The Blue Jays went 44-14 on the season and 15-6 in the Missouri Valley conference. Their home record was 18-4, while they were 18-8 on the road and 8-2 at neutral sites.
TALE OF THE SEASON: The Blue Jays put together a great 2011 season, and while some people have called them one of the worst two seeds in the field, I disagree.
Their longest winning streak was seven games from late February thru early March, and they went on three seperate two game losing streaks throughout the season.
NON-CONFERENCE PLAY: CU did play a weak non-conference schedule, with the highlight of it being four games against New Mexico. They do share an opponent with Oregon State in the Portland Pilots, a team that both clubs went 3-0 against.
MISSOURI VALLEY SEASON: The Blue Jays won five out of their seven MVC series'. The Blue Jays achieved sweeps over Indiana State, Bradley, and Missouri State. The Missouri Valley conference has the seventh best RPI in the nation this season (which is good), and is sending one team to the tournament. CU's strength of schedule ranks at #115.
MISSOURI VALLEY TOURNAMENT: The Blue Jays hosted this year's conference tournament at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, and the hosts came away with the Championship.
In game one of the tournament, the Blue Jays jumped out to a 3-0 lead and never looked back against the Bradley Braves. The lone Braves run came in the fifth inning, but Creighton erased any doubt about the outcome with an insurance run in the seventh. Jonas Dufek (11-1, 2.17) threw an 8 inning masterpiece for CU, only allowing the one run on six hits. Trever Adams led the Blue Jays with 2 RBI's.
Creighton's one blemish of the tournament came in the next round against Missouri State. The Bears jumped on Creighton early and often, despite a 2-0 lead for Creighton after the second inning. MSU responded with two five run innings, one in the third and one in the seventh, to defeat the Blue Jays 10-3.
Facing elimination, the Blue Jays faced Southern Illinois in the next round. Greg Hellhake was masterful for CU, throwing a complete game, two hit-shutout. Creighton backed up the dominant perfromance with five runs at the plate to advance in the MVC tourney.
Playing their fourth game in two days, against a team that had given them trouble all season, the Blue Jays came into their second straight elimination game with Missouri State uncertain of their postseason fate. It didn't look good for the Blue Jays after trailing 5-3 after the fifth inning, but Creighton would battle back for a run in each of the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings to win the game.
The next day was more of the same, another tight game with Missouri State. Creighton scored three runs in the first inning, but that would be all they would get for the next ten frames. Missouri State scratched for a run in the fourth and the tying runs in the sixth, but the game would remain scoreless from there until the twelfth inning. There, Anthony Bemboom forced a leadoff walk, got to third on consecutive sacrifices, and scored the winning run on a Wild Pitch.
In the Championship game against Wichita State, Creighton jumped on Shocker starter Charlie Lowell for two runs in the first inning. The Blue Jays would add another run in the fifth to take a 3-0 lead. WSU scratched for a run in the eighth inning, but it would be too little too late for Wichita State as Creighton would take home the Championship.
Creighton squares off with Georgia in Game 1 of the Corvallis Regional on Friday at 1:00 PM Pacific.
--Connor