Softball Hosts South Dakota State For Midweek Doubleheader

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2016 Creighton Softball Notes
Games #29-30 • March 30 vs. South Dakota State (DH) • 2:00 PM • Omaha, Neb. • CU Sports Complex

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Creighton (17-10, 2-0 BIG EAST) steps outside of BIG EAST play for a midweek doubleheader on Wednesday when it hosts South Dakota State (11-19, 1-2 Summit prior to Tuesday's game at Nebraska). The teams will play a doubleheader on Wednesday beginning at 2 pm at the CU Sports Complex in Omaha, Neb.

Follow the Action
Live stats for the doubleheader against South Dakota State can be found via links on GoCreighton.com, or at Creighton.StatBroadcast.com.
   Scoring updates and infographics will be provided via Twitter at @BluejaySoftball.
   Free live video for the game can also be found at GoCreighton.com/Watch.

Scouting Creighton
Creighton Softball has won 12 of its last 14 games to improve to 17-10 on the season. The first 24 of those games were away from home, including 21 neutral-site contests, before going 2-1 since returning home two weeks ago. That home stretch includes a 6-0 loss to Kansas before sweeping Providence 11-3 and 14-12 last week.
   Sydnee Eck has been named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week three times this season and leads the pitching staff with an 11-5 record. She's allowed just 84 hits and 21 walks in 93.1 innings of work, and owns 125 strikeouts on the spring. Freshman Michal Hylton (4-1, 4.34 ERA in 38.2 IP) and senior Micaela Whitney (2-4, 3.61 ERA in 40.2 IP) also give CU some depth on the mound.
   Tash Coffiel went 4-for-6 last Wednesday to lift her batting average to a team-high .404. Allie Reinhart also went 4-for-6 last week and leads the club in doubles (5) while ranking second on the team in batting average (.364) and RBI (18). Providing much of the power in the middle of the line-up has been junior Jen Daro, who hits .342 and has six homers and 29 RBI to date. She had a grand slam in Creighton's most recent triumph over Providence.

Scouting South Dakota State
South Dakota State is 11-19 on the season, with all 30 of those games coming away from home. The Jackrabbits went 1-2 last weekend in Macomb, Ill., against Western Illinois to start Summit League play.
   Christian McKone is hitting .366 and leads the team with 30 hits, 21 runs and 16 stolen bases. Lauren Chirnside (.322, 4 HR, 25 RBI) and Ali Herdliska (.317, 8 HR, 23 RBI) supply much of the power in the Jackrabbit line-up.
   Ashlyn Bender (5-11, 3.96 ERA in 100.2 IP) and Bryana Clark (5-7, 5.27 ERA in 70.1 IP) have combined to pick up 10 of SDSU's 11 victories this spring.

Series History vs. South Dakota State
Series: Creighton leads, 12-5-1
This Year's Meetings: Creighton and South Dakota State split a pair of meetings in Florida earlier in March. The Jackrabbits won on March 8 by a 1-0 margin before Creighton took the rematch, 4-3, two days later. SDSU's win was the 500th loss at CU for coach Brent Vigness, while the CU win was Vigness's 700th victory with the Bluejays.
Statistically vs. South Dakota State: Sydnee Eck threw complete games in both games vs. SDSU earlier this month, allowing 10 hits, four runs and three walks in 13.1 innings that saw her strike out 16. On the offensive side, Allie Reinhart was 4-for-7, while Tash Coffiel went 2-for-4. Six other teammates had one hit each. Creighton handled all 49 chances in the field without an error.

Creighton Picked Fifth in BIG EAST
As announced by the BIG EAST Conference on Feb. 1, Creighton was tabbed fifth in the Preseason Coaches' Poll, just one point shy of Seton Hall for fourth place. Last season's regular season and tournament champion, St. John's, was unanimously chosen to top the poll. The Red Storm received all seven available first-place votes for a total of 49 points, as the league's head coaches ranked the teams one through seven and were not allowed to vote for their own programs.
   With two All-BIG EAST selections returning, Creighton will look to build off of last year's 22-21 campaign. Allie Reinhart led the Bluejays with a .396 batting average, 21 hits and 12 RBI in conference play last season. Blake Ringle finished second on the team with 10 long balls, four of which came in BIG EAST action. Including Reinhart and Ringle, the Bluejays return 15 players from a year ago. Creighton welcomes seven newcomers to the roster: Aujanae McCoy, Tara Fallahee, Bry Flanagan, Kelly Mardones, Michal Hylton, Val Bertrand and Mileah McKelvy.

What A Start!
Creighton opened its series with Providence last Wednesday with an eight-run first inning, keying an eventual 11-3 win.
   The eight runs tied the most by the Bluejays in any inning this season, something previously done on Feb. 19 vs. Campbell and March 5 vs. Niagara.
    Creighton has not scored more than eight runs in an inning since scoring 12 runs in the third inning vs. Indiana State on March 31, 2012.
   Creighton had not scored eight or more runs in the first inning since scoring 13 times in the first inning vs. North Dakota State on April 5, 2010.

Nebraskans Return Home
Several members of the South Dakota State coaching staff have ties to the state of Nebraska.
   Head coach Krista (Unger) Wood helped lead Nebraska-Omaha to the 2001 NCAA Division II national championship and finished her career in 2003 as the Mavericks' all-time winningest pitcher with 106 victories. She then went on to coach eight seasons (2007-14) as the head coach at Wayne State College in Wayne, Neb.
   Assistant coach Shannon Pivovar hails from Ralston, Neb., and later worked at Creighton in the sports information office for two-plus years. She later worked for Wood at Wayne State before they both moved to Brookings for the SDSU program. Her father, Steven Pivovar, is also the Creighton beatwriter for the Omaha World-Herald.

Allender Always In
Kelsey Allender continues to be a fixture in the Creighton line-up. Not only has she started every game this season, but she's started every game of her career.
   Allender enters Wednesday's doubleheader with 170 consecutive starts.
   Allender's not the only Blujeay with an impressive starting streak, as Jen Daro's made 106 straight starts (and has played in all 123 games since enrolling) and Blake Ringle's at 70 starts in a row.

Daro To Be Different
Jen Daro's grand slam in game two vs. Providence on March 23rd was her team-high sixth home run of the season.
   She's the first Bluejay to launch a grand slam since Liz Dike on April 11, 2015, though Daro also hit a grand slam last year on April 8th vs. South Dakota.
   If you're curious, the last Creighton player with multiple grand slams in the same season is Bailey Dawson, who had two in 2008.

Give Me Four
Allie Reinhart went 4-for-4 in game two against Providence on March 23rd, becoming the first Bluejay with four hits in a game since Bri Lingl on April 5, 2014.
   Reinhart leads Creighton with 12 multiple-hit games, but that marked her first contest this year with three or more safeties. It was also her first career game as a Bluejay with four hits.
   Speaking of four, Michelle Trulin's four runs in game two vs. Providence on March 23rd were the most by a Bluejay since Kelsey Allender scored four times vs. Saint Peter's on March 12, 2015.
   Trulin has scored nine times in the last four games after scoring nine times total in CU's first 23 games this season.

Offensive Showcase
Creighton put on a show last Wednesday in its doubleheader sweep over Providence. The Bluejays scored in 8-of-11 innings and 25 times overall.
   Creighton went 28-for-60 at the plate with 11 walks, good for a .549 on-base percentage. Six different Bluejays had three or more hits.
   The 25 runs scored marked the most ever scored in a BIG EAST series by Creighton.
   It marked the first time CU had scored 11 or more runs in consecutive games since April 6 & 7, 2012, when it put up 14 and 15 runs at Wichita State.
   It was also the first time that Creighton had scored 11 or more runs twice in the same day since Feb. 11, 2012 at Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Magic Number 5
Creighton is 11-0 this season when scoring five runs or more, and was won its last 15 games dating to last season when that happens.
   That moves Creighton to 174-16 since 2007 when that happens. In the same time span Creighton is 131-181-2 when scoring four runs or fewer.
   Creighton's 14-12 victory in the nightcap vs. Providence on March 23rd snapped a 32-game losing streak when allowing 10 or more runs, a streak that dated to a 13-12 victory over Drake on April 9, 2002.

Leads Generally Safe
Creighton has done an excellent job of protecting leads this season. In fact, there's only been one game that Creighton has led at any point in which it hasn't won, a Feb. 12 game vs. Cal State Northridge when CU couldn't hold onto a 2-0 lead.
   Creighton is 14-0 when leading after three innings, 13-0 when leading after four innings, and 12-0 when leading after five or six innings this season.
   On the other end of the spectrum, seven of Creighton's 17 wins this season have been of the come-from-behind variety.

Situational Numbers
Creighton is 12-0 this year when stealing a base, and has won 15 straight games dating to last year when picking up a steal.
   Creighton is 9-0 this year when Allie Reinhart scores, and has won each of the last 14 games in which she's scored. Creighton is also 9-1 this year when Reinhart has an RBI. Reinhart is 14-for-28 in the last 10 games, producing 10 RBI and six runs in that span.
   Creighton is 12-0 this year when Michelle Trulin has a hit, and is 11-1 when Trulin scores this season. Trulin is 8-for-20 with 10 runs scored in CU's last six contests.
   Creighton is 8-0 when Mileah McKelvy has a hit.
   Creighton is 12-1 when scoring first this season and 17-1 when leading at any point this season.

McKelvy Delivers
Mileah McKelvy had the best game of her young career on March 5 vs. Niagara when she went 2-for-3 with two homers and five RBI in a Bluejay victory.
   The outburst came after she entered the contest with three career hits and one career RBI in her first 13 games played.
   McKelvy is the first Bluejay freshman with multiple home runs in a game since Amy Baker launched two round-trippers vs. Northern Iowa on April 17, 2010. Baker had three multi-home run games as a freshman and graduated in 2013 with a school-record 58 home runs overall.

Rebel Yell
Creighton has played some of its best softball of the season at the Rebel Spring Games in recent springs.
   This was the fourth straight season Creighton has spent its spring break in Florida at the Rebel Spring Games, and it has now gone 35-5 in those trips.
   In those games Creighton owns a collective ERA of 0.98, allowing just 38 earned runs in 271.1 innings. At the plate the Bluejays are hitting .270 in those Florida games, hitting 269-for-997 in the 40 games.
Year   W-L   AVG   R   HR   ERA
2016   9-1   .266   45   4   1.33
2015   9-1   .304   63   8   0.74
2014   11-1   .264   47   4   0.77
2013   6-2   .241   29   9   1.15

Eck Wins Three Weekly BIG EAST Awards
Junior RHP Sydnee Eck was named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 22, Feb. 29 and March 7.
   During those three weeks, Eck went 7-1 with a 2.70 ERA in eight appearances. She struck out 68 batters in 46.2 innings of work, allowing just 43 hits and 10 walks.
   Eck became CU's first hurler to be named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week in consecutive weeks since Becca Changstrom was honored by the BIG EAST on March 17 & 24, 2014, and is the first Bluejay softball player to be honored three straight weeks since at least the 2003 season.

Vigness Wins #700
Head Coach Brent Vigness is in his 23rd season as head coach at Creighton, where he owns a 703-501-3 record. He is the winningest coach in Creighton history in any sport and picked up his 700th victory against South Dakota State on March 10th.
   Vigness has a career record of 851-572-4 in 28 years overall, which includes five seasons at Assumption (Mass.) College.
   Vigness is assisted by two of his former players, Renae Sinkler and Alexis Cantu.
   Below is a look how long it's taken Vigness to reach each 100-win milestone at Creighton:
Win #   Date   W-L-T
100   4/23/97   100-100-0
200   5/6/00   200-168-0
300   3/12/04   300-252-0
400   2/17/07   400-305-1
500   4/4/09   500-345-2
600   4/21/12   600-422-3
700   3/10/16   700-500-3

Daro at the Bat
Junior first baseman Jen Daro had a huge weekend at the Troy Cox Classic from Feb. 19-21. In five games in Las Cruces, Daro combined to hit 6-for-12 at the plate with 13 RBI.
   She homered once in Creighton's 11-3 win over Campbell on Saturday, Feb. 20, and twice more in the Bluejays' following game that day, a 6-1 win over Western Michigan. Prior to Daro, the last Creighton player to homer in consecutive contests was Alexis Cantu—a current assistant on Creighton's coaching staff—in 2014.
   Cantu had also been the last Bluejay with multiple three-run home runs in the same game, having done so on April 6, 2012 at Wichita State as part of a game with three home runs.
   Daro's three different three-run homers over the course of two games on Feb. 20 are made more impressive when learning that CU hit seven total three-run homers in 2015.

Covering the Bases with Erin McGonigal
Fans who enjoyed following Creighton Softball along with Erin McGonigal last season can do so again this year, as the senior infielder chronicles the Bluejays' 2016 season in her "Covering the Bases" blog. Blog updates can be found online at GoCreighton.com.

Strength of Schedule
The Bluejays' schedule features eight opponents who made NCAA Tournament appearances last season, including five teams which won their respective regular-season conference championships: BYU (WCC), Cal State Northridge (Big West), New Mexico State (WAC), Oklahoma (Big 12), and St. John's (BIG EAST).
   Creighton's matchups with Oklahoma and New Mexico State in the Troy Cox Classic marked the fifth and sixth occasions already this season that the Bluejays faced off with teams that finished last season with RPI rankings better than 70: Tennessee (9), Oklahoma (12), New Mexico State (43), Cal State Northridge (51), BYU (56), and UC Riverside (70).
   One of Creighton's toughest tests of the year came immediately out of the gate with a season-opening matchup with perennial power Tennessee to begin the Kajikawa Classic on Feb. 11. In the contest, Creighton trailed by a slim, 3-0, margin until the sixth inning when Tennessee scored twice to seal a 5-0 victory. Last season, the Volunteers posted a 47-17 record and clinched the program's seventh Women's College World Series bid.

On the Road Again
Creighton's first 24 contests this season took place away from home, as the Bluejays take part in four consecutive tournaments: Kajikawa Classic (Feb. 11-13; Tempe, Ariz.), Troy Cox Classic (Feb. 19-21; Las Cruces, N.M.), North Texas Invitational (Feb. 27-28; Denton, Texas), and Rebel Spring Games (March 5-10; Kissimmee, Fla.).
   After travelling for the first month of the season, 13 of Creighton's following 19 contests were scheduled to take place at home inside the confines of the Creighton Sports Complex.

Softball Hosts South Dakota State For Midweek Doubleheader

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Players Mentioned

Kelsey Allender

Valentina Bertrand

Tash Coffiel

Jen Daro

Liz Dike

Sydnee Eck

Tara Fallahee

Bry Flanagan

Michal Hylton

Kelly Mardones

Aujanae McCoy

Erin McGonigal

Mileah McKelvy

Allie Reinhart

Blake Ringle

Michelle Trulin

Micaela Whitney