Creighton University Athletics
Creighton Baseball Opens This Weekend
2/16/2011 7:12:00 PM | Baseball
Creighton Baseball Opening Weekend
Creighton (0-0) vs. Toledo (0-0) Sat., Feb. 19 • 11:00 a.m.
Creighton (0-0) vs. Canisius (0-0) Sat., Feb. 19 • 3:00 p.m.
Creighton (0-0) vs. Canisius (0-0) Sun., Feb. 20 • 11:00 a.m.
Toledo Rockets
www.utrockets.com
Record: 0-0 • Location: Toledo, Ohio • Enrollment: 23,085
Head Coach: Cory Mee • Alma Mater: Notre Dame (1992)
Career Record: 163-211 • School Record: Same
2010 Record: 34-22 • Letterwinners returning/lost: 21/9
Canisius Golden Griffins
www.gogriffs.com
Record: 0-0 • Location: Buffalo, N.Y. • Enrollment: 3,190
Head Coach: Mike McRae • Alma Mater: Colby (1991)
Career Record: 228-251 • School Record: 163-167
2010 Record: 39-21 • Letterwinners returning/lost: 18/10
Media Information
Live stats for all of Creighton's games can be accessed by going to the baseball schedule page at www.gocreighton.com, and clicking on the icon to the right of the game's listing.
Scouting the Rockets
Toledo finished the 2010 baseball season with a 34-22 overall record and 19-8 In the Mid-American conference, good enough for 2nd in the West division. The Rockets were again picked to finish 2nd in the division, as they regurn 21 letterwinners, including five position starters. Coach Cory Mee was named the 2010 MAC Coach of the Year as he led the team to its first 30-win season since 1999. Leading the way offensively will be infielders Chris Dudics and Joe Corfman, who hit .391 and .383, respectively. Toledo returns a deep pitching staff but will be led by Mike Hamann and Matt Kuna, each who had 14 or more appearances last season.
Scouting the Griffins
The Canisius baseball team is picked to finish third in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference after winning the league last season and finishing the 2010 campaign with a 39-21 record and 19-5 in the MAAC. The Griffins return 18 letterwinners from the MAAC regular-season team, which has had 35-plus wins in each of the last three seasons. Leading the way for the Griffins will be All-MAAC selections Shane Davis and Sean Jamieson, both seniors. Davis, a two-time All-MAAC First-teamer, finished the year with a 9-3 record and owns a program record with 30 career wins. Jamieson was named All-MAAC first-team after hitting .371 with 66 runs scored, seven home runs, 52 RBI and 15 stolen bases in his first season as a Griffin.
Meet the Coaches
Ed Servais (Creighton) - Ed Servais enters his eighth season leading the Creighton baseball program in 2011. He currently holds a .630 winning percentage while at the helm of the Jays, which is the second best in school history. Servais needs just 30 wins to move into second in Creighton history in wins by a head coach, as Jack Dahm (283) and Jim Hendry (289) sit in front of him. He has taken the Jays to two NCAA Tournaments and has won the MVS Coach of the Year award three times in his seven seasons.
Servais' teams pride themselves on defense, as they again ranked among the top teams in the Nation in defensive fielding percentage last season, boasting a .980 percentage as a team, good for second in the nation. Servais has coached three Gold Gloves in his time at Creighton.
Servais started his coaching career as an assistant at St. Mary's and then was the first head coach at Viterbo, starting up the program and leading them to a 23-6 record in the first year. He then moved back to St. Mary's as the head coach, went to Iowa State as an assistant and landed at Creighton as an assistant from 1998-2003 before being named head coach in 2004. Servais is assisted by Rob Smith, Craig Moore and Brandon Tormoehlen.
Cory Mee (Toledo) – The reigning MAC Coach of the Year is in his eighth season as the head coach of the Toledo baseball program. A 1992 graduate of Notre Dame, Mee has a 163-211 record at the helm of the Rockets, but has improved steadily each season. The 2010 Rockets finished 2nd in the West division of the MAC with a 34-22 overall record, setting school records for hits (679), runs (431), doubles (150), RBI (393), total bases (1,043), and at-bats (2,098). Mee returns 21 letterwinners from the team a season ago.
Mee has coached nearly 45 players that have developed into professional ball players and has set a standard for academic success, as the Rockets' team GPA has been above 3.0 in 11 of the 14 semesters he has been a head coach at UT. Mee also spend time serving as an assistant coach at Michigan State from 2000-03, and as an assistant for his alma mater, Notre Dame, for six seasons (1993, '95-99). He is assisted by Josh Bradford, Nick McIntyre and Jordan Becker.
Mike McRae (Canisius) – McRae is entering his seventh season as the head coach of the Canisius Griffins, and has rebuilt a program from a team that won just four games in 2004 to three straight seasons of 35 wins or more. He is 163-167 while at Canisius and has a career mark of 228-251 as a head coach. McRae has been named MAAC Coach of the Year three-times (twice at Canisius 2010 and 2008) and once at Niagara (2003), and has won two MAAC regular-season titles in the last three seasons. McRae has coached five players selected into the MLB draft in the last three years, a span where the Griffins were 116-56.
McRae started his career as an assistant coach for the Canadian National Youth team and a guest coach for the Toronto Blue Jays during 1997 spring training. He then was named the first head coach at Brock University and then moved to Niagara, leading the MAAC team to back-to-back MAAC playoff appearances. McRae is assisted by Matt Mazurek, Ryan Asis and Perry Silverman.
The Series
Creighton vs. Toledo – This marks the third meeting between the Jays and the Rockets and the series is tied a one a piece. The two teams met twice during the 1994 season, with the Jays winning the first meeting 13-10 and the Rockets winning the second, a day later, 10-6.
Creighton vs. Canisius – This will be the first meeting between the Jays and the MAAC opponent.
Jays vs. the MAC and MAAC
The Jays hold a 10-3-0 record over the Mid-American Conference and a 2-0 advantage over teams in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Creighton has not played a MAC team since a 2000 loss to Miami, and hasn't seen the MAAC since a victory in 1990 over Iona.
Sticky Gloves
Creighton has been known for it's outstanding defense under Ed Servais. Creighton's defense finished second in the country last season with a .980 fielding percentage. They led the nation in errors per game, with just 41 errors in 52 games. Coach Servais has coached three gold gloves in seven seasons. His teams have had above a .965 fielding percentage every season he has been at the helm of Bluejay baseball. The Bluejays have committed the fewest errors in Division I since 2004, with just 370 (28 less than the second place team). The Jays are also sixth in the country in the last seven years in double plays per game, turning 1.02 per game.
Opening Shut-Outs
There have only been three opening day shutouts in Bluejay history, one of which happened last season. Jonas Dufek (5.0 IP), Jack VanLeur (2.0 IP), Mark Winkelman (1.0 IP) and Kurt Spomer (1.0 IP) each had a part in last season's 22-0 opening win over SIU Edwardsville. The other two shutouts have come in 1984, a 12-0 win over Xavier and in 1970, a 3-0 win over MVC foe Wichita State.
Opening Day History
The Jays are looking to move one step closer to evening the opening day record to .500. In the 42 recorded openers, Creighton is 20-22, including the 22-0 victory over SIU Evansville last season. The Jays are 19-13 in neutral site openers but just 12-24 in the season-opening road contests. Creighton has won four of the seven season openers under Ed Servais. Below is a list of those games:
Date Opponent Score Location
2/20/10 SIU Edwardsville W, 22-0 Conway, Ark.
2/20/09 Sam Houston St. L, 8-6 Huntsville, Texas
2/22/08 Washington St. W, 8-4 Pullman, Wash.
2/9/07 Gardner-Webb W, 4-3 Rock Hill, S.C.
2/11/06 Ark.-Little Rock L, 11-12 Little Rock, Ark.
2/11/05 Sam Houston St. W, 9-6 Huntsville, Texas
2/14/04 Southern Utah L, 10-5 Colorado Springs, Colo.
A New Start
The Jays are ready to kick off the 2011 campaign for a fresh start. Creighton finished the 2010 season 27-25 and went 1-2 in the MVC Tournament. The Jays kick off the 2011 season at the USA National Training Center in Cary, N.C. with games against Toledo (11 a.m. on Feb. 19) and Canisius (3 p.m. on Feb 19 and 11 a.m. on Feb. 20.)
Swift Stick
Bluejay senior Jimmy Swift has had great success in the two season openers he has played in, going a combined 5-of-9. In the opener a year ago, a 22-0 win over SIU Edwardsville, Swift went 4-for-6 from the plate, with three runs scored and four RBI. In Swift's sophomore debut, an 8-6 loss to Sam Houston State, Swift went 1-for-3 from the plate.
I'll Bet on a Nine
Creighton has had multiples of nine hits in its last three season openers. In 2010, Creighton had 18 hits, scoring 22 runs in a 22-0 shut out of SIU Edwardsville. In the 2009 opener against Sam Houston State, the Jays finished with nine hits and six runs in an 8-6 loss. The 2008 opener proved the same, with the Jays scratching out nine hits and eight runs in an 8-4 win over Washington State.
Everyone in on the Fun
In last year's season opener, eight of the nine starters got at least one hit, with freshman Alex Staehely being the only Jay not to get a hit. Creighton knocked out 18 hits, second most on the season, en route to a 22-0 win over SIU Edwardsville.
Get 'em Some Fresh Air
The Jays have taken advantage of the unseasonably warm temperatures the past week to get outside and practice on the turf. Head Coach Ed Servais has remarked this is the nicest since his first year with the Jays, when they opened with Iowa State, Servais' former school. With snow still down the foul lines and in patches in the outfield, the field looked like a scene from a movie - maybe the beginning of the feel good story of the year.
Iron Men
Five Bluejays played and started in all 52 games last season, including returners Trever Adams, Jimmy Swift and Alex Staehely. Joining those three were T.J. Roemmich and Ian Dike, both lost to graduation. Swift has started every game the last two seasons, 108 straight, and has played in 122 games over his career.
He'll Rob Ya
Senior Jimmy Swift led the team in stolen bases last season, going 10-of-13 on the season. Swift has 14 stolen bases in his Bluejay career. Creighton, as a team, stole 44 bases last season and was caught stealing 22 times.
No Free Tickets
Under pitching coach Rob Smith the Jays have had one of the top pitching staffs in the MVC. Last season marked the fourth straight season in which the Jays ranked in the top-25 nationally for fewest walks per nine innings. Over that same period, the Jays have combined for a 4.14 ERA which ranks 19th overall in the country.
Give Him the Ball
Last year, southpaw Ty Blach was named a Freshman All-American, the fifth selection during Rob Smith's four years. Blach finished the 2010 season with a 3.11 ERA, with one complete game in 75.1 innings pitched. Blach was second on the team in strikeouts (58) and held opponents to a .231 batting average. He will be one of the series starting pitchers for the Jays this season.
Fast Start in February
In his first three years on the job, head coach Ed Servais posted .500 records or better in the month of February. Since then, the Jays have been below .500 in each of their last three Februarys, except for a .750, three-for-four February record last season. Here are Creighton's records in the month since 2004:
Year Record
2004 3-3
2005 6-2
2006 5-3
2007 2-4
2008 1-2
2009 0-6
2010 3-1
Dropping Bombs
While Creighton isn't typically know for its long-ball power hitting, the Jays have hit a homerun in five of the last ten season openers, including two last season. Below is a list of the players and the season they hit them in.
2010 Elliot Soto and Trever Adams
2009 Jimmy Swift
2008 None
2007 Tim Gradoville
2006 None
2005 None
2004 None
2003 Ryan Fitzgerald
2002 Dan Norquist (pinch hit)
2001 None
Middle of the Pack
Creighton was picked to finish fifth in the MVC preseason poll, as voted on by the league's coaches. The Jays were picked second in last season's preseason poll and finished sixth. Creighton finished with 35 points, just two points behind Indiana State at number five.
Place Team Points
1 Illinois State (4) 58
2 Wichita State (4) 53
3 Evansville 41
4 Indiana State 37
5 Creighton 35
6 Missouri State 27
7 Southern Illinois 25
8 Bradley 13
Adams Tabbed Preseason All-MVC
Creighton outfielder Trever Adams is the only Bluejay to be named to the preseason all-Valley team, earning the nod in the outfield. Adams, an all-Valley honorable mention selection last season, hit .356 last season with a team high 74 hits, 12 home runs and 58 RBI. Adams is slated to see most of his time in right field this season.
20-Years Later
This year marks the 20 year reunion of the NCAA College World Series team from 1991. It is the only time in Bluejay history the Jays have made it to the CWS. Creighton was eliminated by Wichita State, finished 2-2 in the tournament.
High Fives
Creighton seniors Jimmy Swift, Greg Hellhake and Jack VanLeur are all in their fifth-year of competition, after redshirting one year in their stay. The three have compiled 140-87 record, making it to one NCAA Regional and winning one MVC Tournament (both in 2007),
Double Dip Anyone?
CU currently has four 2011 dates scheduled with multiple games, inlcuding this weekend's opening Saturday games. The Ed Servais era has seen great success on such dates, as the Jays are 60-24 in twinbills since 2004, good for a .829 winning percentage. That mark includes 23 Jay sweeps and 14 splits.
Extra Credit
Creighton sophomore Ty Blach wasn't named to any of the Missouri Valley postseason teams last season, but did earn Freshman All-American honors. The left hander, who will be one of the top Jays pitchers this season, has been named “The Most Underrated Pitcher in the MVC” by collegebaseballinsider.com. On the same site, Bluejay senior Jonas Dufek has been named one of the top starting pitchers in the conference.
We Win Around Here
The 27-25 winning record last season gave Creighton it's seventh straight winning season under Ed Servais. The Jays high in wins in a season under Servais is 48, during the 2005 season in which they made the NCAA Tournament, finishing 48-17.
