Softball Welcomes Georgetown For Weekend Series

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Games #32-33 • April 9 • Georgetown at Creighton (DH) • 12:00 PM • Omaha, Neb. • CU Sports Complex
Game #34 • April 10 • Georgetown at Creighton • 11:00 AM • Omaha, Neb. • CU Sports Complex

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Creighton (19-12, 3-1 BIG EAST) returns to BIG EAST play this weekend with a three-game series vs. Georgetown (7-23, 1-4 BIG EAST). The teams will play a Noon doubleheader on Saturday before closing out the weekend with a single game on Sunday at 11 am. The CU Sports Complex in Omaha, Neb., will host the action.

Follow the Action
Live stats for the series against Georgetown 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 games can also be found at GoCreighton.com/Watch.

Scouting Creighton
Creighton Softball has won 14 of its last 18 games to improve to 19-12 on the season. CU is 3-1 in BIG EAST play, having gone 2-0 vs. Providence before splitting a doubleheader last weekend at Seton Hall. Game three against both the Friars and Pirates were cancelled due to poor weather.
   Creighton's hottest pitcher of late has been Micaela Whitney (4-4, 2.69 ERA). Whitney threw a pair of shutouts last week, including a no-hitter in Saturday's 3-0 win over Seton Hall. Sydnee Eck has been named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week three times this season and leads the pitching staff with an 11-6 record. She's allowed just 95 hits and 23 walks in 99.1 innings of work, and owns a league-high 136 strikeouts on the spring.
   Tash Coffiel is hitting a team-best .391 this season, and also tops the club with a .500 on-base percentage. Allie Reinhart leads the club in doubles (6) while ranking second on the team in batting average (.367) and RBI (19). Providing much of the power in the middle of the line-up has been junior Jen Daro, who hits .333 and has 31 RBI. She is tied for the BIG EAST lead with seven home runs.

Scouting Georgetown
Georgetown improved to 7-23 on the season after a 16-10 victory over Mount Saint Mary's on Wednesday. Included in GU's record is a 1-4 record in BIG EAST play and an 0-7 in true road games this season.
   Samantha Giovanniello starred in Wednesday's win, earning the victory in the circle while also going 4-for-5 with three doubles and five RBI at the plate. Giovanniello leads the Hoyas with a .393 batting average, 35 hits, 11 doubles, six home runs, 32 RBI and a .447 on-base percentage. She's also the team leader in the circle, topping the team with a 6.18 ERA and picking up six of the team's seven victories despite allowing teams to hit .320 and surrendering 149 hits and 116 walks in 111.0 innings of work.
   Others to keep an eye on from the Hoya roster include Sarah Bennett (.264, 4 HR, 27 RBI), Theresa Kane (team-high 33 runs) and pitcher Delaney Osterday (1-6, 8.40 ERA in 60 IP).
   As a team, Georgetown hits .285 and owns a .404 on-base percentage and a .355 slugging percentage. The Hoyas have stolen 19 bases in 23 attempts, and also boast a .957 fielding percentage. GU has a team ERA of 7.01 in 184.2 innings this season, surrendering 290 hits and 173 walks while allowing teams to hit a stout .357 against it. The Hoya pitching staff has also hit 28 batters in 30 games.

Series History vs. Georgetown
Series: Georgetown leads, 3-1, including a 3-0 record in games played in Omaha.
Last Year's Meeting: Creighton won the lone game against Georgetown last year, 2-1, after two games from the series was cancelled by poor weather. Sydnee Eck threw a complete-game three-hitter to pick up the victory, allowing just one unearned run. Creighton took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Blake Ringle drove home Liz Dike. After Georgetown tied it in the fourth inning on a throwing error, Creighton took the lead for good on a sixth inning home run with two outs by Jen Daro.

South Dakota Trip Postponed
Creighton's scheduled doubleheader for Wednesday, April 6th, has been pushed back by two weeks. The Bluejays and South Dakota will now meet on Wednesday, April 20th, when they gather for a 1 pm doubleheader in Vermillion, S.D.

No-Hitter For Whitney
Micaela Whitney threw the second complete game no-hitter of her Bluejay career last Saturday at Seton Hall. She struck out 11 and did not allow a walk in her gem. Just two Pirate runners reached base, one on hit-by-pitch in the second inning and another on a third inning error.
   Whitney needed just 72 pitches to complete her no-hitter, throwing 57 strikes.

List of No-Hitters Under Vigness
Micaela Whitney is the 12th different pitcher to throw a complete game no-hitter during Brent Vigness' 23 years at Creighton, but just the second to throw more than one. There have been 22 no-hitters overall under Vigness' watch.
   Tammy Nielsen had eight no-no's (two in 2003, five in 2004, one in 2005), while Whitney threw one on Feb. 5, 2015 vs. Pacific in her Bluejay debut.
   Ten other Bluejay pitchers have thrown a complete game no-hitter in that time, while current assistant coach Alexis Cantu was part of a combined no-hitter vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff on February 12, 2012.
   A complete list of no-hitters under Vigness can be found at the bottom of page four of these notes.

White Hot Whitney
Micaela Whitney is in the middle of a great stretch, throwing shutouts in each of her last two starts to lower her ERA to a team-best 2.69. That figure ranks second in the BIG EAST.
   The Omaha native has allowed just three hits in 14 innings last week while striking out 16, and she's thrown shutouts in three of her last four starts.
   In her last five appearances, spanning 27.0 innings, Whitney has allowed just four earned runs and owns a 1.04 ERA to go with 34 strikeouts compared to 13 hits and 11 walks allowed.

True Blue Trulin
Michelle Trulin has reached base in each of the last 12 games, batting .353 with 12 hits and six walks in that span.
   Trulin has also scored 13 times in those games, during which time Creighton is 9-3.
   The streak of 12 straight games reaching base ties the longest mark of Trulin's Creighton career, matching what she did from March 8-22 last season.
   Creighton's last player to reach in 13 or more straight games was Allie Reinhart, who reached in 13 straight from April 2,-25, 2015.

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.

Line-up Switcheroo
Head coach Brent Vigness made several notable changes to his line-up during last Wednesday's doubleheader vs. South Dakota State, then followed the same gameplan over the weekend.
   Tash Coffiel, who had started 26-of-27 games at third base, has now started the last four games at shortstop.
   Jen Daro, who had started all 27 games at first base, has now started the last four 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, has made her first four starts of the season at first base.
   In the circle, Kelly Mardones made her first start of the season in game two vs. SDSU, as well.
   The defensive changes seemed to work well, as Coffiel, Daro, O'Gorman and Mardones have handled 46-of-48 chances successfully.
   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 (392 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 April 3rd, has Creighton with the third-best RPI in the BIG EAST.
   Creighton had an RPI of 140, trailing only DePaul (129) and Villanova (139). This week's opponents have RPI's of 231 (South Dakota) and 249 (Georgetown).
   Creighton is 18-4 this year against teams with an RPI worse than 140, but 1-8 against teams in the top 140.

ERA Will Be Tested
Creighton has used five different women inside the circle this year, with tremendous success.
   Creighton has a 3.42 ERA (second in the league), and leads or is tied for the BIG EAST lead in shutouts (5), saves (2), strikeouts (217) and fewest earned runs allowed (98).

What A Start!
Creighton opened its series with Providence on March 23rd 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 174 consecutive starts.
   Allender's not the only Blujeay with an impressive starting streak, as Jen Daro's made 110 straight starts (and has played in all 127 games since enrolling) and Blake Ringle's at 74 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 13 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 eight 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 134-183-2 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 two games 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, and an April 2 game vs. Seton Hall when the Jays squandered leads of 1-0 and 2-1.
   Creighton is 16-1 when leading after three innings, 15-0 when leading after four innings, and 14-0 when leading after five or six innings this season.
   On the other end of the spectrum, seven of Creighton's 19 wins this season have been of the come-from-behind variety.

Situtational Numbers
Creighton is 13-2 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 9-2 this year when Reinhart has an RBI. Reinhart is 19-for-40 in the last 13 games, producing 11 RBI and six runs in that span.
   Creighton is 14-1 this year when Michelle Trulin has a hit, and is 12-1 when Trulin scores this season. Trulin is 11-for-28 with 11 runs scored in CU's last 10 contests.
   Creighton is 10-1 when Mileah McKelvy has a hit.
   Creighton is 14-2 when scoring first this season and 19-2 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 705-503-3 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 853-574-4 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.

Next Event

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

Anna O'Gorman

Allie Reinhart

Blake Ringle

Michelle Trulin

Micaela Whitney