Bluejays, Bulldogs Play a Pair on Wednesday

Creighton hosts Drake
Wednesday, April 15 ? Omaha, Neb. ? 3 p.m. ? Doubleheader
Creighton hosts #24 Southern Illinois
Saturday, April 18 ? Omaha, Neb. ? Noon ? Doubleheader
Sunday, April 19 ? Omaha, Neb. ? Noon

This Week: Creighton is scheduled to play five MVC home games this week, starting with a midweek doubleheader against Drake. CU and DU will play two at 3 p.m. on Wednesday. The Bluejays then host 24th-ranked Southern Illinois in a three-game series this weekend. CU and SIU play a twin bill on Saturday at noon and a single game on Sunday at noon. The Jays will look to improve upon their 16-1 Valley home record over the past two seasons. Fans can follow every home game via live stats on the Bluejay athletics home page at www.gocreighton.com.

Last Week: Creighton played a make-up doubleheader with Northern Iowa on April 7, sweeping the twin bill in Des Moines. The Jays took the first game 5-1 and blanked the Panthers 1-0 in the night cap, holding the top-hitting team in the MVC to no earned runs in 14 innings at the neutral site. The Jays then won two of three games at Indiana State, winning 7-0 and 4-2 to start the series, before losing 1-0 in the finale.

Scouting Creighton (23-10, 11-2 MVC): Creighton is the two-time defending Missouri Valley Conference regular-season champion and is coming off of its fifth NCAA Tournament in six years ... The Bluejays are 15-3 in their last 18 games and 5-2 at home this season ... CU leads the MVC and ranks 11th in the NCAA with a .974 fielding percentage, including .980 in MVC play and .985 at home ... The Jays' overall ERA of 1.72 ranks second in the MVC, while their 0.54 MVC ERA ranks first ... Creighton is hitting just .205 at home this year, out-scoring opponents 15-7 at the CU Sports Complex ... CU's home ERA is 0.71 and opponents are batting just .161 in Omaha ... Tara Oltman is 8-2 with two saves and a 0.40 ERA in Valley play and begins the week with a 75-24 career record, just one win shy of Tammy Nielsen's school record 76 wins ... The Bluejay ace has allowed six earned runs in her last 122.1 innings pitched ... Kylie Hovinga is 3-0 with a 1.07 ERA in MVC play ... Laura Kratochvil will miss the rest of the season with a broken leg; at the time of her injury she already had career-highs and led the team in hits, average, home runs and RBI ... Renae Sinkler ranks third in the MVC with a .461 on-base percentage and also leads the team with six home runs and a .593 slugging percentage ... Michelle Graner leads the team with a .394 average in MVC play ... Michelle Koch's 11 sacrifice bunts lead the MVC and ranks among NCAA leaders.

Scouting Drake (23-15, 8-3 MVC): The Bulldogs are 9-3 in their last dozen games ... DU has played nine of their last 11 games at home, where they are 8-1 on the season ... DU is just 5-11 in true road games this year, including 1-2 in MVC play (at SIU) ... The Bulldogs rank eighth in the MVC in both hitting (.242) and ERA (2.96), but still rank third in the league in runs scored and Drake pitching leads the MVC with 270 strikeouts ... Jenna DeLong (14-6, 2.10 ERA) has 143 Ks in 133.1 innings, while Brynne Dordel (8-7, 3.28 ERA) has 115 Ks in 104.2 innings pitched ... Elena Leon leads the MVC in runs (36), slugging percentage (.720) and on-base percentage (.493) ... She also ranks among Valley leaders and tops the team with nine home runs, 10 doubles, 26 RBI and 11 stolen bases ... Erin Bly (.328) and Torey Craddock (.317) are also hitting above .300 for the Bulldogs.

Head Coach: Head coach Brent Vigness (Central College, 1988) is in his 16th season at Creighton, owning a record of 504-346-2 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 652-417-3. 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-DU Series: Creighton is 48-23 all-time against Drake, including 28-17 under Brent Vigness ... The Jays swept the regular-season series from DU last year, shutting out the Bulldogs twice and out-scoring them 22-5 in the regular-season ... Drake scored three unearned runs thanks to three CU errors in a 3-2 Bulldog win in the MVC Tournament last year ... The Bulldogs had just one hit in that 3-2 win ... CU has won five of the last six meetings with Drake in Omaha, including three straight shutouts of the Bulldogs.

Bluejays vs. Drake: The combined career batting average of current Creighton players against Drake is .322, as current Bluejays are 46-for-143 in their careers against DU pitching ... Seniors Bailey Dawson (.429) and Jessica Wakasugi (.421) lead the way against Drake, as Dawson is 12-for-28 with two home runs, two doubles, a triple, seven runs and six RBI in nine career games against DU. She had six hits, four runs and four RBI in four games against DU last year ... Wakasugi is 8-for-19 with four runs scored against DU. She was 5-for-9 (.556) and scored four runs against Drake in four games last year ... Michelle Koch homered twice against DU last year and had three RBI and five runs in four games against Drake in 2008 ... Lau Emmsley-Chang is 4-for-11 (.364) against Drake in her career ... Cassidy Nee was 2-for-5 with three RBI against Drake last year and Renae Sinkler was 4-for-12 with a home run, double, three RBI and three runs scored in her only four career games against DU last year ... Tara Oltman is 4-1 with a save, three shutouts and 0.21 ERA in six career appearances against Drake. She has pitched 34 innings, allowed just 11 hits, four runs, one earned run, walked eight and struck out 35. DU is hitting .099 against Oltman.

History in the Making: Junior Tara Oltman enters the week with 75 career victories, just one shy of Tammy Nielsen's school record (also established in three seasons). Oltman's 75 victories already rank sixth in league history. See the MVC list below and the CU career list on the next page:

Wins ? Career
No. Name (School) Wins Years
1. Amy Harre (SIU) 84 2002-05
2. Cassidy Scoggins (SIU) 81 2004-07
3. Stacy Birk (ILSU) 77 2004-07
Margo Pruis (WSU) 77 2004-07
5. Tammy Nielsen (CU) 76 2003-05
6. Tara Oltman (CU) 75 2007-pr.

Peaking in the Valley: Several Bluejays have better career numbers inside MVC play than in non-conference action.
? Jessica Wakasugi is a career .319 hitter, but that jumps to .345 in MVC play, where 70 of her 157 career hits have come. The senior hit .412 in MVC play last year.
? Michelle Graner is hitting .250 on the season, but a team-best .394 in Valley play (compared to .149 in non-conference action). Graner's career batting average is .274, including a .317 mark in MVC action.
? Michelle Koch has a career .308 batting average, including a .327 career mark in Valley play. Eight of Koch's 10 career home runs have come during MVC action.
? Renae Sinkler owns a .303 career batting average, but improves it to .318 in MVC play. Sinkler is hitting .370 in Valley play over the past two seasons.
? Tara Oltman has allowed just 35 earned runs and 178 hits in 318 career innings pitched in MVC play. She has pitched in 57 of CU's 61 MVC games since her arrival in 2007, posting a 37-7 record with nine saves in MVC play. She owns a 0.77 career ERA in MVC action, while Valley opponents hit just .162 against her.

Waka for 200: Senior Jessica Wakasugi has started Creighton's last 198 games, serving as the starting center fielder in every game of her Bluejay career. The second game of Wednesday's doubleheader will mark her 200th straight game played and started.

Score to Win: Creighton has had a simple formula over the last 19 games ? score and win. When the Jays have scored at least one run over their last 19 games, they have won 15 times. CU's last four losses have come via the shutout, including two 1-0 losses in MVC play to account for both Valley defeats.

Perfect Four Score: Creighton is 16-0 when scoring at least four runs this season, but just 7-10 when scoring three or fewer runs.

Jays Showing Glove: Creighton leads the MVC with a .974 fielding percentage, which ranks 11th in the NCAA this week. CU's .980 fielding percentage in league play is also best in the MVC. The Jays have played 14 error free games this year, compared to just six from their opponents. CU has committed more than one error in a game just four times this year and not since March 15, a span of 15 straight games with one or no errors.

Offense for Tara: Bluejay ace Tara Oltman is 12-3 in her last 15 decisions. Her last three losses have all been 1-0 finals. In fact, in her career the Bluejays have lost five 1-0 games and been shutout eight times in her starts. Oltman has lost 23 starts in her career, in which the Bluejays have scored a total of 25 runs.

Home Numbers: While Creighton is 5-2 at home this year, the Jays have struggled to hit at the CU Sports Complex, batting just .205 and scoring 15 runs in their first seven home games. The Jays have managed success at home due to their slick fielding and tough pitching, as CU's home fielding percentage is an impressive .985 and its home ERA is 0.71, allowing seven runs and only five earned runs, while allowing opponents to bat just .161 in Omaha and tossing three shutouts. Jessica Wakasugi (.444) is the only active Bluejay hitting better than .231 at home this spring. See the comparisons below:

Statistic Home Away/Neutral
Record 5-2 18-8
BA .205 .272
Runs 15 117
Runs/gm 2.1 4.5
HR 9 15
SLG% .346 .411
OB% .307 .354
ERA 0.71 2.01
BA Against .141 .218

Wake Up the Bats: While the Bluejays have won 15 of their last 18 games, their offense has struggled in that span, as their pitching has improved upon its 8-7 start. CU's only four losses in its last 19 games have been via shutouts. The Jays are batting just .241 over their last 18 games, while the CU pitching staff has posted a 0.77 ERA in that same span. CU's team batting average has dropped from .312 down to .260 over its last 21 games.

Get them Home: Creighton is hitting .258 in league play and averaging 3.4 runs per game, while the Jays hit slightly better in non-conference play at .261 and average 4.4 runs per game outside of Valley play. CU is hitting just .226 with runners on base and .269 with runners in scoring position in league play, compared to .304 and .319, respectively, in those same categories in non-conference games.

Home Sweet Home: Bluejay ace Tara Oltman has enjoyed pitching at the CU Sports Complex in her career, especially over the last two seasons. The junior had a 19-game home winning streak snapped in a 1-0 loss to Bradley on April 4. Oltman is now 18-1 with five saves, a 0.54 ERA, 10 shutouts and two combined shutouts at home over the past two seasons. Opponents are batting just .144 against Oltman in Omaha since the start of the 2008 season.

Home Turf: Creighton is 5-2 at home this year, moving its record to 39-10-1 (.790) in its last 50 home games. The Jays are 4-1 at home in Valley play on the season. After a perfect home MVC mark of 12-0 last year, the Jays are now 27-3-1 (.887) at home in Valley play over the last three years.

Bluejay Home Records since 1994
Year Overall W-L% MVC W-L%
2009 5-2 .714 4-1 .800
2008 19-2 .905 12-0 1.000
2007 15-6-1 .705 11-2-1 .821
2006 8-8 .500 5-5 .500
2005 13-5 .722 9-5 .643
2004 12-5 .706 8-4 .667
2003 5-9 .357 5-8 .385
2002 9-4 .692 9-2 .818
2001 10-8 .556 7-6 .538
2000 9-5 .643 5-3 .625
1999 9-5 .643 7-3 .700
1998 11-3 .786 7-1 .875
1997 10-6 .625 6-0 1.000
1996 6-8 .429 5-5 .500
1995 13-7 .650 7-3 .700
1994 3-7 .300 3-3 .500

Vigness Gets 500: Head coach Brent Vigness picked up his 500th win at Creighton with a 4-0 victory over Bradley on April 4. One of only two coaches in school history, Vigness joins Bluejay Hall of Famer Mary Higgins with 500 victories on the Bluejay bench. Higgins was 564-298 in her 17 seasons at CU.

Sharing Shutouts: Freshman Kylie Hovinga and junior Tara Oltman have combined for two shutouts in two of Hovinga's last three starts. Hovinga went 4.2 innings and gave way to Oltman with the bases loaded and one out in CU's 4-0 win over Bradley on April 4. Hovinga then went three innings and Oltman four in a 1-0 blanking of the best hitting team in the MVC, UNI on April 7. The pair also combined for a 4-2 win over Indiana State on April 10.

It's So Small: Creighton's ERA is so small in MVC play, it's hard to find it. CU's Valley-best ERA of 0.54 ERA through 13 league games breaks down to just seven earned runs in 90 innings pitched. The Jays have also allowed four unearned runs in those 13 games. Tara Oltman has a 0.40 league ERA and Kylie Hovinga has a 1.07 ERA in Valley action. MVC opponents are batting just .177 against CU, including just .159 against Oltman. The CU ace has appeared in 12 of CU's first 13 MVC games.

Kratochvil's Career: Laura Kratochvil's career has come to an end early, as the senior catcher broke a bone in her leg in practice on April 2. Kratochvil was enjoying a career-year in her final season, as she already had established career highs for hits, home runs and RBI. She led the team with a career-high .338 average and was tops on the team in home runs and RBI when she suffered the injury. Kratochvil's career batting average entering the season was .223, she raised it to .249. She ends her career with 68 RBI on 88 career hits.

Double Trouble: Michelle Graner is hitting .250 on the season, but is hitting a team-best .394 in league play. Five of her 13 hits in Valley play are doubles, as she had three doubles in CU's doubleheader sweep of Northern Iowa on April 7. Another unlikely doubles candidate has surfaced for the Bluejays, as Liz McKewon has four doubles recently. In fact, the sophomore, who has started all 93 games of her CU career, did not have a double until her 85th game. She doubled twice in her 85th game, which started a streak of four straight hits going for doubles for the slapper.

The Streaking Note: Creighton won its fourth straight game over in-state foe Nebraska on April 1 and its fourth consecutive at NU's Bowlin Stadium. CU is 7-3 in its last 10 against Nebraska after losing 15 straight in the series. CU's 1-0 loss to Bradley on April 4 snapped CU's 13-game MVC winning streak (dating to last year). It was also CU's first home Valley loss since May 2007, snapping a streak of 17 straight home conference wins. That loss was also ended Tara Oltman's 19-game home winning streak and nine-game overall winning streak this season.

Jays Sweep Honors: On March 23, the Creighton battery of Laura Kratochvil and Tara Oltman were tabbed the MVC Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively. Oltman tossed complete games in each of her four starts, while posting two shutouts, 0.25 ERA, 24 Ks in 28 IP and allowing just 12 hits. Kratochvil went 5-for-12 (.417) with three home runs and six RBI in CU's five games that week.

A First at CU: Creighton won five straight one run games March 21-25. Never before in school history had the Bluejays won five consecutive games by just one run.

Double Your Pleasure: Creighton tied a school record with six doubles in its 4-3 10-inning win over Kansas on March 25. CU had previously recorded six doubles in a game three times, but had not done so in 10 years. The last time CU had six doubles in a game was on Feb. 26, 1999 against Detroit. Bailey Dawson, Michelle Graner, Sara Loeffelholz and Jessica Wakasugi each had one double, while Liz McKewon notched her first two career doubles in the win.

Double the Doubles Notes: Bailey Dawson's double at Indiana State on April 10 was her seventh of the season and the 33rd of her career. With 33 two-baggers, she is now tied with Wendy Moon for ninth in a Bluejay career.

Oltman's ERA: After an unusually rough start to the season, Tara Oltman has settled into form as of late. The junior ace has allowed only six earned runs in her last 122.1 innings pitched, for a minute 0.34 ERA in that span. In that time, her ERA has dropped from 2.42 down to 0.91.

10 Inning Max: Creighton is 2-1 in extra-inning games this year, after defeating Kansas 4-3 in 10 innings on March 25. That game was CU's 11th extra-inning game in the last two seasons, but none have gone longer than 10 innings. The last CU game to go past 10, was an 11-inning loss at Indiana State on April 15, 2007.

Three For .300: Three Bluejay upper classmen starters have better than a .300 career batting average, led by senior Jessica Wakasugi's .319 mark which ranks eighth in school history. Juniors Renae Sinkler (.303) and Michelle Koch (.308) are also career .300 hitters. Koch's .308 average is just shy of cracking the CU career top-10, trailing Kelly Brookhart's .309 average.

Something Extra From Liz: Sophomore Liz McKewon has started all 93 games she's played at Creighton and through the first 84 games she had yet to record an extra-base hit. Her 85th game saw her not only hit her first career double, but she had a pair of two-baggers in CU's 4-3 10-inning win at Kansas (March 25). Her bloop double to lead off the 10th inning led to her scoring the game-winning run.

The Run Producer: Senior Bailey Dawson knows how to produce runs, as evident by her lofty career numbers. Dawson ranks third in school history with 114 career RBI, fourth with 27 career home runs, sixth with 114 career runs scored and ninth with 33 career doubles. A starter at shortstop in all 185 of her career games, she has a .295 career average.

Wakasugi Has CLASS: Senior center fielder Jessica Wakasugi has been named one of 30 national candidates for the 2009 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: Classroom, Character, Community and Competition. Wakasugi, a first-team all-MVC performer last year, owns a 3.64 cumulative GPA in business entrepreneurship and marketing.

Same Six Starters: Creighton has started six of the same players in all 33 games this year, with four players starting at the same position in every game. The Jays have had the same left side of the infield in every game, with Liz McKewon and Bailey Dawson starting at third base and shortstop, respectively, each game. Michelle Koch has joined that pair in starting at second base every game. Jessica Wakasugi has pushed her streak of 198 straight CU games started in center field. Renae Sinkler has split starts at first base (21) and designated player (12) and Michelle Graner has shared time in left field (21) and first base (12).

Hovinga Minus Arizona: Freshman Kylie Hovinga is 5-2 with a 1.90 ERA on the season ? that is, if you subtract one game against one of the top offenses in the nation. The Wildcats unleashed an 18-hit, 19-run attack (16 earned) on the Bluejay rookie. If you subtract her UA outing (5 IP, 18 H, 19 R, 16 ER) from her season statistics (5-3, 3.60 ERA), Hovinga's ERA drops dramatically and she moves to 5-2 with a 1.90 ERA, having allowed just 51 hits and 15 earned runs in 55.1 innings.

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.

Hodge Podge
? Creighton ranks 11th in the NCAA with a .974 fielding percentage.
? CU's 1.72 ERA ranks 23rd in the NCAA.
? Tara Oltman ranks seventh in the NCAA in ERA (0.91), 15th in wins (18) and 20th in shutouts (7).
? Michelle Koch leads the MVC and ranks 14th in the NCAA with 11 sacrifice bunts.
? Tara Oltman leads the MVC in innings (161), strikeouts (159), strikeouts looking (49), wins (18) and saves (2).
? The Bluejays have not lost a game this season when they own the lead after the first inning, posting a 9-0 record in such cases.
? CU has not allowed an earned run in the third inning all season, while it has only surrendered two runs in the frame all year.
? CU has allowed 18 runs in the first inning this year, the most runs allowed in any inning by the Jays. Its 3.18 ERA in the fifth inning ranks as its poorest pitched inning.
? Creighton's best offensive inning this year has been the fourth, where the Jays are batting .292 and have scored 28 runs ? both are highs marks for the Jays. CU's .276 average and 23 runs in the first inning rank second.
? Five of CU's 20 home runs this year have come in the first inning, the most in any inning for the Jays.
? Of CU's 20 home runs, 12 have been solo shots, including seven to lead off an inning.
? The Jays have hit five two-run home runs, two three-run blasts and one grand slam this spring.
? Creighton has hit just two home runs in its last 10 games, both by Renae Sinkler.
? Sara Loeffelholz started the first 32 games of her CU career, before coming off the bench at Indiana State on April 11.
? Sara Loeffelholz is hitting .300 (9-30) when she bats in the sixth spot in the order or lower, while she is batting .205 (16-68) when she hits in the third through fifth spots in the line up.
? Liz McKewon is batting .308 (8-26) from the eighth spot in the CU lineup, while she is a .250 (11-44) hitter from the nine-hole.
? Renae Sinkler has hit all six of her home runs this spring from the third spot in the CU lineup, where she is batting .354 (29-82), compared to a .111 mark (1-9) in the clean-up spot.
? Bluejay pinch-hitters are 4-for-32 (.125) this year, while the opposition is also hitting just .125 (3-24) in the pinch. Cassidy Nee has 13 of CU's 32 pinch-hit at bats.

Players Mentioned

Lau Emmsley-Chang

Michelle Graner

Michelle Koch

Laura Kratochvil

Liz McKewon

Cassidy Nee

Tara Oltman

Renae Sinkler

Jessica Wakasugi

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