Creighton University
9-16, 1-1
St. John's
22-4, 1-1
Brinkman, Luevano & Landuyt Deliver Big Hits to lift Baseball to 7-4 Win Over #14 St. John's
4/8/2017 10:06:00 PM | Baseball
Jeff Albrecht limits Red Storm to two runs in eight inning gem
Creighton evened the series with the Red Storm, moving to 9-16 on the season and 1-1 in BIG EAST play, while St. John's fell to 22-4 overall and 1-1 in conference action.
Trailing 2-0 after the Red Storm pushed two across in the opening frame, senior Riley Landuyt sparked the Bluejay offense in the fourth after getting hit by a pitch. Freshman Will Robertson drew a walk to put two on, then two outs later freshman Parker Upton beat out an infield single to load the bags for Brinkman. The Illinois native smashed a 1-1 pitch just inside the third base line to give Creighton its first lead of the game.
With the lead in hand, senior Jeff Albrecht set St. John's down on just three pitches in the fifth inning to give the Bluejay dugout even more energy.
Creighton used that momentum in the sixth as Upton bounced a leadoff single to center. One out later freshman Isaac Collins was hit by a pitch, then sophomore Thomas Luevano smashed a two-run triple to right center to push Creighton out to a 5-2 edge.
St. John's battled back to put a run on the board in the seventh, but Creighton continued to mash. The Bluejays tacked on two more runs in the eighth, as Luevano and sophomore Michael Emodi were both hit by a pitch with one down. After a double steal put both runners in scoring position, Landuyt made the Red Storm pay with a two-run double to left center as Creighton bolted out to a 7-3 edge.
Albrecht carried the Bluejays into the ninth with a career-high 8.0 innings, tossing 105 pitches to earn the win (4-3). He limited St. John's to three runs (two earned on nine hits and one walk, while striking out seven. Bluejay closer David Geber worked out of a bases loaded jam in the ninth as the Red Storm collected four singles in the frame before seeing a grounder to second end the game.Â
St. John's starter Jeff Belge took the loss (3-1), allowing three runs on four hits, four walks and two hit batters in 4.2 innings of work.
Landuyt led the Creighton offense as he reached four times in five trips to the dish. He closed the contest 2-for-3 with two RBI, one walk and was hit once. In total six Bluejays reached after getting hit in the contest.
The Bluejays and Red Storm will play the rubber game of their three-game series on Sunday, April 9 at 12:00 pm.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Albrecht, Jeff (4-3)
L: BELGE, Jeff (3-1)
Batting:
3B: BERARDI, Jesse 1
RBI: DONADIO, Michael 1 ; BERARDI, Jesse 1 ; BROCATO, Anthony 1
Base Running:
RUNS: VALENTE, John 2 ; BERARDI, Jesse 1 ; GALAZIN, Jamie 1
SB: BERARDI, Jesse 1 ; BROCATO, Anthony 1
Batting:
2B: Brinkman, Clark 1 ; Landuyt, Riley 2 ; Only, Bryce 1
3B: Luevano, Thomas 1
RBI: Brinkman, Clark 3 ; Luevano, Thomas 2 ; Landuyt, Riley 2
SH: Brinkman, Clark 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Collins, Isaac 1 ; Luevano, Thomas 1 ; Emodi, Michael 1 ; Landuyt, Riley 1 ; Robertson, Will 1 ; Upton, Parker 2
SB: Luevano, Thomas 1 ; Emodi, Michael 1
HBP: Collins, Isaac 1 ; Luevano, Thomas 1 ; Emodi, Michael 1 ; Landuyt, Riley 1 ; Allbery, Jason 2
