Saturday, May 28
Aberdeen, MD
2:00 pm
Creighton University
38-16
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St. John's
28-26-1
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St. John's
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Creighton
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Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann
Bluejays Advance to BIG EAST Championship Game with 4-3 Win Over St. John's
5/28/2016 1:33:00 PM | Baseball
Creighton Best Hackimer Once More
Aberdeen, Md. -- Down 3-0 after four innings, the Creighton Baseball team rallied for a 4-3 victory in 10-innings over St. John's to advance to its third consecutive BIG EAST Championships game.
The victory gives the second-seeded Bluejays a chance to earn the BIG EAST's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, but to do it Creighton (38-16) must defeat No. 1 Xavier in back-to-back contests beginning on Sunday, May 29 at 11:00 am (CT) on Fox Sports 2.
The Bluejay heroics began in the sixth inning as senior Matt Gandy smashed a two-run home run, while senior Reagan Fowler capped a three-single effort in the tenth to provide Creighton's second walk-off win at the BIG EAST Baseball Championships. On the bump, closer David Gerber tossed a career-high 4.1 innings of scoreless relief to give the Bluejays a chance to play on Sunday.
St. John's (28-26-1) raced out to the 3-0 edge with single runs in first, second and fourth innings. The Red Storm advantage, however, could have been much larger.
Creighton starter, Keith Rogalla, worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the first with a critical strikeout of Robbie Knights to limit the Red Storm to one run.
Center fielder Daniel Woodrow tracked down a couple of balls ticketed for the gap in left-center to keep it a 2-0 contest in the second.
St. John's third run of the contest came on a solo home run in the fourth inning.
After tossing 99 pitches through five innings, Rogalla gave way to the bullpen in the sixth, watching junior Sam Norman get two outs before Gerber induced a grounder to short to end St. John's sixth inning.
The insertion of Gerber into the game breathed life into a Bluejay offense that had been limited to one hit through five frames. The lift paid dividends with two down in the sixth as Fowler smashed a single to center and Gandy followed with a majestic home run to left, pulling the Bluejays within a run at 3-2.
One inning later the Bluejays knotted the game at 3-3 with a leadoff single from senior Harrison Crawford, then a one-out single by junior Kevin Connolly and a walk to freshman Michael Emodi loaded the bases. Finally Woodrow lifted a sac fly to center to make it a new ballgame.
Facing St. John's closer Thomas Hackimer for the third time this season, the Bluejays earned the win in the bottom of the tenth on singles from Woodrow, junior Nicky Lopez and a walk-off single to left-center from Fowler.
Gerber nabbed his fourth win (4-3) of the season, limiting St. John's to just two base runners in 4.1 innings. Hackimer fell to 0-2 this season, with both losses coming to the Bluejays, giving up one run on three hits in 1.1 innings.
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The victory gives the second-seeded Bluejays a chance to earn the BIG EAST's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, but to do it Creighton (38-16) must defeat No. 1 Xavier in back-to-back contests beginning on Sunday, May 29 at 11:00 am (CT) on Fox Sports 2.
The Bluejay heroics began in the sixth inning as senior Matt Gandy smashed a two-run home run, while senior Reagan Fowler capped a three-single effort in the tenth to provide Creighton's second walk-off win at the BIG EAST Baseball Championships. On the bump, closer David Gerber tossed a career-high 4.1 innings of scoreless relief to give the Bluejays a chance to play on Sunday.
St. John's (28-26-1) raced out to the 3-0 edge with single runs in first, second and fourth innings. The Red Storm advantage, however, could have been much larger.
Creighton starter, Keith Rogalla, worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the first with a critical strikeout of Robbie Knights to limit the Red Storm to one run.
Center fielder Daniel Woodrow tracked down a couple of balls ticketed for the gap in left-center to keep it a 2-0 contest in the second.
St. John's third run of the contest came on a solo home run in the fourth inning.
After tossing 99 pitches through five innings, Rogalla gave way to the bullpen in the sixth, watching junior Sam Norman get two outs before Gerber induced a grounder to short to end St. John's sixth inning.
The insertion of Gerber into the game breathed life into a Bluejay offense that had been limited to one hit through five frames. The lift paid dividends with two down in the sixth as Fowler smashed a single to center and Gandy followed with a majestic home run to left, pulling the Bluejays within a run at 3-2.
One inning later the Bluejays knotted the game at 3-3 with a leadoff single from senior Harrison Crawford, then a one-out single by junior Kevin Connolly and a walk to freshman Michael Emodi loaded the bases. Finally Woodrow lifted a sac fly to center to make it a new ballgame.
Facing St. John's closer Thomas Hackimer for the third time this season, the Bluejays earned the win in the bottom of the tenth on singles from Woodrow, junior Nicky Lopez and a walk-off single to left-center from Fowler.
Gerber nabbed his fourth win (4-3) of the season, limiting St. John's to just two base runners in 4.1 innings. Hackimer fell to 0-2 this season, with both losses coming to the Bluejays, giving up one run on three hits in 1.1 innings.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Gerber, David (4-3)
L: HACKIMER, Thomas (7-3)
Batting:
2B: DONADIO, Michael 1
HR: VENICE, Mark 1
RBI: VALENTE, John 1 ; BROCATO, Anthony 1 ; VENICE, Mark 1
SF: VALENTE, John 1
Base Running:
RUNS: VALENTE, John 1 ; VENICE, Mark 2
SB: BERARDI, Jesse 1
HBP: CARUSO, Alex 1
Batting:
HR: Gandy, Matt 1
RBI: Woodrow, Daniel 1 ; Fowler, Reagan 1 ; Gandy, Matt 2
SH: Fitzgerald, Ryan 1
SF: Woodrow, Daniel 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Woodrow, Daniel 1 ; Fowler, Reagan 1 ; Gandy, Matt 1 ; Crawford, Harrison 1
HBP: Crawford, Harrison 1 ; Emodi, Michael 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
C
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
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