Saturday, April 2
South Orange, N.J.
1:00 PM
Creighton University
at
Seton Hall
Photo by: Steve Branscombe
Softball Visits Seton Hall For First BIG EAST Road Series Of 2016
4/1/2016 9:54:00 AM | Softball
Bluejays look for strong April to follow up a 12-3 record in March
Download Notes as a PDF
Games #30-31 • April 2 at Seton Hall (DH) • 11:00 AM • South Orange, N.J. • Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field
Game #32 • April 3 at Seton Hall • 11:00 AM • South Orange, N.J. • Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field
Up Next
Creighton (18-11, 2-0 BIG EAST) hits the road for the first time in league play when it ventures to the East Coast to take on Seton Hall (18-16, 1-2 BIG EAST). The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 12 pm EST (11 am Central), followed by a single game on Sunday beginning at 12 pm EST (11 am Central). The series will be contested at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field in South Orange, N.J.
Follow the Action
Free live stats for the series against Seton Hall can be found via links on GoCreighton.com, or at Creighton.StatBroadcast.com.
Scoring updates and infographics will be provided via Twitter at @BluejaySoftball.
Pay-per-view live video for the series can also be found at SHUpirates.com/allaccess.
Scouting Creighton
Creighton Softball has won 13 of its last 16 games to improve to 18-11 on the season. The first 24 of those games were away from home, including 21 neutral-site contests, before ending a 3-2 homestand on Wednesday with a doubleheader split vs. South Dakota State. That home stretch included a 6-0 loss to Kansas, a doubleheader sweep of Providence (11-3 and 14-12) before the split vs. SDSU (4-0 win, 10-0 loss).
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 a league-high 125 strikeouts on the spring. Freshman Michal Hylton (4-1, 4.34 ERA in 38.2 IP) and senior Micaela Whitney (3-4, 3.08 ERA in 47.2 IP) also give CU some depth on the mound. Whitney threw a three-hit shutout in Wednesday's win over South Dakota State.
Tash Coffiel is hitting a team-best .386 this season, and also tops the club with a .507 on-base percentage. Allie Reinhart leads the club in doubles (6) while ranking second on the team in batting average (.366) 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 31 RBI and is tied for the BIG EAST lead with seven home runs. She's homered in two of the last three games.
Scouting Seton Hall
Seton Hall is 18-16 on the season, with Wednesday's 3-2 loss to Iona dropping the Pirates to 2-2 at home. Seton Hall went 1-2 at Butler last weekend to open league play.
Madison Strunk has thrown more than half the innings this season for Seton Hall, going 13-10 with a 3.79 ERA in 134.2 innings. Her 13 wins and 134.2 innings of work lead the BIG EAST. Chrisa Head (2-1, 4.13 ERA in 39.0 IP) and Lauren Fischer (2-3, 4.13 ERA in 42.1 IP) and Alannah Basile (1-2, 10.77 ERA in 13.0 IP) also log innings in the circle for the Pirates.
Seton Hall's offense leads the BIG EAST in slugging percentage (.428), on-base percentage (.386), runs scored (176), hits (280), RBI (157), doubles (47), home runs (23), total bases (406), walks (119), stolen bases (69) and hit by pitch (28). Valerie Suto tops the club with a .375 batting average, 40 hits and 20 stolen bases, while Alexis Walkden and Noel Lent both have four home runs and 26 RBI to tie for the team lead.
Series History vs. Seton Hall
Series: Seton Hall leads the all-time series against Creighton, 4-2, and has won 2-of-3 from the Bluejays each of the past two seasons. In both instances, Creighton won the series opener before Seton Hall took the final two games.
Last Year's Meetings: Creighton won game one by an 8-3 margin before dropping the next two contests, 9-7 and 12-1.
Micaela Whitney had a 3.50 ERA and picked up the win in eight innings during the series, while Sydnee Eck was 0-2 with a 10.50 ERA in 12 innings in the circle.
Allie Reinhart terrorized the Pirates at the plate, hitting .667 (6-9) with two doubles, a homer and four RBI. Now-graduated Liz Dike also had a strong weekend, going 5-for-9 (.556) with two homers and five RBI.
Creighton hit .333 for the weekend and had a 7.70 ERA, while Seton Hall hit .321 and finished with a 4.79 ERA.
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.
Swing Series?
Tihs weekend's games in South Orange could loom large at season's end if the preseason BIG EAST coaches poll is to be believed.
Seton Hall was picked fourth, earning 30 points in the poll. Creighton was next in the poll, one point back for fifth place with 29 points.
At season's end, only the top four teams reach the BIG EAST Softball Championships.
Line-up Switcheroo
Head coach Brent Vigness made several notable changes to his line-up during Wednesday's doubleheader vs. South Dakota State.
Tash Coffiel, who had started 26-of-27 games at third base, made her first two starts of the year at shortstop.
Jen Daro, who had started all 27 games at first base, started both games at third base.
Anna O'Gorman, who had made five starts at second base, 11 starts in right field and nine starts at designated player, made her first two starts of the season at first base.
In the circle, Kelly Mardones made her first start of the season in game two, as well.
The defensive changes seemed to work well, as Coffiel, Daro, O'Gorman and Mardones handled all 29 chances without an error.
Creighton also turned a pair of double plays in game two vs. SDSU, both on line drives to third base where a runner was doubled off first base. It was just the seventh time in the last eight seasons (390 games) that CU has turned a pair of double plays in the same contest.
RPI Update
The latest NCAA Softball RPI, released through games of March 28th, has Creighton with the best RPI in the BIG EAST.
Creighton had an RPI of 126, 11 spots ahead of the league's next-best team, Butler (137). This weekend's opponent, Seton Hall, has an RPI of 231 that was the league's seventh-best.
Creighton is 17-4 this year against teams with an RPI worse than 126, but 1-7 against teams in the top 125.
ERA Will Be Tested
Creighton's league-leading pitching staff figures to be tested this weekend by the league-leading offense from Seton Hall.
Creighton has a league-best 3.51 ERA, and also leads or is tied for the BIG EAST lead in shutouts (4), saves (2), strikeouts (195) and fewest earned runs allowed (94).
Seton Hall leads the BIG EAST in runs (176), hits (280), doubles (47), home runs (23), RBI (157), total bases (406), slugging percentage (.428), walks (119), hit batsmen (28), on-base percentage (.386) and stolen bases (69).
Stealing Second
Seton Hall has 69 stolen bases in 81 attempts this season, two figures that lead the BIG EAST by a large margin. The 69 steals ranks 20th-most nationally.
Four different Pirates have 10 or more stolen bases this season, led by Valerie Suto's 20 thefts. Last year Seton Hall was 7-for-7 on the basepaths against CU.
Creighton has had challenges stopping teams on the bases this season, throwing out just one of 35 attempted runners.
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.
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 Saturday's doubleheader with 172 consecutive starts.
Allender's not the only Blujeay with an impressive starting streak, as Jen Daro's made 108 straight starts (and has played in all 125 games since enrolling) and Blake Ringle's at 72 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 added her seventh dinger on March 30th in game one vs. South Dakota State.
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 six games after scoring nine times total in CU's first 23 games this season.
Offensive Showcase
Creighton put on a show on March 23rd 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 133-182-2 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 15-0 when leading after three innings, 14-0 when leading after four innings, and 13-0 when leading after five or six innings this season.
On the other end of the spectrum, seven of Creighton's 18 wins this season have been of the come-from-behind variety.
Situtational Numbers
Creighton is 13-1 this year when stealing a base, and had won 16 straight games dating to last year when picking up a steal prior to last Wednesday's Game 2 loss to South Dakota State.
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 16-for-33 in the last 12 games, producing 10 RBI and six runs in that span.
Creighton is 13-0 this year when Michelle Trulin has a hit, and is 11-1 when Trulin scores this season. Trulin is 9-for-23 with 10 runs scored in CU's last eight contests.
Creighton is 9-0 when Mileah McKelvy has a hit.
Creighton is 13-1 when scoring first this season and 18-1 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
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 704-502-3 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 852-573-4 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
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.
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