Omaha, Neb. — Teddy Deters’ fifth-inning grand slam gave Creighton Baseball the lead for good as the Bluejays overcame an early 3-0 deficit to defeat Seton Hall, 10-5, on Friday evening before 4,076 fans at Charles Schwab Field Omaha.
Creighton improved to 35-16 (7-12 BIG EAST) with its fourth straight win, while Seton Hall dropped to 23-30 (6-14 BIG EAST). CU will go for its first BIG EAST sweep of the season on Saturday morning at 11 a.m.
Seton Hall jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the early innings. Seton Hall centerfielder Aiden Robbins walked and stole second before scoring on a Zack Sylvester single to open the scoring column. The Pirates extended the margin to 3-0 in the fourth inning against reliever Tommy Lamb. Staus Pokrovsky singled and Cole Zak walked to open the frame. Both men came around to score as Pokrovsky was brought home on a ground out by Frankie Scrivanic and Zak came plateward on Gabe Cavazzoni’s first RBI single of the season.
Just as they did on Thursday evening, CU chased the Seton Hall starter in the fourth inning while putting up a crooked number in its second time through the order. Nolan Clifford walked and stole second, then scored on a single by Hogan Helligso. Helligso scored on a base hit by Ben North to draw the Bluejays within one, and CU tied it when reliever Alex D’Ambrosio was greeted by Colby Canales with a double down the third base line.
Creighton took the lead on Deters’ grand slam, his second and CU’s sixth of the season, in the fifth inning. It came after walks to Nolan Sailors and Clifford bookended a one-out single by Matt Scherrman.
The Bluejays added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth inning. Scherrman walked with one out and moved to third on a hit-and-run single by Clifford. Deters then picked up his fifth RBI of the evening on a single to bring home Scherrman. CU’s final run of the frame came after Clifford tried stealing third base and pitcher Nate Espelin’s pickoff attempt ended up by the tarp behind third base.
Seton Hall got one run back when Zack Sylvester pulled his fifth homer of the year down the left field line to open the eighth, and another on an RBI single by Robbins in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough.
Creighton’s offense pounded out nine hits and tied a park record with six stolen bases in the contest, as Scherrman, Deters and Colby Canales all had a pair of hits. The Bluejays used four pitchers on the night, with Lamb (6-1) tying Dominic Cancellieri for the team lead with his sixth win of the year.
Seton Hall reliever Alex D’Ambrosio (1-1) was tagged with his first loss of the season after loading the bases prior to the grand slam by Deters.
The Bluejays and Pirates will conclude their seasons on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in a game that will air on FloSports and 1180 The Zone. The game will be part of Creighton’s rescheduled Salute to Service Day, and the Bluejays will honor its seniors following the contest.
