March 19, 2008

Box Score

OMAHA, Neb. - For the second straight day, the Creighton baseball team hit a home run to take a late lead they would never relinquish against Northern Colorado. The Bears dropped the game, 8-5 to fall to 5-13 on the season, while the Bluejays improve to 13-4.

Northern Colorado got on the scoreboard first, scoring two runs in the second inning. Junior Kevin Sandberg singled to lead off the inning and moved to second on a single by Chad Murray. Cory Morales singled through the left side to load the bases and an Andy Mees single scored two.

The lead held until the bottom of the third when the Bluejays scored two to tie the score. They scored another pair in the fourth for the 4-2 advantage. In the top of the sixth, the Bears tied the score at 4-4 with two were plated.

Morales led off with a single to left field and scored two batters later on an Erik Hegstad home run. The Bears again took the lead with one run in the seventh. Sandberg singled and moved to third with a Murray double to center and scored when Erik Whinery singled through the right side.

A two-run homer by Darin Ruf in the seventh put Creighton back on top and an inside the park home run by Michael Lam in the eighth gave the Bluejays the 8-5 victory.

Jason Banks pitched a great first six innings for the Bears, allowing four runs on five hits with four walks and eight strikeouts. Matt Buck faced three batters in the seventh inning, giving up two runs on one hit with one walk and a hit-batsman. Sean Peery pitched the final two innings, giving up two runs on two hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

Creighton used five pitchers. T.J. Roemmich picked up the victory and Kevin Dooley got his second save in as many days.

The Bears do not get any rest as they travel to Tempe, Ariz., to face top-ranked Arizona State tomorrow in the Bob Schaefer Memorial Tournament at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark. #1 Arizona State, Florida International and #5 UC Irvine are competing in the tournament.