2011 Baseball - Creighton University Bluejays

third game.Two Big 12 games were sandwichedinto the middle of the conference season.The Jays used 15 hits, including four by ElliotSoto, to bash Nebraska 13-5 at HaymarketPark. Creighton then faced Kansasat Rosenblatt Stadium, and the Jayhawkspicked up their second win of the seasonover the Jays with a 5-4 victory.Returning to conference play, Creightonhosted Illinois State, falling to the surgingRedbirds in three straight. Illinois Statesqueezed out a 7-6 win in the opener, thenrelied on clutch hitting in posting 5-2 and6-2 wins in the final games. It was one ofCreighton’s two three game sweeps in theconference season last year, with the othercoming to Wichita State.The Jays then bounced back and tooktwo of three games at Bradley behindstrong pitching performances by JonasDufek and Ty Blach. Creighton won gamesone and three, 7-5 and 12-3 respectively,and fell 8-4 in the middle game. Trever Adamshad a big series at the plate, collectingfour hits and driving in six runs.Another win against Nebraska, thistime at home, gave the Jays a small breakfrom conference play. Creighton tooktwo-of-three from the Huskers in the 2010season, falling in the finale 21-5. The finalgame was played at Rosenblatt in front of aseason high 9,154 fans.The Jays opened their league series atMissouri State with their third straight win,with Trever Adams going 3-for-4 at the platein an 8-2 victory. The Bears came back toclaim the second game 5-4, and thenclinched the series with a wild 6-5 winin the third game. Creighton outhitMissouri State 19-15 in the final twogames, but were unable to overcomea costly defensive breakdown in eachgame.The Jays continued their up anddown season, finishing out the monthof April with two losses to Air Force(4-3 and 6-2) and a win at home overIowa (15-10). Creighton was 19-17and 6-9 going into the month of Mayand a home series against Evansville.The Final StretchCreighton played host to bothEvansville and Wichita State to finishout the regular season, and trueto form with the season, split the sixgames. The Jays swept Evansville, puttingtogether its season-best four-game winningstreak in the process. Jonas Dufek limitedEvansville to two runs in eight innings ofa 3-2 victory in the opener. Ty Blach followedthat up with another strong effort,limiting the Purple Aces to one earned runin six innings of a 7-3 win in the secondgame. Brandon Koenigstein then threwa complete-game victory in the finale asthe Jays pounded out a 15-5 win in a gameshortened to seven innings by the mercyrule.Wichita State snapped Creighton’s winningstreak with an 8-0 win in the openinggame of their series in Omaha. The Shockers,who wound up tying for the regularseasontitle, posted 8-3 and 8-7 victoriesin the final two games to complete thesweep.Creighton closed the regular seasonwith seven non-conference games. TheJays lost the series opener to Seattle butbounced back with 3-2 and 3-1 wins. Aftergetting hammered by Nebraska, Creightonwon the first two games of its series withNew Orleans 10-1 and 14-8. The Privateersthen spoiled the Jays’ last game atRosenblatt Stadium with an 11-5 win thatleft Creighton 26-23 heading into the MVCTournament.It’s Tournament TimeAs is true in all of sports, when thetournament comes around, it is anybodiesgame. This season, unfortunately, it wasn’tCreighton’s. The Jays met up with IndianaState in the opening game, falling 8-7 in 10innings. The Sycamores used an infield hit,a sacrifice and two more singles to pushacross the winning run in the bottom ofthe 10th.2011 Baseball2010 Season RecapCreighton then met up with Bradleyfor the fourth time in the season, winningon a two out ralley in the bottom of the12th. Carson Vitale reached on a two-outwalk. Jimmy Swift then was hit by a pitch,advancing Vitale to second. Michael Blatchfordthen drove in the winning run on asingle to the left side.Indiana State then ended Creighton’sseason at 27-25 with a 9-7 victory the nextday.RecappingCreighton had four players named toall-MVC teams, with Elliot Soto and JonasDufek taking home second team honorsand Carson Vitale and Trever Adams gaininghonorable mention.Bluejay senior outfielder TJ Roemmichwas named to the MVC Scholar-AthleteFirst-Team, his third time being named tothe Scholar-Athlete team, but his first as afirst-teamer. Freshman Ty Blach was alsogiven postseason accolades, earning thirdteamFreshman All-American honors byPingBaseball.com.The Jays had two players drafted inthe MLB draft, with Elliot Soto taken in the15th round by the Chicago Cubs and CarsonVitale going in the 38th round to theTexas Rangers.Creighton again played stellar defensively,finishing the season ranked secondin the NCAA in fielding percentage (.980)and first in errors committed (just 41 errorsin 52 games.)The Jays return a strong group of experiencedplayers to the 2011 season, includingJonas Dufek and Ty Blach on the moundand Trever Adams leading the offensivecharge. Creighton opens the season onFebruary 19th at the USA Baseball nationaltraining center in Cary, NC.Creighton Baseball Meet the Staff Meet the Players Opponents 2010 in Review Records and History This is Creighton63