INDIANAPOLIS – Rollie Lacy tossed eight solid innings of baseball on Friday afternoon to help the Bluejays defeat the Bulldogs 5-1. With Lacy limiting the Bulldogs offensively, Creighton would go on to win their 23rd game of the season by scoring four of their five runs late in the contest.

The game started off with a bang as Creighton tried to send a run home in the bottom of the first inning only to be denied by a great relay throw from Austin Miller. Brett Murray doubled to right center with two outs, and Reagan Fowler was waived around to score what would have been the first run of the game. Tyler Houston collected the ball and threw a strike to Miller who turned and gunned down Fowler at the plate. The tag by Chris Marras would keep the game scoreless after one, but Creighton would change that in the second with a sac fly from Matt Gandy.

Pitching was the name of the game in the third, fourth and fifth innings. Both Jeff Schank and Rollie Lacy were on top of their respective games retiring batter after batter in order. Lacy got the win after eight complete innings and four strikeouts. He limited BU to just four hits before making his exit.

Schank had a quality start, but three earned runs off seven hits proved to be too many as he falls to 2-6 on the year. Schank gave up a triple in the top of the sixth as Nicky Lopez beat the defense deep for the extra base hit. Fowler would then take advantage of his RBI opportunity with a sac fly in the inning to give the Bluejays a 2-0 advantage.

The Bulldogs threatened in the bottom half of the inning with Miller moving to third base. The second baseman singled up the middle, stole second and moved to third off a wild pitch. Creighton was able to get out of the inning with a groundout followed by a strikeout to end the inning.

With momentum on their side, Creighton was able to increase their lead with a run in the seventh, an inning that could have ended far worse for the Bulldogs.

Landon Lucansky recorded a double to deep centerfield to lead-off the inning and a second double would send pinch-runner David Wiedeman home. Butler made a pitching after the second extra base hit of the inning placing Kyle Allen on the hill in relief of Jeff Schank.

Allen gave up a single to Daniel Woodrow which put runners on the corners and the speedy Woodrow would move to second with a stolen base. Allen came back to get Nicky Lopez to groundout to second with each runner staying put and with first base open, the Bulldogs decided to put Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year Reagan Fowler on base with an intentional walk. Allen was under pressure with the bases loaded, but he got Brett Murray to ground out with a ball down the first base line that got BU out of the inning.

While Butler was able to dodge a bullet in the seventh, the same could not be said in the eighth as Creighton scored two more runs off three hits. A costly throwing error helped Creighton extend the inning where Harrison Crawford and Ryan Fitzgerald each scored to make the score 5-0.

Butler would avoid the shutout with a single run in the ninth inning. Ethan DeCaster came in for the final inning of action for Creighton and was beat up with three hits in the inning. Nick Bartolone sent a ball back up the middle of the field for a base knock and Tyler Houston got a ball through the left side of the infield to put two on with just one out.

Chris Marras also found room through the left side with a base hit that scored Bartolone and moved Houston to third. DeCaster found a rhythm during the next at-bat to record a strikeout and a groundout to short would end the game.

Butler and Creighton will return to the diamond tomorrow for a 12 p.m. first pitch. With rain in the forecast fans are encouraged to keep an eye on ButlerSports.com for any schedule changes that may arise.