Creighton University
#19/18 Illinois State
Softball Plays to 1-1 Tie With No. 19 Illinois State
4/22/2007 3:00:00 AM | Softball
OMAHA, Neb. Creighton and 19th-ranked Illinois State played to a 1-1 tie after five completed innings as heavy rains and thunderstorms eliminated any chance of completing the game Sunday afternoon at the Creighton Sports Complex. The Bluejays scored their only run without the aid of a hit and an Amber Smith solo home run provided the Redbirds with a run.
Amanda Hess earned the start for Creighton (32-10-1, 14-3-1 MVC) and she went three innings, allowing just the home run to Smith in the third frame. Smith launched a line drive over the fence down the left field line with two outs in the inning, before Hess struck out the final hitter she faced to end the frame. Hess walked two and struck out five in her three innings of work. Tara Oltman tossed the final two innings for CU, allowing one hit and fanning three.
Stacy Birk tossed a five-inning no-hitter for the Redbirds (37-12-1, 13-6-1 MVC), but Jessica Wakasugi led off the fourth inning by reaching on a throwing error by Redbird third baseman Jessie Buker. The error allowed Wakasugi to get to second base and she was then sacrificed to third on a bunt by Bailey Dawson. The Bluejays then executed a squeeze play with their leading home run hitter and clean up batter, TJ Eadus, as her bunt drove in Wakasugi for the only CU run in the rain shortened game.
The tie is the first in a Missouri Valley Conference game since Drake and Missouri State tied in 1999. The draw is only the second in Bluejay history, with the other coming in a 1-1 extra-inning game at Kansas on April 1, 2004. That contest was called after nine innings because of darkness in Lawrence, Kan. Sunday's game also started 21 minutes late because of inclement weather during the morning in Omaha.
Creighton returns to action in Des Moines on Tuesday when it plays its third game against Drake this season. The Bluejays swept the Bulldogs in Omaha last Wednesday, 2-0 and 1-0. CU and DU first-pitch is set for 4 p.m. at Buel Field on the Drake campus.
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