the Redbirds on their home turf last season in convincing fashion. They outscored the Redbirds 30-11 in the three games, winning by no fewer than four runs any game. Game three saw ILS jump out to a 6-0 lead after three innings, but Creighton scored one in the fourth and two in the fifth before exploding for a seven-run seventh to cap the sweep.
Bluejays vs. Redbirds
Creighton has played Illinois State nine times in the last three years, with only Robbie Knight playing in all nine games. Illinois State is one of two teams that Knight has not stolen a base against (Missouri State being the other). Here is how current Jays have fared against the Redbirds:
Player AVG GP-GS AB-H R 2B 3B HR RBI SB
T.J. Roemmich .429 3-3 6-14 3 3 0 0 5 1-1
Scott Thornburg .429 3-3 6-14 3 3 0 0 5 0-0
Ian Dike .375 4-2 3-8 1 0 0 0 1 0-0
Robbie Knight .343 9-9 12-35 11 3 0 1 6 0-0
Elliot Soto .350 6-6 7-20 8 1 0 0 5 4-4
Jimmy Swift .231 3-3 3-13 2 1 0 0 2 0-0
Carson Vitale .125 2-2 1-8 2 1 0 0 1 0-0
Pitcher ERA W-L A-S SV IP R ER BB SO
Mike Nihsen 0.00 1-0 1-1 0 7.0 0 0 0 7
Bobby Lackovic 0.00 2-0 3-0 0 8.2 0 0 2 6
Jack VanLeur 0.00 1-0 3-0 1 4.0 0 0 1 4
Matt Patterson 0.00 0-0 2-0 0 1.1 0 0 1 0
Jonas Dufek 3.00 1-0 1-1 0 6.0 2 2 1 3
Greg Hellhake 16.88 0-0 1-1 0 2.2 5 5 1 1
B. Koenigstein 99.00 0-0 1-0 0 0.0 1 1 1 0
Emptying The Benches
Creighton went with a pre-determined pitching rotation for Wednesday's game against Kansas. The Jays used 10 different pitchers, and 22 players overall. The nine relievers used in the game is tied for sixth most in NCAA history. Here's the list of the top six:
No. Team vs. Opponent Date
12 Butler vs. Indiana-Southeast May 5, 1998
11 Texas Tech vs. Howard Payne May 14, 2004
11 Kansas vs. Hastings March 18, 1998
10 Houston vs. UCF Feb. 24, 1998
10 Kent State vs. John Carroll March 29, 1992
9 Creighton vs. Kansas April 7, 2010
9 Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Nicholls State April 12, 1995
Bad News At The Blatt
The Bluejay loss to Creighton on Wednesday kept Creighton winless at Rosenblatt Stadium this season. The Jays have now lost four straight games at the home of the College World Series dating back to last season. The last time the Jays did that was a four game stretch from 1999-2003 when the Bluejays lost three of those games to Nebraska and one to Notre Dame.
Catch-22
Creighton went early and often to its reserves on Wednesday, playing a total of 22 players. The last time Creighton used that many players in a single game was on March 13, 2007 against South Dakota State. The Jackrabbits won the game 13-4. Bobby Lackovic, T.J. Roemmich and Ian Dike all played in Wednesday's game and that game three years ago.
Could You Point Me To The Weight Room?
Alex Staehely started the season an afterthought in the CU lineup. Hitting ninth, the freshman second baseman started 2-for-22. Things have turned around for Staehely since then, as he is in the middle of a 13-game hit streak, that was extended against Kansas on Tuesday. Staehely is hitting .422 (19-for-45) over the streak with two home runs and eight RBI. Even more impressive, since Staehely tallied his first extra-base hit (a home run at UIC), his slugging percentage is a gaudy .824, as more than half his hits have been for extra-bases after 10 singles to start the year.
Staehely's streak is the longest by a CU freshman since Dave Schultz hit safely in 15 straight games from March 14 - April 5, 2003.
Lackovic Regains Form
Bobby Lackovic had lofty expectations coming into the year. After a start that saw the senior reliever allow seven earned runs in his first four appearances (9.45 ERA), Lackovic has since turned it around. In the last 15 Bluejay games, he has made 10 appearances, posting a 1.64 ERA with seven strikeouts in 11.0 innings pitched.
Roemmich Run Ends
T.J. Roemmich saw his 10-game hitting streak end on Wednesday against Kansas. Coming into the game the senior had posted at least one hit in all but two games this season. Through the Indiana State series, Roemmich had posted eight of nine games with exactly two hits.
National Notoriety
Creighton has been very consistent in a couple areas that have earned them a spot near the top of national statistical categories. The Jays' best ranking is in the sacrifice bunt category, where they were at 11th (as of Monday). Some other team and individuals in the top 20 are listed below:
Player/Team Category Number Rank
Team Sac. Bunts 30 11th
Team Fielding % .977 12th
Team Walks/9 inn. 2.72 15th Alex Staehely Sac Bunts 8 T4th
Jonas Dufek Walks/9 inn. 1.15 17th
Time To Clutch Up
Creighton had its fair share of opportunities Wednesday against Kansas, but a 1-for-17 showing with runners in scoring position plagued the Jays. Creighton has left nine or more (1 per inning) men on base eight times this season. Its record in those games? A not-so bad 4-4.
A Kansas Clipping
The two Jays in Creighton and Kansas (Jayhawks) have had played some tight, exciting games after Wednesday's match-up. The two teams have played three consecutive one-run games with Kansas winning all of them. The 5-4 Jayhawk victory was the fourth straight over Creighton and the third straight decided in the last inning.
They Come In Bunches
Trever Adams is currently leading Creighton in hitting with a .364 mark, despite going just 3-for-15 in his last four games. Of the 16 games Adams has hits in, 13 have gone for two or more. Of those 13, six have been three or four-hit outputs.
Mix and Match
With injuries and inconsistency, the Creighton lineup has seen its fair share of juggling. The starting nine against Kansas on Wednesday was the 17th different order and 10th different defensive alignment Ed Servais has put together this season.
Milestone Men
A couple of Bluejays are coming up on career milestones this weekend against Illinois State. Bobby Lackovic needs to pitch 1.2 innings to reach 100 on his career. His appearance in the Nebraska game on Tuesday marked the 25th of his career. Matt Patterson made his 50th career apperance against Nebraska, while Elliot Soto will need three more hits to reach 150 on his career.
