Creighton University
New Orleans
Nine-Run Fourth Propels New Orleans Past Jays
5/22/2010 4:00:00 PM | Baseball
OMAHA, Neb. - Creighton won eight innings of Saturday's game against New Orleans. Unfortunately for the Bluejays, New Orleans put up nine runs in that one inning, as the Privateers defeated the Bluejays 11-5 in the regular season finale at Rosenblatt Stadium.
Mike Petello, Nick Schwaner and Kevin Berry all had three RBI for the Privateers, while Joe Zimmerman (1-7) went five strong innings for his first win of the season. Petello, Berry and Nolan Church all homered for UNO (13-39).
Creighton (26-23) out-hit the Privateers 11-to-10, but were victimized by nine walks from its pitching staff, four of which scored. T.J. Roemmich and Robbie Knight both homered to highlight the Bluejay attack, while Trever Adams and Jimmy Swift both had three hits.
Eight of the nine of the Privateer runs in the fourth came with two out. Berry led off the frame with his first home run of the season, which chased Creighton starter Greg Hellhake from the game, as Mike Nihsen entered. Nihsen walked two of the first four batters, retiring the other two on a sac bunt and a fly out to center before the rally started.
A walk to load the bases brought Nick Musec out of the pen, as his free pass to Petello plated run number two of the frame. Schwaner followed with the first big blow of the inning, a bases-clearing triple that made it 7-1.
Creighton used four pitchers in the inning, as Kurt Spomer was on next. Jared Comarda posted an RBI-single, followed by another Church single to set up the second big hit, as a three-run shot by Berry made it 11-1 Privateers.
Creighton's staff of Spomer, Gage Daniels, Matt Patterson and Bobby Lackovic was effective from that point on; as UNO only managed one more hit the rest of the game.
The Bluejays tacked a run on in the seventh on an Adams double, before Roemmich launched a massive two-run home run to right in his last home at-bat as a Bluejay. Knight posted his solo shot in the first, while Elliot Soto brought home Joey Bowens with a groundout in the ninth, to make up the five CU tallies.
Zimmerman struck out six Creighton batters to move to 1-7 on the year. Greg Hellhake suffered the loss (1-2), lasting one batter into the fourth inning (3.0 IP) while allowing three earned runs on five hits. He came up one strikeout short of his season-high, whiffing four.
CU will open the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Tuesday in Wichita. The Jays will be the sixth seed and will play Evansville, Southern Illinois or Indiana State in the first round at a time yet to be determined.
NOTES: Joey Bowens extended his hit streak to five games after doubling in the ninth ... The nine walks by the CU staff were a season-high, and the most since April 13, 2008 against Wichita State ... The nine runs by UNO were the most in a single inning by a CU opponent this season ... Trever Adams posted his 25th multi-hit game of the season, seven ahead of Elliot Soto's 18 ... Daniels walked just his first batter in nine appearances this season ... With Swift's HBP in the third inning, New Orleans tied an NCAA record by hitting 99 batters in a season. They are tied with New Mexico State (2000) and Coppin State (2008).
