Creighton University
11-4, 1-0
at Evansville
8-13, 0-1
Baseball Claims Tense Battle with Bradley, 5-4
4/5/2013 10:52:00 PM | Baseball
OMAHA, Neb. - Fueled by an explosive seventh inning Creighton took the series opener from Bradley, 5-4, on Friday, April 5.
With the win Creighton moved to 16-6 overall and 3-1 in Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) play, while Bradley fell to 11-14 on the season and 3-1 in the MVC.
Leading 2-0 entering the seventh, the Jays surrendered four runs on four hits and a hit batter to fall behind 4-2.
The Bluejays responded in their half of the frame as senior Alex Staehely stroked a single off the glove of Bradley shortstop, Tyler Leffler. Freshman Reagan Fowler was hit by a pitch, then senior Brennan Murphy moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Senior Jordan Makovicka turned on a 3-2 pitch chopping towards first. The ball skipped through the legs of first baseman Derek Sprout allowing both Jays to score for a 4-4 tie.
Makovicka took second on a wild pitch with two outs in the inning, the junior Brad McKewon worked a full count walk. Junior Federico Castagnini singled through the right side creating a pivotal play at the plate. The throw from Bradley right fielder Brady Wilkin and Makovicka arrived simultaneously, but Makovicka slid under the tag to give Creighton a 5-4 edge.
Junior Bryan Sova held the line from the mound in the eighth and sophomore Jake Peter tossed a perfect ninth to nab his fifth save of the season.
Creighton opened the scoring with a run on an RBI single from junior Mike Gerber in the first and Makovicka also scored in the sixth on a bunt single by Castagnini that was thrown down the first base line.
The Jays and Braves return to the diamond on Saturday, April 6 at 2 p.m. for the second game of the series.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Strunc, Tommy (4-0)
L: Freeland, Kyle (2-4)
Batting:
RBI: Peter, Jake 1 ; Staehely, Alex 2 ; Murphy, Brennan 1 ; Lamb, Kevin 2
SH: McKewon, Brad 1 ; Murphy, Brennan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Castagnini, Federico 1 ; Peter, Jake 1 ; Gerber, Mike 1 ; Fowler, Reagan 1 ; Murphy, Brennan 1 ; Lamb, Kevin 1
SB: Peter, Jake 2
HBP: Gerber, Mike 1
Batting:
2B: Kaczmarski, Kevin 1
RBI: Day, John 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kaczmarski, Kevin 1
SB: Kaczmarski, Kevin 1 ; Hockemeyer, Jason 1
CS: Patton, David 1
HBP: Showers, Shain 1
