Tuesday, May 9
Omaha, Neb.
6:35 pm
Creighton University
22-18
7
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5
Nebraska-Omaha
12-33
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Creighton
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12
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Mavericks
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Ryan Tapani threw a season-high four innings on Tuesday
Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann
Luevano Homers Late As Baseball Wins Battle of Omaha, 7-5
5/9/2017 9:32:00 PM | Baseball
Creighton continues its late-inning magic with another narrow win
OMAHA, Neb. -- Thomas Luevano hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning and David Gerber nailed down his school-record 25th career save as Creighton Baseball earned a 7-5 victory over Nebraska-Omaha before 1,215 fans at Werner Park on Tuesday, May 9th.
Creighton improved to 22-18 with the victory, while UNO dropped to 12-33. It is the only meeting of the 2017 season between the city rivals.
Luevano's homer was his season-high fourth hit of the game, and continued a trend of late inning home runs for the Bluejays. Each of its last three wins have come courtesy of ninth inning home runs, including dingers in wins last weekend by Michael Emodi and Isaac Collins at Seton Hall.
Creighton wasted no time in getting on the board in the top of the first inning. Luevano doubled into the right field corner with one out and later came around to score on a two-out single from Will Robertson.
The Bluejays tacked on two more runs in the third inning. Collins walked with one away and moved into scoring position on a single by Luevano. He would come home on a single through the left side off the bat of Emodi to make it 2-0, and Luevano then scored on a sacrifice fly by Robertson.
UNO answered Creighton's output with two of its own in the home half of the third inning. A leadoff walk to Adam Caniglia preceded a bloop double by Sam Palensky that fell between a pair of Bluejay outfielders. Cole Thibodeau brought home Caniglia with a squeeze bunt, and Ryan Cate drove home Palensky on an RBI groundout.
Creighton tacked on two more runs in the top of the fifth inning, as Robertson continued his big night with a home run off the foul pole in right field, which also brought home Emodi, and made it 5-2
The Mavericks closed the deficit to 5-4 with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning against Bluejay reliever Houston Glad. Singles by Cate and Grant Suponchick started the frame and both men moved up a base on a balk. A passed ball then scored Cate, and Suponchick came home on an RBI groundout from Marcus Ethen.
The Mavericks tied the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. Caniglia coaxed a one-out walk and moved to second on a Palensky single to right. A walk to Thibodeau loaded the bags, and Caniglia jogged home on a sacrifice fly by Cate.
UNO's 11th pitcher of the game, James Smith, came on in the ninth inning and would suffer the loss. Parker Upton reached on an infield single to start the ninth and was bunted to second by Nicholas Ortega. After a strikeout, Luevano hit his fourth home run of the year to provide his fifth game-winning RBI of the spring.
The Bluejays turned to Gerber in the ninth inning, and the senior delivered in record-setting fashion. Caniglia singled to open the frame but was forced at second on a grounder for the first out. Ortega then made a sliding dive in right-center on a Thibodeau drive before catching a routing pop out for the final out of the night.
Luevano went 4-for-6 and scored three times, while Robertson ended his evening 3-for-4 with a season-high four runs batted in to help carry a Bluejay attack that also stranded 14 men. The Bluejays used six men on the mound, including a career-high four innings of work from starter Ryan Tapani. CU's fifth hurler, Ethan DeCaster (4-1), ended up as the winning pitcher after collecting five outs before giving way to Gerber.
Palensky paced the Mavericks with a 2-for-5 contest at the dish, while Caniglia went 1-for-2, scoring twice and reaching base three times overall. The Mavericks used 11 pitchers in the game, tied for fourth-most in NCAA single-game history, with no one throwing more than two innings or 29 pitches.
Creighton opens a five-game homestand on Wednesday night when it hosts Nebraska in a game scheduled for 7:00 pm at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha.
NOTES: Nicholas Ortega made his first career start while earning the nod in centerfield ... Mitchell Boyer threw a scoreless fifth inning for Creighton in his first mound appearance since March 18th ... Thomas Luevano had his first game this season with four hits, while Will Robertson had his fifth such contest with three or more hits ... Creighton is now 13-2 in its last 15 games, despite being tied or trailing entering the ninth inning in 10 of those games ... Creighton had two balks, increasing its season total to 10, which is its most in any season since 2002 ... David Gerber's 25 career saves are one more than Steve Grasley's 24 from 2001-04.
Creighton improved to 22-18 with the victory, while UNO dropped to 12-33. It is the only meeting of the 2017 season between the city rivals.
Luevano's homer was his season-high fourth hit of the game, and continued a trend of late inning home runs for the Bluejays. Each of its last three wins have come courtesy of ninth inning home runs, including dingers in wins last weekend by Michael Emodi and Isaac Collins at Seton Hall.
Creighton wasted no time in getting on the board in the top of the first inning. Luevano doubled into the right field corner with one out and later came around to score on a two-out single from Will Robertson.
The Bluejays tacked on two more runs in the third inning. Collins walked with one away and moved into scoring position on a single by Luevano. He would come home on a single through the left side off the bat of Emodi to make it 2-0, and Luevano then scored on a sacrifice fly by Robertson.
UNO answered Creighton's output with two of its own in the home half of the third inning. A leadoff walk to Adam Caniglia preceded a bloop double by Sam Palensky that fell between a pair of Bluejay outfielders. Cole Thibodeau brought home Caniglia with a squeeze bunt, and Ryan Cate drove home Palensky on an RBI groundout.
Creighton tacked on two more runs in the top of the fifth inning, as Robertson continued his big night with a home run off the foul pole in right field, which also brought home Emodi, and made it 5-2
The Mavericks closed the deficit to 5-4 with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning against Bluejay reliever Houston Glad. Singles by Cate and Grant Suponchick started the frame and both men moved up a base on a balk. A passed ball then scored Cate, and Suponchick came home on an RBI groundout from Marcus Ethen.
The Mavericks tied the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. Caniglia coaxed a one-out walk and moved to second on a Palensky single to right. A walk to Thibodeau loaded the bags, and Caniglia jogged home on a sacrifice fly by Cate.
UNO's 11th pitcher of the game, James Smith, came on in the ninth inning and would suffer the loss. Parker Upton reached on an infield single to start the ninth and was bunted to second by Nicholas Ortega. After a strikeout, Luevano hit his fourth home run of the year to provide his fifth game-winning RBI of the spring.
The Bluejays turned to Gerber in the ninth inning, and the senior delivered in record-setting fashion. Caniglia singled to open the frame but was forced at second on a grounder for the first out. Ortega then made a sliding dive in right-center on a Thibodeau drive before catching a routing pop out for the final out of the night.
Luevano went 4-for-6 and scored three times, while Robertson ended his evening 3-for-4 with a season-high four runs batted in to help carry a Bluejay attack that also stranded 14 men. The Bluejays used six men on the mound, including a career-high four innings of work from starter Ryan Tapani. CU's fifth hurler, Ethan DeCaster (4-1), ended up as the winning pitcher after collecting five outs before giving way to Gerber.
Palensky paced the Mavericks with a 2-for-5 contest at the dish, while Caniglia went 1-for-2, scoring twice and reaching base three times overall. The Mavericks used 11 pitchers in the game, tied for fourth-most in NCAA single-game history, with no one throwing more than two innings or 29 pitches.
Creighton opens a five-game homestand on Wednesday night when it hosts Nebraska in a game scheduled for 7:00 pm at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha.
NOTES: Nicholas Ortega made his first career start while earning the nod in centerfield ... Mitchell Boyer threw a scoreless fifth inning for Creighton in his first mound appearance since March 18th ... Thomas Luevano had his first game this season with four hits, while Will Robertson had his fifth such contest with three or more hits ... Creighton is now 13-2 in its last 15 games, despite being tied or trailing entering the ninth inning in 10 of those games ... Creighton had two balks, increasing its season total to 10, which is its most in any season since 2002 ... David Gerber's 25 career saves are one more than Steve Grasley's 24 from 2001-04.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: DeCaster, Ethan (4-1)
L: James Smith (0-4)
S: Gerber, David (5)
Batting:
2B: Luevano, Thomas 1
HR: Luevano, Thomas 1 ; Robertson, Will 1
RBI: Luevano, Thomas 2 ; Emodi, Michael 1 ; Robertson, Will 4
SH: Only, Bryce 1 ; Upton, Parker 1 ; Ortega, Nick 1
SF: Robertson, Will 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Collins, Isaac 1 ; Luevano, Thomas 3 ; Emodi, Michael 1 ; Robertson, Will 1 ; Upton, Parker 1
CS: Ortega, Nick 1
HBP: Ortega, Nick 1
Batting:
2B: Sam Palensky 1
RBI: Cole Thibodeau 1 ; Ryan Cate 2 ; Marcus Ethen 1
SH: Cole Thibodeau 1 ; Cole Patterson 1
SF: Ryan Cate 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sam Palensky 1 ; Ryan Cate 1 ; Grant Suponchick 1 ; Adam Caniglia 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
6
R
3
H
4
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
4
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
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INF
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RHP
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RHP
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RHP
/ BaseballINF/RHP
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OF
/ BaseballOF
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RHP
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INF
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