Sunday, April 28
9:00 AM
Creighton University
25-9, 6-2
5
vs
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Xavier
18-24, 8-2
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Xavier
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Creighton
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X
5
9
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Denson Hull
Photo by: Steve Branscombe
Hull Does His Sunday Best, Blanks Xavier
4/28/2019 11:19:00 AM | Baseball
Creighton evens series with 5-0 win
OMAHA, Neb. -- Denson Hull threw a three-hit shutout and Will Robertson had three run-scoring singles in addition to a diving catch that saved a pair of runs as Creighton Baseball evened the series with Xavier following a 5-0 win at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha on the morning of Sunday, April 28. The seven-inning win evened the series, making the series finale at 12:10 p.m. today a battle for first place in the BIG EAST standings.
Hull cruised after the second inning en route to his first shutout as a Bluejay, and Creighton's first since Ryan Tapani's three-hit shutout at Villanova on May 11, 2018. Hull threw just 100 pitches, striking out five and inducing 12 flyouts. Eight of those outs went to Robertson, who collected a career-high in putouts.
A sterling defensive play by Robertson kept Xavier off the scoreboard in the top of the first inning. Conor Grammes singled to lead off the game and Allbry Major singled two batters later to give the Musketeers and early threat before Hull (4-3) regrouped to strike out Matt Warkentin for the second out. Chris Givin then launched a ball into the gap in right-center that Robertson made a diving catch on to save a pair of runs and rob Givin of extra bases.
Creighton (25-9, 6-2 BIG EAST) took its first lead of the series in the bottom of the first inning against Xavier starter Griffin Lanoue. Parker Upton singled, moved to second on a walk, to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a single by Robertson to make it 1-0.
Xavier (18-24, 8-2 BIG EAST) also put two on with one out in the second inning, only to see Hull once again escape without surrendering a run when he got Grammes to fly out to end the threat.
The Bluejays added to their lead in the third inning, scoring twice while chasing Lanoue. The first four men reached, as Upton walked and raced to third on Jake Holton's double. Robertson brought home a run in his second straight at bat with a single to center to score Upton, and Jack Strunc then walked to load the bases and end Lanoue's morning. Sam Czabala came on in relief and did an admirable job escaping further damage, but not before Jordan Hovey's RBI groundout brought home Holton to stretch Creighton's lead to 3-0.
Robertson drove home Upton for the third time in as many at bats in the fourth inning following Upton's third walk of the afternoon to make it 4-0.
CU picked up an insurance run in the fifth inning with a two-out rally. David Vilches walked and moved to second on a single by Will Hanafan. Isaac Collins then laced a single to right to bring home Vilches.
Xavier used five pitchers, who combined to walk nine men and surrender nine hits.
Game two between the Bluejays and Musketeers is scheduled for a 12:10 p.m. start. The game can be heard on KOZN 1620 AM, watched on GoCreighton.com and has live stats at http://creighton.statbroadcast.com. Creighton's Evan Johnson (5-1, 3.48 ERA) will square off against Xavier's Grammes (2-5, 5.53 ERA).
NOTES: The game was Creighton's 200th all-time at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, and Creighton's 134th win in the facility ... Denson Hull's shutout was Creighton's fourth complete-game shutout in the facility, and first since Rollie Lacy's four-hitter vs. St. John's in a 6-0 win on April 17, 2015 ... In his last 5 starts, Creighton's Denson Hull is 4-0 with a 1.21 ERA in 22.1 innings of work. In his lone no-decision in that span, he retired all seven men he faced ... Jake Holton upped his batting average to .405 with a 2-for-3 morning. He's hitting .462 in BIG EAST play ... Creighton has outscored teams 14-0 in the first inning of 10 home games this season .... Creighton has allowed one run or less in five of its past seven games.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hull, Denson (4-3)
L: LANOUE, Griffin (3-3)
Base Running:
HBP: HOUSINGER, Jack 1
Batting:
2B: Holton, Jake 1
RBI: Collins, Isaac 1 ; Robertson, Will 3 ; Hovey, Jordan 1
SH: Vilches, David 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Upton, Parker 3 ; Holton, Jake 1 ; Vilches, David 1
CS: Wegner, Jared 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
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3
RBI
3
AB
3
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1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
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