Baseball Wraps Up Regular Season With Four Game Set Against New Orleans
5/19/2010 1:00:00 PM | Baseball
Creighton
Baseball Game Notes
Games #47-50 • New Orleans (12-37) at Creighton
(24-22)
KOIL 1180 (Thurs. & Fri.) • KOZN 1620 (Sat.)
May 20-22, 2010 • 4 p.m. / 1 p.m. / Noon
CU Sports Complex (1,000) and Rosenblatt
Stadium (23,100)
The Series
The four games between Creighton and New Orleans this weekend will be the first between the two schools.
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 .634 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 seven seasons. His career record stands at 433-228-1, with his Creighton mark at 251-146.
Bruce Peddie (Mansfield, 1987) was named head coach of the Privateers on July 16, 2009. Peddie is the program's sixth head baseball coach -- replacing Tom Walter, who was named the head coach at Wake Forest. Peddie was the Privateer hitting coach for the last three seasons before being elevated to the top spot. Prior to New Orleans, Peddie was the head coach at Division II Shippensburg (Pa.). In his 11 years there, Peddie guided the Raiders to five NCAA Division II championship berths and a College World Series appearance in 1996.
Heading On Down
New Orleans is competing in its last season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. The Privateers will start the process of transitioning to Division III after season's end, playing an independent Division I schedule next year before becoming a full member of the Division III ranks in 2012.
New Orleans qualified for a regional in 2007 and 2008 before a 22-33 record last season.
Scouting the Privateers
Needless to say its been a rough season for the other UNO. Two regulars are hitting above .300 for the Privateers, as Nick Schwaner is pacing the team with a .321 average with 14 doubles, 17 home runs, 45 RBI and 10 stolen bases. Mike Petello also has 11 long balls for the Privateer offense, who is hitting .276 as a group.
The pitching staff is led by Jim McGonigle, who is 2-2 with a 4.98 ERA in eight appearances (six starts). McGongile has not pitched since April 9, however.
New Orleans does have two big wins over state powers Tulane and LSU this year, defeating the Tulane on March 9, while topping LSU on April 27 in Baton Rouge.
Last Time Out
Nebraska's farewell to Rosenblatt was fond, as the Huskers avoided a season sweep at the hands of Creighton, topping the Bluejays 21-5 on Tuesday. Five unearned runs in the first inning were all the Huskers would need to top the Jays, as they scored at least two runs in each of the first six innings.
Five Creighton players did have two hits or more on the evening, as Ian Dike led the way, going 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Scott Thornburg added two doubles, Trever Adams had a home run and Jimmy Swift and Robbie Knight both had two hits for the Jays. Kurt Spomer and Mark Winkelman were the only two CU pitchers to hurl scoreless innings on the evening.
Taking A Belt To The Sun Belt
Creighton has had some recent success against the Sun Belt Conference, winning five of their last six games against SBC teams. Creighton took two of three from Louisiana-Monroe in May of 2008 before sweeping Arkansas-Little Rock in March, 2007. The Jays have nearly doubled up in those five wins, putting up a 38-20 run-margin. Creighton has faced four different conference members, going 7-3 against UALR, 2-2 against Arkansas State, 2-1 against ULM and 0-2 against Louisiana-Lafayette.
Cajun Confoundment
Creighton hasn't had great success against teams from the bayou. The Jays have played six Louisiana schools, posting a 4-7 record against those teams. The Jays wins have come Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Monroe and Southeastern Louisiana, with Northwestern State, McNeese State and Louisiana-Lafayette holding victories over the Jays.
It's Gonna Be Huge
Creighton saw its largest crowd of the season pack the multi-colored seats at Rosenblatt Stadium on Tuesday. A total of 9,154 fans came out and saw Creighton take on Nebraska, pushing Creighton's home attendance average to 1392 on the season. That mark is good for 41st in the country, one spot ahead of the 2007 & 2008 national runner-up, North Carolina.
OuchTown: Population Bluejays
Nebraska's 21 runs in Tuesday's game marked several season-highs against CU pitching. The Jays gave up season highs in runs (21), hits (26), RBI (21), doubles (11) and total bases (44). The 11 doubles and 26 hits allowed were both program highs for the Jays.
Helping With History
Creighton did have a hand in a little positive history despite the loss on Tuesday. The 14 combined doubles between the Huskers and Jays were the ninth most in NCAA history.
Head of Steam
The final weekend of the regular season has been a point of success for the Jays, as they have won or split that series in six of the last eight seasons. This is despite losing their last four final regular season games.
He's Baaaaaack!
The Bluejay bats have certainly benefited from Robbie Knight's return to the lineup. Since seeing his first action in 16 games, Knight is 6-for-11 with three doubles and three RBI. Knight matched a season-best with three hits in his second game back against Seattle on May 16.
On The Rebound
It's never fun losing to an arch rival. Creighton has learned to cope quickly with these losses recently, however. CU has won its last four games AFTER a loss to Nebraska, and is 9-3 in the Ed Servais era in such games.
30-Win Stretch in Peril
CU has won 30+ games the past six seasons. They are one of just 32 schools in the country with a current streak of five or more seasons with 30 wins. Even with a sweep this weekend, the Jays will need to win two at the MVC Tourney to keep the streak alive.
Five Times The Fun
Creighton had five players with multiple hits in Tuesday's game with Nebraska. It was the first time since May 2 against Evansville the Jays accomplished that. The squad had done that just three other times this season; one of which came in the first UN game.
