Softball Travels to Indiana State This Weekend
4/9/2009 5:00:00 PM | Softball
Creighton at Indiana State
Friday, April 10 ? Price Field ? Terre Haute, Ind. ? 1:00 p.m. (CST) - DH
Saturday, April 11 ? Price Field ? Terre Haute, Ind. ? 11:00 a.m. (CST)
This Week: Creighton played a make-up doubleheader with Northern Iowa on Tuesday, sweeping the twin bill in Des Moines on Tuesday. The Jays took game one 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 Bluejays now travel to Indiana State where they play the Sycamores in a three-game series starting with a 1 p.m. (CST) doubleheader on Friday. CU and ISU conclude the series Saturday at 11 a.m. (CST). Fans can follow the series via live stats on the Creighton athletics website.
Last Week: Creighton shutout in-state rival Nebraska, 3-0, in Lincoln on April Fool's Day. Sara Loeffelholz went 2-for-3 with two RBI in the win at NU. The Jays then dropped their first MVC contest of the year, falling 1-0 to Bradley in the first of two games on Saturday. CU bounced back to score four runs in the fourth inning of a 4-0 victory over BU, while their final game of the series was cancelled.
Scouting Creighton (21-9, 9-1 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 in first place in the MVC at 9-1, which equals their best 10-game start ever in Valley play ...They have won 13 of their last 15 games overall ... CU leads the MVC with a .973 fielding percentage, .977 in Valley play ... The Jays' team ERA on the season is 1.79, second in the league, while their 0.40 ERA in league play is tops ... Two-time MVC Pitcher of the Year Tara Oltman is 7-1 with a 0.38 ERA in conference play, while freshman Kylie Hovinga is 2-0 with a 0.48 ERA in league action ... Oltman, who allowed four earned runs in seven innings in a loss to Indiana State on Feb. 13, has allowed just five earned runs in her last 107.1 innings pitched ... League opponents are hitting just .171 off the CU pitching staff ... Senior catcher Laura Kratochvil suffered a career-ending injury last week, and at the time she had career-highs and team-best numbers in batting, hits, home runs and RBI ... Renae Sinkler (.333) now leads the team with six home runs, .630 slugging percentage and .466 on-base percentage and is tops among active players with 23 RBI ... Bailey Dawson leads the team with 23 runs scored ... Junior transfer Sara Loeffelholz, a two-year starter at New Mexico, leads the team with 13 extra-base hits, eight doubles and two triples ... CU is hitting .264 in MVC play, led by Michelle Graner's .458 average, while five of Graner's 11 hits in Valley play are doubles.
Scouting Indiana State (10-17, 2-8 MVC): The Sycamores snapped an eight-game losing streak on Wednesday with a doubleheader sweep of IUPUI ... ISU has lost seven straight MVC games after opening 2-1 ... The Sycamores have scored one or no runs in five of those seven losses ... ISU is hitting .256 on the year, including .238 in league play and have scored the second-fewest runs of any team in the MVC, averaging 3.6 runs per game ... Katie Armour leads the MVC with a .435 average, including a league-best .500 in Valley play ... Armour also leads the team in RBI and hits ... At .391, Meredith Simpson is the only other Sycamore hitting above .300, as she leads the team with 18 runs, four home runs and six of the team's 13 stolen bases ... Darcy Wood (5-10, 3.27 ERA) is one of the top strikeout pitchers in league history. She has 116 strikeouts in 96.1 innings pitched this season.
Head Coach: Head coach Brent Vigness (Central College, 1988) is in his 16th season at Creighton, owning a record of 502-345-2 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 650-416-3. 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.
Sibling Rivalry: Creighton head coach Brent Vigness will once again face off against his sister Brenda Coldren, head coach at Indiana State, this weekend. Vigness is 14-4 all-time against his sister, including nine straight wins to start the sibling rivalry.
CU-ISU Series: Creighton is 36-6 all-time against Indiana State, including a loss to the Sycamores to open the 2008 season ... CU lost to Indiana State 4-3 on Feb. 13 in Corpus Christi, Texas ... The Jays swept the three-game MVC series from ISU last year, out-scoring the Sycamores 16-1 ... The last time CU was in Terre Haute, the Jays lost 1-0 in 11 innings and won 4-3 in 2007 ... Prior to losing two of three to ISU in 2006, the Jays had won 18 straight over the Sycamores.
Bluejays Against ISU: Michelle Koch's .500 average against Indiana State in her career is tops on the team, as she is 9-for-18 with a double, home run, four RBI and five runs scored in six career games against ISU. Jessi Jadlowski's is hitting .357 against ISU in her career, after going 4-for-10 with a triple against them last year. Michelle Graner is 4-for-12 (.333) lifetime against ISU, including 4-for-9 with three RBI last year. Jessica Wakasugi is 7-for-22 (.318) in her career against ISU. Bailey Dawson is batting .258 in nine career games against ISU, with three doubles and a home run among her eight career hits against ISU. Tara Oltman is 2-2 with two saves and a 1.02 ERA in six career appearances vs. ISU. Four of the five earned runs she has allowed in her 34.1 innings of work against the Sycamores, came in her seven innings of a 4-3 loss on Feb. 13 to open the year. Oltman tossed two shutouts against ISU last year, with 18 Ks in 15 innings, in her career ISU is hitting .165 against her, she has 34 Ks and allowed just 18 hits in 34.1 innings pitched.
We Meet Again: Creighton and Indiana State played a non-conference game on Feb. 13 in Corpus Christi, Texas, to open the season. The Sycamores won 4-3, scoring all of their runs in the fifth inning. Four of their six hits in the game came in the fifth also, as all of their hits were singles in the contest. Tara Oltman also walked three, but struck out nine in the loss. The Jays scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning and left the game-tying run at second base to end the game. CU also had six hits in the game, including a triple and home run by Sara Loeffelholz in her CU debut. Michelle Koch had two hits in the loss as well. Katie Armour picked up the win in relief for ISU.
Vigness Gets 500: Head coach Brent Vigness picked up his 500th win at Creighton with a 4-0 victory over Bradley last Sunday. Now in his 16th season at Creighton, he is 502-345-2. 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.
More Milestone Wins: Junior Tara Oltman enters the weekend with a career record of 74-23. Her 74 wins already rank second in school history and sixth in league history. She enters the weekend just two victories shy of tying Tammy Nielsen's school record of 76. Nielsen also compiled all of her wins in just three seasons at CU.
Sharing Shutouts: Freshman Kylie Hovinga and junior Tara Oltman have combined for two shutouts in Hovinga's last two 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 last Saturday. Hovinga then went three innings and Oltman four in a 1-0 blanking of the best hitting team in the MVC, UNI on Tuesday.
It's So Small: Creighton's ERA is so small in MVC play, it's kind of hard to find it. CU's Valley-best ERA of 0.40 ERA through 10 league games breaks down to just four earned runs in 70 innings pitched. The Jays have also allowed four unearned runs in those 10 games. Tara Oltman has a 0.38 league ERA and Kylie Hovinga has a 0.48 ERA in Valley action. MVC opponents are batting just .171 against CU, including just .161 against Oltman. The CU ace has appeared in nine of CU's first 10 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 .254 on the season, but is hitting a team-best .458 in league play. Five of her 11 hits in Valley play are doubles, as she had three doubles in CU's doubleheader sweep of Northern Iowa on Tuesday. Another unlikely doubles candidate has surfaced for the Bluejays, as Liz McKewon has four doubles recently. In fact, the sophomore, who has started all 90 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 last Saturday 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.
No Fooling: After its 3-0 win over Nebraska on April 1, Creighton is now 9-3-1 on April Fool's Day under head coach Brent Vigness. The Jays are 5-0-1 in their last six April 1 games.
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 Kansas on March 25 was her sixth of the season and the 32nd of her career. With 32 two-baggers, she is now tied with DeAnn Kaster for 10th 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 five earned runs in her last 107.1 innings pitched, for a minute 0.33 ERA in that span. In that time, her ERA has dropped from 2.42 down to 0.96.
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 (.303) are also career .300 hitters.
Something Extra From Liz: Sophomore Liz McKewon has started all 90 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 113 career runs scored and 10th with 32 career doubles. A starter at shortstop in all 182 of her career games, she has a .296 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 Seven Starters: Creighton has started seven of the same players in all 30 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 190 straight CU games started in center field. Renae Sinkler has split starts at first base (14) and designated player (12), Sara Loeffelholz has split time in right field (14), left field (12) and DP (x) Michelle Graner has shared time in left field (14) and first base (12).
Hovinga Minus Arizona: Freshman Kylie Hovinga (4-3, 3.67 ERA) had the difficult task of not only pitching against national power Arizona, but had to do so after the high-scoring team was shut out by Tara Oltman. The Wildcats unleashed an 18-hit, 19-run attack on the Bluejay rookie. If you subtract her UA outing from her season statistics, Hovinga's ERA is cut in half and she is 4-2 with a 1.81 ERA, having allowed just 45 hits and 13 earned runs in 50.1 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.
Friday, April 10 ? Price Field ? Terre Haute, Ind. ? 1:00 p.m. (CST) - DH
Saturday, April 11 ? Price Field ? Terre Haute, Ind. ? 11:00 a.m. (CST)
This Week: Creighton played a make-up doubleheader with Northern Iowa on Tuesday, sweeping the twin bill in Des Moines on Tuesday. The Jays took game one 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 Bluejays now travel to Indiana State where they play the Sycamores in a three-game series starting with a 1 p.m. (CST) doubleheader on Friday. CU and ISU conclude the series Saturday at 11 a.m. (CST). Fans can follow the series via live stats on the Creighton athletics website.
Last Week: Creighton shutout in-state rival Nebraska, 3-0, in Lincoln on April Fool's Day. Sara Loeffelholz went 2-for-3 with two RBI in the win at NU. The Jays then dropped their first MVC contest of the year, falling 1-0 to Bradley in the first of two games on Saturday. CU bounced back to score four runs in the fourth inning of a 4-0 victory over BU, while their final game of the series was cancelled.
Scouting Creighton (21-9, 9-1 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 in first place in the MVC at 9-1, which equals their best 10-game start ever in Valley play ...They have won 13 of their last 15 games overall ... CU leads the MVC with a .973 fielding percentage, .977 in Valley play ... The Jays' team ERA on the season is 1.79, second in the league, while their 0.40 ERA in league play is tops ... Two-time MVC Pitcher of the Year Tara Oltman is 7-1 with a 0.38 ERA in conference play, while freshman Kylie Hovinga is 2-0 with a 0.48 ERA in league action ... Oltman, who allowed four earned runs in seven innings in a loss to Indiana State on Feb. 13, has allowed just five earned runs in her last 107.1 innings pitched ... League opponents are hitting just .171 off the CU pitching staff ... Senior catcher Laura Kratochvil suffered a career-ending injury last week, and at the time she had career-highs and team-best numbers in batting, hits, home runs and RBI ... Renae Sinkler (.333) now leads the team with six home runs, .630 slugging percentage and .466 on-base percentage and is tops among active players with 23 RBI ... Bailey Dawson leads the team with 23 runs scored ... Junior transfer Sara Loeffelholz, a two-year starter at New Mexico, leads the team with 13 extra-base hits, eight doubles and two triples ... CU is hitting .264 in MVC play, led by Michelle Graner's .458 average, while five of Graner's 11 hits in Valley play are doubles.
Scouting Indiana State (10-17, 2-8 MVC): The Sycamores snapped an eight-game losing streak on Wednesday with a doubleheader sweep of IUPUI ... ISU has lost seven straight MVC games after opening 2-1 ... The Sycamores have scored one or no runs in five of those seven losses ... ISU is hitting .256 on the year, including .238 in league play and have scored the second-fewest runs of any team in the MVC, averaging 3.6 runs per game ... Katie Armour leads the MVC with a .435 average, including a league-best .500 in Valley play ... Armour also leads the team in RBI and hits ... At .391, Meredith Simpson is the only other Sycamore hitting above .300, as she leads the team with 18 runs, four home runs and six of the team's 13 stolen bases ... Darcy Wood (5-10, 3.27 ERA) is one of the top strikeout pitchers in league history. She has 116 strikeouts in 96.1 innings pitched this season.
Head Coach: Head coach Brent Vigness (Central College, 1988) is in his 16th season at Creighton, owning a record of 502-345-2 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 650-416-3. 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.
Sibling Rivalry: Creighton head coach Brent Vigness will once again face off against his sister Brenda Coldren, head coach at Indiana State, this weekend. Vigness is 14-4 all-time against his sister, including nine straight wins to start the sibling rivalry.
CU-ISU Series: Creighton is 36-6 all-time against Indiana State, including a loss to the Sycamores to open the 2008 season ... CU lost to Indiana State 4-3 on Feb. 13 in Corpus Christi, Texas ... The Jays swept the three-game MVC series from ISU last year, out-scoring the Sycamores 16-1 ... The last time CU was in Terre Haute, the Jays lost 1-0 in 11 innings and won 4-3 in 2007 ... Prior to losing two of three to ISU in 2006, the Jays had won 18 straight over the Sycamores.
Bluejays Against ISU: Michelle Koch's .500 average against Indiana State in her career is tops on the team, as she is 9-for-18 with a double, home run, four RBI and five runs scored in six career games against ISU. Jessi Jadlowski's is hitting .357 against ISU in her career, after going 4-for-10 with a triple against them last year. Michelle Graner is 4-for-12 (.333) lifetime against ISU, including 4-for-9 with three RBI last year. Jessica Wakasugi is 7-for-22 (.318) in her career against ISU. Bailey Dawson is batting .258 in nine career games against ISU, with three doubles and a home run among her eight career hits against ISU. Tara Oltman is 2-2 with two saves and a 1.02 ERA in six career appearances vs. ISU. Four of the five earned runs she has allowed in her 34.1 innings of work against the Sycamores, came in her seven innings of a 4-3 loss on Feb. 13 to open the year. Oltman tossed two shutouts against ISU last year, with 18 Ks in 15 innings, in her career ISU is hitting .165 against her, she has 34 Ks and allowed just 18 hits in 34.1 innings pitched.
We Meet Again: Creighton and Indiana State played a non-conference game on Feb. 13 in Corpus Christi, Texas, to open the season. The Sycamores won 4-3, scoring all of their runs in the fifth inning. Four of their six hits in the game came in the fifth also, as all of their hits were singles in the contest. Tara Oltman also walked three, but struck out nine in the loss. The Jays scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning and left the game-tying run at second base to end the game. CU also had six hits in the game, including a triple and home run by Sara Loeffelholz in her CU debut. Michelle Koch had two hits in the loss as well. Katie Armour picked up the win in relief for ISU.
Vigness Gets 500: Head coach Brent Vigness picked up his 500th win at Creighton with a 4-0 victory over Bradley last Sunday. Now in his 16th season at Creighton, he is 502-345-2. 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.
More Milestone Wins: Junior Tara Oltman enters the weekend with a career record of 74-23. Her 74 wins already rank second in school history and sixth in league history. She enters the weekend just two victories shy of tying Tammy Nielsen's school record of 76. Nielsen also compiled all of her wins in just three seasons at CU.
Sharing Shutouts: Freshman Kylie Hovinga and junior Tara Oltman have combined for two shutouts in Hovinga's last two 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 last Saturday. Hovinga then went three innings and Oltman four in a 1-0 blanking of the best hitting team in the MVC, UNI on Tuesday.
It's So Small: Creighton's ERA is so small in MVC play, it's kind of hard to find it. CU's Valley-best ERA of 0.40 ERA through 10 league games breaks down to just four earned runs in 70 innings pitched. The Jays have also allowed four unearned runs in those 10 games. Tara Oltman has a 0.38 league ERA and Kylie Hovinga has a 0.48 ERA in Valley action. MVC opponents are batting just .171 against CU, including just .161 against Oltman. The CU ace has appeared in nine of CU's first 10 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 .254 on the season, but is hitting a team-best .458 in league play. Five of her 11 hits in Valley play are doubles, as she had three doubles in CU's doubleheader sweep of Northern Iowa on Tuesday. Another unlikely doubles candidate has surfaced for the Bluejays, as Liz McKewon has four doubles recently. In fact, the sophomore, who has started all 90 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 last Saturday 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.
No Fooling: After its 3-0 win over Nebraska on April 1, Creighton is now 9-3-1 on April Fool's Day under head coach Brent Vigness. The Jays are 5-0-1 in their last six April 1 games.
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 Kansas on March 25 was her sixth of the season and the 32nd of her career. With 32 two-baggers, she is now tied with DeAnn Kaster for 10th 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 five earned runs in her last 107.1 innings pitched, for a minute 0.33 ERA in that span. In that time, her ERA has dropped from 2.42 down to 0.96.
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 (.303) are also career .300 hitters.
Something Extra From Liz: Sophomore Liz McKewon has started all 90 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 113 career runs scored and 10th with 32 career doubles. A starter at shortstop in all 182 of her career games, she has a .296 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 Seven Starters: Creighton has started seven of the same players in all 30 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 190 straight CU games started in center field. Renae Sinkler has split starts at first base (14) and designated player (12), Sara Loeffelholz has split time in right field (14), left field (12) and DP (x) Michelle Graner has shared time in left field (14) and first base (12).
Hovinga Minus Arizona: Freshman Kylie Hovinga (4-3, 3.67 ERA) had the difficult task of not only pitching against national power Arizona, but had to do so after the high-scoring team was shut out by Tara Oltman. The Wildcats unleashed an 18-hit, 19-run attack on the Bluejay rookie. If you subtract her UA outing from her season statistics, Hovinga's ERA is cut in half and she is 4-2 with a 1.81 ERA, having allowed just 45 hits and 13 earned runs in 50.1 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.
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Creighton Baseball & Softball Fields Groundbreaking - 6/11/25
Wednesday, June 11
Creighton BET Postgame vs. St John's, 5/8/25
Thursday, May 08
Creighton Softball Highlights vs. Seton Hall, 5/4/25
Sunday, May 04
