Sunday, April 23
Omaha, Neb.
11:00 AM
Creighton University
18-14, 6-3
8
vs
7
St. John's
19-18, 2-7
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
St. John's
2
0
3
2
0
0
0
0
0
7
9
2
Creighton
1
0
0
1
1
2
0
1
2
8
16
1
Photo by: Catherine Grosdidier
Baseball Completes Epic Rally To Sweep St. John's with 8-7 Win
4/23/2023 4:38:00 PM | Baseball
Omaha, Neb. -- Trailing 7-1 heading to the bottom of the fourth, senior Andrew Meggs capped an epic rally with a walk off single in the bottom of the ninth as Creighton Baseball swept the season series from St. John's with an 8-7 win on Sunday, April 23.
The win lifted the Bluejays to 18-14 on the season and 6-3 in BIG EAST play, while St. John's fell to 19-18 overall and 2-7 in conference action.
In a game filled with pivotal moments, Creighton head coach Ed Servais made the first critical move in the bottom of the fourth as he brought in Creighton closer Tommy Steier with two down in the fourth. The Bluejays' emotional leader slammed the door on St. John's with 4.2 innings of scoreless relief to give his squad a chance to rally.
Creighton's comeback was slow and steady, scoring in the fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth frames. The Bluejays began in the fourth with consecutive singles by seniors Sterling Hayes, Jack Grace and an RBI knock from sophomore Hogan Helligso. The rally stymied as Meggs hit a soft liner into right with the bases loaded that resulted in a double play.
The fifth inning saw sophomore Nolan Sailors and grad transfer Tyler Lozano deliver singles to open the frame and Hayes drive in a run with a productive out to make it 7-3.
Creighton pushed two across in the sixth on a two-run single from Meggs, plating Helligso and freshman Tate Gillen. The duo started the inning with a single and a walk and moved up one base as freshman Ben North placed a sacrifice bunt down the first base line.
After a scoreless seventh, the Bluejays inched closer with a run in the eighth on one-out singles from Gillen and North and Meggs' second RBI single of the game.
The ninth inning saw Hayes reach on a squib single just beyond the reach of a diving attempt by St. John's catcher Austin Machado and a walk to Grace with one down to put the tying run in scoring position.
Down to the final strike of the game, Gillen punched his biggest hit as a Bluejay into right-center to send Hayes home from second and knot the game at 7-7. Pinch runner Cooper Dulich took third as well, then a walk to North loaded the bases for Meggs. The California native sliced a single up the middle then sprinted away from a water dousing from his teammates with Creighton's second walk off win of the season.
Meggs closed the game 3-for-6 with four RBI, while Sailors was 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Three other Bluejays delivered a multi-hit afternoon as Hayes, Helligso and Gillen each finished with two hits.
Senior Marc Lidd recorded the final two outs of the ninth to pick up the win (2-0), while St. John's reliever Chuck Sanzio took the loss (2-1). Sanzio allowed two runs on three hits and two walks in 1.1 innings.
The Bluejays return to the diamond on Tuesday, April 25 as Creighton begins a two-game series with UNLV at 6:00 p.m.
The win lifted the Bluejays to 18-14 on the season and 6-3 in BIG EAST play, while St. John's fell to 19-18 overall and 2-7 in conference action.
In a game filled with pivotal moments, Creighton head coach Ed Servais made the first critical move in the bottom of the fourth as he brought in Creighton closer Tommy Steier with two down in the fourth. The Bluejays' emotional leader slammed the door on St. John's with 4.2 innings of scoreless relief to give his squad a chance to rally.
Creighton's comeback was slow and steady, scoring in the fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth frames. The Bluejays began in the fourth with consecutive singles by seniors Sterling Hayes, Jack Grace and an RBI knock from sophomore Hogan Helligso. The rally stymied as Meggs hit a soft liner into right with the bases loaded that resulted in a double play.
The fifth inning saw sophomore Nolan Sailors and grad transfer Tyler Lozano deliver singles to open the frame and Hayes drive in a run with a productive out to make it 7-3.
Creighton pushed two across in the sixth on a two-run single from Meggs, plating Helligso and freshman Tate Gillen. The duo started the inning with a single and a walk and moved up one base as freshman Ben North placed a sacrifice bunt down the first base line.
After a scoreless seventh, the Bluejays inched closer with a run in the eighth on one-out singles from Gillen and North and Meggs' second RBI single of the game.
The ninth inning saw Hayes reach on a squib single just beyond the reach of a diving attempt by St. John's catcher Austin Machado and a walk to Grace with one down to put the tying run in scoring position.
Down to the final strike of the game, Gillen punched his biggest hit as a Bluejay into right-center to send Hayes home from second and knot the game at 7-7. Pinch runner Cooper Dulich took third as well, then a walk to North loaded the bases for Meggs. The California native sliced a single up the middle then sprinted away from a water dousing from his teammates with Creighton's second walk off win of the season.
Meggs closed the game 3-for-6 with four RBI, while Sailors was 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Three other Bluejays delivered a multi-hit afternoon as Hayes, Helligso and Gillen each finished with two hits.
Senior Marc Lidd recorded the final two outs of the ninth to pick up the win (2-0), while St. John's reliever Chuck Sanzio took the loss (2-1). Sanzio allowed two runs on three hits and two walks in 1.1 innings.
The Bluejays return to the diamond on Tuesday, April 25 as Creighton begins a two-game series with UNLV at 6:00 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lidd, Marc (2-0)
L: SANZIO, Chuck (2-1)
Batting:
2B: MACHADO, Austin 1
3B: TUCKER, Jackson 1
HR: MACHADO, Austin 1
RBI: MACHADO, Austin 4 ; KEENAN, Jimmy 1 ; JEREMIAH, Jace 1 ; TUCKER, Jackson 1
SH: ORBON, Luke 1
SF: TUCKER, Jackson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ORBON, Luke 1 ; GLANCY, David 1 ; BALLESTERO, Tate 2 ; MANN, Aaron 1 ; MACHADO, Austin 2
SB: GLANCY, David 1
HBP: ORBON, Luke 1 ; GLANCY, David 1
Batting:
2B: Sailors, Nolan 1
RBI: Meggs, Andrew 4 ; Clifford, Nolan 1 ; Hayes, Sterling 1 ; Helligso, Hogan 1 ; Gillen, Tate 1
SH: Gillen, Tate 1 ; North, Ben 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sailors, Nolan 2 ; Hayes, Sterling 2 ; Dulich, Cooper 1 ; Helligso, Hogan 1 ; Gillen, Tate 2
SB: Sailors, Nolan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
6
R
0
H
3
RBI
4
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
0
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
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