Sunday, April 23
Omaha, Neb.
12:00 pm
Creighton University
18-16, 8-1
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Villanova
8-23, 2-4
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Villanova
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Creighton
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Photo by: Steve Branscombe
Baseball Wins 10th Straight With Walk-Off Victory Over Villanova
4/23/2017 3:20:00 PM | Baseball
Creighton closes out first home sweep of the season
OMAHA, Neb. -- The Creighton Baseball team picked up its 10th straight win with a 2-1 walk-off victory over Villanova on Sunday, April 23rd. The 10-game win streak is the nation's longest active streak.
Creighton (18-16, 8-1 BIG EAST) earned the victory with an unearned run in the ninth inning, as Clark Brinkman's grounder to shortstop was misplayed, allowing pinch-runner Nicholas Ortega to score from third without a throw. Ortega was on the bases in place of Riley Landuyt, who doubled to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning, then moved to third base on a Bryce Only sacrifice bunt.
It was Creighton's second unearned run of the day, as the Bluejays dented the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning when Isaac Collins singled, stole second, went to third on a throwing error and scored on an RBI groundout by Thomas Luevano.
Villanova (8-23, 2-4 BIG EAST) tied the score in the top of the second frame. Doug deMarrais walked and moved to second on a single by Lukas DeRenzi. Two outs later, deMarrais scored on Ryan Toohers single to right.
Both starting pitchers were dominant, but neither factored in the decision.
Villanova's Ryan Doty lowered his ERA from 5.97 to 4.93 after six innings of work. He allowed seven hits and an unearned run while striking out five. Doty remained in the game after being struck in the arm by a Landuyt line drive in the fourth inning in his first start since 2015 without allowing an earned run. Doty was relieved by Zach Lutner, who threw 2.1 innings but was lifted with runners on the corners and one out in the ninth inning.
As good as Doty was, Creighton's Keith Rogalla was even better. Rogalla threw eight innings and tied a career-high while striking out 10 men. He surrendered four hits and one run. Bluejay closer David Gerber (2-6) came on in relief with a scoreless ninth inning to earn the win.
Collins had his second straight game with three hits to lead the Bluejay offense, capping off a 9-for-14 week (.643) that featured four walks, four stolen bases and seven runs scored. Only also had a pair of hits and is now batting 9-for-16 (.562) with eight RBI in his last five games.
Villanova got two hits from Toohers, while David Gulati and DeRenzi each had one safety.
Creighton remains at home and will host Wichita State on Tuesday night at 6:30 pm.
NOTES: Creighton has now outscored foes 21-6 in the ninth inning this season, and 59-15 over the past two years ... Creighton improved to 17-4 this year when Clark Brinkman hits leadoff ... Michael Emodi was hit by a pitch and has reached in 22 straight contests ... Isaac Collins has reached base in 13 straight games, Bryce Only in 12 straight contests ... Villanova fell to 0-9 when allowing a first inning run this year ... Creighton outscored Villanova 13-1 during innings 7-9 this weekend ... Creighton owns three walk-off victories in its last five home games ... Creighton's ERA dropped to 3.80, the lowest it has been since February 23rd after five games.
More to come...
Creighton (18-16, 8-1 BIG EAST) earned the victory with an unearned run in the ninth inning, as Clark Brinkman's grounder to shortstop was misplayed, allowing pinch-runner Nicholas Ortega to score from third without a throw. Ortega was on the bases in place of Riley Landuyt, who doubled to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning, then moved to third base on a Bryce Only sacrifice bunt.
It was Creighton's second unearned run of the day, as the Bluejays dented the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning when Isaac Collins singled, stole second, went to third on a throwing error and scored on an RBI groundout by Thomas Luevano.
Villanova (8-23, 2-4 BIG EAST) tied the score in the top of the second frame. Doug deMarrais walked and moved to second on a single by Lukas DeRenzi. Two outs later, deMarrais scored on Ryan Toohers single to right.
Both starting pitchers were dominant, but neither factored in the decision.
Villanova's Ryan Doty lowered his ERA from 5.97 to 4.93 after six innings of work. He allowed seven hits and an unearned run while striking out five. Doty remained in the game after being struck in the arm by a Landuyt line drive in the fourth inning in his first start since 2015 without allowing an earned run. Doty was relieved by Zach Lutner, who threw 2.1 innings but was lifted with runners on the corners and one out in the ninth inning.
As good as Doty was, Creighton's Keith Rogalla was even better. Rogalla threw eight innings and tied a career-high while striking out 10 men. He surrendered four hits and one run. Bluejay closer David Gerber (2-6) came on in relief with a scoreless ninth inning to earn the win.
Collins had his second straight game with three hits to lead the Bluejay offense, capping off a 9-for-14 week (.643) that featured four walks, four stolen bases and seven runs scored. Only also had a pair of hits and is now batting 9-for-16 (.562) with eight RBI in his last five games.
Villanova got two hits from Toohers, while David Gulati and DeRenzi each had one safety.
Creighton remains at home and will host Wichita State on Tuesday night at 6:30 pm.
NOTES: Creighton has now outscored foes 21-6 in the ninth inning this season, and 59-15 over the past two years ... Creighton improved to 17-4 this year when Clark Brinkman hits leadoff ... Michael Emodi was hit by a pitch and has reached in 22 straight contests ... Isaac Collins has reached base in 13 straight games, Bryce Only in 12 straight contests ... Villanova fell to 0-9 when allowing a first inning run this year ... Creighton outscored Villanova 13-1 during innings 7-9 this weekend ... Creighton owns three walk-off victories in its last five home games ... Creighton's ERA dropped to 3.80, the lowest it has been since February 23rd after five games.
More to come...
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Gerber, David (2-6)
L: Zach Lutner (0-2)
Batting:
RBI: Ryan Toohers 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Doug deMarrais 1
Batting:
2B: Landuyt, Riley 1 ; Only, Bryce 1
RBI: Luevano, Thomas 1
SH: Luevano, Thomas 1 ; Only, Bryce 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Collins, Isaac 1 ; Ortega, Nick 1
SB: Collins, Isaac 2
CS: Allbery, Jason 1
HBP: Emodi, Michael 1 ; Allbery, Jason 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF
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