Pages 1-92 - Creighton University Bluejays
Pages 1-92 - Creighton University Bluejays
Pages 1-92 - Creighton University Bluejays
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2010 Bl u e j a y Ba s e b a l l<br />
Head Coach Ed Servais<br />
9<br />
Ed<br />
SERVAIS<br />
Head Coach<br />
UW-La Crosse (1981)<br />
Career Record: 409-206-1 (15 seasons)<br />
<strong>Creighton</strong> Record: 227-124 (6 seasons)<br />
SERVAIS NOTES<br />
• Head Coach, <strong>Creighton</strong> (2004-present)<br />
Overall record of 227-124<br />
• Head Coach, St. Mary’s (Minn.) (1989-95)<br />
Overall record of 159-76-1<br />
• Head Coach, Viterbo (Wis.) (1987-88)<br />
Overall record of 23-6<br />
• 2005 NCAA Regional Participant<br />
MVC Tournament Champions<br />
• 2007 NCAA Regional Participant<br />
MVC Tournament Champions<br />
• 2008 FieldTurf National Coach of the Year<br />
• 2007 MVC Coach of the Year<br />
• 2005 MVC Coach of the Year<br />
• 2004 MVC Coach of the Year<br />
• 1993 MIAC Coach of the Year<br />
• 1990 MIAC Coach of the Year<br />
• 1993 Midwest Regional Runner-Up<br />
PLAYING CAREER<br />
• UW-La Crosse (1981-84)<br />
• Three-time all-conference pick<br />
• Co-captain, 1984<br />
• Team MVP, 1984<br />
Ed Servais enters his seventh season at the<br />
helm of the Bluejay baseball program in 2010.<br />
His .647 winning percentage is the best in school<br />
history and he has averaged nearly 40 wins a<br />
season during his time as head coach. Servais<br />
has taken the Jays to two NCAA Tournaments and<br />
has won the Missouri Valley Conference Coach of<br />
the Year award three times in his six seasons.<br />
Servais’ tenure has been the most successful<br />
of any <strong>Creighton</strong> baseball coach, as he has<br />
guided the team to a 227-124 record, good for<br />
second in the Missouri Valley Conference, fifth in<br />
the Midwest, and 28th in the nation. The <strong>Bluejays</strong><br />
are one of just 10 schools in the Midwest to earn<br />
four or more NCAA Regional berths in the last 11<br />
years, and only the second in the MVC along with<br />
Wichita State.<br />
In 2009 the <strong>Bluejays</strong> came within one win<br />
of their third NCAA Tournament in five years, as<br />
they reached the MVC Tournament Championship<br />
game before falling to Wichita State 4-2. Defense<br />
set the tone for the squad as it finished with a<br />
.984 fielding percentage, tops in the nation and<br />
the best in NCAA history during the aluminum bat<br />
era.<br />
Individually, Servais coached seven All-MVC<br />
selections, the most since taking the reins in<br />
2004. He also saw first baseman Darin Ruf come<br />
just 38 putouts shy of an NCAA record, finishing<br />
with 2,251 during his four years.<br />
In 2008, the <strong>Creighton</strong> skipper guided the<br />
team to another strong season, especially on the<br />
defensive side. The <strong>Bluejays</strong>, who were 37-21<br />
overall, posted a .976 fielding percentage, good<br />
for third in the nation, after committing only 52<br />
errors in 58 games. In five of Servais’ six years on<br />
the bench, <strong>Creighton</strong> has finished in the top 20<br />
in the nation defensively, has finished in the top<br />
10 four times, and in the top three three times.<br />
The team’s 37 wins were the fourth year under<br />
Servais it had over 35 wins.<br />
Fundamentals played a key in the 2008 season.<br />
Besides defense, <strong>Creighton</strong> was also near<br />
the top of the nation in sacrifice bunts as well as<br />
shutouts. Individually the <strong>Bluejays</strong> featured four<br />
all-MVC picks in 2008, as Pat Venditte, Darin Ruf,<br />
Robbie Knight and Steve Winkelmann all earned<br />
accolades.<br />
In 2007, Servais led <strong>Creighton</strong> to 45 wins<br />
and the first Missouri Valley Conference Tournament<br />
Championship in school history. Servais was<br />
named the MVC Coach of the Year for the third<br />
time in four seasons as the Jays advanced to the<br />
NCAA Tournament for the second time in three<br />
years. <strong>Creighton</strong> won 26 of their final 31 games,<br />
including a memorable 10-9, 12-inning victory<br />
over 12th-ranked Wichita State in the finals of<br />
the MVC Tournament. The 2007 season saw 12<br />
school records broken and the <strong>Bluejays</strong>’ second<br />
season series victory over in-state rival Nebraska<br />
under Servais’ guidance.<br />
Individual accolades came in bunches with<br />
the successful 2007 season under Servais. Sophomore<br />
first baseman Darin Ruf was named the<br />
Joe Carter MVC Player of the Year, junior southpaw<br />
Ben Mancuso was the MVC Pitcher of the<br />
Year, and senior transfer Andy Masten was the<br />
league’s newcomer of the year. Mancuso, Masten<br />
and junior ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte<br />
both were selected to All-American teams, while<br />
freshman hurler Casey Schmidt earned Freshman<br />
All-America honors.<br />
The 2006 team finished with a record of 31-<br />
21 overall and placed fourth in the Missouri Valley<br />
Conference with a 13-11 record. Servais guided<br />
<strong>Creighton</strong> to its third-consecutive 30-win season,<br />
becoming the third coach in school history to win<br />
30 games in each of his first three seasons.<br />
In 2005, the <strong>Bluejays</strong> had one of the best<br />
seasons in school history. Servais coached the<br />
<strong>Bluejays</strong> to a 48-17 record, the school’s first-ever<br />
Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship<br />
and the team’s first NCAA postseason<br />
appearance since 2000. The squad’s 48 wins<br />
were the second-most in program history, behind<br />
only the 51 games won by the 1991 College<br />
World Series team. Servais also brought home his<br />
second MVC Coach of the Year award in as many<br />
seasons.<br />
<strong>Creighton</strong> ended the 2005 campaign nationally<br />
ranked for the first time since 2000, including<br />
a No. 28 ranking from Collegiate Baseball. Servais<br />
also led the Jays to a 5-3 victory against No.<br />
3 Nebraska in front of more than 20,000 fans at<br />
Rosenblatt Stadium during the regular season.<br />
In 2004, Servais was honored as the MVC<br />
Coach of the Year, the first time in league history<br />
it was awarded to a first-year coach. <strong>Creighton</strong>’s<br />
15-win improvement from its 2003 record was<br />
the fifth-best turnaround in the NCAA that year<br />
and the largest in the MVC since 1991. Servais led<br />
the <strong>Bluejays</strong> to 35 wins, including a school-record<br />
22 Missouri Valley Conference victories.<br />
Known as a coach who emphasizes the importance<br />
of team defense, his first season didn’t<br />
disappoint. <strong>Creighton</strong>’s .982 fielding percentage<br />
in 2004 led the country and was the second-best<br />
mark in NCAA history. In 2005, the <strong>Bluejays</strong> led<br />
the nation in double plays turned with 85 and<br />
set a team record for assists with 803. <strong>Creighton</strong><br />
led The Valley in fielding again in 2005 with a<br />
.972 fielding percentage. Since Servais took over,<br />
<strong>Creighton</strong>’s .976 overall fielding percentage, 329<br />
errors and 1.08 double plays turned per game all<br />
lead the country.<br />
Servais has coached 32 players that received<br />
All-MVC honors in his first six seasons. In addition,<br />
15 players have been named to the MVC<br />
Scholar-Athlete Team during that span. <strong>Creighton</strong>’s<br />
four selections in 2005 were the most of any<br />
Valley team.<br />
Servais was named head coach on July 29,<br />
2003 after serving as the program’s interim head<br />
coach for the previous month. He succeeded<br />
Jack Dahm, who resigned after 10 years as head<br />
coach in late June.<br />
“During Ed’s first six seasons at <strong>Creighton</strong>, he<br />
has established our baseball program as one of<br />
the most fundamentally sound, over-achieving<br />
programs in the country,” said <strong>Creighton</strong> Director<br />
of Athletics Bruce Rasmussen. “Ed is a great<br />
teacher of the game of baseball and his program<br />
has done a tremendous job of representing themselves<br />
and <strong>Creighton</strong> <strong>University</strong>.”<br />
Servais came to <strong>Creighton</strong> on August 25,<br />
1997, when Dahm named him an assistant on his<br />
[12] 2010 Cr e i g h t o n Ba s e b a l l