JAYS FAIL TO BUNT A SINGLE TIME, LOSE 4-0

Last night we were treated to an intracity ballgame between Omaha and Creighton. Tonight we bore witness to an intrastate rivalry as the Nebraska Cornchuckers made the ~45 minute drive east to Omaha to take on the aforementioned Bluejays.

What transpired was a series of poor offensive sets by the Bluejays as they chose to swing away instead of playing their usual small ball. This resulted in double play after double play, creating a nauseating display of new age and generic baseball, forcing the viewer to look around aimlessly and ask, simply, “where’s the bunts?”

Creighton starter Austin Stroschein was solid but unspectacular, tossing 4.1 innings of 5 hit, 3 run ball. He started out a bit unbalanced as he allowed back to back hits in the first and second innings, yet over that same span collected 5 strikeouts.

Stroschein gave up his first earned run in the third when he issued a lead-off walk to Altavilla, then gave up a single to Schreiber. Altavilla would come around to score on an attempted double play by the Jays; yet the relay to first would come a bit tardy.

1-0, Cornchuckers.

After a scoreless fourth, Stroschein suffered the remaining two earned runs against him in the top of the fifth. Stroschein would give out a meat unit to Meyers; Meyers would advance to second on a passed ball, then proceed home on a single by Altavilla. Stroschein then threw one past his catcher Michael Emodi, allowing Altavilla to take 2nd.

Stroschein would go on to strike out Schreiber, but his day would end there, with lefty Brennan Hammer taking over on the hill. After allowing a single to Miller, Altavilla would come around to score on a lineout by Roskam.

3-0, Cornchuckers.

Where Creighton had issues leaving runners on base last night, they had no such issue tonight considering all the double plays the hit into. I’m supposed to give credit to Nebraska’s defense or their pitching at this point but I’d rather not, sorry.

Creighton’s stable of relievers ended up being pretty amazing tonight, all things considered, especially if you consider the most recent history of game three between these two teams.

After Stroschein was credited with those 3 earned runs, the remainder of the Bluejay bullpen allowed just one run on five hits over the next 4.2 innings. Mitch Boyer, a relatively green arm that’s been encased in plastic wrap since mid-March, has become a formidable arm out of the pen in his last two appearances. He’s been mighty impressive, which bodes well for the bullpen depth as Creighton inches closer to the post season.

Along with Boyer was Grant Spranger and Houston Glad throwing some relief innings. Though Spranger gave up a run and handed the ball to Houston Glad with the bases loaded, he managed to strike out a batter and was working the zone pretty well. Glad cleaned up his mess - no outs, bases chucked - and walked away with nary a run scored.

Creighton drops to 22-19 on the year and take on McNeese State this weekend in a non-conference three game set.

Stats!!!

CREIGHTON

NEBRASKA