LAWRENCE, Kan. — BYU baseball opened a two-game series with Creighton on Friday with a tough, 8-6, loss at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence, Kan. 

The series was originally scheduled to start Thursday, with three games at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, but due to inclement weather was shortened to two games and moved three-hours south to Hoglund Ballpark at the University of Kansas. 

With the win, the Bluejays improve to 5-5 on the year while the Cougars fall to 4-9. 

“We had plenty of chances offensively today but couldn’t come up with a big hit,” said BYU head coach Trent Pratt. “Defensively, errors really hurt us. We made a few mistakes and Creighton took advantage of the opportunties. We need to get back to work and clean up the little things defensively.”

Game Summary
  • BYU scored six runs on 10 hits, while Creighton scored eight runs on 13 hits
  • Three Cougar errors resulted in three unearned Bluejays runs
  • Creighton was 5-for-12 with runners in scoring position, while BYU was 2-for-14 

Player Highlights
  • Cole Gambill: 2-3, 2 RBI, 3 Runs, HR
  • Ryan Sepede: 2-4, 2 2B, RBI, Run
  • Austin Deming: 2-4, 2 Runs, RBI, HR

BYU got on the board first in the second inning with two runs on two hits. Centerfielder Cole Gambill led off the inning with a walk and scored on a double to left center by Ryan Sepede. Designated hitter Safea Mauai then doubled to left, trading places with Sepede for a 2-0 lead.

The Cougars tacked on two more runs in the third on a solo home run over the leftfield wall by third baseman Austin Deming. A two-out single by Gambill, a Creighton error and back-to-back walks by Mauai and Jacob Wilk scored another run and gave BYU a 4-0 advantage. 

Creighton responded with an unearned run in the third inning off a BYU error, then added another run in the fourth off a solo home run that cut the Cougars’ lead to 4-2. 

BYU increased its lead in the top of the fifth with a Gambill two-run home run with Deming aboard for a 6-2 advantage. 

The Bluejays responded with two runs in the top of the fifth, one in the sixth and took the lead for good with two more runs in the seventh to go up 7-6. An insurance run in the bottom of the eighth gave Creighton the 8-6 win. 

BYU had multiple chances to score but left the bases load in both the third and sixth innings and stranded two in the fifth, eighth and ninth innings. The Cougars are now 1-7 on the year when committing multiple errors in a game and are 0-5 when trailing after seven innings.

Tommy Steier (2-0) got the win for the Bluejays, while Boston Mabeus (0-1) took the loss. 

BYU and Creighton are schedule to face off in game two of the series on Saturday at 1 p.m. CST from Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence, Kansas. 

The game will be broadcast live on the BYU Radio App and BYU Radio 107.9 FM in the northern Utah market with Greg Wrubell on the call. In addition, Creighton will broadcast the game on FLObaseball.

BYU baseball will take on the Creighton Bluejays in a two-games series, March 10-11, in Lawrence, Kansas at Hoglund Ballpark, home of the Kansas Jayhawks. 

The series was originally scheduled to start Thursday, with three games at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha but was changed due to inclement weather in the Omaha area throughout the weekend.

First pitch for the Friday, March 10 game is scheduled for 2 p.m. CST, with the Saturday, March 11, game slated for 1 p.m. CST. 

BROADCAST. The games will be broadcast live on the BYU Radio App and BYU Radio 107.9 FM in the northern Utah market. 

SERIES HISTORY. Friday’s contest will be the 10th meeting between BYU and Creighton. The Bluejays lead the all-time series, 5-4, and own a two-game winning streak. The two teams last played in Provo on April 22-23, 2016. BYU won game one of the three-game series 13-4, but Creighton swept the double header the next day, 10-2 and 8-5. The first baseball game between the two schools was played on March 21, 2011 at Creighton and ended in a, 6-5, Bluejay win. 

SERIES BY THE NUMBERS. 
Overall: 4-5
   H: 1-2 | A: 1-2 | N: 2-1
First Meeting: 3/21/2011 | 6-5 Creighton
Last Meeting: 4/23/2016 | 8-5 Creighton

BLUEJAY REVIEW. Creighton enters the weekend series with a 4-5 overall record having played three previous three-game series with McNeese State (2-1), Coastal Carolina (1-2) and Cal State Northridge (1-2). All nine games were on the road. 

COUGAR REWIND. The Cougars enter the Creighton series having lost a shootout, 10-9, with Utah Tech on Tuesday in St. George, Utah. BYU won its first series of the year last weekend, 2-1, over Omaha at Miller Park in Provo. The Cougars are 4-8 on the year having played back-to-back series on the road to open the 2023 campaign at LA Tech (2-2) and Louisiana (0-4). 

ON THE HILL. Junior right hander Jack Sterner (1-1, 7.27 ERA) is scheduled to start on Friday for BYU, while junior righty Bryce Robison (1-0, 3.24 ERA) will start Saturday. 

Creighton will open with right hander Ryan Windham (0-1, 1.17 ERA) on Friday, with righty Justin Kleinsorge (1-0, 4.04 ERA) slated for Saturday. 

AT THE PLATE. Offensively the Cougars are led by Austin Deming, Ryan Sepede and Ozzie Pratt. Deming is a returning first-team All-WCC performer who leads the team in multiple offensive categories including RBI (14), hits (18), HRs (5), doubles (7) and slugging (.851). Sepede leads the Cougars in average (.395), on base percentage (.47) and is second in HRs (2). Pratt leads BYU in at bats (48), doubles (7) and is second in hits (16), triples (1), total bases (25) and walks (8). Deming and Pratt are tied for fifth nationally in doubles with seven each.

The Bluejays are led by Noland Clifford who is hitting .371 and leads Creighton in hits (13) and RBI (9). Nolan Sailors leads in slugging (.629), doubles (4), total bases (22) and RBI (9). 

UP NEXT. Following the Creighton series, the Cougars return home to host rival Utah on Tuesday, March 14 at Miller Park in a midweek game, scheduled for 5 p.m. MDT. BYU will then begin the final year of WCC baseball at LMU, March 16-18, in Los Angeles.