Creighton University
21-15, 6-8
St. John's
21-14, 12-1
Softball's 9-2 Win Gives St. John's First BIG EAST Loss of 2015
4/25/2015 10:36:00 PM | Softball
OMAHA, Neb. – After a two-hour delayed start due to wet and rainy conditions, the Creighton softball team stunned first-place St. John's with a 9-2 defeat in game one of a doubleheader Saturday but the Red Storm gathered power to ruin the Bluejays' hope of a sweep with an 11-0 no-hit decision in game two at the CU Sports Complex.
The Creighton (21-16, 6-8 BIG EAST) victory in game one halted St. John's (22-14, 13-1 BIG EAST) 15-game win streak and gave the Red Storm its first BIG EAST defeat of the season. As a result the Jays picked up ground on teams battling them for the fourth and final spot in the BIG EAST Softball Championship in two weeks. SJU's victory in the nightcap helped the Red Storm move closer to a regular-season title.
Sophomores led the CU offense on Senior Day. Anna O'Gorman led the Bluejay bats with a .500 average at the plate with three singles and a pair of RBI. Classmates Allie Reinhart and Jen Daro each notched two hits and batted in multiple runs with a double and home run, respectively. Fellow sophomore Sydnee Eck hit her first career home run to help her cause in the circle where she earned a complete game victory yielding just two unearned runs.
CU enters Sunday's rubber match with St. John's, which will be broadcast live on the BIG EAST Digital Network, in a tie for fifth place in the standings. The Jays are just one game out of fourth with four contests remaining.
Sophomore Sydnee Eck earned the game one start in the circle for Creighton.
After a scoreless first frame, St. John's posted the first run of the game after a CU error, sacrifice bunt and an RBI single pushed across a run for a 1-0 lead.
Creighton later exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the third inning – all with two outs. Junior Kelsey Allender singled through the right side before classmate Michelle Trulin drew a walk. Senior Liz Dike connected on an infield single to load the bases.
Junior Blake Ringle reached on a St. John's error to score Allender and knot the game at 1-1. A two-RBI double from Reinhart put Creighton ahead for good at 3-1. Next up, O'Gorman singled to score one more to build a 4-1 advantage.
Daro then belted her seventh home run of the season to clear the bases. Her long ball deep over the center field wall gave the Jays a 7-1 lead and forced an SJU pitching change.
The Red Storm posted one run in the next half inning after two singles to open the fourth and a CU error that led to a 7-2 margin.
The Bluejays closed out the scoring in the bottom of the frame. Eck opened with her first career home run down the right field line to make it 8-2. After Allender walked and Trulin reached on an error the runners advanced to scoring position before O'Gorman notched the final run on another RBI single to yield the final score of 9-2.
Eck improved to 10-7 with the victory.
The Red Storm displayed the strong pitching and offense of a league leader in game two. SJU scored 11 runs on 12 hits while posting a no-hitter against Creighton to move closer to a regular-season conference crown and the No. 1 seed at the BIG EAST Softball Championship. St. John's can finish no worse than second in the year-end standings.
Junior Micaela Whitney took the loss in the nightcap to drop to 9-8 on the season.
Creighton completes its 2015 home BIG EAST slate against St. John's at 11 a.m. CT on Sunday at the CU Sports Complex. The game will be broadcast live on the BIG EAST Digital Network via FoxSportsGo.com and the FoxSportsGo mobile app.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Eck, Sydnee (10-7)
L: FREE, Tori (8-5)
Batting:
2B: LANDINI, Monique 1
RBI: RERICHA, Yvonne 1
SH: GARCIA, Brittany 1
Base Running:
RUNS: BURNER, Erin 1 ; GARCIA, Brittany 1
SB: RERICHA, Yvonne 1
Batting:
2B: Reinhart, Allie 1
HR: Daro, Jen 1 ; Eck, Sydnee 1
RBI: Reinhart, Allie 2 ; O'Gorman, Anna 2 ; Daro, Jen 3 ; Eck, Sydnee 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Allender, Kelsey 2 ; Trulin, Michelle 1 ; Dike, Liz 1 ; Nekola, Paige 1 ; Reinhart, Allie 1 ; O'Gorman, Anna 1 ; Daro, Jen 1 ; Eck, Sydnee 1
SB: Crowley, Sam 1
