CU vs. NU Round II

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CU vs. NU Round II

Post by Coyote »

Anybody else going to the game tonight?
OWH wrote: Jays glad to get another shot at NU

Hardly a word was spoken on Creighton's hourlong bus ride last Tuesday night from Haymarket Park in Lincoln to the CU campus.

The Bluejays had suffered a 10-2 loss to Nebraska, coming within four outs of being no-hit by Husker freshman Johnny Dorn. Nebraska had scored six runs in the second inning to strip any drama from the first of the teams' three annual meetings.

"We all felt pretty bad about what happened," Creighton Coach Ed Servais said. "But one of the good things about baseball is that you don't have to wait too long before you get another opportunity to prove yourself.

"I know all of our guys are eager to show that we have a little more fight in us than we showed that night."

The Bluejays get another shot at the No. 4 and 17 Huskers tonight when the rivalry shifts to Rosenblatt Stadium for a 6:30 game that will be televised by NET1. Creighton Ticket Manager T.J. Issacs said school officials are hoping for a crowd of 6,000 to 7,000, if the weather holds.

Creighton bounced back from last week's debacle to win two of three games from Southern Illinois to stay atop the Missouri Valley Conference.

Meanwhile, Nebraska steamrolled Oklahoma State to sweep a three-game Big 12 series, run its winning streak to six and raise its record to 25-3, with the best winning percentage in the country (.893).

Creighton brings a 22-7 record into the game. In spite of what transpired in the first meeting, Nebraska players and coaches will take nothing for granted tonight.

"Last week's game means nothing," Nebraska Coach Mike Anderson said. "You start over. It's nine innings, a new game. Our guys are excited about it. It's a great environment."

The Huskers know they will play at least one more game at Rosenblatt this season when they visit May 10 for a third game against Creighton. Given Nebraska's start this season, the Huskers are beginning to look like a team with potential to end the season in Omaha.

Nebraska appeared in the College World Series in 2001 and 2002.

"That's your dream, to play at Rosenblatt in June," Nebraska outfielder Jesse Boyer said. "Anytime we get on that field, it has that great atmosphere. You get giddy like a little kid again, just hoping that you're going to be there later in the year.

"I don't want to look ahead. Coach Anderson has been preaching about taking it day by day, and we are. But we have eight seniors who really want this. It definitely puts a bounce in our step to be there."

Creighton also has a veteran team, and the Bluejays' eight seniors have set their sights on ending the season in the NCAA tournament. Creighton has not qualified for regionals since 2000, when most current Bluejay seniors were juniors in high school.

CU second baseman Tony Roth said the Jays "didn't play with much energy" last week against NU.

"We sat back and waited for things to happen instead of taking the action to them," Roth said. "It was definitely disappointing, and we're all looking forward to another opportunity.

"Rosenblatt is a good place to play, and hopefully there will be a big crowd there. The ball is in our court, you might say, and we have to come out and play better than we did last week."

Creighton plans to start sophomore Teddy Ogilvie (1-1, 3.15 ERA) tonight. After a shaky start in which he gave up seven runs in his first 12/3 innings, the right-hander has allowed just two runs in his last 181/3 innings over eight appearances.

Servais would like to get a couple of innings out of Ogilvie and intends to use several pitchers in relief.

Nebraska plans to pitch senior right-hander Phil Shirek (3-0, 1.99 ERA). In 151/3 innings in three career appearances against Creighton, Shirek has a 1-0 record, a 0.59 ERA and one save.

The Huskers got two complete games against Oklahoma State and used just one reliever against OSU, Dustin Timm, who pitched 31/3 innings Friday.

Creighton also got solid starting pitching in its weekend series against Southern Illinois. The Bluejays' bullpen worked 112/3 innings against the Salukis and did not allow a run.

"The guys in our bullpen have been throwing really well," Servais said. "We have a lot of options."

CU vs. NU, Round Two

Where: Rosenblatt Stadium
When: Tonight at 6:35
Radio: KFAB (1110 AM), KOSR (1490 AM)
Television: NET
Records: Nebraska 25-3, Creighton 22-7.
Rankings: Nebraska No. 4 by Collegiate Baseball, No. 17 by Baseball America. Creighton is unranked.
Tickets: $10, $8 and $6.
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Post by DTO Luv »

Punch a Husker fan for me Coyote. :)
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Post by OmahaDevelopmentMan »

Its too bad this wasn't at Creighton in the afternoon like it had been since forever! Now the Jays screwed themselves into basically playing 3 away games(crowd wise) against Nebraska, rather than a home, away, and "neutral". Anyway GO JAYS!
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Post by OmahaDevelopmentMan »

I wonder why you hate us... our basketball team has only won something like 9 out of the last 10. Oh and our baseball team will steal a game or two in baseball. I think our softball team and soccer team beats on you too. Just be glad Creighton doesn't play football....5-6 5-6 5-6!
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Post by OmahaRules »

I thought I saw the score 4-3 Creighton?
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Post by Coyote »

OmahaRules wrote:I thought I saw the score 4-3 Creighton?
Yes - I just got back from the game - CU won it in the bottom of the 9th inning. It started out like the last game. NU went to a 3 run lead while CU was held hitless - but then CU wasn't going to lose this game - they put in all their starters - being a Tuesday game they could do this. 2/3 of the crowd was red. But when CU came through they were as loud as the Huskers. 7012 attendance

GoCreighton.com wrote: Baseball Rallies Late, Upends #4 Huskers, 4-3

OMAHA, Neb. – Pinch-hitter Matt Daeges hit a one-out double in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting Creighton (23-7) past #4 Nebraska (25-4), 4-3, before 7,012 fans at Rosenblatt Stadium. The ninth inning tally capped a comeback from a 3-0 deficit and tied the season series with NU at one apiece heading into the team's May 10th rubber match at Rosenblatt Stadium.

With one out in the ninth, Gabe Lapito singled to left field. Running on a 1-1 pitch, Daeges poked the ball the opposite way, past NU's diving third baseman Alex Gordon. Lapito never stopped running, capping his sprint home with a headfirst slide that preceded a wild celebration at the plate by the hometown Bluejays.

The Cornhuskers wasted no time getting on the board, scoring one run off CU starter Teddy Ogilvie in the top of the first. Jesse Boyer pulled the game’s second pitch into the right field corner for a leadoff triple. One out later, NU All-American Alex Gordon singled through the right side to make it 1-0.

Gordon also drove home NU’s second run in the top of the third frame. Back-to-back walks to Jesse Boyer and Joe Simokaitis with two outs started the rally. Gordon then ripped a single into right field to make it 2-0 and move Simokaitis to third. Simokaitis would come around to score on Brandon Fusilier’s double that landed on the warning track just inside the left-field line.

CU broke through in the bottom of the third off Nebraska starter Phil Shirek. With two outs, Chase Odenreider broke up the no-hitter with a double to left. Colin Shockey followed that with a double to left that scored Odenreider. Both Shockey and Odenreider are Creighton players who started their careers at Nebraska.

The Bluejays continued their comeback in the sixth inning by scoring another run before NU set-up man Dustin Timm escaped a jam. Odenreider singled to left to open the inning, ending Shirek’s night. Shockey then pushed a perfectly placed bunt past NU reliever Tony Watson. Following a sacrifice bunt by Brad Dutton and intentional walk to Tony Roth, Zach Daeges was walked to force home Odenreider. Timm was then summoned from the bullpen and ended the threat with a strikeout of Dan Norquist and a fly out by Tony Daniel.

Creighton tied the score in the bottom of the seventh against Timm. Lapito was hit to lead off the inning. One out later, he raced to third on a slow-rolling, seeing-eye single through the right side by Odenreider. Lapito scored on a sacrifice fly from Shockey.

Ace CU reliever Scott Reese worked out of a major jam in the top of the ninth. Boyer fought back from an 0-2 count to coax a walk with one out. After moving to second on a groundout, CU elected to intentionally walk Gordon. Fusilier’s slow grounder to short was bobbled by Dutton, but he regrouped to force Gordon at second on a bang-bang play. That got the CU fans on their feet heading to the bottom of the ninth and setting the stage for Daeges' dramatics.

Reese improved his MVC-best record to 8-0 with 2.1 innings of scoreless relief. Timm fell to 2-1 with the defeat.

Creighton returns to action on Friday when it hosts SMS at 7 pm. The Missouri Valley Conference game will be played at Rosenblatt Stadium and be televised in Omaha on Metro 23.

NOTES: Nebraska has now scored in the first inning in 18 of its 29 games this season, outscoring the opposition 32-6 in that frame this year …Ogilvie’s only start in 24 previous appearances came in Creighton’s 6-4 win over the Huskers in Lincoln on April 20, 2004…Creighton’s third-inning run off Phil Shirek was the Jays’ first at Rosenblatt vs. an NU starter since 2001, a span of 21 straight innings pitched by NU starters …The crowd of 7,012 fans was the largest home crowd of the year for Creighton ...Six of Creighton's seven hits were by former Nebraska transfers (Odenreider 3, M. Daeges 1, Shockey 2).
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Post by Coyote »

Omaha=yum wrote:... I always thought it would be possible to cheer for both teams until I was physically threatened by a Creighton fan at a party once in Omaha. No offense to you good Creighton fans, but the bad ones have overshadowed you in my life.
Unfortunately this happens more than it should - the little brother syndrome. A few CU fans can only feel good by being NU bashers. Small private school vs large state school. Large city vs. smaller town. Personally these games are hard for me since I am a CU grad and a rabid sports and Husker fan from birth. I applauded for both teams. There were some great plays for both sides. I would hope that people could support 2 teams and be proud we have two D1 Nebraska schools that make the press. Let's go back to hating the schools that are supposed to be hated - e.g. the Miami Hurricanes and the Oklahoma Schooners.
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Post by DTO Luv »

I saw that last play of the game on tv and it was beutiful. :D

And why the heck is it that jsut because we're in Nebraska we should automatically like the Huskers? And why do people feel the need to be a bi-fan when it comes to UNL and CU? Just because you have more than one team in your state doesn't mean you should like them all the same. Creighton is an Omaha team and I hope more people start to identify with them as Omaha's team.
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Post by eomaha »

I'm not sure what's worse... fair weather Nebraska fans... or 'I could care less about baseball... but it's cool the team from Omaha won' fans.
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Post by Omaha Cowboy »

It was good to se Creighton even the score with NU..

A nice healthy rivalry..

..Ciao..LiO....Peace
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Post by Finn »

Rubber game May 10th!
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Post by GoWest »

jhuston wrote:I'm not sure what's worse... fair weather Nebraska fans... or 'I could care less about baseball... but it's cool the team from Omaha won' fans.
I'm not sure why either is considered bad. It's just something people do for entertainment. The only time I get offended when someone cheers for a team other than mine is in war.
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Post by Hawkeye »

CU evened the season series with Nebraska, so now it's on to Iowa v. Nebraska tonight!

Okay, sure, the odds are very good that the Hawks will get crushed, especially since Nebraska wants to get back on its winning ways after losing to the Jays.

BUT even just staying competitive against the Huskers would really do wonders for Jack Dahm's reclamation project in Iowa City. And a win would be absolutely amazing.

Anyway, the game is televised on CSTV (Channel 610 on DirecTV) tonight at 6:00 in case anyone is interested.

GO HAWKS! :P
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Post by custudent »

I'm not going to deny that some CU fans do suffer from an inferiority complex. We have a rich history of athletic success having nothing to do with UNL and we don't need to validate ourselves against them.

That said, on the other hand, you have some Husker fans that either are so full of arrogance about their percieved superiority over Creighton or are so full of righteous indignation that there are some in this state, from this state, that aren't Husker fans. Both situations are unfortunate, but they do exist.

It was a great night at the old ballpark. About 7k were in attendance and about 1/3rd was Bluejay fans. Us Creighton students got into this game for free with our ID cards and there was a very good turnout. We all sat in the yellow GA seats down the 3rd base line. There were Husker fans all around us and it lent itself to smack talk going all game long. Nothing vulgar or obscene, but good natured ribbing (I shook hands with one of the Husker fans in front of us after the game- classy move).

I said before that this team was too veteran and proud to allow the debacle of last Tuesday to repeat itself, and they did. It was a combination of a gutty collective pitching performance (especially by Reese and Bird) and clutch offensive production by our former Huskers. This is a very good Jays team. We had the leader in the MVC and the co-leader in the Big XII square off the and Valley boys came away with the win.

It'll be interesting to see where both teams sit come time for the final game in May. However, for those Jays fans on this board, I will remind you all we're not done at the Blatt this week. :D We bring in SMS on Friday night and we'll get the big park all to ourselves. I'm hoping for a strong turnout, especially by my fellow students.
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Post by OmahaDevelopmentMan »

OmahaDevelopmentMan wrote:I wonder why you hate us... our basketball team has only won something like 9 out of the last 10. Oh and our baseball team will steal a game or two in baseball. I think our softball team and soccer team beats on you too. Just be glad Creighton doesn't play football....5-6 5-6 5-6!
Sorry to any Husker fans I upset when reading this. I was too caught up in the moment of winning and getting revenge I just ranted on.
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