Creighton University
14-7
Stetson
14-14
Three Two-Out RBI Lift Baseball to 3-2 Win Over Stetson
3/28/2015 6:14:00 PM | Baseball
OMAHA, Neb. - Two-out RBI from Harrison Crawford, Reagan Fowler and Joey Mancuso lifted the Creighton Baseball team to a 3-2 win over Stetson on Saturday, March 28.
The win moved the Bluejays to 14-7 on the season as Creighton posted its sixth straight win. Stetson, meanwhile, fell to 14-14 in 2015.
Creighton starter Rollie Lacy and Stetson hurler, Mitchell Jordan, were close to untouchable the first time through the order. Lacy set down the first nine Hatters he faced, while Jordan allowed a two-out single in the bottom of the third to Mancuso before retiring the following hitter.
In the fourth, however, Lacy gave up back to back singles to open the inning. With runners at first and second with no outs Stetson's Patrick Mazeika blasted a double to deep center. The damage was offset by a brilliant relay from Daniel Woodrow to shortstop Ryan Fitzgerald to Mancuso at the plate, cutting down the Vance Vizcaino as he tried to score from first. The Hatters tacked on a second run before the inning ended, but the Bluejay defense kept the deficit to 2-0.
Lacy continued to his solid start by setting Stetson down in order in the fifth and worked around a single to send the game to the bottom of the sixth still just at 2-0.
With one-out in that frame the Bluejays mounted a rally, ignited by a single off the foot of Jordan by sophomore Daniel Woodrow. Woodrow swiped second and with two down, Fowler connected for an RBI single into right-center. One pitch later Crawford blasted a double into deep center, allowing Fowler to slide safely into home with the tying run.
The Creighton bullpen took over in the seventh as junior John Oltman retired two and junior Nick Highberger recorded the final out of the frame.
In the Bluejay half of the seventh, Creighton used speed once more to create offense. With one down sophomore Kevin Connolly laced a single to center. Moments later Connolly stole second and went to third on an error by Stetson catcher, Garrett Russini. After two were down, Mancuso lofted the game-winning hit into right-center.
Highberger worked into the ninth inning to earn the win (3-0), tossing 1.2 innings of scoreless relief, while freshman Ethan DeCaster picked up the final two outs for his first career save.
Crawford, Fowler and Mancuso each led the offense with two hits in the win.
The Bluejays will go for the series sweep of the Hatters on Sunday, March 29 at 1:00 pm.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Highberger, Nick (3-0)
L: Tyler Keller (0-1)
S: DeCaster, Ethan (1)
Batting:
2B: Patrick Mazeika 1
RBI: Patrick Mazeika 1 ; Garrett Russini 1
SH: Colton Lightner 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cory Reid 1 ; Patrick Mazeika 1
SB: Vance Vizcaino 1
Batting:
2B: Fowler, Reagan 1 ; Crawford, Harrison 1
RBI: Fowler, Reagan 1 ; Crawford, Harrison 1 ; Mancuso, Joey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Woodrow, Daniel 1 ; Fowler, Reagan 1 ; Connolly, Kevin 1
SB: Woodrow, Daniel 1 ; Connolly, Kevin 1
