Baseball Returns to Campus for Three-Game Series with North Dakota
3/15/2012 10:25:00 AM | Baseball
Creighton Baseball 2012
A Return to the Complex
Creighton (9-6) vs. North Dakota (1-10)
Friday, March 16 (3:00 pm) * Saturday, March 17 (DH starting at noon)
CU Sports Complex
A Return to the Complex
Creighton (9-6) vs. North Dakota (1-10)
Friday, March 16 (3:00 pm) * Saturday, March 17 (DH starting at noon)
CU Sports Complex
Friday: Creighton will be starting left-handed pitcher Ty Blach in the series opener. The southpaw holds a 1.67 ERA, making five starts on the season and tossing 27 innings. Look for North Dakota to counter with right-hander Jeff Campbell, who holds a 16.76 ERA, going 0-2 in a pair of starts.
Saturday (Game one): The Bluejays will be tossing Andrew Urban in the second game of the series, facing Andrew Thome of North Dakota. Urban threw a scoreless inning in the game on Wednesday night, and has a 3.75 ERA in four starts and 12.0 innings of work. Thome has made three appearances on the season and tossed a team high 14.1 innings.
Saturday (Game two): In the final game of the series, the Bluejays will be throwing Nick Musec, who holds a 5.02 ERA and is coming off a career-best day, throwing 7.0 innings and picking up the win at Pacific last Sunday. The Fighting Sioux will close the weekend throwing Tyler Ruemmele, who has made three appearances and is 0-1 on the year.
* Live stats will be available for both games on Saturday, but there will be no live stats or radio on Friday. Complete recaps of the games will be available at www.gocreighton.com following the games.
Meet Creighton
The Bluejays are coming off one of the most successful seasons in school history, finishing 2011 with a 45-16 overall record. Creighton won the Missouri Valley Conference both regular-season and tournament titles in 2011, marking the first time in program history the Jays have claimed both in a single season.
Creighton returns seven starting position players from the squad last season, led by centerfielder Mike Gerber and senior catcher Anthony Bemboom, both which have been tabbed preseason All-MVC picks. Gerber finished with a .280 average last season, playing flawless defense in center, while Bemboom shot down seven runners attempting to steal and finished with a .233 average.
Highlighting a deep pitching staff will be junior Ty Blach, who has already picked up preseason All-America nods. The southpaw held a 10-3 record last season, fanning 100 batters in 102.0 innings of work. Out of the pen, which lost just one pitcher from last season (Jack VanLeur), look for Kurt Spomer (13 saves in 2011), Mark Winkelman (35 appearances) and Reese McGraw (35 appearances, 5 saves) to headline one of the deepest staff's in Ed Servais' tenure.
The Bluejays are led offensively on the season by Nick Judkins. The senior is hitting .362 on the season, with a .466 slugging percentage and a .486 on-base percentage. He hit .474 last week in California to lead the Bluejays to four wins. Judkins has 21 hits and 15 RBI, both which lead the club. Chance Ross has secured his role as the Bluejay leadoff hitter, as the senior has ateam-leading .518 on-base percentage and is tied for the lead with 13 walks in the leadoff position.
* Nick Judkins reached base safely five of the six times in the Sunday game at Pacific, reaching twice by hit-by-pitch, twice by bunt and once with a single.
* Alex Staehely is gradually getting back to where he was at the end of his sophomore season, picking up a hit in the last three games straight and five of the last six games. He has raised his batting average 20 points in the last four games.
* After leading the team last season in doubles, Staehely had just one double in the first 10 games of the season. He has now picked up a pair of doubles in the last five games.
* Chance Ross has a team-high .518 slugging percentage and a .479 on-base percentage, picking up 13 walks and four hit-by-pitch.
* Nick Judkins had reached base safely in every game this season until Wednesday, when he went 0-4 from the plate. It marked the longest streak since Trever Adams ended last season on a 45-game streak.
* Although Judkins didn't have a hit in the game against Louisiana Tech, he did drive in a pair of runs, and now has a team leading 15 RBI on the season.
* The Bluejays had 12 hits combined in the last two games, although only Chance Ross had multiple hits in one game. Seven different players had a single hit against BYU on Tuesday, while four different players had hits on Wednesday.
* Chance Ross, Anthony Bemboom and Scott Thornburg each had a pair of hits in Creighton's 12-2 win over Pacific.
* Chance Ross has reached base safely to open a game in the last six of the last seven games, with his only blemish coming on Wednesday against La. Tech.
* Chance Ross has been walked a team-high 13 times this season, holding a .479 on-base percentage. He sits in a tie for second in the MVC in walks.
* Petr Zyma's number was called for the first time this season, but the junior from the Czech Republic wouldn't get an at-bat. Zyma was plunked in the side, one of nine batters to be hit by a pitch on the weekend at Pacific.
* Brennan Murphy was a perfect 3-3 in stolen bases while in California last week and now sits 5-5 on the season. The school record for stolen bases in a season is 52, but a player hasn't stolen more than 27 bases since 2002.
On the pitcher's mound, four different Bluejay pitchers have made starts this season. Ty Blach continues to lead the team, holding a 1.67 ERA in his five starts. The junior southpaw has tossed a team-high 27.0 innings this season, striking out 16 batters and holding opponents to a .215 average against. Mark Winkelman leads the staff with 11 appearances on the season, holding a 1-0 record in relief on the mound. The Bluejays posted their first shutout of the season on Tuesday, baffling the BYU hitters in the 2-0 win.
* The Creighton pitching staff has a combined 0.50 ERA in the first two games at home this season, allowing just one earned run in the two games combined.
* Eight different pitchers have flawless 0.00 ERA's in the last two games, with four different pitchers making a pair of appearances.
* Brandon Koenigstein picked up his first win of the season on Wednesday night, tossing 2.0 scoreless innings and allowing just one hit.
* Chase Webb tied his career high with three strikeouts in the 3-1 win over La. Tech on Wednesday. Webb threw 1.1 innings, not allowing a hit or a run.
* Ty Blach and Reese McGraw have each been named MVC Pitchers of the Week already this season.
* Shane Liska has made four appearances this season, tossing a career-long 3.0 innings at Sacramento State.
* Andrew Urban became the first Bluejay newcomer since Ty Blach's freshman year to make it into the starting rotation in his first year on campus. The JUCO transfer is the first since Jeremy Hauer to make it into the starting rotation since 2008-09.
* Ty Blach and Nick Musec had long outings in their last starts, Musec going 7.0 innings and Blach 6.2 innings. They both faced the minimum batters in five innings.
* Nick Musec tossed a career-high 7.0 innings in the 12-2 win over Pacific last week. He struck out two and allowed just two earned runs.
* Kurt Spomer picked up his second save on the trip to California, tossing 1.0 scoreless inning at UC Davis.
* Freshman Mark Lukowski and senior Ryan Knott both made their first appearances on the mound last week; Lukowski tossed a pair of innings at Sacramento State and Pacific, while Knott came in in relief against Sacramento State.
* Brandon Koenigstein picked up his first win of the season on Wednesday night, tossing 2.0 scoreless innings and allowing just one hit.
* Chase Webb tied his career high with three strikeouts in the 3-1 win over La. Tech on Wednesday. Webb threw 1.1 innings, not allowing a hit or a run.
* Ty Blach and Reese McGraw have each been named MVC Pitchers of the Week already this season.
* Shane Liska has made four appearances this season, tossing a career-long 3.0 innings at Sacramento State.
* Andrew Urban became the first Bluejay newcomer since Ty Blach's freshman year to make it into the starting rotation in his first year on campus. The JUCO transfer is the first since Jeremy Hauer to make it into the starting rotation since 2008-09.
* Ty Blach and Nick Musec had long outings in their last starts, Musec going 7.0 innings and Blach 6.2 innings. They both faced the minimum batters in five innings.
* Nick Musec tossed a career-high 7.0 innings in the 12-2 win over Pacific last week. He struck out two and allowed just two earned runs.
* Kurt Spomer picked up his second save on the trip to California, tossing 1.0 scoreless inning at UC Davis.
* Freshman Mark Lukowski and senior Ryan Knott both made their first appearances on the mound last week; Lukowski tossed a pair of innings at Sacramento State and Pacific, while Knott came in in relief against Sacramento State.
Meet North Dakota
Fourth-year head coach Jeff Dodson's 27-man roster is filled with 10 returning letterwinners, three redshirt freshmen and 14 newcomers (11 true freshmen). Two of those 14 newcomers will be sitting out due to NCAA transfer rules.
The Sioux will play their first 26 games this season on the road. UND will have a 15-game homestand beginning with a doubleheader against Valley City State on April 25.
UND was pegged to finish seventh in the Great West Conference preseason coahces' poll. The Sioux will host home GWC series against Northern Colorado (April 27-29), NYIT (May 4-6) and Houston Baptist (May 11-13).
North Dakota sits at 1-10 on the season, with their lone win a 12-9 victory over Kansas. The Fighting Sioux were swept in a four-game series to open up the season and are coming off a pair of losses at Missouri. The team is hitting .204 on the season, led by Tyler Follis who has a .341 average. The team has 18 extra-base hits on the year, with Kyle Bolander hitting the lone pair of home runs.
Against North Dakota
The Jays and Fighting Sioux have met on the baseball field four times in the history of the school. All four meetings have been in Omaha, with Creighton holding a 3-1 advantage. The two teams played in 2009, with each team winning a game. The Jays won the opener 13-6, but then fell 6-7 in game two.
Against the Great West
Creighton and the Great West do not have a big history, with the only games between the two schools played in 2009, a split with North Dakota. The Fighting Sioux had just become part of the Great West in July of 2008, after making the jump from Division II to Division I. The Jays, thus, are 1-1 against teams from the Great West Conference.
Meet the Coaches
Creighton: Ed Servais (9th Season): Servais enters his ninth season leading the Creighton baseball program in 2012. He is the winningest coach in program history, surpassing Jack Dahm (283) and Jim Hendry (289) in 2011, when he led his team to a 45-16 overall record, Missouri Valley Conference regular-season and tournament titles and a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007. Servais was named the MVC Coach of the Year following the 2011 season, the fourth time he has earned the award in his eight years at Creighton.
Servais currently holds a .644 winning percentage at the helm of the Jays, the top number in school history. He has taken the Bluejys to three NCAA Tournaments, including 2011. He has also led the Bluejays to an average of 37 wins in each of the last eight seasons.
Servais' tenure has ranked among the best as a Creighton head coach, as he has guided the team to a 308-171 record, placing him second in the Missouri Valley Conference, fifth in the Midwest, and in the top 20 in the nation in winning percentage during that time. The Bluejays are one of just 10 schools in the Midwest to earn five or more NCAA Regional berths in the last 13 years, and one of two in the MVC along with Wichita State. Servais also has led the Jays to the MVC Tournament title in 2007 and regular-season crown in 2005, and both in the 2011 season.
His teams have finished among the nation's best in fielding percentage and sacrifice bunts every season, including 2011, when the Bluejays finished fourth in fielding percentage (.980) and fourth in sacrifice bunts, with 84. Since coming to Creighton, Servais' teams have committed the fewest errors in the nation, while holding a .977 fielding percentage in the last eight seasons, which also leads the country.
North Dakota: Jeff Dodson (4th Season): Dodson officially became the first Division I baseball coach in the history of the University of North Dakota when he was hired on June 20, 2008. He took over a program that spent the previous 50 seasons playing at the Division II level in the North Central Conference.
The 2012 season will be his fourth as the program wraps up its transition to Division I baseball. He will have a roster that features 14 freshman as his roster starts to become fully-represented by his recruits.
Dodson helped his club overcome a shaky start to the 2011 season with a strong finish to the season, winning six of its last 10 games. A nice run on their home field at the Great West Conference Tournament capped that stretch . No. 7 seed UND upset No. 2 seed Northern Colorado and No. 3 seed Houston Baptist to reach the semifinals, but the magical run ended there as UND dropped two straight to conclude their season.
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