Bluejays Host Jayhawks in Softball Doubleheader

Creighton hosts Kansas
Wednesday, April 2 ? Creighton Sports Complex ? Omaha, Neb. ? 2 p.m. (Doubleheader)

This Week: The Bluejays conclude their eight-game home stand and look to improve on their season-long 10-game winning streak with a non-conference doubleheader against Kansas on Wednesday. The Jays and Jayhawks are scheduled to start the twin bill at 2 p.m. The Jays will then travel to Kansas to play a three-game Missouri Valley Conference weekend series at Wichita State. CU and WSU will play a doubleheader at noon on Saturday, followed by a single game on Sunday at noon. Fans can follow live stats and listen to an audio webcast ($5 per month) by clicking the links at www.gocreighton.com.

Last Week: Creighton captured six victories to move its winning streak to 10 games and push to 9-1 at home this year. Last Tuesday the Bluejays swept a doubleheader from UMKC, winning 7-1 and 11-1, tying season-highs with 11 runs and 13 hits. The Jays then hammered in-state rival Nebraska 7-2 on Wednesday, with Laura Kratochvil and Michelle Graner launching home runs in the win. CU continued its hot play with a three-game sweep of UNI. The Jays needed a walk-off home run by TJ Eadus to top UNI 4-2 in 10 innings in the opener, before Graner and Eadus each homered twice in an 11-6 blasting. CU closed out the week with a 1-0 triumph. Eadus went 8-for-17 (.471) with four home runs, six RBI and seven runs scored to earn MVC Player of the Week honors.

Scouting Creighton (25-10, 5-0 MVC): The Bluejays begin the week on a 10-game winning streak, the fifth time in head coach Brent Vigness' 15 years at Creighton the Jays have won at least 10 straight and the fourth time in the last five years ... The Jays have swept the last four doubleheaders they have played and are 3-0 against the Big 12 this year ... Creighton leads the MVC with 27 home runs and a .356 on-base percentage ... CU ranks third in the MVC with a .269 average, but the Jays are hitting .315 with 15 home runs in their last 10 games, averaging 5.3 runs per game in that span ... TJ Eadus leads the team and MVC with 10 home runs, having crushed six home runs during CU's 10-game winning streak ... Michelle Graner has 13 career home runs to rank 10th in school history, after smacking four round-trippers last week ... Bailey Dawson is CU's leading hitter during the 10-game streak, batting .393 (11-28) with six RBI and eight runs scored ... The Jays are 9-1 at home, hitting .319 with 12 home home runs in 10 games, as five starters are hitting .346 or better in home games ... The Bluejays are 16-1 when hitting a home run this year and 9-9 when held without a home run ... Tara Oltman is 10-0 with two saves in her last 12 appearances and leads the MVC with a 1.06 ERA.

Scouting Kansas (27-8, 3-2 Big 12): The Jayhawks have have won nine of their last 11 and 15 of their last 18 games, and have been receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball top 25 poll ... KU is 10-0 against the MVC this year, with wins over Illinois State, Southern Illinois, Bradley, Indiana State and Missouri State ... KU is hitting .273 as a team with 26 home runs, while averaging 4.8 runs per game ... The pitching staff has combined for a 1.82 ERA, led by Valerie George (13-2) with a 1.14 ERA and 113 Ks in 104.1 innings ... Sarah Vertelka (9-4, 1.92) and Allie Clark (5-2, 3.00) also see time in the circle ... Dougie McCaulley leads KU with a .404 average ... Val Chapple tops the team with six home runs and 22 RBI, while hitting .330 ... Eight different Jayhawks have at least 10 RBI this year.

Head Coach: Head coach Brent Vigness (Central College, 1988) is in his 15th season at Creighton, owning a record of 463-329-2 (.584) with the Bluejays. Vigness also served as head coach at Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., for five years prior to coming to Creighton. His career record in 20 years as a head coach is 611-400-3 (.604). He has led the Jays to five MVC Tournament titles (1999, 2003-05, 2007), four regular-season MVC crowns (1998, 1999, 2000, 2007), five NCAA Tournament appearances (1999, 2003-05, 2007) and was named MVC Coach of the Year in 1998 and 2007 (Coaching Staff of the Year).

CU-KU Series: Kansas owns the series edge over Creighton, 41-20-1, with KU winning the last three meetings ... KU won 2-1 in Omaha last year on April 26 ... The Bluejays last win in the series was a 3-2 victory in Omaha on April 21, 2005, Mary Egan is the only CU player on the roster to play in that 2005 victory ... Jessica Wakasugi is 4-for-6 (.667) in her career against KU ... Bailey Dawson (3-9) and Renae Sinkler (1-3) both hit .333 against KU in their career.

Perfect 10
Creighton carries a 10-game winning streak into this week, the fifth-longest streak in head coach Brent Vigness' tenure at CU. During Creighton's 2005 season, the Bluejays had a 17-game winning streak and a 15-game winning streak, separated by just one loss between the streaks. In 2004, the Jays won 20 straight games to fall just one shy of the school record. The 1995 team won 12 straight contests in Vigness' second season at CU.

Oltman is One of a Kind
Tara Oltman ranks sixth in the NCAA with four saves and 10th in the NCAA with 17 wins entering this week. She is the only pitcher in the country to rank in the top 10 in both categories. The sophomore already has 43 career wins to rank eighth in school history and her seven career saves rank third in CU history.

Homers - Doh!
After homering 12 times in their first 25 games, the Creighton bats have caught fire of late, launching 15 home runs over their last 10 games. The Jays now lead the MVC with 27 home runs and rank 42nd in the NCAA in homers per game. CU hit six home runs in a doubleheader sweep of Northern Iowa last Saturday, including four in the second game. It was the fifth time the Jays have homered four times in a game in school history, just one shy of the record five hit against Northern Colorado on April 28, 2004.

More Home Run Information
Both senior TJ Eadus and sophomore Michelle Graner connected for four home runs in CU's six games last week. Eadus has now hit 26 home runs in less than two seasons at Creighton, but ranks fourth in school history on the career list. Her 10 home runs this year leads the team and MVC and already ranks seventh in single-season school history. Eadus set a school record with 16 home runs last year. Graner is now tied for 10th in school history in just her second campaign at CU, with 13 career homers. Junior Bailey Dawson's 17 round trippers rank seventh in school history.

Home Field Advantage
Creighton is 9-1 at home this year, hitting .319 with 12 home runs and 51 runs scored in the 10 games at the CU Sports Complex. Five starters are hitting at least .346 in Omaha this year, led by Bailey Dawson's .391 mark. Half of TJ Eadus' home runs this year have come at home, as she is hitting .385 with five homers and nine RBI in 10 home games. Jessica Wakasugi is batting .381 at home, with Renae Sinkler following closely at .355. Michelle Graner has hit four home runs and scored 10 runs, while hitting .346 in 10 home games this year. Tara Oltman is 6-0 with two saves and a 0.98 ERA in eight home appearances this year.

Bailey's Back
Junior Bailey Dawson missed seven games this year because of an injured wrist, but since her return to the lineup has been on a tear. Prior to her injury she was hitting just .230 (14-61) in her first 18 games of the season. Since returning to the lineup, she is 11-for-28 (.393) in her last 10 games. She's even hotter in MVC play, batting an even .500 (7-14) with a home run and four RBI in five conference games.

Keys to Success
Creighton is hitting .269 on the season, but has raised its average 20 points in the last 10 games while hitting .315 as a team in that span. CU has crushed 15 home runs in its last 10 games, compared to 12 through its first 25, while improving to 16-1 when homering in a game this spring. Other keys to CU's 25-10 mark this season have been scoring first and leading at the end of an inning. The Jays are 18-0 when scoring first this year, including 8-0 when scoring in the first inning. Even more remarkable, when the Bluejays own the lead at the end of any inning in a game this year, they are undefeated.

Utilize the Utility Players
Sophomore Renae Sinkler has started at least six games at four different positions this year due to injuries and her versatility. She has started the most games at first base - 12, followed by nine starts at third base, eight starts in right field and six starts at shortstop. Fellow sophomore Michelle Graner has started 22 games in left field, but also seven at first base and six at third base this spring.

Needing Nee
While Cassidy Nee is listed as a pitcher on the CU roster, she has yet to make an appearance in the circle this year. That hasn't stopped the junior from making contributions to the squad this year as a pinch-hitter and designated player. Prior to this year, Nee was 2-for-11 with two RBI in her career, with all of the at bats coming as a freshman in 2006. This season Nee is hitting .389 (7-18) with eight RBI. The junior is 3-for-7 as a pinch-hitter, with a home run, a double and six RBI in the pinch.

We Beat the Champions
On March 8, Creighton defeated two-time NCAA Champion and then seventh-ranked Arizona, 2-1, in Tucson. Tara Oltman out-dueled UA All-American Taryne Mowatt in the circle, striking out nine and allowing just three hits and one run to the high-powered Wildcat offense. Renae Sinkler homered and Laura Kratochvil drove in Tucson native TJ Eadus with the game-winning run.

Not Single Anymore
Junior Jessica Wakasugi had slapped her way to 102 singles to start her career before collecting her first extra-base hit this year. The speedy outfielder found a hole in the La Salle outfield and rounded the bases for an inside the park home run on March 9 for her lone career extra-base hit, to go along with her 110 singles.

Vigness Wins 600
Creighton helped head coach Brent Vigness pick up his 600th career victory earlier this season, doing so in memorable fashion. The Bluejays topped two-time defending NCAA Champion and seventh-ranked Arizona 2-1 in Tucson on March 9 to notch the skipper's 600th career win.

Eadus Drafted by New England Riptide
Senior catcher TJ Eadus has been drafted by the New England Riptide of the National Professional Fastpitch (NPF) softball league as announced in early February. The Bluejay backstop was taken in the third round as the 14th overall selection in the Feb. 18 draft, becoming the first Bluejay to be drafted into the league.

Leftovers: Michelle Koch missed 15 games with an injured thumb this year, but returned on March 21 and hit .538 (7-13) in her first five games back and has moved her average from .273 up to .302 since returning ... CU is 18-0 when scoring first this year, including 8-0 when scoring in the first inning ... CU has not lost a game when owning a lead at the end of any inning this year ... Twelve of CU's home runs this year have been two-run blasts, 10 solo homers, four three-run shots and one grand slam.

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