Body language says it all. Home plate umpire John Wolfe rings up K.J. Alexander for the final out as CU catcher Kevin Lamb races to celebrate.

Being so pissed at how crappy Creighton’s basketball team has played lately – going from 17-1 and in the top 10 to 20-6 and losing its grip on the Missouri Valley lead – I decided to move on to Creighton’s baseball team instead. And tonight, in front of an energetic Dallas Baptist crowd in a brand new college baseball cathedral, they didn’t disappoint.

Dallas Baptist’s gleaming new Horner Ballpark was christened tonight with a highly-charged crowd of 1,419 and a back-and-forth game that was full of surprises. This was just the kind of high-drama game I was hoping for in a season’s lid-lifter, making my trip to the Metroplex for opening day well worth it.

.

WHAT I SAW AT HORNER BALLPARK.

- DALLAS, Tx.

After giving up a six-spot to the Patriots in the bottom of the 5th inning, the Bluejays looked dead in the water, trailing 8-4 heading to the later innings and sporting a young team. But things made a complete 180 as CU plated four runs in the 8th inning and three runs in the 9th to make a surprising comeback win over Dallas Baptist and their two best relievers, Michael Smith and Paul Voelker.

.

LINESCORE:

C.U. – 001 030 043 – 11  17  1

DBU – 100 060 101 -  9  13  3

.

PITCHERS:

WP: Bryan Sova, 1-0 (duh!)

LP: Michael Smith, 0-1

Save: None

.

TOP HITTERS:

Creighton:

- Kevin Lamb, 3-for-4, 3RBI, HBP

- Mike Gerber, 3-for-4, 2BBs, RBI

- Jake Peter, 3-for-6, 2RBI

- Reagan Fowler, 2-for-6, 2BBs, 2RBI

.

Dallas Baptist:

- Duncan McAlpine, 2-for-5, 2doubles, 2RBI

- Boomer Collins, 2-for-4, 2B, BB

.

RECORDS:

Creighton: 1-0

Dallas Baptist: 0-1

.

IN SUMMARY:

Dallas Baptist head coach Dan Heefner told me before the game that one of the strengths of this year’s Patriot team was going to be the back end of the bullpen, with senior stalwart Michael Smith and JC All America transfer Paul Voelker. Well, call it opening night jitters. Both flamethrowers showed flashes of their powerful arms, but both also caved in the late innings, giving up a combined four hits and four runs (three of them were earned runs) as the Patriots uncharacteristically came apart in the end to lose to the opportunistic Bluejays.

After CU scored three runs in the top half of the 5th inning, Baptist answered immediately with six runs in the bottom half, taking a 7-4 lead. The Red, White & Blue added another run in the 7th on a Justin Wall single which scored All American Boomer Collins from 2nd base. So you’d figure that 8-4 doubling-up would be enough.

Nope.

The resourceful Bluejays, looking the exact opposite of the team I saw trip over their lip at Sacramento State last March, stuck their chests out and used a double-steal in the 8th inning to jump-start the rally. A two-out, two-RBI single from 7-hole hitter Reagan Fowler with the bases loaded to cut the deficit in half at 8-6. Then, DBU brought in the hammer, Michael Smith. But Smitty immediately threw a wild pitch, which advanced the two runners a base, then hit a batter to load the bases again, followed by allowing a two-run single to tie the game at eights.

After a great defensive stand by the Bluejays (more on it below), CU turned around and plated three more in the 9th inning to ice the game. Leadoff hitter Brad McKewon singled, two-spot hitter Federico Castagnini walked and then Jake Peter singled home the go-ahead run on the third pitch he saw from new reliever Paul Voelker. A batter later, two insurance runs were added when cleanup man Mike Gerber got an RBI single, followed by an errant throw which allowed a second runner to score.

.

KEY MOMENT:

There were a lot of offensive moments to point to in this game, but I’m gonna go with a key pitching-and-defense sequence for the Jays. After Creighton tied the score at eight in the top of the 8th inning, DBU got a leadoff double from 9-hole hitter Jaime Garrido, who was then bunted over to 3rd with one out. Creighton then brought in JC transfer Bryan Sova, who ended up leaving Garrido stranded at 3rd base by cooly inducing a pair of groundouts from Mike Wesolowski and Ronnie Mitchell. That kept the score tied, setting up Creighton’s 9th-inning heroics to get the win.

.

KEY MOMENT, PART 2:

On his second pitch of the bottom of the 9th inning, CU reliever Bryan Sova faced the dangerous Boomer Collins. The Patriot No. 3 hitter lined a screamer right off the foot of Sova, who crumbled to the ground. But proving the Jays resourcefulness, third basemena Federico Castagnini picked up the carom and tossed Collins out at 1st base by a sliver, getting that all-important first out of the inning in the books. DBU did eventually score a single run in the bottom of the 9th, but that inning could’ve been a disaster if Collins’ liner had gone up the middle for a leadoff single.

Bluejay reliever Bryan Sova goes prostrate to the ground after having a screaming liner bounce off his right foot. Jays 3rd baseman Federico Castagnini fields the ball and eventually throws Boomer Collins out at 1st.

.

Sova is checked on by the CU trainer and coach Ed Servais. He got a nice round of applause from the DBU fans when he got to his feet.

.

After a few practice throws, Sova is back on the mound flinging the horsehide again in the 9th with his trusty Castagnini by his side.

.

All is fine. Sova gets fives from backup catcher Jerry Mitchell after sealing the win.

.

GAME BALL GOES TO:

- Bryan Sova, Creighton reliever.

The man who led the JC ranks in saves a year ago for Scottsdale CC, overcame a ton of factors, including inheriting the go-ahead run at 3rd base with just one out, having a line-drive deflect off his foot leaving him in a heap in front of the mound, and the fact that temperatures were down in the 30s by the time he took the mound. Not to mention that his stint began with the 2-3-4 hitters for Dallas Baptist. Yikes, this guy showed major league balls on the bump for the Jays tonight.

.

NOTES:

- The new digs.

As mentioned in the opener, tonight DBU played its first game in the sparkling new Horner Ballpark, which according to head coach Dan Heefner wasn’t actually  completed until earlier today when the last few speckles of paint were added (no, that isn’t me trying to be funny). As you might’ve seen on my twitter feed over the Christmas holidays, this place didn’t look CLOSE to being done at the time. But it’s amazing what a hard-working crew did in just six short weeks. Here are the befores and afters of this joint:

Here's what Horner Ballpark looked like when I stopped by on December 30th. Note part of the crew on the top right working on the stadium on that day. The stadium was a mere shell of what it would be and I figured there was NO WAY this joint was going to be ready for opening day six weeks later.

.

Well, in my face! Here's how it looked during batting practice an hour or so before game time. All completed and very pristine.

.

- Old stomping grounds.

I lived in Dallas during the 90s and back then DBU was a national power, but only at the NAIA level. Back then, there were two small aluminum bleacher-style stands and that was it. Patriot Field was as bare-bones/high-schoolish as it got. But the Pats were always a good team still. It’s amazing to sit back and look at what this program has become now, playing at D1, being a consistent winner and post-season participant and – of course – moving into this cathedral of a stadium this season. It boggles the mind at the quantum leap this program has taken.

.

- Familiarity.

DBU head coach Dan Heefner is actually a former Bluejays assistant coach, having worked with the hitters and catchers on the 2004 CU team who went 35-24, finishing second in the MoValley at 22-9. Heefner’s work with the backstops helped that ’04 team set the second-best defensive fielding percentage in NCAA history at .984.

- Familiarity part II.

Creighton had already seen plenty of DBU ace Cy Sneed before. In the middle game of a three game weekend series in May of 2012, Sneed went 5.1 innings, giving up eight hits and two runs as the Patriots took down the Bluejays 5-2 as part of a 2-to-1 series win at TD Ameritrade Park in downtown Omaha.

.

- The temps.

The P.A. announced before first pitch that tonight’s game conditions were a temperature of 47 degrees with 30% humidity. According to the readout on my rent-a-lemon I’m driving here in Dallas, the temperature after the end of the game was 36 degrees. I had a number of people ask me why I chose to come to this winter wonderland instead of somewhere warm for opening weekend. My response is the same to everyone, I will get plenty of chances to get all warm and sunny this season. This is one of the few times I can enjoy a cold snap in the air like this. And again, it wasn’t TOO cold, it was just cold enough to let you know you’re ALIVE!

.

.

MY Q&A WITH DBU HEAD COACH DAN HEEFNER.

Before tonight’s game, I made sure to go down to field level and have a quick talk with the guru of Dallas Baptist baseball, Mr. Dan Heefner, who’s coaching career on the Southwestern Dallas campus I have been following with a keen eye for years now. Here’s the short back-and-forth we had.

Me:

First, the obvious subject, talk about this new stadium. This thing is beautiful.

.

Coach Heefner:

Oh it’s unbelievable. I literally don’t know how this got done on time. Construction didn’t start until August and for this to get done by opening day it took hundreds and hundreds of people and it far exceeds anything I could’ve imagined here at DBU. They really left no details out in making this a first-class stadium for us.

.

Me:

I lived here in the 90s and you guys had two aluminum bleachers behind home plate and that was it. It’s amazing this program has come as far as they have.

.

Coach Heefner:

Our recent success is nothing new, they’ve always had good teams here at Dallas Baptist. Even back in our NAIA days you were here for they were always ranked Top 10 nationally and even though they didn’t win a national title, they played in two championship games. Jim Hart was the coach for a long, long time and he built a tradition here and we’ve been able to build off of that too. All that past success gets passed on year after year.

.

Me:

And you’ve proven it against some big name teams the last few years too, right?

.

Coach Heefner:

Absolutely. Our players aren’t intimidated by anything, they’ll play the big teams and they’ll beat the big teams and all that started in the NAIA days and has carried on to today, now that we’re Division One.

.

Me:

You have some Creighton ties I know, tell me about your past with CU and coach Servais.

.

Coach Heefner:

Yeah, I started my coaching career at Northern Iowa in the Missouri Valley and went over to Creighton as an assistant in 2004 and it was my first paid assistants job. It was a great place to get my start and coach Servais is an outstanding coach and their success they’ve had their can be attributed to him being a true baseball guy. I really couldn’t have had a better start under coach Servais and also coach Rick Heller at Northern Iowa, who is now at Indiana State.

.

Me:

You guys go to the WAC this year, then to the Missouri Valley for next year. Is that whole one year thing in the WAC going to be an odd thing to go through?

.

Coach Heefner:

For us, we’re just fired up to be in a conference and have a chance for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. And the WAC is actually gonna be really good this year, so even with all the changes going on with the WAC, we’re looking forward to it and to then going on to the Missouri Valley next year, because we know how good of a conference the MVC is too.

.

Me:

Talk about your team this year. You lost a lot of talent but some of the guys you’ve got coming back are real difference-makers like Boomer Collins and pitchers like Cy Sneed and Michael Smith. Tell me about your feelings going into this year and the kind of team you’ll have.

.

Coach Heefner:

They’ve got an incredible work ethic and even though we have a lot of newcomers this year, this team also has outstanding leadership too. Boomer Collins is a 5th-year, Duncan McAlpine at catcher is a four-year starter and former Freshman All American, Ronnie Mitchell is a senior outfielder, Michael Smith is a back-of-the-bullpen guy and is a senior. That’s really made things easy for us ‘coz we just say, ‘Here are the studs, just follow them and do what they do.’ The character of this team has been really, really good and everybody gets along really good. We feel there is a real ‘team’ feel with these guys.

.

Me:

With all the construction of the stadium have you guys been able to practice on the field the whole time?

.

Coach Heefner:

Well we had a lot of construction going on in the fall, but we were on the field itself in the fall. But when we would have intersquad scrimmages, since there was no foul area at all, we’d go to a local high school field or an NAIA field.

.

Me:

Talk about the large amount of new guys. Who will emerge right away for you guys this year?

.

Coach Heefner:

To begin with we’ve got several freshman arms we’re really excited about that will be good for the future of our program. Joseph Shaw was drafted last summer and is a big body type, hard throwing guy. But probably the biggest one that will step in for us right away will be Paul Voelker, who played at Des Moines Community College, he’s been really impressive in our intersquads. Also Mike Wesolowski, a junior college third baseman who came to us from Arizona, those are the two key guys who will step in for us from day one. The biggest part of our class were freshman guys who we can develop and count on.

.

Me:

Not to be hyperbolic, but are you guys thinking Omaha or Bust now when you come into a season?

.

Coach Heefner:

I think with where are program is at it’s still best just to concern ourselves with getting better and better. It’s become our expectation as a program and a coaching staff to get to the post-season, but to get to within two games of Omaha two years ago and then get to the Regional title game last year and once you get there anything can happen. Our guys were really disappointed with that. I see a real difference in our guys in wanting to go farther and work harder to get there.

.

PICS:

A couple more images from the game.

Staff ace Cy Sneed had the Patriot fans screaming after a big early strikeout ended a Creighton threat.

.

Creighton pinch hitter Michael Blatchford matched that scream for scream a few innings later after slapping an RBI single.

.

Patriot 3rd baseman Mike Wesolowski makes a play behind reliever Michael Smith. Wesolowski, a JC transfer, is one of those difference-makers that will be a huge part of the DBU success in 2013.

In the bricks behind home plate. There was nothing spared in making this new facility a first class operation for Dallas Baptist. The baseball team might be the only Division 1 sport, but they certainly have done it up right.

.

.

AROUND THE COUNTRY.

It’s really wicked-late. So this will be a brief overview on what I’ve read and the things some really great SIDs have sent to me.

.

THREE UP.

The best of opening day.

1- Kenny Towns, DH, Virginia.

In their 14-4 win at East Carolina, the sophomore slugger blasted a pair of grand slams as part of a 2-for-5, 8RBI day. It was the first career home runs for Towns as a Cavalier. Nice season debut there Holmes.

.

2- The Top 20 Upsets.

Check out this list of stunners:

- Minnesota shocked No. 5 UCLA 6-2 in 10 innings.

One of these teams has barely had any outdoor practices, by the way.

.

- Appalachian State won at No. 9 North Carolina State 6-3

Is this a rehash of last year’s series win at LSU?

.

- Duke bested No. 15 Florida 4-3.

A hell of a debut for former Appy State coach Chris Pollard.

.

- Indiana downed No. 19 Louisville 2-0.

Hoosiers should be a very good team with Joey DeNato on the hill, though he actually only threw 4.0 innings.

.

- San Diego State boxed crosstown rival No. 20 San Diego 8-1.

With Michael Cederoth throwing triple-digits, the Aztecs are formidable.

.

3- Austin Kubitza, RHP, Rice

The Owls ace looked like the Kubitza of old, striking out 12 Cardinal batters in just 6.0 innings of work as the Owls beat No. 7 Stanford 5-1. This is a good harbinger for Wayne Graham and Co. if they can get Friday’s like this out of their staff ace.

.

And a mention to:

- Buck Farmer, P, Georgia Tech.

The Teich wrecker went 8.0 innings and threw 14Ks in a 3-0 win over Akron.

.

- Tyler Shyrock, SS, CSU Bakersfield.

The Roadrunner No. 2 hitter tied a school record by going a perfect 5-for-5 with a triple and 2RBI at the dish and also played a spotless short in the field.

.

.

THREE DOWN.

The worst part of opening day.

1- The near-misses.

You know how Americans are, they LOVE an underdog. Well these dogs came THISCLOSE to pulling their own big shockers:

- Seton Hall lost at No. 2 North Carolina 1-0.

Pirate starter Jon Prosinski went 7.0 innings, gave up just three hits, none of which were to Colin Moran.

.

- Maryland also lost 1-0, at LSU.

Terrapins couldn’t handle Tiger ace Aaron Nola, who gave up just two hits in 6.2 innings.

.

- Liberty lost a tight one at South Carolina, 4-3.

Jim Toman’s return saw his Flames out-hit the Cocks 8-to-5. The teams combined for 13 walks.

.

- Bethune-Cookman blew a golden opportunity in losing 5-4 at No. 22 Arizona State.

The Wildcats gave up a run in the bottom of the 9th inning and started the 11th inning rally for ASU by one of those awful dropped 3rd strike calls.

.

- Sacramento State was edged by No. 26 Texas 6-5.

Hornets score all five runs in the 8th but end the 9th stranding a runner on 2nd base.

.

2- The Pac 12

After having the No. 1 ranked conference a year ago, the occidental boys went just 6-5 today, and two of those wins were near-escapes by Arizona State (over Bethune-Cookman) and Cal (over Michigan). Also, Arizona played Coppin State, so that really doesn’t count.

.

3- Kent State, Temple and Albany.

To my knowledge, and I may be wrong, but it looks like these three are the only teams in the country who are 0-and-2 after one day of baseball.

The Golden Flashes have to be the most crushed of the three after losing to both Virginia Tech and to UNC-Wilmington by a single run each, 10-9 and 7-6 in 10 innings respectively.

Temple lost to Delaware 8-4 and to Wright State 8-3. Albany lost both ends of a double-header to Canisius, 8-2 and 12-4 respectively.

.

Okay Stitch-Heads out there. Hope you enjoyed your first day of the season. If I didn’t get to your team, sorry, there’ll be plenty more opportunities for your boys to get our attention. Please excuse any typos, but I’ve really gotta put pillow to head now.

G’night.