Creighton University
6-0
Air Force
4-5
Winning Ways Continue for Creighton Baseball in 10-6 Victory Over Air Force
3/1/2024 10:09:00 PM | Baseball
The win lifted Creighton to 6-0 on the season, while Air Force fell to 4-5.
Creighton seized a 1-0 lead in the opening frame as junior Teddy Deters laced a one-out double down the left field line and senior Nolan Clifford capitalized with an RBI single up the middle.
After the Falcons knotted the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third, the Bluejay bats went back to work in the fourth. Creighton pushed across three runs on three hits, a sac bunt and a walk. Will MacLean opened the frame with a single up the middle, then sophomore Ben North reached via an error a throwing error by the pitcher, putting Bluejays on the corners. Sophomore Nolan Sailor wasted little time delivering an RBI single up the middle that also sent North to third. Junior Hogan Helligso followed with an RBI safety squeeze to make it 3-1. With two down in the frame sophomore Tate Gillen drove an RBI double to left center.
Air Force, however, pulled even a second time as left fielder Chris Stallings drove a three-run homer over the left field wall in the bottom of the fourth.
The game remained scoreless until the sixth, when Creighton soared out to a 9-4 advantage. Air Force issued consecutive walks to ignite the Bluejay rally, then Gillen drove a two-run double into right. Later in the frame it was the Bluejays chance to play long ball as redshirt freshman Cuyler Zukowski connected on his first Creighton home run to center field.
Air Force battled back with a pair of runs in the sixth, but sophomore reliever Shane Curtin slammed the door with. Curtin went on hold the Falcons scoreless over 2.1 innings to keep Creighton in control.
The Bluejays' final run of the game crossed the plate in the top of the ninth as North and Helligso slapped doubles with Helligso plating North.
Clifford guidede Creighton's offense with three hits (3-for-4), an RBI and a run scored, while Gillen and Zukowski each closed the game with three RBI.
Reliever Malakai Vetock earned the win (1-0) for the Bluejays, allowing two runs on four hits in two innings of work. Falcon reliever Cooper Loveridge took the loss (0-1), allowing one run on two walks in 0.2 innings.
Creighton continues the three-game tournament on Saturday, March 2 at 1:00 p.m. against Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs moved to 9-0 with a 4-0 win over Army in the evening contest.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Vetock, Malakai (1-0)
L: Cooper Loveridge (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Gillen, Tate 2 ; Deters, Teddy 1 ; Clifford, Nolan 1 ; North, Ben 1 ; Sailors, Nolan 1 ; Helligso, Hogan 1
HR: Zukowski, Cuyler 1
RBI: Gillen, Tate 3 ; Clifford, Nolan 1 ; Zukowski, Cuyler 3 ; Sailors, Nolan 1 ; Helligso, Hogan 2
SH: Helligso, Hogan 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Deters, Teddy 2 ; Clifford, Nolan 1 ; Zukowski, Cuyler 1 ; MacLean, Will 1 ; North, Ben 2 ; Sailors, Nolan 1 ; Helligso, Hogan 1 ; Hess, Kyle 1
CS: North, Ben 1
HBP: Clifford, Nolan 1 ; Canales, Colby 1
PO: Zukowski, Cuyler 1 ; North, Ben 1
Batting:
HR: Chris Stallings 1
RBI: Chris Stallings 3 ; Chase Spencer 1 ; Ben Niednagel 1
SF: Chase Spencer 1 ; Ben Niednagel 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jay Thomason 2 ; Chris Stallings 2 ; Chase Spencer 1 ; T.J. Oster 1
SB: Jay Thomason 1 ; Chase Spencer 3
HBP: Sam Kulasingam 1 ; T.J. Oster 1
