Creighton Baseball Matches Up with California Tuesday
3/5/2012 8:41:00 PM | Baseball
2012 Creighton Baseball
Spring break trip - California
Creighton (5-3) at California (8-2) • March 6
California Golden Bears
www.calbears.com
Record: 8-2 • Location: Berkeley, Calif. • Enrollment: 35,409
Head Coach: David Esquer
Career Record: 362-315-2 • School Record: Same
Assistant Coaches: Tony Arnerich, Mike Neu, Brad Sanfilippo
2011 Record: 38-23 • Starters returning/lost: 7/2
* Creighton is hitting .269 as a team, led by freshman Jake Peter who is hitting .474.
* Jake Peter also leads the Bluejays in doubles (4), slugging percentage (.684), and on-base percentage (.560).
* Peter had a .700 slugging percentage at UC Davis, with two of his five hits on the weekend being doubles.
* Senior Nick Judkins has had a pair of hits in each of the last three games, driving in a run in each as well. The first baseman is hitting .364, starting all eight games at first base. Judkins was one of four players to start every game last season.
* Judkins led the team with six hits at UC Davis, but also led the Bluejays in the field, going perfect in 39 chances.
* The Bluejays have had a different starting lineup in each game this season, with five different batters hitting in the No. 2 spot in the lineup and seven players in the eight hole.
* While the second spot has been different nearly every game, Chance Ross has started all eight games in the leadoff position.
* Ross has a team high eight walks and holds a .463 on-base percentage.
* Erik Mattingly has made his case for a true utility player; the senior has made starts as the left fielder, designated hitter and appearances as a pinch hitter and on the hill.
* Brennan Murphy leads the team with four stolen bases, a perfect 4-4 on the season. Murphy safely stole a pair of bases against UC Davis.
* The Creighton bullpen has earned four of the five wins on the season, led by Reese McGraw with two, and holds a 3.71 earned run average, compared to the 1-2 record of the Bluejay starters.
* Ty Blach leads all pitchers with 19.1 innings on the mound. In his three starts this season, Blach has thrown at least 5.0 innings in each of his starts, holding a 1.86 earned run average with nine strikeouts on the season.
* Four different Bluejay pitchers threw at least an inning of scoreless baseball at UC Davis. Reese McGraw (4.1 innings), Mark Winkelman (2.0 innings), Shane Liska (1.2 innings) and Kurt Spomer (1.0) each threw scoreless baseball, combining to allow just six hits on the weekend and striking out seven batters.
* The Bluejays are a perfect 2-0 when hitting home runs this season (one from Nick Judkins and the other in the rubber match at UC Davis from Chance Ross) but are 0-3 when allowing a home run.
* Creighton is outscoring opponents 35-30 on the season, with a 6-0 advantage in the eighth inning.
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. Gerber finished with a .280 average last season, playing flawless defense in center, while Bemboom shot down seven runners attempting to steal and finished 2011 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.
In 2012, the Jays are led offensively by freshman Jake Peter, who has started the last six games at second base and is hitting .474 with a team leading four doubles. Erik Mattingly (.375), Nick Judkins (.364), Scott Thornburg (.333) and Chance Ross (.313) are all hitting above .300 early in the season.
On the mound, Ty Blach has remained as good as promised, holding a 1.86 ERA in 19.1 innings of work, tied for the team lead with nine strikeouts on the season. The bullpen, which had surrendered 13 of the 15 runs heading into the weekend series at UC Davis, helped propel the Jays to a pair of wins over UC Davis. Reese McGraw picked up a win and a save on the weekend, throwing 4.1 innings of scoreless relief. The senior leads the team with six appearances and two wins.
Meet California
The California Golden Bears are also coming off one of their most successful seasons in school history, making it to the Division I Men's College World Series just months after the school made plans to drop the baseball program.
Cal returns 7 starters and 14 letterwinners from the team last year, which finished with a 38-23 overall record and 7-3 postseason record.
In 2012, the No. 25 Golden Bears are off to an 8-2 start, including a perfect 6-0 mark while playing at home. Cal defeated Lehigh this weekend in three straight games, outscoring Lehigh 37-6 in the three games.
Five different players have started all 10 games for the Golden Bears, who hold a .299 team batting average. Tony Renda leads the charge, hitting .400 with a team high 16 hits and a .510 on-base percentage. Renda is also a threat on the basepaths, as he has successfully stolen six bases this season (6-7). Four other Bears who are in the typical daily lineup are hitting over .300, with Chadd Krist (.350), Vince Bruno (.345), Andrew Knapp (.333) and Darrel Matthews (.333) hitting better than .300.
The pitching staff holds a 2.33 earned run average, with a pair of saves on the season. In 89.0 innings, the staff has a combined 56 strikeouts, led by Matt Flemer who has 14.
Against the Golden Bears
Creighton and California will be meeting for the first time ever on Tuesday. The Bluejays are 6-21 all-time against members of the new Pac-12 Conference. Creighton took on Oregon State in the NCAA Tournament last season, the most recent time the Bluejays have taken on a Pac-12 opponent. Cal is the only team from the Pac-12 the Bluejays will face in the 2012 regular season.
Meet the Coaches
Creighton: Ed Servais (9th Season): Ed 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 304-168 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.
California: David Esquer (13th Season): The reigning National Coach of the Year, Esquer is in his 13th season at the helm of Golden Bear Baseball. He has compiled a 354-313-2 career record with the Bears, making four NCAA regional appearances and earning a spot in the 2011 Men's College World Series.
Esquer has coached 10 All-Americans and 59 of his players have signed Major League contracts, led by four first-round draft picks.
Prior to his time at Cal, Esquer was the top assistant at Pepperdine from 1996-99 and worked as the No. 2 assistant at Stanford from 1991-96.
Esquer was a starter on the 1987 Stanford College World Series championship team, earning all-tournament honors and All-Pac-10 Southern Division honors. He played four seasons in professional baseball with Baltimore, California and Milwaukee.
Evans Diamond (California): The home of the Golden Bears baseball team since 1933, Evans Diamond was named after Coach Evans, who led the Bears to their first ever CWS title in 1947. The outfield measurements at Evans are 320 feet down the lines, 365 to the power alleys and 395 to center field. The seating capacity is 2,500.
It's Good to be Back
A Creighton baseball team hasn't made a trip to California since 2000, when the Bluejays took part in the Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic held at Fresno State. In the final year of participation, the Bluejays went 5-1, with wins over Bowling Green (4-1), Temple (15-0), Fresno State (12-3), Gonzaga (11-2), and UNC-Asheville (5-3), before dropping the final game to host Fresno State 5-1.
2x2x2
Nick Judkins put together three straight games with a pair of hits and an RBI in each, in the three games at UC Davis over the weekend. The senior has had multiple hits in five of the eight games this season and has reached base safely in every game thus far.
Does it All
Erik Mattingly has started in five different games this season, and has made appearances in games in four different positions. Mattingly has seen time as the starting left fielder (three games), a pinch hitter (one game), the designated hitter (two games) and has made a pair of appearances on the mound.
Through the first eight games of the season, he is hitting .375 with a .476 on-base percentage, while holding a 3.86 ERA in 2.1 innings of work.
Lights Out
Creighton's bullpen has been dominant on the mound so far this season, holding a 4-1 record and three saves in 34.0 innings of work. Leading the way is Reese McGraw, who has a 0.96 ERA and a 2-1 overall record in 9.1 innings of work. The senior picked up both a win and a save in the three game series at UC Davis.
McGraw Named MVC Pitcher of the Week
Reese McGraw is the second Bluejay pitcher to be named the MVC Pitcher of the week, as Ty Blach earned the honor following the opening weekend of play. The right-handed McGraw picked up his first save of the season in the 7-6 win on Friday, tossing 2.0 scoreless, hitless innings in relief. He struck out a pair of batters and faced just the minimum in his two innings. In the win on Sunday, McGraw threw another 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball, surrendering just two hits and striking out one to pick up his second win of the season (2-1). Overall, McGraw leads the Bluejay pitching staff in wins (2) and appearances (6), and is tied for the lead with nine strikeouts. He is holding opponents to a .194 batting average.
