Diamond Dogs Avenge Creighton Defeat in Eleven Innings, Advance to Face Oregon State

Left fielder Zach Cone and shortstop Kyle Farmer batted in two runs apiece, and pitcher Ben Cornwell delivered five frames on the mound, during which he held the Jays to one earned run as the Diamond Dogs outlasted Creighton in eleven innings.

The Bluejays took an early lead when a two-out error allowed an unearned run to cross home plate in the top of the first canto. The Classic City Canines responded in the bottom of the stanza on a two-out Farmer double and a two-run Cone homer, but Creighton tied it up in the upper half of the second frame on a first-pitch leadoff single, a baserunner-advancing base hit, a sacrifice bunt to move the runner over, and a sacrifice fly to score a run.

The 2-2 deadlock remained unchanged until the eighth frame, when the Jays used a leadoff walk, a sacrifice bunt, and a first-pitch double to take a one-run lead. Creighton added to its advantage later in the canto, but the Bulldogs struck back in the lower half of the inning when center fielder Conor Welton reached on a fielder’s choice and Farmer drove in two with a home run to left field.

At the end of nine stanzas, the box score was all even at four runs, eight hits, and one error apiece. Neither team registered a hit in the tenth frame before the Jays squandered a leadoff single in the top of the eleventh canto. That left the door open for Georgia heading into the bottom of the inning, in which right fielder Peter Verdin sent a two-out single to the pitcher and stole second.

Once first baseman Jonathan Hester was walked intentionally, catcher Brandon Stephens sent the base hit to right field that brought Verdin around to score, giving the Diamond Dogs a 10-9 edge in hits and a 5-4 lead in runs for the victory that kept the Red and Black in the hunt in the Corvallis Regional.

The Classic City Canines have a 9:00 p.m. date with the host Oregon St. Beavers this evening. Georgia will need to beat Oregon State twice in order to advance to the super regional.

Go ‘Dawgs!