Creighton University
Wichita State
Wichita State Trips Up Baseball, 8-3
5/8/2010 3:00:00 PM | Baseball
OMAHA, Neb. - Wichita State used home runs from Bret Bascue, Johnny Coy and a game-deciding, three-run blast from Cody Lassley to take an 8-3 victory from Creighton, Saturday afternoon at Rosenblatt Stadium.
Lassley's bomb put the Shockers (31-17, 12-5 MVC) up for good, as it broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth inning. A Kevin Hall single and Tyler Grimes doubled preceded Lassley's shot, as it cut through a left-to-right wind to find the bleachers in left to put the Shockers up for good.
Coy led a Wichita offensive attack that saw its top six go 10-for-24 on the afternoon. He went 3-for-5 with two runs, Lassley finished 2-for-4 with two runs and the three RBI, and Bascue posted a two-hit, two-RBI day as well.
Tim Kelley (8-2) battled through eight innings to earn the win for the Shockers. He allowed just one earned run on 10 Creighton hits while hurling 121 pitches.
Creighton (22-19, 9-11 MVC) and Wichita State looked to be headed for a close battle as they came out of four innings tied at two. The Bluejays took the lead in the first on a two-out, Carson Vitale infield single that brought home Elliot Soto.
Wichita State launched back-to-back home runs to start the next inning to briefly take a 2-1 lead. Coy and Bascue launched balls that nearly landed in the same spot in the right field bleachers to put the Shockers up by one.
Creighton came right back in the second to tie the game at two. After a Scott Thornburg lead-off single, Alex Staehely lined a ball down the left field line. Bascue's throw went to second, but Walker Davidson couldn't handle the throw, as his bobble allowed Thornburg to score from third to tie the game at two.
Lassley's blast clinched it in the fifth, but Creighton scored a run on a T.J. Roemmich fielder's choice in the fifth to make it a two-run game. The Shockers would put up three more insurance runs in the seventh to pull away.
A sac fly by Bascue, and an RBI-double by Ryan Jones accounted for the first two runs. Jones then scored the final run by scampering all the way home from second on a Bobby Lackovic wild pitch.
Ty Blach (2-3) didn't make it out of the fifth inning for the first time in six starts, as he allowed a season-high five earned runs on eight hits to suffer his third loss.
Soto posted three hits and scored two of Creighton's three runs to pace the offense. T.J. Roemmich and Vitale both had an RBI as well.
The Jays and Shockers will conclude the series on-campus at the CU Sports Complex tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
NOTES: Blach has given up five home runs in his last two appearances after going his first eight appearances without allowing any ... Creighton has now allowed three or more homers in three different games. The first was at Illinois-Chicago (3/19) and the second was at Missouri State (4/25) ... Soto marked his fourth game with three or more hits this season ... The loss for Creighton assured its first losing record in Valley play since 2001 ... Soto's three hits upped his career batting average at Rosenblatt Stadium to .327 ... The Jays haven't scored more than three runs in any of their losses to the Shockers since 2003 ... The back-to-back home runs by Wichita were the first allowed by Creighton since 2005 when Sam Houston State launched a pair on Feb. 11 of that year ... Creighton has made five outs on the basepaths this series.
