Softball Plays Home Opener Wednesday
3/17/2009 5:45:00 PM | Softball
Creighton hosts North Dakota State in Doubleheader
Wednesday, March 18 ? Creighton Sports Complex ? Omaha, Neb. ? 3:00 p.m.
This Week: The Bluejays open their home schedule with five games this week, starting with a non-conference doubleheader against North Dakota State on Wednesday at 3 p.m. The Jays then play their first home Missouri Valley Conference series this weekend, hosting Illinois State in a three-game set. CU and ISU play a pair on Saturday at noon and then have one game Sunday at noon. Fans can follow live stats of the games on CU's home page at www.gocreighton.com.
Last Week: Creighton started MVC play with a 3-0 mark for the third straight season and the fourth time in the last five years, by sweeping a series at Evansville. The Jays edged the Purple Aces 1-0 in the opener, before a 10-1 pouncing in the second game of last Saturday's doubleheader. CU won 6-2 in Sunday's finale. Michelle Koch went 5-for-8 with four runs scored last weekend, while Renae Sinkler was 4-for-7 with a home runs, two RBI and two runs scored. Tara Oltman picked up two wins, allowing one earned run and 10 hits in 14 innings of work, during which she fanned 12 and walked none.
Scouting Creighton (11-7, 3-0 MVC): Creighton is the defending Missouri Valley Conference regular-season champion and is coming off of its fifth NCAA Tournament in six years ... The Jays return all but one every day starter from last year, along with two-time MVC Pitcher of the Year, junior Tara Oltman ... CU has been picked to win the MVC title this year, aiming for its third straight regular-season crown ... The Bluejays are hitting .287 as a team this year, while opponents are hitting just .230 off of CU pitching ... Renae Sinkler leads four starters hitting better than .325 with her .423 average ... Her average ranks sixth in the MVC, while her .531 on-base percentage is tops in the league and her four home runs and 19 RBI rank third ... Bailey Dawson, who is hitting .350, leads the team and ranks third in the MVC with 19 runs scored ... Junior transfer Sara Loeffelholz, a two-year starter at New Mexico, leads the team with five doubles and two triples ... Michelle Koch raised her average to .388 on the year after hitting .625 last weekend ... The Jays have out-scored opponents 91-56 this year, including an 18-run outburst over Saint Louis which was the highest scoring game against a Division I school in CU history ... Oltman (8-5, 1.44 ERA, 77.2 IP, 75 K) has become the third player in school history to reach 60 career wins, as her 65 victories are just 11 shy of the school record ... Oltman was 14-0 with a 0.59 ERA at home last year.
Scouting North Dakota State (12-8, 2-1 Summit): The Bison won their first six games of the year, but then went 6-8, including three losses at Arizona, before a doubleheader at Nebraska Tuesday ... NDSU is the defending Summit League champion and preseason favorite to win the league ... They opened Summit play with a 2-1 series at Southern Utah ... NDSU is allowing opponents to hit .308, while allowing 23 home runs and 96 runs to score this year ... Andi Padilla (9-4, 2.84 ERA) is the team ace, with 76.1 innings, 44 walks and 45 strike outs ... Randi Parks (2-3) and Kim Westendorf (1-1) both have ERA's higher than 7.00 ... The Bison are hitting .289 as a team with seven home runs and 93 runs scored ... 2008 Summit League Newcomer of the Year Elisa Victa leads the team with a .430 average and 29 hits ... 2008 Summit League Player of the Year Melissa Chmielewski (.358) tops the team in home runs (3), doubles (7) and RBI (16) ... Richel Briones (.351) has two homers and 10 RBI and Nicole Rivera leads the team with eight stolen bases.
Head Coach: Head coach Brent Vigness (Central College, 1988) is in his 16th season at Creighton, owning a record of 492-343-2 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 21 years as a head coach is 640-414-3. He has led the Jays to five MVC Tournament titles (1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007), five regular-season MVC crowns (1998, 1999, 2000, 2007, 2008), six NCAA Tournament appearances (1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008) and was named MVC Coach of the Year in 1998 and guided the MVC Coaching Staff of the Year in 2007 and 2008.
CU-NDSU Series History: Creighton is 4-2 all-time against the Bison. The Jays and Bison have split doubleheaders at the CU Sports Complex in each of the last two years. Last year CU won game one 2-1, before dropping the night cap, 5-3. NDSU's Melissa Chmielewski homered three times in last year's twin bill. Renae Sinkler went 3-for-3 with on of CU's two runs in the opener last year, while Tara Oltman struck out eight and allowed three hits and one run in the win. 2008 Summit League Pitcher of the Year Allison Bakke allowed five hits and no earned runs in the 5-3 NDSU win. Laura Kratochvil had two of CU's five hits.
Welcome Home: Creighton opens its home season on Wednesday with a doubleheader against North Dakota State. The Bison were one of two Bluejay opponents to win in Omaha last year, as Creighton posted a 19-2 home mark, their best ever under Brent Vigness and the most home wins by a Bluejay squad since the 1989 team won 24 games. The Jays won their final nine games at home last year.
Home Openers: The Bluejays open their home season with a doubleheader against North Dakota State for the third straight season. The last two years CU won the opener and lost the nightcap in those twin bills. CU has won three of its last four home openers, but is just 3-5 in its last eight home opening games.
Fourth Try at Four: Creighton enters its games on Wednesday carrying a three-game winning streak ? its third three-game streak of the season. The Jays will be looking to capture consecutive wins No. 4 and 5 at the CU Sports Complex.
Best for Last: Senior Laura Kratochvil is having her best offensive year as a Bluejay this season. The catcher already has a career-high 16 RBI through 18 games, after driving in 15 runs in 46 games in both 2006 and 2008. Her two home runs have already equalled a season-high as well. She leads the team with five multi-RBI games and three three-hit contests.
Still a Starter: Junior Sara Loeffelholz is a collegiate starter for the third straight season, but her first at Creighton. The Omaha Marian product started 84 of 94 games over the past two seasons at New Mexico. She's started all 18 games this year at CU and leads the team with five doubles and two triples.
Three in Top 10: Starting the week, three of the 10 best hitters for average in school history are in the starting lineup for the Bluejays. Senior Jessica Wakasugi is hitting .317 in her career to rank eighth, while juniors Michelle Koch and Renae Sinkler have boosted their career averages this year to crack the top 10. Koch is batting .316 in her career and Sinkler .314, to rank ninth and 10th respectively.
Beating Arizona: For the second straight year, CU went to Arizona and defeated the nationally-ranked Wildcats earlier this month. This time CU crushed Arizona 6-0 on March 7, the first time the powerful UA offense had been shutout at home since UCLA did it in 2005. Tara Oltman scattered five singles to a line up which averaged 17 runs per game in its other five games during the Hillenbrand Invitational. Bailey Dawson and Laura Kratochvil both homered in the win over No. 13 Arizona.
High-Scoring Affair: Creighton blasted Saint Louis 18-5 on Feb. 20 at the Tulsa Select Festival. The 18 runs were the most scored by the Bluejays since setting the school record of 20 runs against the College of Saint Mary's on Feb. 9, 2000. The 18 runs are the second-most scored in a game in CU history and the most ever against a Division I opponent.
Leftovers: Renae Sinkler had a 12-game hitting streak earlier this season, to give her the three longest hitting streaks by a Bluejay in the last two years. Last year she had a 17-game streak and eight-game streak ... Bailey Dawson and Sinkler lead the team with seven multi-hit games this year ... CU is 8-2 this year when Sinkler starts as the designated player, 3-5 when she starts at first base ... Sinkler is 13-for-19 (.684) with runners in scoring position, as the team is hitting .327 with RISP ... Tara Oltman had a streak of 33 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run from March 1-15 ... Oltman has not lost at home since May 5, 2007.
Wednesday, March 18 ? Creighton Sports Complex ? Omaha, Neb. ? 3:00 p.m.
This Week: The Bluejays open their home schedule with five games this week, starting with a non-conference doubleheader against North Dakota State on Wednesday at 3 p.m. The Jays then play their first home Missouri Valley Conference series this weekend, hosting Illinois State in a three-game set. CU and ISU play a pair on Saturday at noon and then have one game Sunday at noon. Fans can follow live stats of the games on CU's home page at www.gocreighton.com.
Last Week: Creighton started MVC play with a 3-0 mark for the third straight season and the fourth time in the last five years, by sweeping a series at Evansville. The Jays edged the Purple Aces 1-0 in the opener, before a 10-1 pouncing in the second game of last Saturday's doubleheader. CU won 6-2 in Sunday's finale. Michelle Koch went 5-for-8 with four runs scored last weekend, while Renae Sinkler was 4-for-7 with a home runs, two RBI and two runs scored. Tara Oltman picked up two wins, allowing one earned run and 10 hits in 14 innings of work, during which she fanned 12 and walked none.
Scouting Creighton (11-7, 3-0 MVC): Creighton is the defending Missouri Valley Conference regular-season champion and is coming off of its fifth NCAA Tournament in six years ... The Jays return all but one every day starter from last year, along with two-time MVC Pitcher of the Year, junior Tara Oltman ... CU has been picked to win the MVC title this year, aiming for its third straight regular-season crown ... The Bluejays are hitting .287 as a team this year, while opponents are hitting just .230 off of CU pitching ... Renae Sinkler leads four starters hitting better than .325 with her .423 average ... Her average ranks sixth in the MVC, while her .531 on-base percentage is tops in the league and her four home runs and 19 RBI rank third ... Bailey Dawson, who is hitting .350, leads the team and ranks third in the MVC with 19 runs scored ... Junior transfer Sara Loeffelholz, a two-year starter at New Mexico, leads the team with five doubles and two triples ... Michelle Koch raised her average to .388 on the year after hitting .625 last weekend ... The Jays have out-scored opponents 91-56 this year, including an 18-run outburst over Saint Louis which was the highest scoring game against a Division I school in CU history ... Oltman (8-5, 1.44 ERA, 77.2 IP, 75 K) has become the third player in school history to reach 60 career wins, as her 65 victories are just 11 shy of the school record ... Oltman was 14-0 with a 0.59 ERA at home last year.
Scouting North Dakota State (12-8, 2-1 Summit): The Bison won their first six games of the year, but then went 6-8, including three losses at Arizona, before a doubleheader at Nebraska Tuesday ... NDSU is the defending Summit League champion and preseason favorite to win the league ... They opened Summit play with a 2-1 series at Southern Utah ... NDSU is allowing opponents to hit .308, while allowing 23 home runs and 96 runs to score this year ... Andi Padilla (9-4, 2.84 ERA) is the team ace, with 76.1 innings, 44 walks and 45 strike outs ... Randi Parks (2-3) and Kim Westendorf (1-1) both have ERA's higher than 7.00 ... The Bison are hitting .289 as a team with seven home runs and 93 runs scored ... 2008 Summit League Newcomer of the Year Elisa Victa leads the team with a .430 average and 29 hits ... 2008 Summit League Player of the Year Melissa Chmielewski (.358) tops the team in home runs (3), doubles (7) and RBI (16) ... Richel Briones (.351) has two homers and 10 RBI and Nicole Rivera leads the team with eight stolen bases.
Head Coach: Head coach Brent Vigness (Central College, 1988) is in his 16th season at Creighton, owning a record of 492-343-2 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 21 years as a head coach is 640-414-3. He has led the Jays to five MVC Tournament titles (1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007), five regular-season MVC crowns (1998, 1999, 2000, 2007, 2008), six NCAA Tournament appearances (1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008) and was named MVC Coach of the Year in 1998 and guided the MVC Coaching Staff of the Year in 2007 and 2008.
CU-NDSU Series History: Creighton is 4-2 all-time against the Bison. The Jays and Bison have split doubleheaders at the CU Sports Complex in each of the last two years. Last year CU won game one 2-1, before dropping the night cap, 5-3. NDSU's Melissa Chmielewski homered three times in last year's twin bill. Renae Sinkler went 3-for-3 with on of CU's two runs in the opener last year, while Tara Oltman struck out eight and allowed three hits and one run in the win. 2008 Summit League Pitcher of the Year Allison Bakke allowed five hits and no earned runs in the 5-3 NDSU win. Laura Kratochvil had two of CU's five hits.
Welcome Home: Creighton opens its home season on Wednesday with a doubleheader against North Dakota State. The Bison were one of two Bluejay opponents to win in Omaha last year, as Creighton posted a 19-2 home mark, their best ever under Brent Vigness and the most home wins by a Bluejay squad since the 1989 team won 24 games. The Jays won their final nine games at home last year.
Home Openers: The Bluejays open their home season with a doubleheader against North Dakota State for the third straight season. The last two years CU won the opener and lost the nightcap in those twin bills. CU has won three of its last four home openers, but is just 3-5 in its last eight home opening games.
Fourth Try at Four: Creighton enters its games on Wednesday carrying a three-game winning streak ? its third three-game streak of the season. The Jays will be looking to capture consecutive wins No. 4 and 5 at the CU Sports Complex.
Best for Last: Senior Laura Kratochvil is having her best offensive year as a Bluejay this season. The catcher already has a career-high 16 RBI through 18 games, after driving in 15 runs in 46 games in both 2006 and 2008. Her two home runs have already equalled a season-high as well. She leads the team with five multi-RBI games and three three-hit contests.
Still a Starter: Junior Sara Loeffelholz is a collegiate starter for the third straight season, but her first at Creighton. The Omaha Marian product started 84 of 94 games over the past two seasons at New Mexico. She's started all 18 games this year at CU and leads the team with five doubles and two triples.
Three in Top 10: Starting the week, three of the 10 best hitters for average in school history are in the starting lineup for the Bluejays. Senior Jessica Wakasugi is hitting .317 in her career to rank eighth, while juniors Michelle Koch and Renae Sinkler have boosted their career averages this year to crack the top 10. Koch is batting .316 in her career and Sinkler .314, to rank ninth and 10th respectively.
Beating Arizona: For the second straight year, CU went to Arizona and defeated the nationally-ranked Wildcats earlier this month. This time CU crushed Arizona 6-0 on March 7, the first time the powerful UA offense had been shutout at home since UCLA did it in 2005. Tara Oltman scattered five singles to a line up which averaged 17 runs per game in its other five games during the Hillenbrand Invitational. Bailey Dawson and Laura Kratochvil both homered in the win over No. 13 Arizona.
High-Scoring Affair: Creighton blasted Saint Louis 18-5 on Feb. 20 at the Tulsa Select Festival. The 18 runs were the most scored by the Bluejays since setting the school record of 20 runs against the College of Saint Mary's on Feb. 9, 2000. The 18 runs are the second-most scored in a game in CU history and the most ever against a Division I opponent.
Leftovers: Renae Sinkler had a 12-game hitting streak earlier this season, to give her the three longest hitting streaks by a Bluejay in the last two years. Last year she had a 17-game streak and eight-game streak ... Bailey Dawson and Sinkler lead the team with seven multi-hit games this year ... CU is 8-2 this year when Sinkler starts as the designated player, 3-5 when she starts at first base ... Sinkler is 13-for-19 (.684) with runners in scoring position, as the team is hitting .327 with RISP ... Tara Oltman had a streak of 33 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run from March 1-15 ... Oltman has not lost at home since May 5, 2007.
Players Mentioned
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