2011 Baseball - Creighton University Bluejays

Records and History 2010 in Review Opponents Meet the Players Meet the Staff Creighton BaseballThis is Creighton62Creighton Bluejays2010 Season RecapThe BeginningA seventh straight winning season forhead coach Ed Servais highlighted an average2010 season for the Creighton baseballteam. The season marked the first time inhis Creighton career that Servais’ teamdidn’t surpass the 30-win mark.The Jays finished the season with a27-25 record, going 1-2 in the MissouriValley Conference Tournament. Creighton’sschedule pitted the Jays against fourNCAA Tournament teams from the 2009season in Kansas, Kansas State, Minnesotaand Wichita State (the Jays finished 2-5against the four teams) and also saw theJays say goodbye to their “home away fromhome” Rosenblatt Stadium.Seven of Creighton’s opponents werefirst-time foes, including four of the firstfive schools the Jays played. Creightonalso welcomed Seattle and New Orleansto Omaha for first-time meetings to closeout the regular season. The Jays finishedthe season 7-4 against the first-time opponents.Creighton’s longest winning streak ofthe season was four games, a stretch fromApril 28-May 2. All four games were playedat home and Creighton outscored opponents40-20 during the streak. On the flipside,Creighton had three four-game losingstreaks, all three of which included MVCregular season games.Opening on the RoadCreighton had its goals set high enteringthe season opener against SIU-Edwardsvilleon February 20 at Central Arkansas.Creighton returned six starters and all butone starting pitcher from the 31-25 2009team. The Jays’ nucleus included five playersthat had earned All-MVC recognition in2009 - Elliot Soto (first team, short stop),Jack VanLeur (first team, relief pitcher),Robbie Knight (second team, outfield), andT.J. Roemmich and Bobby Lackovic, honorablemention outfield and relief pitcher, respectively.It didn’t take long for the team to showoff its potential, shutting out the Cougars22-0. The Jays had one of the best outputsof the season, blasting 22 hits and holdingSIU-Edwardsville to just three. Creightonthen defeated host Central Arkansas 3-2.The two games were the first of 18straight road games the Jays played toopen the season. Creighton actually playedsome of its best baseball on the road, going13-6 in true road contests compared to a10-14 record at home. The Jays were 4-5in neutral site games.The Jays dropped their first game ofthe season in the Stephen F. Austin Invitationalin Nacagdoches, Texas, falling 8-7 toNorthwestern State before bouncing backpost a 9-8, 10-inning victory over the hostschool.Splits were the theme in the BearkatInvitational in Huntsville, Texas, whereCreighton took on Sam Houston Stateand Northern Colorado. Creighton wonboth games on opening day of the tournament,defeating Sam Houston State 6-5and Northern Colorado 15-8. NorthernColorado came back the next day to post a10-3 win, and Creighton closed the tournamentwith an 11-10 loss to Sam HoustonState. Still, the Jays scored 34 runs in thefour games, giving positive hope to an offensivelydriven season.A final win in Texas endedthe season opening stretch inthe Lone Star State, as the Jaysdefeated UT Arlington 11-5and improved their early seasonrecord to 6-3.Creighton then headed upnorth to play in the MetrodomeTournament in Minneapolis,Minn. The Jays openedthe tournament with a 4-2 winover South Dakota State andfollowed with a 6-4 triumphover Minnesota. Harvard deniedCreighton a tournamentsweep in posting a 5-2 victory.The 2-1 showing left the Jayssporting an 8-4 record headinginto a meeting with 25thrankedKansas State.The Jays pulled out a 7-4 win in Manhattan,Kan. Carson Vitale’s two run homerun highlighted a four-run eighth inningthat carried the Jays to their ninth win ofthe season.Road games with Illinois-Chicago andKansas finished out the opening portion ofthe season, with Creighton riding a solidclosing performance by Brandon Koenigsteinto defeat Illinois-Chicago 13-10 in 11innings but then falling 5-4 at Big 12 opponentKansas.The Jays were sitting at 11-5 going intoconference play, with Jonas Dufek, MarkWinkelman and Brandon Koenigstein eachundefeated on the mound while the offenseoutscored opponents 122-87.Conference Play StartsCreighton played four of its 2010 MissouriValley Conference regular season seriesat home and three away. Creightonfinished the regular season 9-12 in conferenceplay, earning the No. 6 seed in theState Farm MVC Tournament in Whchita,Kan.Continuing the trend of playing awayfrom home, the Jays opened conferenceplay at Southern Illinois. Creighton wonthe first two games of the series 4-2 and2-1. The Jays looked poised to earn thesweep, coming from behind to tie the gameat four in the ninth, but left two runners onbase and couldn’t hold off a Saluki’s rallyin the bottom of the 11th. Creighton lost4-5, and finished the month of March witha 12-6 record overall and a 2-1 mark in theValley.The Jays opened April by welcomingIndiana State to Omaha, dropping the firsttwo games 8-5 and 5-3 in 10 innings beforebouncing back to post a 7-6 win in Sunday’s