Creighton Downs Kansas, 12-4

April 16, 2013

Final Stats

Creighton 12, Kansas 4 TD Ameritrade Park // Omaha, Neb.

Justin Protacio walked three times and scored a run in KU’s loss at Creighton Tuesday night. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R KU 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 CU 3 1 0 2 0 3 3 0 x 4 Box Score (.pdf) Leaders – Batting Kansas AB R H RBI BB HR A. DeLeon 4 0 2 1 0 0 K. Kuntz 4 0 1 2 0 0 Creighton AB R H RBI BB HR Castagnini 5 1 2 4 0 0 Gerber 5 1 3 3 0 0 Pitching Kansas IP H R ER BB SO T. Poppe (L) 3.1 7 6 6 4 2 C. Toalson 2.0 3 3 1 0 1 J. Mustain 1.2 4 3 3 1 3 H. Edwards 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 Creighton IP H R ER BB SO Peter 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 Warren 1.0 2 2 1 2 1 Elman 2.0 0 0 0 1 0 Swain 0.2 1 2 2 1 0 Bamesberger 0.0 0 0 0 1 0 Winkelman (W) 1.1 1 0 0 1 2 Highberger 0.1 0 0 0 2 0 Lukowski 1.2 2 0 0 0 0 Sova 1.0 0 0 0 0 0

OMAHA, Neb. – Creighton center fielder Mike Gerber went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, while third baseman Federico Castagnini collected four runs batted in as the Bluejays unloaded on Kansas, 12-4, Tuesday night at TD Ameritrade Park.

The Jays snap a three-game losing streak and improve to 19-9, while KU falls to 22-14 overall.

Kansas scored early, but could not take advantage of eight walks by the Creighton pitching staff. The Bluejay offense pounded out 15 hits and scored 12 runs – their most in over a month – for the win.

The Jayhawks struck for two runs in the first inning when Michael Suiter collected an RBI single to right field and Alex DeLeon’s RBI double. However, Creighton quickly responded with Gerber’s two-run triple and an RBI ground out in their half of the first.

After the Bluejays added a run in the second, Kansas tied the game in the fourth as Kevin Kuntz delivered a two-out, two-run single through the right side of the infield. It marked the senior’s fifth and sixth two-out RBIs of the year.

But every Jayhawk rally seemed to have an answer by Creighton. The Jays regained the lead on Castagnini’s two-run double down the left field line, which came against KU relief pitcher Colin Toalson. Creighton then added three more in the sixth, taking advantage of a Kansas error, which kept the inning alive and three in the seventh for the margin of victory.

DeLeon paced the Jayhawk offense with a pair of hits, while Kuntz went 1-for-4 with two RBIs. Sophomore Justin Protacio drew three walks in the game, giving him a team-best 31 on the season.

Senior Tanner Poppe suffered his third loss of the season, pitching 3 1/3 innings and allowing six runs on seven hits with four walks and two strikeouts.

The Jayhawks will look to bounce back on Wednesday night when they host Ottawa in a non-conference game at Hoglund Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

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