WSU 12, SIU, a final. Probably sets up a must-win game for both teams tomorrow when WSU plays Missouri State. The loser must win three in two days to come back. I don’t see that either team has that much pitching left after they throw No. 2 tomorrow.
WSU 10, SIU 0 after three: Gillaspie drives in two with a single. The Shockers are bunting and running with great enthusiasm.
WSU 7, SIU 0 after two: Shockers add three with the gnat attack. Four hits, none of which, carried much past the turf.
WSU 4, SIU 0 after one: Joy’s 10th inning against WSU did not go nearly as well as the first nine this season. Tyler Weber provides the big blow with a two-run double with two outs. Mark Kelly is catching for SIU, which means we will likely see WSU run. The Shockers stole nine bases against him in the Friday game, a 10-0 win. Kelly DH’ed the next two games.
SIU-WSU is under way. The Shockers get another shot at Shawn Joy, who shut them out 3-0 earlier this season.
The MVC reprimands Conor Gillaspie. This strikes me as a little heavy-handed. When a guy can’t stick up for his coach, there’s something wrong somewhere. Reprimanding coaches is one thing. In my mind, let it go. Bringing it up again gives the media an excuse to replay the foolishness that provoked Gillaspie in the first place. Add to this to news Valley schools will play volleyball on Thanksgiving and I have to question the leadership in St. Louis.
CU 4, UNI 2, a final. Steve Winkelmann drives in two runs with a single in the top of the ninth. Winkelmann, to that point, was 0 for 3 in the game and 0 for 7 on the day. Creighton plays at 11 a.m. Friday against the WSU-SIU loser. UNI is eliminated.
UNI 2, CU 2, seventh: The Jays tie it up. Douglas added another spectacular play and saved UNI a run or two. A Creighton batter popped up a ball on the first-base side of the mound that most of the infield lost. Douglas sped past the mound and made a running one-handed catch. With two runners on and two outs, it was almost disaster for the Panthers.
UNI 2, CU 1, in the sixth: UNI coach Rick Heller is looking smart for throwing Taylor Sinclair yesterday and using Derek Ott today. To this point, it is working. Ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte is in for the Jays, with a runner on first and no outs. Brandon Douglas has made two sparkling plays at short for the Panthers. If he can stay healthy, the Panthers may have some life left in this tournament.
Let’s take a look at an idea for the MVC Tournament that Creighton SID Rob Anderson came up with. It is a six-team field but with more of a pool-play look than brackets. It guarantees each team three games and no more than four. No crazy doubleheaders, like Creighton is doing now. No burning through a whole pitching staff. No one-day stays like Bradley had.
For example, the top seed will play the No. 4, 5 and 6 seeds. The No. 2 seed will play No. 3, 5 and 6. The No. 6 seed will play No. 1, 2 and 3. Those games are played, three a day, for three days. On the fourth day, the top two teams play a championship game.
The plan may need some tweaking. Determining tiebreakers will be a chore. You’re going to have some meaningless games on the third day. And you’re going to have a 2-1 team beat a 3-0 team in the championship. But it seems like a system that is worth looking into. The six-team bracket is unwieldy and often unfair, no matter how it is set up. Bringing eight MVC teams to the tournament makes no sense to anybody but coaches. Do we really need to see the seventh and eighth-place teams? No. If six teams are the way to go, this might be a way to do it.
UNI-CU is on. Panther SS Brandon Douglas just doubled and looked better running to second than he did Wednesday. A groin injury is bothering him. Too bad that fans don’t get to see him at full power.
MSU 9, CU 5, a final: The Bluejays play at 3 p.m. against Northern Iowa. MSU advances to Friday’s 3 p.m. game against the WSU-SIU winner.
Pitching change: MSU 8, CU 3. The Bluejays thought they had a double play to end the inning with no damage. Instead, the runner at second was called safe on a close play. An intentional walk and three singles later, MSU is up by five runs and still batting.
MSU 4, CU 3 after four: The Bears knock out CU starter Mike Nihsen with two doubles and three runs.
CU 3, MSU 1, bottom of the fourth: Four straight singles, a passed ball, wild pitch and error give the Jays three runs.
1-0 after three. Both teams wasted bases-loaded opportunities.
MSU 1, CU 0, bottom of the second: MSU’s Nolan Keane drove in Ben Woodbury with a single. Clubb has given up two hits and four runners.
Creighton vs. Missouri State is under way. Creighton had runners on first and third against MSU pitcher Tim Clubb. It is the first time in 17 2/3 innings Clubb faced more than one runner on base. MSU turned a double play to get out of the inning.