Baseball to Battle New Mexico on Sunday
6/3/2012 11:15:00 AM | Baseball
Game 57 - Creighton Baseball Updated Notes
New Mexico Lobos (37-23) vs. Creighton Bluejays (27-29)
Sunday, June 3 - 3 pm Pacific (5 pm Central)
Game 58 (if Creighton wins Game 57)
Creighton Bluejays (28-29) at #2 UCLA (44-14)
Sunday, June 3 - 7 pm Pacific (9 pm Central)
-Creighton swept a four-game series from New Mexico last
season in Albuquerque, winning games by scores of 4-3, 4-3, 10-6 and 8-7. CU
trailed 2-0 in game one, 4-0 in game three and 6-0 in game four, only to rally
each time. Scott Thornburg led the Bluejay offense by hitting .500 in the
series, while Reese McGraw was named MVC and National Pitcher of the Week by
CollegeBaseballInsider.com after going 1-0 with two saves in 5.1 scoreless
innings of work vs. the Lobos. Creighton is 7-10 all-time vs. New Mexico but
has won five straight in the series vs. UNM, last falling on March 11, 1996 in
Fresno, Calif., at the Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic.
-Creighton's win vs. San Diego yesterday continued what's been a strong 2011-12
in some of its marquee sports. This is the first time ever that Creighton
claimed NCAA Tournament wins in men's soccer, men's basketball and baseball in
the same academic year.
-Sunday's probable starter (vs. New Mexico) for Creighton, Erik Mattingly,
ranks ninth in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 2.87 ERA. He's allowed
three or fewer earned runs in all 16 of his appearances this season, which
includes 11 starts. In his two years (20 appearances) at Creighton, the only
team to effectively hit Mattingly was New Mexico on Feb. 27, 2011 in
Albuquerque. Mattingly, who was making his Bluejay debut on the mound in that
contest, was rocked to the tune of seven hits and six runs in 1.1 innings of
work, but did not receive a decision after CU overcame an early 6-0 deficit to
win, 8-7.
-Erik Mattingly has earned the victory in two of Creighton's biggest wins the
past two years. He threw two scoreless innings of relief to help CU beat
Missouri State and earn a spot in the 2011 MVC Tournament title game. Last
week, he allowed just one earned run in six innings of work vs. Illinois State,
which advanced CU to the 2012 MVC Tournament title game.
-Erik Mattingly has thrown 66.2 innings as a Bluejay, but surrendered only one
home run, as Bradley's Jerrod Eigsti took him deep in the second inning on May
5, 2012. His opponent on Sunday, New
Mexico, owns 45 home runs this season.
-One player who might see time in long relief or in a spot starting role on
Sunday is Andrew Urban. The junior from Lawrence, Kan., has not allowed a run
in his last six outings, which covers 8.2 innnings of work. Urban, who began
the year in the starting rotation, is 1-1 with a 2.53 ERA in 32 innings of work
this year. He's had three outings of four or more innings, but none since throwing
a season-high 5.2 frames to claim his only win vs. North Dakota on March 17th.
-Another possible option for long relief or a spot start is senior Brandon
Koenigstein. Koenigstein, who was a fixture in CU's rotation as a freshman and
sophomore, has made 25 career starts as a Jay and owns a career record of 12-6
with a 4.88 ERA. Koenigstein threw a seven inning no-hitter at Wichita State in
the 2009 MVC Tournament to cap an outstanding freshman season.
-Anthony Bemboom tied a season-high with three RBI on
Saturday. His 11 games with multiple RBI's tie him with Mike Gerber for the CU
lead in that category. Last year Bemboom only had four games with two or more
RBI.
-Chase Webb threw two perfect innings in Saturday's win vs. San Diego, striking
out three men. In two career NCAA Tournament appearances, Webb has retired all
eight men he has faced.
-Mark Winkelman made his MVC-leading 36th appearance of the season
in Saturday's victory over San Diego. Winkelman's 36 appearances this season
are tied for fourth-most in MVC history for one season, and just two behind the
record of 38 set by Creighton's Pat Venditte (2007) and Wichita State's Jim
Newlin (1989).
Winkelman's outing yesterday was also the 100th of
the junior's career, making him the sixth player in league history to surpass
the century mark, and first to do so as a junior.
-Nick Judkins went 3-for-4 in Creighton's win on Saturday, his team-high eighth
game this year with three or more hits. Judkins also leads the team with 21
multiple-hit contests this spring. The senior first baseman's .311 batting
average is his highest mark since April 21st.
-Creighton went 4-for-7 with the bases loaded yesterday vs. San Diego, and is
now hitting .431 as a team (25-58) with the sacks full this year. Since May 8th,
CU is 14-for-27 (.519) with the bases loaded, while the opposition is 0-for-4
with the bases loaded in those 15 games. Creighton's four hits with the bases
loaded yesterday were its most since generating four such hits on May 9, 2007
vs. North Dakota State.
-Despite its 27-29 overall record, Creighton's pitching staff owns a 3.39 ERA.
That figure would rank second-best in Ed Servais' nine-year tenure, trailing
only the 3.35 ERA by last year's club. It's worth noting that after 56 games
last year, Creighton owned a 3.44 ERA and a 42-14 record. Both the 2011 and
2012 teams had a .979 fielding percentage after 56 contests.
-One reason for Creighton's success during the MVC Tournament was its hitting
with runners on base and with two outs, going 33-for-82 (.402) with men on base
and 17-for-49 (.347) with two outs. In Friday's loss to UCLA, the Jays were
0-for-9 with runners on base, and were also 0-for-9 with two outs. Yesterday
vs. San Diego, the Bluejays were 10-for-17 (.588) with runners on base and hit
5-for-10 (.500) with two outs.
-Creighton scored two runs in both the first and fifth innings during
yesterday's victory vs. San Diego. The Jays have outscored foes 39-14 in the
first inning this year, and 40-31 in the fifth inning. In the past 15 games,
Creighton has outscored the opposition 10-2 in the first inning and 25-2 in the
fifth frame. In the last nine years, Creighton is 150-47 (.761) under Ed
Servais when scoring in the first inning, and 240-68 (.779) when scoring before
its opponent.
-New Mexico boasts one of the nation's most explosive offenses, but history
shows that if Creighton scores four runs, it will be successful vs. anybody.
Creighton is 24-6 this year when scoring four runs or more, and 18-2 when
plating six runs or more. Creighton is 281-71 (.798) under Ed Servais all-time
when scoring four or more runs, a figure that skyrockets to 218-28 (.886) when
scoring six or more, and is an absurd 154-7 (.957) when scoring eight or more.
-Creighton is seeking its first Regional finals appearance since 2005, when it
went 2-2 in the Lincoln (Neb.) Regional. That team beat North Carolina State
twice, but fell to host Nebraska twice.
At least one No. 4 seed has played in a Regional final in each of the previous six seasons. Most recently, Oral Roberts lost its opener and won its next three before falling to Dallas Baptist in the "if necessary" game last June.
Since 1999, the only No. 4 seeds to reach the Super Regionals have been Fresno State (2008) and Missouri (2006). Through two days of play, No. 4 seeds are 7-24 this year, with Stony Brook, Oral Roberts, Louisiana-Monroe, Austin Peay, Creighton, Fresno State and Missouri still alive, but 1-1. In addition, Army is 0-1 in the Charlottesville Regional entering Sunday.
-Creighton has very little in common with New Mexico.
Fifth-year senior Michael Mutcheson was recruited to New Mexico Junior College
by current New Mexico head coach Ray Birmingham, though he never played for
him.
-Creighton is 5-1 in neutral-site contests this season, but has won its last
five. The Jays are hitting .337 in those six neutral-site contests, while
fielding at a .996 clip (one error in 230 chances). Creighton owns a 3.06 ERA
in those six games as well.
-Despite an opening-round loss on Friday, Creighton still has reason to believe
it can keep winning. Last season, both California and Connecticut lost its
Regional opener before winning four straight to win their respective Regionals.
Cal would eventually reach the College World Series.
-Creighton and Sacred Heart were the only two teams to enter NCAA Tournament
play with a losing record. In the previous five tournaments, 13 teams entered
the Regional round with a losing record. Of that grouping, only Utah (2-2 in
2009) won any NCAA Tournament contests. Creighton became the second team in
that group to win a game, beating San Diego yesterday. Sacred Heart went 0-2
and has been eliminated.
-A win over New Mexico on Sunday afternoon would improve Creighton's record to
28-29, the first time its been within a game of .500 since it was 14-15 on
Easter Sunday (April 8th). If CU could beat both UNM and UCLA on
Sunday, CU will exactly .500 for the first time in exactly two months, as the
Jays were 13-13 on April 3rd after a win vs. Kansas.
-Creighton's team is 2-0 in elimination games this year, having overcome 4-0
and 5-1 deficits to post an 8-6 win vs. Southern Illinois in last Saturday's
MVC Tournament title game. Last year's club went 4-1 in elimination games. In
two elimination games this season, Creighton is hitting .348 as a team, and
hasn't made an error defensively. Chance Ross is 5-for-8 (.625) in those two
elimination contests, while fellow senior Nick Judkins is hitting 4-for-7
(.571).
-Creighton has laid down at least one sacrifice bunt in each of its last 13
games, and now owns 73 sacrifice bunts this season. While an impressive figure
for most programs, the 73 bunts is "just" an average season in the Ed Servais
era, as his clubs have averaged 75.2 sacrifices per season in his nine-year
tenure.
-Creighton has made just one error in its last seven games, a miscue that came
on a poor exchange while trying to turn a double play vs. Illinois State on May
24th. In those seven games, CU has fielded at a .996 rate. In 15
games during the MVC and NCAA Tournaments during the past two years, the Jays
have just five miscues.
-Creighton is still playing on June 3rd thanks to some clutch play
in the past two weeks. The Jays are 5-1 since the start of the MVC Tournament,
hitting .318 and owning a 2.72 ERA. CU's left-handed hitters have led the way,
as Mike Gerber (.458), Brennan Murphy (.421) and Nick Judkins (.417) are all
hitting .400 or better in this stretch, while combining for 20 runs and 14 RBI
in that span.
-Creighton's 8-2 win on Saturday eliminated San Diego, ending the Toreros'
season with a 40-17 mark. It was the first time since May 26, 2007 that the
Jays defeated a team with 40 or more wins. On that night, Creighton won its
first MVC Tournament title with a 10-9, 12-inning win over a Wichita State team
that entered the game with a 49-18 record.
