Creighton University
Wichita State
Baseball Blanked in Game Two Against Wichita State
5/18/2012 10:09:00 PM | Baseball
OMAHA, Neb. - Shane Liska held the Wichita State offense scoreless through the first six innings on Friday, but the Creighton baseball team struggled to put anything together offensively on Friday night, falling in game two of the series to Wichita State 2-0.
The loss drops Creighton to 22-27 overall, 6-13 in conference play, and gives the Jays the eighth seed in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Creighton will face the Indiana State Sycamores, who clinched the No. 1 spot with their win over Missouri State yesterday.
Friday night's crowd of 15,184 marks the largest Bluejay crowd this season, and sits second in the nation this year. Georgia and Georgia Tech attracted 19,669 in their game on April 24 of this season.
Liska tied his career-best outing on the mound on Friday, tying his Bluejay high with 6.0 innings of work on the mound. The senior struck out five batters and surrendered five hits, keeping the Shockers off the scoreboard in the first six innings.
Wichita State scored a run in the top of the seventh inning after Liska gave up a lead off double in the seventh and added an unearned run in the top of the eighth inning to push across both runs.
The Shockers also received a shutout appearance from starting pitcher Kris Gardner, who improved to 5-1 on the season with his 6.0 inning outing, allowing six hits and striking out two. Reliever Cale Elam completely baffled the Bluejay batters, retiring all nine batters he faced and picking up his ninth save of the season.
Creighton stranded seven runners, including two in scoring position in the sixth inning and failing to take advantage of a Scott Thornburg lead off double in the seventh inning, stranding him at third base.
The Jays and Shockers close out the three-game series tomorrow afternoon, with first pitch set for 1:00 pm from TD Ameritrade Park Omaha. The next stop for the Bluejays will be the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, which opens play next Tuesday, May 22, in Springfield, Mo. The double-elimination tournament is being hosted by Missouri State.
NOTES: Bluejay starter Shane Liska struck out three batters in his first two innings on the mound, finishing the night with five strikeouts ... Liska tied his Bluejay career-high with 6.0 innings on the mound, exiting with a runner on first base ... The Bluejays will honor 13 members of this 2012 team prior to tomorrow afternoon's game, as all 13 players will be playing their final regular-season game ... The Jays are now just 4-18 when the opponent scores first ... The shut out marks the sixth time this season Creighton hasn't scored a run in a ball game, the first since April 21 in a 4-0 loss at Southern Illinois
