Softball Hosts DePaul to Close Regular-Season

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Games #45-46 • May 7 • DePaul at Creighton (DH) • 12:00 PM • Omaha, Neb. • CU Sports Complex
Games #47 • May 8 • DePaul at Creighton • 11:00 AM • Omaha, Neb. • CU Sports Complex

Up Next
Creighton (25-19, 7-8 BIG EAST) looks to extend its season when it hosts league-leading DePaul (24-24, 13-3 BIG EAST) this weekend.
   The teams will play a doubleheader at Noon on Saturday, including Senior Day recognitions between games, before closing the series with a single game at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
   CU Sports Complex in Omaha, Neb., will host the action.

Follow the Action
Links to live stats for the weekend can be found at http://creighton.statbroadcast.com.
   Scoring updates and infographics will be provided via Twitter at @BluejaySoftball.
   Saturday's doubleheader will have free live video at GoCreighton.com/watch.
   Sunday's game will have a free video webcast on the BIG EAST Digital Network at FoxSportsGo.com, with Ryan Schopperth and Creighton Athletics Hall of Famer Heidi Geier Woodard on the call.

Scouting Creighton
After a 19-4 stretch over its 23 games from Feb. 28 - April 13, Creighton Softball has lost seven of its past eight. The Bluejay offense has accounted for just 14 runs in those eight games, hitting 7-for-48 (.146) with runners in scoring position.
   Creighton's hottest pitcher of late has been Micaela Whitney (8-7, 2.59 ERA). Whitney has won eight of her last 11 decisions and is third in the BIG EAST in ERA. She ranks first in the BIG EAST with 72 strikeouts in league play. Sydnee Eck was named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week three times earlier this season and leads the pitching staff with a 13-9 record. She's allowed 131 hits and 26 walks in 127.1 innings of work, and her 168 strikeouts on the spring are second in the BIG EAST and good enough to rank 47th nationally. Her 9.24 strikeouts per seven innings ranks 15th nationally.
   Allie Reinhart leads the club in doubles (7) and is second in batting average (.344) and RBI (28). Tash Coffiel has been an on-base machine, leading the team in batting average (.366) and on-base percentage (.482). Providing much of the power in the middle of the line-up has been junior Jen Daro, who hits .314 and has 39 RBI. She is tied for the BIG EAST lead with nine home runs.

Scouting DePaul
DePaul is 24-24 this season, but sits atop the BIG EAST standings with a 13-3 league mark. The Blue Demons started conference action 9-0, and St. John's is the only team to win a league series against DePaul this spring.
   Senior Morgan Maize headlines the Blue Demon squad. She's tied for the club lead with nine home runs, and leads the team with a .393 batting average, 57 hits and 41 runs scored. She also owns a .676 slugging percentage with 44 RBI. Maize is equally dangerous in the circle, where she is second in the BIG EAST with 17 wins and 187.2 innings pitched.
   Adding to DePaul's prowess at the plate are junior Dylan Christensen (.392, 28 walks) and senior Naomi Tellez (.370, 9 HR, 46 RBI).

Series History vs. DePaul
Series: DePaul leads the all-time series, 9-7, including a 5-2 mark the past two seasons since the teams became BIG EAST rivals. The series dates back to a 2-0 Creighton win in the 1990 season. Brent Vigness is 2-8 all-time against the Blue Demons.
Recent Meetings: Creighton took 2-of-3 meetings at DePaul last season. CU won 2-0 and 5-3 before dropping the finale, 2-1.
   Blake Ringle led CU at the plate, going 5-for-9 with two doubles, a home run and three RBI. Allie Reinhart was 4-for-9 and scored twice, while Liz Dike was 3-for-10 and scored three times. In the circle, Micaela Whitney did not allow an earned run in two starts (6 IP), while Sydnee Eck yielded just three earned runs in 15 innings of work and received all three decisions.

Important Series
With only one week left in the regular-season, the standings have tightened up as teams attempt to qualify for the four-team BIG EAST Championships to be held May 13-14. DePaul and Villanova have clinched spots, but the final two openings are up for grabs as Butler, St. John's, Creighton and Seton Hall all compete to extend their seasons.
   Since the league reconfigured in the summer of 2013, the league has gone to a four-team tournament. In 2014, a 10-10 league record tied for fourth place. Last year, a 9-12 league record tied for fourth place.
   Below is a look at each's team's conference record, as well as the weekend league schedule for each squad.
   More details on the potential winning percentages with each scenario can be found at the bottom of page five of this press release.
Team     BIG EAST W-L   May 7-8 Schedule
DePaul   13-3   at Creighton
Villanova   12-5   at Providence
Butler   9-7   at Georgetown
St. John's   9-7   Seton Hall
Creighton   7-8   DePaul
Seton Hall   7-9   at St. John's
Providence   5-12   Villanova
Georgetown   3-14   Butler

What Are The Tiebreakers, Anyway?
The following policies are set up to break ties at the end of the regular season for selection and seeding purposes. Follow the appropriate steps in order. Once one or more teams gain an advantage in the case of a multiple-team tie, revert to the beginning of the tie-breaking policies with the remaining teams. If the ties cannot be broken, the Commissioner, or designee, will conduct a coin toss.
NOTE: When arriving at another pair of tied teams while comparing records, use each team's record against the tied teams as a group rather than the performance against the individual tied teams.

1. Regular season head-to-head results. If three or more teams are tied, they are viewed as a "mini-conference" when comparing head-to-head results. The team or teams with the best combined record versus the other teams in the mini-conference gains the advantage.

2. Each team's record versus the team occupying the highest position in the standings, continuing down through the standings until one team gains an advantage.

3. Runs given up against each other.

Stranger Things Have Happened
Though it's evident from the scenarios above that a postseason tournament bid is going to take a lot of things to go CU's way, it's not entirely out of the question.
   Creighton was in a similar position just two seasons ago. In 2014 Creighton entered the final week of the regular-season sixth in the BIG EAST standings with a 7-10 record.
   The Bluejays went on to sweep Providence and would earn the fourth seed in the tournament, as CU passed Seton Hall in the standings and advanced via a tiebreaker over a Butler team that also went 10-10.
   Two of the teams that Creighton is trying to hold off this year are Seton Hall and Butler.

Senior Day Salute
Creighton will honor six women between games of Saturday's doubleheader as they take the field at the CU Sports Complex for the final weekend.
   In the past four years, the Bluejays have compiled a record of 105-82, including a Missouri Valley Conference title in 2013 as freshmen.
   Kelsey Allender started the first 185 games of her Bluejay career and owns 129 hits and 48 walks. She ranks tied for fourth nationally with 15 sacrifice hits this season, which leads the BIG EAST.
   Erin McGonigal has two stolen bases and six runs scored this season as a top pinch-running option. She's fifth on the team among active players in both runs (40) and stolen bases (8), and third with 141 games played.
   Micaela Whitney ranks among the BIG EAST leaders in saves, shutouts, ERA and strikeouts. She's one of two Creighton players in the last 23 years to throw multiple no-hitters, and her 15 strikeouts at Butler on April 24th are 11th-most in a game nationally this spring.
   Blake Ringle was a second-team all-BIG EAST pick last spring and has started every game this season as Creighton's catcher. She leads the team's active players in doubles, home runs, RBI and walks.
   Katie Pascuzzi owns 20 runs and 13 stolen bases while appearing in 89 career games as an outfielder and valued reserve. Her first RBI of the season came last Saturday at St. John's.
   Michelle Trulin has started all but one game this season and ranks among the BIG EAST's best in walks, runs, on-base percentage and batting average in league play. She tied for the BIG EAST lead in sacrifice hits last spring, and this year hit her first career home run on April 9 vs. Georgetown.

See You On The Bases
Tash Coffiel has reached base in 34-of-43 games played this season and leads Creighton with a .482 on-base percentage, a figure that ranks fifth-best in Creighton history for one season.
   Three of the four marks above her were accomplished by current Bluejay assistant coaches Alexis Cantu and Renae Sinkler.
Best On-Base Percentage, CU History, Season
Rk.   OBP%   Name   Year
1.   .547   Alexis Cantu   2012
2.   .514   Renae Sinkler   2010
3.   .492   Renae Sinkler   2009
4.   .490   Christy Lunceford   1996
5.   .482   Tash Coffiel   2016
6.   .477   Liz Dike   2015

Eck Efficient With Her K's
Sydnee Eck is striking out 9.24 batters per seven innings, a figure that ranks 15th nationally.
   That figure is on pace to rank as the highest mark in program history. Micaela Whitney isn't far behind with 7.96 punchouts per seven innings, which ranks her eighth-best.
   The complete list can can be seen in the chart below:
Strikeouts Per 7 Innings, Season
(minimum 100 strikeouts)
Rk.   K's/7   Name   SO   IP   Year
   1.   9.24   Sydnee Eck   168   127.1   2016
   2.   9.06   Tammy Nielsen   261   201.2   2003
   3.   8.98   Tammy Nielsen   334   260.1   2004
   4.   8.79   Becca Changstrom   254   202.1   2013
       8.79   Becca Changstrom   254   202.1   2014
   6.   8.78   Amanda Hess   151   120.1   2007
   7.   8.78   Tammy Nielsen   319   254.1   2005
   8.   7.96   Micaela Whitney   126   111.0   2016
   9.   7.59   Tara Oltman   300   276.2   2008
   10.   7.20   Tara Oltman   291   283.0   2010
   11.   7.19   Abby Johnson   116   113.0   2005
   12.   7.14   Tara Oltman   291   283.0   2010

25th Anniversary Looms
The 25th anniversary of the longest game in NCAA history is fast approaching. On May 11, 1991, Creighton faced Utah in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament in Omaha.
   In an era when pitching dominated, it's not surprising that Creighton won a 1-0 pitcher's duel. What makes that night so special is that it took 31 innings!
   Star Creighton pitcher Kelly Brookhart, who had thrown a complete-game shutout earlier in the day, threw all 31 innings in the longest game in NCAA history. She threw the shutout despite allowing 25 hits and walking eight Utes (all intentional) while stranding an NCAA record 31. Brookhart was no slouch at the plate in that game either, going 6-for-11.
   The 31 inning game took 6:24 to complete, and finished at 12:24 a.m. on May 12th.
   Making the day even crazier was that the Bluejay win forced the "if necessary" game to be played, and that started just 21 minutes later at 12:45 a.m.
   Game two turned out to be the third-longest game in NCAA history, as Utah won a 4-3 game in 25 innings after the teams agreed to go to the international tiebreaker rule and place a runner on second base to start the 25th inning.
   Brookhart came on in relief in the nightcap and finished off the final 20.1 innings, part of her 58.1 innings of work in an 18-hour span.
   Among the players in that unreal doubleheader was Teir Wilbur, the mother of current Bluejay outfielder Kelsey Allender.

Four-Warned
The fourth inning has Creighton's most productive inning this season, by a wide margin. The Bluejays have outscored foes 45-25 in the fourth frame this season, easily their highest-scoring inning.
   That discrepancy has grown greatly in CU's last four games, when the Jays have outscored teams 8-2 in the fourth. In all other innings during the last four games, Creighton has been outscored 15-0.

Walk This Way
Creighton's offense is third in the BIG EAST with 153 walks, but the Jays have not been as patient as of late.
   Creighton owns a total of five free passes in the last seven games, an average of just 0.71 per contest. By contrast, CU had six total games of one walk or less in the first 38 games.
   Creighton owns 110 walks in its 25 wins this season (4.40 per game), but 43 walks in its 19 losses (2.26 per game).

Speaking Of Strikeouts
Creighton is the only pitching staff in the BIG EAST with multiple pitchers who have recorded 100 or more strikeouts.
   Sydnee Eck leads Creighton with 168 strikeouts this season, 11 shy of the BIG EAST lead.
   Micaela Whitney owns 126 strikeouts this season, fifth-best in the BIG EAST. Whitney's 72 strikeouts in BIG EAST play lead the league, however.
   Eck and Whitney mark just the third tandem in Creighton history to each have 100 or more punchouts in the same season. The first three times it happened (2004, 2005, 2007), not only did Creighton make an NCAA Regional, but it was sent to Lincoln each time, as seen below:
Creighton Teammates With 100+ Strikeouts
Year   Team Leader (K)   Next (K)
2004   Tammy Nielsen (334)   Abby Johnson (126)
2005   Tammy Nielsen (319)   Abby Johnson (116)
2007   Tara Oltman (212)   Amanda Hess (151)
2016   Sydnee Eck (168)   Micaela Whitney (126)

Mowing Them Down
Micaela Whitney struck out a career-high 15 batters in the April 24 game at Butler, including at least one in parts of all nine innings she worked. The 15 K's are tied for 11th-most in a game this season, nationally.
   It was her second straight start that struck out 10 or more batters, and the third and fourth time this year with double-figure punchouts.
   Whitney's 15 strikeouts were the most by a Bluejay since Becca Changstrom's 16 whiffs on April 5, 2014, in a 16-inning victory over Villanova. Changstrom threw the final 10.1 innings of that game in relief.
   Whitney's 15 strikeouts were the most by a Bluejay in fewer than 10 innings of work since Amanda Hess struck out 15 Central Arkansas batters in her Bluejay debut, a seven-inning victory on Feb. 17, 2007.
   The chart below shows the most strikeouts in a game since Brent Vigness became Creighton head coach in 1994.
Most Strikeouts, Game, Since 1994
K's   Name, Opponent   IP   Date
19   Tammy Nielsen, So. Illinois   9.0   3/29/03
17   Abby Johnson, UMKC   7.0   3/30/05
16   Tammy Nielsen, Indiana State   7.0   4/12/03
16   Tammy Nielsen, Quinnipiac   7.0   3/11/04
16   Becca Changstrom, Villanova   10.1   4/5/14
16   Amanda Hess, Central Arkansas   7.0   2/17/07
15   Tammy Nielsen, Indiana State   7.0   4/3/04
15   Tammy Nielsen, Missouri State   7.0   5/1/04
15   Tammy Nielsen, Florida Atlantic   7.0   2/20/05
15   Micaela Whitney, Butler   8.2   4/24/16
14   Tara Oltman, Northern Colorado   7.0   3/10/07
14   Tara Oltman, Illinois State   7.0   4/21/07
14   Becca Changstrom, Butler   7.0   3/22/14
14   Sydnee Eck, Akron   8.0   3/6/16
14   Shelli Mellegaard, UNI   10.0   4/8/01
14   Tammy Nielsen, Wichita State   7.0   3/22/03
14   Tammy Nielsen, Toledo   7.0   3/10/05

Eck With A K
Sydnee Eck owns 281 strikeouts in her Bluejay career, good for ninth in Creighton history.
   Eck is eight strikeouts shy of tying Hall of Famer Kelly Brookhart (289 from 1988-91) and 13 shy of Marcia Jacobsen (294 from 1981-84) to climb even higher on the list.
   Tara Oltman owns the Creighton record with 1,086 in her career from 2007-10, including three seasons of 283 strikeouts or more.

Allender (Almost) Always In
After 185 straight starts, Kelsey Allender missed the first two games of her career when she did not play in either game last weekend at St. John's.
   Allender had entered last weekend's series at St. John's with 185 consecutive starts, including the last 180 in center field. She's tied for fourth nationally with 15 sacrifice hits this spring.
   Allender's not the only Blujeay with an impressive starting streak, as Jen Daro's made 123 straight starts (and has played in all 140 games since enrolling) and Blake Ringle's at 87 starts in a row.

All In For Allender
Kelsey Allender leads the BIG EAST and ranks tied for fourth nationally with 15 sacrifice bunts.
   Allender had one sacrifice bunt in each of CU's three games at Butler on April 23-24, adding to her lead. She's the first Bluejay with a sac bunt in three straight games since Michelle Trulin from March 21-29, 2015. Trulin finished last season with 10 sac bunts to tie for the BIG EAST lead.
   Allender's 15 sacrifice bunts are the most by a Bluejay since Michelle Koch had 15 during CU's 2010 season. Koch, with 17 in 2009, is also the last Bluejay with more than 15 sacrifices in a season.

Wanted: Clutch Hits
Creighton's offense, so potent while scoring 51 runs 5 games earlier this season in series sweeps over Providence and Georgetown, has fallen on hard times in recent weeks.
   The Bluejays have scored a total of 15 runs in the past nine games while hitting just .205 in those contests.
   Creighton has hit only 8-for-50 (.160) with runners in scoring position, and are 15-for-76 (.197) in two-out situations during those games.
   By contrast, in the first 35 games of the season Creighton was averaging 4.86 runs per game while hitting .297 with two outs and .309 with runners in scoring position.

Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Not only does Jen Daro lead Creighton (and the BIG EAST) with nine home runs, but she's also been hit by a team-high seven pitches this spring.
   Last year Daro became the first player in school history to be hit by 10 or more pitches in multiple seasons, as she's been plunked 12 times as a freshman in 2014 before 10 beanings in 2015 during her sophomore campaign.
   Daro's 29 hit-by-pitches are already tied for second-most in Creighton history for a career with her assistant coach, Alexis Cantu. The record is held by Michelle Granger (2007-10) with 34.

Leads Generally Safe
Creighton has done an excellent job of protecting leads this season. In fact, there's only been four games that Creighton has led at any point in which it hasn't won.
   Creighton is 21-1 when leading after three innings, 20-2 when leading after four innings, and 18-0 when leading after five or six innings this season.
   On the other end of the spectrum, nine of Creighton's 25 wins this season have been of the come-from-behind variety.
   Creighton had won 24 straight games when leading after four innings before losing such a lead on April 24 at Butler and in game one on April 30 at St. John's.
   Creighton has won 21 straight games when leading after five innings, and 22 in a row when leading after six innings. CU last lost in those scenarios on April 15, 2015, when it wasted a 6-4 lead (after five) and a 6-5 lead (after six) in an eventual 7-6 loss at South Dakota State.

White Hot Whitney
Micaela Whitney is in the middle of a strong stretch, allowing just 20 earned runs over her last 11 appearances (1.99 ERA in 70.1 IP) to lower her ERA to a team-best 2.59. That figure ranks third in the BIG EAST.
   The Omaha native has allowed just 53 hits in 70.1 innings over the past five weeks while striking out 78, and she's thrown shutouts in four of her last 112 starts.
   During her last 14 outings, Whitney is 8-3 with a 2.03 ERA in 89.2 innings of work. In that time she's struck out 106 and allowed just 69 hits and 36 walks.

No-Hitter For Whitney
Micaela Whitney threw the second complete game no-hitter of her Bluejay career on April 2 at Seton Hall. She struck out 11 and did not allow a walk in her gem. Just two Pirate runners reached base, one on a 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.

Strong Start, Part I
Creighton is off to a strong start this season with a 25-19 record, including wins in 20 of the last 31 games. By comparison, Creighton won 22 games all of 2015, when it finished 22-21.
   This is the 20th straight year that Creighton has won 22 games or more, all under the direction of Brent Vigness. The only BIG EAST school with a longer active streak is DePaul, which has 32 straight seasons of 22+ wins entering this spring, including 24 this season.

Strong Start, Part II
Before losing its last three weekend series, Creighton had started 6-1 in BIG EAST play.
   The 6-1 mark was the program's best start in league action since beginning 11-1 in 2009 in the Missouri Valley Conference. That team went on to win the MVC regular-season title.
   In fact, this was the sixth time that Creighton has started 6-1 or better in league play. Four of the first five teams to do so won the regular-season title, and the team that didn't won the conference tournament.
Year   Start   League, Finish   League Tourney Title?
1998   9-1   1st, MVC   No
2005   17-1   3rd, MVC   Yes
2007   9-1   1st, MVC   Yes
2008   6-1   1st, MVC   No
2009   11-1   1st, MVC   No
2016   6-1   ???, BIG EAST   ???

Trulin Goes Yard, At Last
Michelle Trulin's first at bat vs. Georgetown on April 9th was a memorable one, as the senior pulled a 1-2 pitch over the wall in right field to give Creighton a 3-0 lead.
   Not only was it Trulin's first home run this season, but her first round-tripper as a collegian. Trulin's homer came in her 186th game at the college level (including 111 games at Iowa Western CC), and in her 649th career plate appearance.
   Trulin entered that weekend with one extra-base hit in her first 189 at bats as a Bluejay, then had an extra-base knock in all three games vs. Georgetown. Besides her home run in the series opener, she also delivered doubles in game two and game three.

Reinhart Discovers Long Ball, Too.
Allie Reinhart entered the month of April with one home run all season, but has homered five times in the 13 games since April 9th.
   Her five home runs in BIG EAST play are tied for second-most in the conference, and Creighton is 5-1 overall this season when she goes yard.

Back-To-Back
Allie Reinhart and Jen Daro hit back-to-back home runs in the second inning vs. Georgetown on April 9th, with both women homering on a 2-1 pitch against Delaney Osterday.
   It's the first time Creighton has hit back-to-back home runs since Liz Dike and Blake Ringle homered consecutively in the third inning vs. Butler on March 22, 2015.

True Blue Trulin
Michelle Trulin has reached base in 22 of the last 25 games, batting .342 with 25 hits and 14 walks in that span.
   Trulin has also scored 21 times in those games, during which time Creighton is 15-10.
   Trulin's streak of 16 straight games reaching base (snapped April 13th vs. Iowa State) was the longest mark of her Creighton career.
   Creighton's last player to reach in 16 or more straight games was Kelsey Allender, who reached in 20 straight contests from Feb. 5-March 22, 2015.

Magic Number 5
Creighton is 14-1 this season when scoring five runs or more. The Bluejays had won 18 straight games in that scenario before the 8-6 loss to St. John's on April 30th.
   That moves Creighton to 177-17 since 2007 when scoring five or more runs. In the same time span Creighton is 137-189-2 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.

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 the March 30th doubleheader vs. South Dakota State, then has followed the same game plan during the past 17 games.
   Tash Coffiel, who had started 26-of-27 games at third base, has now started the last 17 games at shortstop.
   Jen Daro, who had started the first 27 games at first base, has now started the last 17 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 17 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 177-of-183 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 that CU has turned a pair of double plays in the same contest.

RPI Update
The latest NCAA Softball RPI, released through games of May 1st, has Creighton with the fifth-best RPI in the BIG EAST.
   Creighton had an RPI of 159, trailing DePaul (92), Villanova (108), St. John's (120) and Butler (135).
   Creighton is 20-4 this year against teams with an RPI worse than 159, but 5-15 against teams in the top 159. The best RPI team that Creighton has beaten is No. 129 Drake.

What A Start!
Creighton opened its series with Providence on March 23rd with an eight-run first inning, keying an eventual 11-3 win.
   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.
   Creighton's top-scoring inning this season was a nine-run outburst in the second frame vs. Georgetown on April 9th. Creighton had not scored nine or more runs in an inning since scoring 12 runs in the third inning vs. Indiana State on March 31, 2012.
   Since that eight-run first inning on March 23rd, Creighton has scored a total of four runs in the first inning of its last 18 games.

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 16 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 18 times in the last 21 games after scoring nine times total in CU's first 23 games this season.

Situtational Numbers
Creighton is 16-3 this year when stealing a base, and had won 16 straight games dating to last year when picking up a steal prior to a March 30th game 2 loss to South Dakota State.
   Creighton is 14-2 this year when Allie Reinhart scores, and has won 19 of the last 21 games in which she's scored. Creighton is also 14-4 this year when Reinhart has an RBI. Reinhart is 30-for-78 in the last 26 games, producing 20 RBI and 14 runs in that span.
   Creighton is 18-5 this year when Michelle Trulin has a hit, and is 16-3 when Trulin scores this season. Trulin is 24-for-67 with 19 runs scored in CU's last 23 contests.
   Creighton is 13-1 when Mileah McKelvy has a hit.
   Creighton is 18-3 when scoring first this season and 25-4 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 711-510-3 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 859-581-4 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 match-up 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.

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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

Anna O'Gorman

Katie Pascuzzi

Allie Reinhart

Blake Ringle

Michelle Trulin

Micaela Whitney