Bluejay Baseball Doubles Up Villanova, 6-3

Omaha, Neb. -- Getting four RBI from the bottom of third of the order, Creighton Baseball defeated Villanova 6-3 on Saturday, April 26 to clinch the series with the Wildcats.

Following Creighton's win on Saturday the Bluejays moved to 27-12 on the season and 8-3 in the BIG EAST, and dropped Villanova to 20-19 overall and 4-7 in conference action. 

The game started off with a jolt of energy as Villanova grabbed an early lead in the first inning. Austin Lemon torched the first pitch of the game into center field. John Freitag followed with another single and the Wildcats had the bases loaded with one down. The Bluejays limited the damage as Creighton starter Jack Pineau induced a pair of ground balls to hold Villanova to just one run.

Creighton wasted no time answering back as Tate Gillen laced the leadoff single to center, then Matt Scherrman reached on a fielder's choice. Nolan Sailord followed with a sharp triple down the right field line to even the score 1-1. Will MacLean followed with a double in nearly the same spot, plating Sailors and giving the Bluejays a 2-1 edge after one. 

Villanova knotted things up again at 2-2 in the top of the third, getting a two-out single from Michael Whooley, a walk to Jason Neff and finally an RBI single from Brayden Leonard. In the fourth, Villanova kept applying pressure. Jake McElroy sent a leadoff single to center. After a pair of productive outs, Lemon laced an RBI single down the left field line to put Villanova up 3-2.

The Wildcat lead lasted all of four pitches as Nate McHugh launched his third home run of the season over the wall in left center to knot the game at 3-3.

Creighton reclaimed the advantage with a double from Connor Capece followed by an RBI triple by Teddy Deters to give the Bluejays a 4-3 lead.

The seventh inning saw the Bluejays grab some insurance on an RBI double by Deters and an RBI single from McHugh to hold a 6-3 lead. 

Deters and McHugh combined to for 4-for-7 with two runs scored and four RBI.

Pineau collected the win (2-0), allowing three runs off eight hits over six frames. Villanova's Jake Francis picked up a loss (5-2),  allowing four runs on nine hits in four innings. Jimmy Burke grabbed his first save of the season by retiring six of the seven men he faced in the final two frames.

Creighton will return on Sunday, April 27 at 12 p.m. for the final game of the series.