Coming off a sweep and in the fourth and final game of a mini home stand, Creighton faced a red-hot Kansas State team who had won eight of their last nine. The Wildcats came to play, putting up two runs in the top of the second inning. With the bases loaded, Keegan O’Connor scored on a wild pitch, and Bear Madliak brought home another with a sacrifice fly.
The Bluejays immediately answered with seven runs of their own. With runners on first and second and two outs, Connor Capece blasted a three run home run into the left field bullpen. The home team was not done there. Four straight walks, a hit by pitch and a two run single brought home three more runs to make it 7-2.
Things were quiet for a while until Lincoln, NE native AJ Evasco stepped to the plate with bases loaded in the fifth inning. He went opposite field for a grand slam, just beyond the reach of Teddy Deters. An inning and a half later Creighton scored two more on a walk and three consecutive singles.
The Wildcats threatened for a major inning in the seventh, but only came away with two as the Bluejays were able to escape trouble with a double play to stay in front.
That would be all she wrote as Shane Curtin closed out the final two innings including a 1-2-3 ninth against the middle of a potent Kansas State lineup.
Full play by play:
TOP 1 – Kansas State 0 Creighton 0
***RHP Ian Koosman pitching for Creighton***
Shintaro Inoue K (I), Dee Kennedy 1B, AJ Evasco F8 (II), Maximus Martin K (III)
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on base
BOTTOM 1 – Kansas State 0 Creighton 0
***RHP JJ Slack pitching for Kansas State***
Tate Gillen 1B, Gillen caught stealing (I), Matt Scherrman ꓘ (II), Nolan Sailors 6-3 (III)
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on base
TOP 2 – Kansas State 0 Creighton 0
Seth Dardar ꓘ (I), Keegan O’Connor HBP, Kyan Lodice 1B, Nick English BB, Bear Madliak, O’Connor scores on a wild pitch (1-0), Madliak F-7 SAC (2-0)(II), Inoue K (III)
2 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on base
BOTTOM 2 – Kansas State 2 Creighton 0
Will MacLean 2B, Nate McHugh K (I), Ben North BB, Teddy Deters (II), Connor Capece 3HR (3-2), Nick Venteicher BB, Gillen BB, Scherrman BB, Sailors BB(4-2)
***RHP Ty Ruhl pitching for Kansas State***
MacLean HBP (5-2), McHugh 2B (7-2), North ꓘ (III)
7 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on base
TOP 3 – Kansas State 2 Creighton 7
Kennedy ꓘ (I), Evasco F-5 (II), Martin K (III)
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on base
BOTTOM 3 – Kansas State 2 Creighton 7
Deters 6-3 (I), Capece E1, Venteicher BB, Fillen F-7 (II), Scherrman K (III)
0 runs, 0 hits, 1 errors, 2 left on base
TOP 4 – Kansas State 2 Creighton 7
Dardar 1-U (I), O’Connor F-9 (II), Lodice F-7 (III)
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on base
BOTTOM 4 – Kansas State 2 Creighton 7
***LHP Brody Roe pitching for Kansas State***
Sailors F-7 (I), MacLean ꓘ (II), McHugh BB, North 1B, Deters F-8 (III)
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 left on base
TOP 5 – Kansas State 2 Creighton 7
***RHP Anthony Unga pitching for Creighton***
English F-2 (I), Madliak BB, English 1B, Kennedy BB
***RHP Brendan Strenke pitching for Creighton***
Evasco 4HR (7-6), Martin HBP, Dardar F-9 (II), O’Connor K (III)
4 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base
BOTTOM 5 – Kansas State 6 Creighton 7
***RHP Tazwell Butler pitching for Kansas State***
Capece F-3 (I), Venteicher ꓘ (II), Gillen BB, Scherrman K (III)
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base
TOP 6 – Kansas State 6 Creighton 7
Lodice BB, Cadyn Karl pinch runner, Karl stole second, English BB
***RHP Joe Hauser pitching for Creighton***
Madliak 6-5-3 DP (II), Inoue K (III)
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base
BOTTOM 6 – Kansas State 6 Creighton 7
Sailors 1B, MacLean 1B, McHugh 1B (8-6)
***RHP Blake Dean pitching for Kansas State***
North 1B, Deters 4-6-3 DP (9-6)(II), Capece BB, Venteicher F-9 (III)
2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on base
TOP 7 – Kansas State 6 Creighton 7
Kennedy BB, Evasco HBP, Martin 1B, Sam Flores pinch hit, Flores 6-4-3 DP (9-7)(II), O’Connor 1B (9-8), Micah Dean pinch runner, Dean stole second, Karl F-9 (III)
2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base
BOTTOM 7 – Kansas State 8 Creighton 9
Gillen ꓘ (I), Scherrman 2B, Sailors K (II), MacLean F-7 (III)
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on base
TOP 8 – Kansas State 8 Creighton 9
***LHP Shane Curtin pitching for Creighton***
English K (I), Madliak K (II), Inoue 1B, Kennedy 2B Inoue out at home (III)
0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base
BOTTOM 8 – Kansas State 8 Creighton 9
McHugh BB, North K (I), Deters K (II), McHugh stole second, Capece F-8 (III)
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on base
TOP 9 – Kansas State 8 Creighton 9
Evasco F-8 K (I), Martin K (II), Flores 3-1 (III)
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on base
FINAL SCORE – Kansas State 8 Creighton 9
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | F | H | E | |
K-State | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 1 |
Creighton | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 0 |