OMAHA, Neb. - Creighton swept a doubleheader against the University of New Orleans on Friday afternoon at the CU Sports Complex, claiming a 10-1 win in the opening half of the twinbill before closing out the sweep with a 14-8 victory.
In the opener, the CU (26-22) pitching staff limited UNO (12-39) to just three hits, which included retiring 22 of the final 23 Privateer batters faced in the contest. Jonas Dufek (8-3) picked up the win for the Blue Jays pitching two innings and allowing one run on two hits.
The bullpen took over from there as Ty Blach allowed one hit in his three innings of work before four pitchers worked an inning apiece with not a single UNO player being credited with a base hit.
Of the three Privateer hits in the game,
Nolan Church had two, batting 2-for-3 at the plate while accounting for the lone UNO run on a solo home run in the second inning. The home run was Church's fourth on the season.
The Blue Jays totaled 12 hits in the game and handed the loss to
Andrew Richardson (1-4), who worked six innings, allowing six runs - four earned - on nine hits, while striking out six.
After scoring two runs in the first thanks to a UNO error, CU did not score again until a T.J. Roemmich home run in the fifth inning. The blast, his seventh of the year, started a string of five straight plate appearances where the Blue Jays added at least one run to their tally.
In the second game of the twinbill, CU's Jimmy Swift was 3-for-5 with three runs scored and Alex Staehely tallied 5 RBIs as the host Blue Jays stormed out to a 5-0 run in the first inning.
Despite churning out 13 hits in the game, CU needed just one hit in order for the five runs to come across in the frame, taking advantage of two Privateer errors, three walks, a hit batter and a catcher's interference call.
After having just three hits in the first game, UNO equaled the mark in the second inning of the second game, scoring two runs on three hits. A
Matt Heltz two-run double scored
Craig Schnell and
Kyle Maldonado, who both reached base on hits.
Up 5-2 in the third, CU doubled their run production to 10 runs by the end of the fourth inning with three runs in the third and a pair in the fourth to take a 10-2 lead.
The Privateers cut into the deficit with three runs in the sixth and one in the seventh as
Alan Harris had an RBI in each of the innings. The Blue Jays were not done, scoring a pair of runs in the sixth and eighth to move ahead 14-6.
Mike Petello closed out the scoring with a two-run home run in the ninth, rounding out a 2-for-5 performance in the game. Harris and Schnell also had two hits apiece for the Privateers, who totaled 12 in the game.
Brandon Koenigstein (5-2) was the winner, allowing two runs on three hits in five innings. The bullpen struggled after a strong first game, by allowing six runs on nine hits over the final four innings of play.
John Pivach dropped to 0-9 on the season for the Privateers, giving up 10 runs - six earned - over four innings of work. The senior pitcher, who was making his final appearance for the Privateers, allowed seven hits, while striking out two and walking four.
UNO and CU will play the final game of their three-game series on Saturday at 12 p.m. at Rosenblatt Stadium, home of the College World Series.
The season finale for the Privateers will represent the program's first contest at Rosenblatt since the team became the first Louisiana squad to compete in the CWS at the conclusion of the 1984 season.
