Baseball Travels to Big 12 Opponent Kansas on Tuesday
2/21/2011 8:00:00 PM | Baseball
Game 4
Creighton Baseball vs. Kansas
Tuesday, February 22
3:00 p.m. • Lawrence, Kan.
Live Stats on www.gocreighton.com
Kansas Jayhawks
www.kuathletics.com
Record: 1-2 • Location: Lawrence, Kan. • Enrollment: 30,004
Head Coach: Ritch Price • Alma Mater: Williamette (1978)
Career Record: 948-644-3 • School Record: 273-220-2
2010 Record: 31-27-1 • Letterwinners returning/lost: 19/9
Probable Starters
ERA W-L App GS SV IP H R ER BB SO
Creighton
Brandon Koenigstein, RHP 3.95 5-2 18 11 0 93.1 96 46 41 20 43*
(* 2010 Stats)
Kansas
Alex Cox, RHP 13.50 0-0 1 0 0 1.1 2 2 2 0 0
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 Jayhawks
Kansas opened the 2011 season by traveling to No. 1 Texas Christian University in Texas. The Jayhawks dropped two-of-three games, winning a marathon, 14 inning battle in the final game of the series. The Jayhawks return 19 letterwinners and five position starters. KU finished 31-27-1 last season under head coach Ritch Price. KU finished seventh in the Big 12 last season with an 11-15-1 record. The Jayhawks will be led by senior pitcher T.J. Walz, who has 20 career wins and 237.2 innings pitched as a Jayhawk. In the opening weekend series, Jake Marasco and Casey Lytle led the way, hitting .300 and .286, respectively. Marasco had three hits and a run while Lytle had four hits and one RBI. Kansas is hitting .143 as a team and the pitching staff has a 5.10 ERA while holding opponents to a .279 batting average.
Hoglund Ballpark
Named after the former Jayhawk Forrest Hoglund, Hoglund Ballpark enters it's 24th season as the home of Jayhawk baseball. It has dimensions of 330 feet down the right and left field lines and 392 to straight away center field. Hoglund Ballpark has a 16 feet-by-28 feet video screen and scoreboard, which rivals any in the country. The ballpark was built in 1958 and can hold 2,500. Kansas has recently changed from a grass field to an AstroTurf playing field and this will be the first regular season meeting on the new surface.
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.
Ritch Price (Kansas) – One of the top coaches in the country, Price is in his ninth season at KU. He has led the Jayhawks to the NCAA Tournament twice and had 30-plus win seasons in six of his first seven years. Price led his team to 31 wins last season, with two wins over LSU and two-of-three wins from Baylor, a first for the program. Price has coached 36 players who have either been drafted or signed by professional programs, including a record seven Jayhawks last season. Price has an overall record of 948-644-3 in 32 years of coaching at the collegiate level and is 273-220-2 at KU. He is assisted by Ryan Graves, John Szefc and Brett Lisher.
The Series
Creighton vs. Kansas - The Jays have a 17-10 lead over Kansas. The First game was played in 1980, a 6-3 Creighton victory, but Kansas has won the last five meetings, including a 5-4 victory last season. Coach Servais is 0-4 against the Jayhawks, with the games listed below:
@ Home 0-2
4/14/09 L 6-7
4/7/10 L 4-5
@ KU 0-2
4/26/06 L 1-9
3/23/10 L 4-5
Jays vs. the BIG 12
The Big 12 holds a 160-103-3 record over Creighton, with Nebraska holding a commanding 71-39-2 win and Kansas and Kansas State combining for a 57-52-1 lead over the Jays. Last season, Creighton split with the Big 12 opponents three games a piece. Creighton beat Kansas State (7-4), Nebraska (13-5) and Nebraska (8-5), but fell to Kansas twice (5-4 and 5-4) and Nebraska (21-5).
Looking Back
Creighton and Kansas met twice last season, with the Jayhawks taking home 5-4 wins in Omaha and Lawrence. In game one last season, the Jays outhit KU 12-9, but left 10 runners on base vs. the five Kansas did. The Jayhawks won the game in the bottom of the ninth innint with two outs when shortstop Brandon Macias singled to right field, scoring James Stanfield from second base. In the second meeting at Rosenblatt, Creighton had four runs on six hits, but couldn't hold back another five run output by the Jayhawks, who added the fifth run in the top of the ninth.
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.
Two For One
With the loss on Sunday to Canisius, Creighton is 2-1 to open the 2011 season. It marks the second time in Coach Ed Servais' career at Creighton that the Jays have started 2-1.
2011 2-1
2010 2-1
2009 0-3
2008 1-2
2007 1-2
2006 0-3
2005 1-2
2004 1-2
We've Got Ice
The Creighton baseball team was hit seven times in the season opening weekend, including five times in the 6-3 win over Canisius on Saturday, February 19. Michael Mutcheson leads the team with three hit-by-pitches on the season. Creighton was hit 62 times last season, led by Jimmy Swift and Robbie Knight leading the way with nine each.
This Canadian Can Play, Eh?
In Michael Mutcheson's first weekend getting into a Bluejay game, the junior from Manitoba, Canada, went four-for-six in the leadoff, designated hitter spot. He reached base four out of five times in the opener against Toledo, with three hits and a hit by pitch. Mutcheson then went one-for-two in the second game on Saturday against Canisius, with a single to right field, but was hit by pitch two more times.
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.
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
2011 2-1
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.
