April 17, 2009
Box Score
OMAHA, Neb.- The UIC baseball team committed five errors, all of which came during Creighton's multi-run innings, in a 9-4 road loss at CU Sports Complex on Friday.
The Flames (16-16) had a four-game winning streak snapped.
Adam Worthington allowed just three earned runs in six innings for his seventh quality outing in eight starts.
Chris Rutta went 2-for-3 with a two-run double.
The Bluejays (20-17) scored five runs in the second, an inning in which UIC made three errors.
T.J. Roemmich led off the Creighton portion of the second with a single, and Jimmy Swift's sacrifice bunt attempt was field by Worthington, who opted to go to second. But the umpire called Roemmich safe, and the Bluejays followed a second straight sacrifice bunt with three consecutive run-scoring singles to go up 3-0.
It appeared the Flames would get out of the inning on a double-play ground ball to second hit by Elliott Soto, but a throwing error by shortstop Andy Leonard toward first base allowed another run to score, and on the next play a ball bounced through the legs of second baseman Tony Altavilla to give Soto enough time to score from second.
An error in center by Steve McGuiggan later in the inning put a pair of runners in scoring position. The bases were loaded when a Worthington pitch hit Roemmich, but the UIC starter escaped further damage by inducing Swift to fly out to right.
The momentum seemed to turn in the Flames' favor after that disastrous second. Four consecutive one-out hits in the fourth plated a pair of UIC runs, both coming on Rutta's bases-loaded double to right. The Flames nearly had a third on that play, but Jake Carr was called out on his slide at the plate.
UIC scored again in the fifth on Jason Ganek's RBI squeeze bunt to get within two, and the Flames threatened again in the sixth after back-to-back one-out walks to Rutta and Steven Humble before Rafael Garcia grounded into an inning-ending twin-killing.
Worthington was lights-out throughout the rest of his outing, keeping Creighton off the scoreboard during his final four innings of work and retiring the last seven hitters he faced.
Eric Wyman was summoned from the bullpen to pitch the seventh, but like Worthington's fate in the second, the sophomore reliever endured some tough luck on defense. Vicente Cafaro was hit by Wyman's second offering to lead off the inning, and an error on Roemmich's sac bunt put two on. Swift than hit a slow dribbler down the third base line that he beat out for a hit, and Wyman's throw to first was errant and allowed Cafaro to score.
After an RBI single and a successful sac bunt, Nick Becker hit a high bouncer that Wyman leaped and gloved. But with no one covering first on the play, Wyman threw home to try to get Swift, who was called safe for the third run of a back-breaking inning.
UIC and Creighton resume their series on Saturday, Apr. 18 at Rosenblatt Stadium, home of the NCAA College World Series. First pitch is scheduled for noon Central.
Schedule note: There is a chance that inclement weather and an Omaha Royals home game at Rosenblatt later in the day will force Saturday's game to be moved to the CU Sports Complex and a possibility for a new start time. A decision will be made early Saturday morning. Stay tuned to uicflames.com for any updates on Saturday's game time and location.
