"Pat pitched a gem," said Creighton Coach Ed Servais. "He's pitched two or three similar to that, but he pitched a gem today. He's a real competitor out there. I think, the moment he took the mound, that the other team's momentum dropped. They didn't think they could score off of him."

And they didn't. Venditte's line was outstanding. 5.2 innings pitched. 0 runs. 1 hit. 0 walks. 16/17 batters retired.

"Venditte coming in, and Chad Ogden's home run in the second, those were the two biggest plays of the game," said Servais.

Meanwhile, SIU Coach Dan Callahan couldn't hide his frustration.

"I was really pleased with how we played the first two innings," Callahan said. "We looked like an upper-tier Missouri Valley team out there. After that, we didn't play well at all. We had a sign up in the locker room saying 'Play like it's your last game', and we did. That's not in a complimentary way."

Callahan was especially upset about the two runs Creighton got in the eighth, one of those being unearned.

"We bordered on embarassing in the eighth inning," he said.

Nevertheless, the Salukis will regroup. They have to, as they will have nothing but elimination games left. Southern Illinois is now 34-21 on the season, and will face the loser of Missouri State-Wichita State at 11:00 tomorrow morning.

As for Creighton, the Jays improve to 41-13 on the season, and pretty much eliminated all doubts as to whether they would obtain an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Creighton will face the winner of the Bradley-Evansville matchup, and Servais said a pitcher will not be determined until they know who they're facing.

Bradley and Evansville are set to go in about 30 minutes, as we continue with the first day of baseball here at Hammons Field.