Creighton Holds on to Defeat Xavier, 6-5, Friday Night - Big East Conference Skip To Main Content

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Creighton Holds on to Defeat Xavier, 6-5, Friday Night

MASON, Ohio – After a pair of postponements due to scattered thunderstorms in the southwestern Ohio area, the 2022 BIG EAST Baseball Tournament presented by Jeep resumed Friday evening with No. 2 seed Creighton and No. 3 seed Xavier facing off in the second first round game.
 
Starting exactly 24 hours after originally scheduled and after 3 hours and 55 minutes of game action, the Creighton Bluejays survived and advanced to Saturday’s semifinal contest against No. 1 seed UConn at 2:30 p.m.
 
After falling behind 2-0 early in the third inning, Creighton rallied back scoring six of the next seven runs to take a lead they would not look back on, securing the victory, 6-5.
 
After a pair of scoreless innings, it was Xavier’s Luke Franzoni, the 2022 BIG EAST Co-Player of the Year, who struck first with a blast that cleared center field’s towering wall to place the Musketeers in front 2-0.
 
Then in the bottom of the fourth, it was Creighton’s Chris Esposito’s double down the line to even the tally, sending Nolan Sailors and Jared Wegner to home plate.
 
Once Flamm earned an RBI in the top of the sixth to give Xavier a 3-2 lead, Creighton scored four unanswered to take a lead they would not relinquish.
 
Leading the way for the Bluejays was Wegner who batted a perfect 2-for-2 and earned a pair of walks, ultimately scoring three of Creighton’s six runs. Additionally, Co-BIG EAST Player of the Year Alan Roden drilled a shot into right center field for a triple and an RBI to give Creighton the 4-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh.
 
BIG EAST tournament action is scheduled to resume Saturday morning with No. 3 seed Xavier facing No. 4 seed Georgetown at 10:30 a.m. ET, in the first of three outings.
 
The game will be followed by No. 1 UConn and No. 2 Creighton at 2:30 p.m., with the winner advancing to Sunday’s Championship game at Noon. The team that comes up short will take on the winner of Game 3 Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
 
All three of Saturday’s contests will stream live on the BIG EAST Digital Network presented by SoFi available on FloSports.