Baseball Wraps Up Regular Season with Villanova
5/13/2015 12:45:00 PM | Baseball
OMAHA, Neb. - With just three games remaining in the 2015 regular season, Creighton hosts Villanova this weekend with a BIG EAST Tournament spot in the balance for the Wildcats.
Villanova at Creighton
May 14 @ 12:30 pm
May 15 @ 6:30 pm
May 16 @ 1:00 pm
Creighton Leads Series 3-1
Media Coverage
TV: (Friday Only)
Nebraska Educational Television (NET)
Webstream: (Thursday & Saturday)
http://www.gocreighton.com/liveEvents/liveEvents.dbml
Audio:
Thursday: 1180 AM - http://v6.player.abacast.net/2760
Friday & Saturday: 1620 AM - http://v6.player.abacast.net/2758
Stats: http://creighton.statbroadcast.com
Pitching Probables
Thursday ERA W-L App GS CG SHO IP H R ER BB SO
VU - Hunter Schryver (LHP) 4.55 1-5 11 11 0 0 55.1 57 31 28 28 36
CU - Matt Warren (RHP) 2.84 5-2 11 11 0 0 50.2 40 18 16 7 25
Friday ERA W-L App GS CG SHO IP H R ER BB SO
VU - Mike Sgarmella (LHP) 3.56 4-2 12 8 0 0 55.2 57 28 22 18 46
CU - Rollie Lacy (RHP) 2.31 5-0 16 10 1 1 62.1 48 17 16 21 39
Saturday ERA W-L App GS CG SHO IP H R ER BB SO
VU - Josh Harris (LHP) 6.15 3-3 12 12 0 0 60.0 77 45 41 32 38
CU - Keith Rogalla (RHP) 4.18 3-2 12 8 1 0 47.1 42 23 22 17 32
Television Information
Friday's game will be carried within the state of Nebraska on NET (Nebraska Educational Television). John Bishop (play-by-play) and Rob Anderson (Color Analyst) have the call.
About Villanova
- Located in Villanova, Pa.
- Villanova has an enrollment of 6,584.
- Known as the Wildcats.
- Villanova finished the 2014 season with a 16-34 record and an 5-13 mark in the BIG EAST.
- The Wildcats were picked to finish fifth in the BIG EAST this season.
Villanova Head Coach: Joe Godri
- In his 13th season as the head coach at Villanova, Godri has led the Wildcats to a 340-385-3 mark.
- Just the Wildcats' 10th head coach in its 150-year history.
- Godri has led his Villanova teams to a record of .500 or better eight times. .
- The winning seasons include two years with 30 or more victories and two BIG EAST Tournament appearances.
Creighton vs. Villanova Series:
Creighton and Villanova have met four times previously, with the Bluejays holding an 3-1 edge. The two teams met three times last year in Pennsylvania and once in Florida. Creighton took the neutral site meeting, 5-4, on March 10, 1984. The Bluejays, meanwhile, took the final two contests last season.
1984:
*March 10 vs. Villanova W, 5-4
* Played in Miami, Florida
2014:
April 17 at Villanova L, 3-6
April 18 at Villanova W, 12-6
April 19 at Villanova W, 4-0
Scouting Villanova (22-25, 7-8 BIG EAST)
The Wildcats are a difficult team to describe. Villanova stumbled out of the gate, starting 2015 with an 8-14 record. Since April, however, the Wildcats at 14-11. In conference play Villanova dropped the first series to Georgetown, but the Wildcats took a series from Xavier to move to 3-3. Villanova went on to take a game from St. John's, one from Butler and two from Seton Hall to place themselves squarely in the thick of the race for a spot in the BIG EAST Tournament.
The top of the order drives the Wildcats as Adam Goss, Eric Lowe and Todd Czinege are not only the top three hitters in the order, but boast the top three averages. Goss and Lowe share the team lead at .329, while Czinege comes into the weekend at .328.
An additional weapon for the Wildcats is their team speed. Villanova has 63 stolen bases on the season, including a combined 22 from Goss and Lowe.
Villanova has two power bats in its lineup, Max Beerman and Kevin Jewitt. The duo have a combined 10 home runs this season and lead Villanova with 37 and 29 RBI respectively.
On the bump the Bluejays will see three left-handers in Hunter Schryver, Mike Sgarmella and Josh Harris. As a team the Wildcats have a 4.06 ERA, but the back end of their bullpen has been a strength. Closer Chris Haggarty has a 2.75 ERA with nine saves in 25 appearances.
Scouting Creighton (27-17, 10-4 BIG EAST)
Having clinched a spot in the BIG EAST Tournament over the weekend, Creighton enters its the final weekend of play knowing the Bluejays will have a chance to reach the NCAA Tournament on their home field.
The Bluejays also know that the chances of an at-large bid are almost nill. As a result the Bluejays will approach this week as an opportunity to set their rotation and get the pitching staff a little work.
Bluejays' Home Run Streak Snapped
A seventh-inning home run by Arkansas slugger Andrew Benintendi on Tuesday (May 12) was the first home run allowed by Creighton in the last 34 games, a span of 1,130
opponent at-bats that dated to March 7th.
It was Benintendi's 17th homer of the year, a figure that ranks tied for second nationally.
Lamb's Arm is Locked and Loaded
Catcher Kevin Lamb helped to shut down the SEC speed of Arkansas on the basepaths on Tuesday, as he threw out three would-be Razorback base-stealers.
It was just the fourth time in 12 years and 664 games under Ed Servais that Creighton has thrown out runners on three stolen base attempts in the same contest, and first time since April 17, 2011 at Indiana State. That's a span of 227 games, and is notable because it was the last game that Creighton played before moving into TD Ameritrade Park Omaha two days later.
Lamb threw out just 2-of-22 base stealers to start the season while still recovering from major knee surgery in 2014, but has thrown out nine of the last 16 men attempting to steal.
