Creighton University
South Dakota State
Baseball Blasts Past South Dakota State in Game Three of Series
3/13/2011 1:28:00 PM | Baseball
The Jays put together a complete game, starting with the pitching. Starting pitcher Greg Hellhake went 2.0 innings, mowing down all six batters faced, with three pop-ups and three grounders to short. The first inning was just 11 pitches by Hellhake. Brandon Koenigstein came in for his two innings, giving up one hit and striking out one through the third and fourth.
For the second game in the series, Creighton jumped on the board in the bottom of the first inning. The Jays had three hits in the inning. Brad McKewon led off the inning with a single to left field, his fifth hit of the season. Nick Judkins flew out to center field and was followed by a grounder to the third baseman by Jimmy Swift, which looked like it was a perfect double-play ball. The ball popped out of his glove, leaving the only play the force at second.
The played turned into a couple of runs for the Jays, as Trever Adams knocked a single down the line, his fifth hit of the three game series, advancing Swift to third base. Alex Staehely then drove a double down the left field line that rolled into the SDSU bullpen, scoring both Swift and Adams.
Creighton added three more runs, all unearned, in the bottom of the second inning, going up 5-0 early. Gabriel Thibodeaux reached on a throwing error by the shortstop and stole second, his first steal of the season. Chance Ross singled through the left side, putting runners on first and third. In a squeeze bunt attempt, Joey Bowens beat out the infield bunt,scoring Thibodeaux and advancing Ross to second. A sacrifice bunt by McKewon moved the two to second and third. Judkins then grounded out to the shortstop, but scored Ross and advanced Bowens to third. Bowens then scored the final run of the inning on a wild pitch.
The Jays continued to pitch strong from the mound, with Chase Webb, Jack VanLeur and Kurt Spomer throwing through the next three innings. Each pitcher allowed one hit, with Spomer striking out three in his outing.
Creighton added five more runs in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings. Swift, Adams and Staehely had back to back to back singles for the Jays in the fifth, scoring one. Thibodeaux then knocked a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Adams from third. Ross then picked up his third hit of the day, knocking in Staehely. The Jays had three runs on four hits and left one on base. In the sixth, Michael Blatchford walked in a pinch hit. Swift hit into a fielders choice, forcing out Blatchford at second. After an Adams hit by pitch, Staehely ripped his second double of the game, driving in two more runners.
Mark Winkelman and Nick Musec finished off the game for the Jays, retiring five batters in a row in the eighth and ninth before allowing a two out base hit in the top of the ninth.
Creighton added three runs in the bottom of the eighth, with the SDSU pitching staff struggling, allowing three singles, a walk and a hit batsman to put the final to 13-0. The Jays finished the day with 16 hits, led by Swift, Staehely and Ross with three hits a piece, while Swift and Adams each scored four runs in the game.
The Jays will be in action four times this week, all on the road. Creighton travels to Colorado on Wednesday to take on Air Force in a double header against the Falcons. First pitch is set for noon. On Saturday, CU will face Valparaiso and SIU Edwardsville, from Edwardsville, with first pitch set for 1:00 pm. Check into www.gocreighton.com for all the latest updates on Creighton baseball.
Quick Hits: The Jays are 12-3 for the first time since 2006, when the Jays went 15-3 to start the season... Chance Ross had a breakout series for the Jays against SDSU. The third baseman had seven hits in the three games, scoring four runs and driving in two runs in the three games... Trever Adams has put together a 10 game hit streak, the longest of any Jay this season. He has had multiple hits in six games during that stretch, including a three hit outing yesterday and a two hit outing today... The Jays had many season highs today, with highs in runs scored (13), hits (16), RBI (11) and total bases (20)... Alex Staehely drove in a season high five RBI in Sunday's game, with two doubles and a single... Vince Bellino picked up his first at bat of the season on Sunday, scoring his first run as a Bluejay after walking to get on base...
