Softball Opens MVC Play at Evansville this Weekend
3/16/2011 5:19:00 PM | Softball
Creighton at Evansville in MVC Opening Series
Saturday, March 19 • Evansville, Ind. • 12 p.m. (DH)
Sunday, March 20 • Evansville, Ind. • 12 p.m.
This Week: The Bluejays open Missouri Valley Conference play with a three-game series at Evansville this weekend. The Jays and Purple Aces play a doubleheader Saturday at noon and finish with a single game on Sunday at noon.
Follow the Bluejays: Evansville will provide live stats, live audio and live video (subscription) for all three games this weekend. Follow the links provided on www.gocreighton.com for the action.
Last Week: Creighton went 2-4 while closing out its Spring Break trip in Arizona, during which it played 11 games in nine days. The Bluejays opened the week with losses at eighth-ranked Arizona State and fourth-ranked Arizona, before splitting four games at the Diamond Devil Invitational hosted by ASU in Tempe. The Bluejays lost to Florida Gulf Coast, but snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 7-2 win over Weber State. CU closed the tourney with an 8-0 five-inning win over Howard. Amy Baker was named MVC Player of the Week as all six of her hits during the week were home runs, going 6-for-16 (.375) with six homers and 11 RBI. Her six blasts game in the span of eight plate appearances, while she tied the school record with three home runs in a 7-6 loss to Campbell.
Scouting Creighton (9-12, 0-0 MVC): Creighton, which has appeared in six of the last eight NCAA Tournaments and is the reigning Missouri Valley Conference Tournament champion, has been picked to finish sixth in this year's MVC race ... The Bluejays return just three starters from last year's 37-23 team, while they have 11 freshmen and just 10 returners on the roster ... Creighton opened the season 5-1, but is under .500 heading into MVC play for the first time since 2003 ... The Bluejays, who set a school record with 66 home runs last year, have 16 in their last 16 games and nine homers in their last four games ... Sophomore catcher Amy Baker has hit six of her MVC-leading seven home runs in Creighton's last three games to move into the Creighton career top-10 with 22 home runs ... Freshman Malloree Grove has started every game at third base this year and leads the team with a .320 average ... Junior center fielder Christa Ruf (.317) has a career-high four home runs and tops the team with 16 RBI and 19 hits ... Freshman Ellen Homan (.309) is hitting .405 in her last 16 games ... Sophomore Danai Martin leads the MVC with 10 stolen bases and is tied with senior Liz McKewon for the team-lead with nine runs scored ... CU is hitting .253 as a team and allowing opponents to hit .231 with a staff ERA of 3.50 ... Freshman Becca Changstrom, who has tossed three shutouts in 11 starts, has emerged as the staff ace, leading the team with a 6-5 record, 1.71 ERA, 69.2 innings pitched and 71 strikeouts.
Scouting Evansville (3-14, 0-0 MVC): The Purple Aces were 3-14 entering a Thursday doubleheader with UT Martin ... UE has two wins over Alcorn State and one over Southeastern Louisiana ... UE has twice allowed 18 runs in a game this season and its staff ERA of 8.14 is worst in the MVC ... The Aces have allowed 31 home runs, walked 37 and struck out 34 batters through 17 games, allowing opponents to bat .393 against them ... Evansville is hitting .249 as a team, led by Jen Stahlhut's .333 mark and 12 RBI ... Katie Sears (.327) tops the team with seven stolen bases and Amy Gaertner (.311) has two of UE's three home runs this season ... Kendall Kautz (1-3, 6.75 ERA, 28 IP, 12 K), Maggie Little (1-3, 8.75, 24 IP, 8 K) and Emily Morris (1-5, 10.36, 25 IP, 7 K) have seen the most work in the circle for the Aces.
Head Coach: Head coach Brent Vigness (Central College, 1988) is in his 18th season at Creighton, owning a record of 562-387-2 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 23 years as a head coach is 710-458-3. He has led the Jays to six MVC Tournament titles (1999, 2003-05, 2007, 2010), six regular-season MVC crowns (1998-2000, 2007-09), seven NCAA Tournament appearances (1999, 2003-05, 2007-08, 2010) and was named MVC Coach of the Year in 1998 and guided the MVC Coaching Staff of the Year in 2007 and 2008.
CU-UE Series: Creighton is 30-17 all-time against Evansville ... CU had a seven-game winning streak in the series snapped in the regular-season finale last year in Omaha ... Creighton has won nine of its last 10 games against the Aces in Evansville ... The Jays have won 10 of the last 12 meetings overall against the Aces ... CU out-scored UE 17-3 in a three-game sweep in Evansville in 2009.
Individuals Against UE: How some Bluejays have fared against Evansville in their careers.
• Kylie Hovinga is 2-0 with a 3.59 ERA in two career appearances - both starts - against the Purple Aces, including a complete game as a freshman in which she allowed just one run.
• Amy Baker went 2-for-9 with a home run, double and two RBI in three games against UE as a freshman last year.
• Liz McKewon is 4-for-21 (.190) in her career vs. UE, but was 3-for-10 (.300) last year.
• Christa Ruf is 2-for-10 (.200) in her career against UE, with both hits coming last year.
• Danai Martin was 1-for-1 against UE last year.
Vigness Can Reach Record This Weekend: Head coach Brent Vigness is one of only two coaches in program history. Now in his 18th season, he is the most tenured coach in program history, surpassing Creighton Hall of Famer Mary Higgins' 17 seasons from 1977-1993. Vigness enters the weekend with 562 wins at Creighton. A three-game sweep would give him the school record for victories, surpassing Higgins' record of 564.
MVC Openers: Creighton has swept its opening MVC series in each of the past four seasons and six of the previous seven seasons. The Jays opened both the 2007 and 2009 MVC seasons with six straight wins, while they opened with five straight in 2008. Last year the Bluejays took both games of their opening series with Indiana State, before losing their next five games.
Hot or Not: Since 1998, Creighton has either started very well or very poorly early in the MVC season. Listed below are CU's early season MVC records since 1998:
Season MVC Start Final MVC W-L
2010 2-5 18-7
2009 6-0 19-6
2008 5-0 21-3
2007 6-0 19-4-1
2006 0-4 10-13
2005 4-0 19-8
2004 3-0 17-8
2003 1-7 14-12
2002 0-4 18-7
2001 0-7 16-10
2000 5-1 11-7
1999 5-0 11-3
1998 9-1 16-2
Baker MVC Player of the Week: For the third time in her career, sophomore Amy Baker was named the MVC Player of the Week on Monday after an amazing three-game span last weekend in the Diamond Devil Invitational. Baker hit five home runs in a doubleheader last Friday, tying the school record by hitting three home runs in a game against Campbell. She followed with another blast on Saturday, giving her six home runs in the span of eight plate appearances. All six of her hits last week were home runs, while she topped the team with 11 RBI in six games last week as well.
Baker's Back: Amy Baker started the season with eight hits and was batting .182 with one home run and five RBI through her first 18 games this season. Since that start, she is now 6-for-11 (.545) with six home runs and 11 RBI in her last three games, to raise her season average to .255. Her seven home runs on the year lead both the team and the MVC, while her 22 career home runs already rank eighth in school history.
Ruffed Up: Junior Christa Ruf is off to a fantastic start to her junior season, leading the team with 16 RBI and 19 hits. Her .317 average is 110 points higher than her career average at the start of the season and her 16 RBI through 21 games are two more than she had through the first 86 games of her career. She is second on the team with four home runs in 60 at bats – she entered the year with only one home run in her first 140 career at bats.
McHBP: Senior Liz McKewon has been hit by three pitches this year and has now been hit by a pitch 14 times in her career to rank sixth in school history in that category.
Outfield Speed: Sophomore right fielder Danai Martin leads the MVC with 10 stolen bases this spring, already equalling the team-leading total of Renae Sinkler from 2010, which is the most stolen bases by a Bluejay since Melanie Dorsey had 24 stolen bases in 2005. Martin hit .500 last week, going 7-for-14 with five stolen bases in five chances to raise her season average to .286. Freshman left fielder Ellen Homan is second on the team with six stolen bases while she has been on fire of late. Since starting her career 0-for-13 at the plate, she is hitting .405 (17-42) to move her season average to .309.
More on Martin: As mentioned in the previous note, Danai Martin leads the MVC with 10 stolen bases. Eight of those stolen bases have come in three games, as she stole two bases in the season-opener against Western Illinois (Feb. 11) and posted three stolen bases against Northern Colorado (March 4) and against Howard (March 12). The Bluejays won each of those three games. Martin has walked seven times this season – including three in the season-opener – after she did not get receive one free pass all of last season. The sophomore was 7-for-35 (.200) last year, but is already 14-for-49 (.286) this season, settling in to her role as CU's starting right fielder.
Fresh Faces: With freshmen making up more than half of this year's roster, it's no surprise that several have been plugged into starting roles. Freshmen Malloree Grove and Ellen Homan have each started the first 21 games this season at third base and left field, respectively. Grove, who had a team-best eight game hitting streak earlier this season, is leading the team with a .320 average and Homan is second on the team with six stolen bases. Freshmen have started 16 of the 21 games at first base, with Brittanee Grove starting 13 and Brittnie Kreiser starting three, combined they are flawless in 107 chances in the field. Kreiser is third on the team with three home runs. McKenna Setlik went 3-for-3 with three RBI in her collegiate debut has two home runs and five RBI in 17 games. Rookie pitcher Becca Changstrom is the staff ace, leading the team with six wins, 1.71 ERA, 69.2 innings pitched and 71 strikeouts. Changstrom has hurled three shutouts and seven complete games this season,
Same Six Starters: Creighton has had the same starter at six positions in all 21 games this season. The outfield to start every game this year has been Ellen Homan in left, Christa Ruf in center and Danai Martin in right. The left side of the infield has been Malloree Grove at third and Liz McKewon at shortstop, while Jennifer Bohle has started at second base every game this season. Amy Baker has started 20 of 21 games behind the plate.
Leftovers: Amy Baker hit a team-high .489 with runners in scoring position last year, she is hitting .083 (2-24) with RISP this season ... Baker walked 13 times in 58 games last year, but has walked 13 times in her first 21 games this season ... Baker has 22 career home runs, the rest of the team has a combined 10 career homers ... Creighton has scored 21 runs and collected 32 hits, including eight home runs in its last three games, raising its team batting average from .228 up to .253 in that brief span.
Saturday, March 19 • Evansville, Ind. • 12 p.m. (DH)
Sunday, March 20 • Evansville, Ind. • 12 p.m.
This Week: The Bluejays open Missouri Valley Conference play with a three-game series at Evansville this weekend. The Jays and Purple Aces play a doubleheader Saturday at noon and finish with a single game on Sunday at noon.
Follow the Bluejays: Evansville will provide live stats, live audio and live video (subscription) for all three games this weekend. Follow the links provided on www.gocreighton.com for the action.
Last Week: Creighton went 2-4 while closing out its Spring Break trip in Arizona, during which it played 11 games in nine days. The Bluejays opened the week with losses at eighth-ranked Arizona State and fourth-ranked Arizona, before splitting four games at the Diamond Devil Invitational hosted by ASU in Tempe. The Bluejays lost to Florida Gulf Coast, but snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 7-2 win over Weber State. CU closed the tourney with an 8-0 five-inning win over Howard. Amy Baker was named MVC Player of the Week as all six of her hits during the week were home runs, going 6-for-16 (.375) with six homers and 11 RBI. Her six blasts game in the span of eight plate appearances, while she tied the school record with three home runs in a 7-6 loss to Campbell.
Scouting Creighton (9-12, 0-0 MVC): Creighton, which has appeared in six of the last eight NCAA Tournaments and is the reigning Missouri Valley Conference Tournament champion, has been picked to finish sixth in this year's MVC race ... The Bluejays return just three starters from last year's 37-23 team, while they have 11 freshmen and just 10 returners on the roster ... Creighton opened the season 5-1, but is under .500 heading into MVC play for the first time since 2003 ... The Bluejays, who set a school record with 66 home runs last year, have 16 in their last 16 games and nine homers in their last four games ... Sophomore catcher Amy Baker has hit six of her MVC-leading seven home runs in Creighton's last three games to move into the Creighton career top-10 with 22 home runs ... Freshman Malloree Grove has started every game at third base this year and leads the team with a .320 average ... Junior center fielder Christa Ruf (.317) has a career-high four home runs and tops the team with 16 RBI and 19 hits ... Freshman Ellen Homan (.309) is hitting .405 in her last 16 games ... Sophomore Danai Martin leads the MVC with 10 stolen bases and is tied with senior Liz McKewon for the team-lead with nine runs scored ... CU is hitting .253 as a team and allowing opponents to hit .231 with a staff ERA of 3.50 ... Freshman Becca Changstrom, who has tossed three shutouts in 11 starts, has emerged as the staff ace, leading the team with a 6-5 record, 1.71 ERA, 69.2 innings pitched and 71 strikeouts.
Scouting Evansville (3-14, 0-0 MVC): The Purple Aces were 3-14 entering a Thursday doubleheader with UT Martin ... UE has two wins over Alcorn State and one over Southeastern Louisiana ... UE has twice allowed 18 runs in a game this season and its staff ERA of 8.14 is worst in the MVC ... The Aces have allowed 31 home runs, walked 37 and struck out 34 batters through 17 games, allowing opponents to bat .393 against them ... Evansville is hitting .249 as a team, led by Jen Stahlhut's .333 mark and 12 RBI ... Katie Sears (.327) tops the team with seven stolen bases and Amy Gaertner (.311) has two of UE's three home runs this season ... Kendall Kautz (1-3, 6.75 ERA, 28 IP, 12 K), Maggie Little (1-3, 8.75, 24 IP, 8 K) and Emily Morris (1-5, 10.36, 25 IP, 7 K) have seen the most work in the circle for the Aces.
Head Coach: Head coach Brent Vigness (Central College, 1988) is in his 18th season at Creighton, owning a record of 562-387-2 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 23 years as a head coach is 710-458-3. He has led the Jays to six MVC Tournament titles (1999, 2003-05, 2007, 2010), six regular-season MVC crowns (1998-2000, 2007-09), seven NCAA Tournament appearances (1999, 2003-05, 2007-08, 2010) and was named MVC Coach of the Year in 1998 and guided the MVC Coaching Staff of the Year in 2007 and 2008.
CU-UE Series: Creighton is 30-17 all-time against Evansville ... CU had a seven-game winning streak in the series snapped in the regular-season finale last year in Omaha ... Creighton has won nine of its last 10 games against the Aces in Evansville ... The Jays have won 10 of the last 12 meetings overall against the Aces ... CU out-scored UE 17-3 in a three-game sweep in Evansville in 2009.
Individuals Against UE: How some Bluejays have fared against Evansville in their careers.
• Kylie Hovinga is 2-0 with a 3.59 ERA in two career appearances - both starts - against the Purple Aces, including a complete game as a freshman in which she allowed just one run.
• Amy Baker went 2-for-9 with a home run, double and two RBI in three games against UE as a freshman last year.
• Liz McKewon is 4-for-21 (.190) in her career vs. UE, but was 3-for-10 (.300) last year.
• Christa Ruf is 2-for-10 (.200) in her career against UE, with both hits coming last year.
• Danai Martin was 1-for-1 against UE last year.
Vigness Can Reach Record This Weekend: Head coach Brent Vigness is one of only two coaches in program history. Now in his 18th season, he is the most tenured coach in program history, surpassing Creighton Hall of Famer Mary Higgins' 17 seasons from 1977-1993. Vigness enters the weekend with 562 wins at Creighton. A three-game sweep would give him the school record for victories, surpassing Higgins' record of 564.
MVC Openers: Creighton has swept its opening MVC series in each of the past four seasons and six of the previous seven seasons. The Jays opened both the 2007 and 2009 MVC seasons with six straight wins, while they opened with five straight in 2008. Last year the Bluejays took both games of their opening series with Indiana State, before losing their next five games.
Hot or Not: Since 1998, Creighton has either started very well or very poorly early in the MVC season. Listed below are CU's early season MVC records since 1998:
Season MVC Start Final MVC W-L
2010 2-5 18-7
2009 6-0 19-6
2008 5-0 21-3
2007 6-0 19-4-1
2006 0-4 10-13
2005 4-0 19-8
2004 3-0 17-8
2003 1-7 14-12
2002 0-4 18-7
2001 0-7 16-10
2000 5-1 11-7
1999 5-0 11-3
1998 9-1 16-2
Baker MVC Player of the Week: For the third time in her career, sophomore Amy Baker was named the MVC Player of the Week on Monday after an amazing three-game span last weekend in the Diamond Devil Invitational. Baker hit five home runs in a doubleheader last Friday, tying the school record by hitting three home runs in a game against Campbell. She followed with another blast on Saturday, giving her six home runs in the span of eight plate appearances. All six of her hits last week were home runs, while she topped the team with 11 RBI in six games last week as well.
Baker's Back: Amy Baker started the season with eight hits and was batting .182 with one home run and five RBI through her first 18 games this season. Since that start, she is now 6-for-11 (.545) with six home runs and 11 RBI in her last three games, to raise her season average to .255. Her seven home runs on the year lead both the team and the MVC, while her 22 career home runs already rank eighth in school history.
Ruffed Up: Junior Christa Ruf is off to a fantastic start to her junior season, leading the team with 16 RBI and 19 hits. Her .317 average is 110 points higher than her career average at the start of the season and her 16 RBI through 21 games are two more than she had through the first 86 games of her career. She is second on the team with four home runs in 60 at bats – she entered the year with only one home run in her first 140 career at bats.
McHBP: Senior Liz McKewon has been hit by three pitches this year and has now been hit by a pitch 14 times in her career to rank sixth in school history in that category.
Outfield Speed: Sophomore right fielder Danai Martin leads the MVC with 10 stolen bases this spring, already equalling the team-leading total of Renae Sinkler from 2010, which is the most stolen bases by a Bluejay since Melanie Dorsey had 24 stolen bases in 2005. Martin hit .500 last week, going 7-for-14 with five stolen bases in five chances to raise her season average to .286. Freshman left fielder Ellen Homan is second on the team with six stolen bases while she has been on fire of late. Since starting her career 0-for-13 at the plate, she is hitting .405 (17-42) to move her season average to .309.
More on Martin: As mentioned in the previous note, Danai Martin leads the MVC with 10 stolen bases. Eight of those stolen bases have come in three games, as she stole two bases in the season-opener against Western Illinois (Feb. 11) and posted three stolen bases against Northern Colorado (March 4) and against Howard (March 12). The Bluejays won each of those three games. Martin has walked seven times this season – including three in the season-opener – after she did not get receive one free pass all of last season. The sophomore was 7-for-35 (.200) last year, but is already 14-for-49 (.286) this season, settling in to her role as CU's starting right fielder.
Fresh Faces: With freshmen making up more than half of this year's roster, it's no surprise that several have been plugged into starting roles. Freshmen Malloree Grove and Ellen Homan have each started the first 21 games this season at third base and left field, respectively. Grove, who had a team-best eight game hitting streak earlier this season, is leading the team with a .320 average and Homan is second on the team with six stolen bases. Freshmen have started 16 of the 21 games at first base, with Brittanee Grove starting 13 and Brittnie Kreiser starting three, combined they are flawless in 107 chances in the field. Kreiser is third on the team with three home runs. McKenna Setlik went 3-for-3 with three RBI in her collegiate debut has two home runs and five RBI in 17 games. Rookie pitcher Becca Changstrom is the staff ace, leading the team with six wins, 1.71 ERA, 69.2 innings pitched and 71 strikeouts. Changstrom has hurled three shutouts and seven complete games this season,
Same Six Starters: Creighton has had the same starter at six positions in all 21 games this season. The outfield to start every game this year has been Ellen Homan in left, Christa Ruf in center and Danai Martin in right. The left side of the infield has been Malloree Grove at third and Liz McKewon at shortstop, while Jennifer Bohle has started at second base every game this season. Amy Baker has started 20 of 21 games behind the plate.
Leftovers: Amy Baker hit a team-high .489 with runners in scoring position last year, she is hitting .083 (2-24) with RISP this season ... Baker walked 13 times in 58 games last year, but has walked 13 times in her first 21 games this season ... Baker has 22 career home runs, the rest of the team has a combined 10 career homers ... Creighton has scored 21 runs and collected 32 hits, including eight home runs in its last three games, raising its team batting average from .228 up to .253 in that brief span.
Players Mentioned
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UT
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IF
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1B
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