Creighton University
South Dakota
Softball Travels To West Coast For Santa Clara Invitational
2/22/2017 11:00:00 AM | Softball
Creighton will play South Dakota, Santa Clara, Weber State and Illinois-Chicago
Download Complete Notes
Up Next
Creighton heads to California for the Santa Clara Invitational (Feb. 24-25). The Bluejays will play four games over two days at the event.
Game Schedule
Game #1 • Feb. 24 • Creighton vs. South Dakota • 11:00 a.m.
Game #2 • Feb. 24 • Creighton vs. Santa Clara • 6:30 p.m.
Game #3 • Feb. 25 • Creighton vs. Weber State • 1:30 p.m.
Game #4 • Feb. 25 • Creighton vs. Illinois-Chicago • 6:30 p.m.Â
*All times listed are Central Standard Time
Follow the Action
Live stats for this weekend's action can be found at Creighton.Statbroadcast.com.
Scoring updates and infographics will be provided via Twitter at @BluejaySoftball.
Scouting Creighton
The Bluejays finished the Plainsman Invitational 1-4 with a victory over Evansville in extra innings and losses to Mercer, No. 2 Auburn (twice) and Evansville.Â
Creighton is 2-8 through the first 10 games of 2017, including three losses to teams ranked in the top 10 of the USA Today/NFCA Top 10 (No. 2 Auburn (2x) and No. 9 Oregon).Â
Junior Bryana Clark leads the Jays in the circle with a 2.39 ERA and two complete games, each coming in Creighton's two victories this season. Clark has 18 strikeouts in 29.1 innings pitched while opponents have hit .226 against the junior at the plate.Â
Anna O'Gorman paces the Bluejays offensively with a .217 batting average and three RBIs.
O'Gorman is one of four Creighton players to start each game this season, along with Tash Coffiel, Sam Crowley and Sam Dellinger.Â
Scouting South Dakota
The Coyotes have opened the 2017 season at 2-5.Â
South Dakota has started the same eight positions players (not including pitcher) and designated player for each of the first seven games.Â
Freshman Ally Wiegand has started five games for the Coytoes at pitcher and accumulated a 2.75 ERA in 28.0 innings of work.Â
Shelby Keil leads the offense with six hits (.333 BA) and Emily Winckler and Kayla Fields each have four RBIs.Â
South Dakota head coach Robert Wagner is in his first year as head coach in Vermillion. Wagner spent eight years as an associate head coach and top assistant during two stints at Arizona State.Â
Scouting Santa Clara
Santa Clara (2-4) opened 2017 with three losses, but picked up two victories over Seattle University during the Bronco Classic.Â
Each of the team's first six games have been played at the SCU Softball Stadium which has been the Broncos' home facilty since the start of the 2016 season and will host the Santa Clara Invitational this weekend.Â
Morgan Modesto leads the Broncos offensively with seven hits in 17 at-bats, including five doubles and three RBIs.Â
Micaela Vierra has pitched two complete games and holds a 2.37 ERA in 20.2 innings pitched. Â
Head coach Lisa Mize is in her ninth season at the helm of Santa Clara.
Scouting Weber State
The Wildcats are 1-7-1 this season, with its lone win coming in its most previous game on Feb. 19 against San Jose State.Â
Five regulars hold a batting average above .300, led by junior Molly Horne (.445) and senior Sara Hingsberger (.440)
Hingsberger, Weber State's first baseman and three-hole hitter, has 11 hits, including three doubles and a home run, four RBIs and five runs scored while being one of four Wildcats to start each game.Â
Kirtlyn Bohling and Tatiana Su'esu'e have split the starting duties in the circle. As an entire unit, the pitching staff has a combined 7.57 ERA.Â
Head coach Mary Kay Amicone is leading the Wildcats for the fourth season.Â
Scouting Illinois-Chicago
The Flames have opened the 2017 campaign with a 7-2 record.Â
Illinois-Chicago started the season with six consecutive wins, including three shutouts before losing two of its last three during the Wydnham Garden Cougar Classic in Mount Pleasant, S.C. Â
The Flames hold a .320 batting average and .387 on-base percentage through nine games, paced by three players hitting over .400.
2016 Horizon League Freshman of the Year Lexi Watts leads the way with 14 hits and a .467 average, and freshman Kayla Wedl paces the team with three doubles, three triples, six RBIs and nine runs scored while hitting .407.
2016 Horizon League Pitcher of the Year Elaine Heflin leads the pitching staff with three complete games, a 4-0 record and 0.00 ERA. She has 29 strikeouts to seven walks and allowed one unearned run in 25.0 innings. Overall, UIC pitching holds a 1.17 ERA.Â
Lynn Curylo, a graduate of UIC, is in her first season as head coach of the Flames.Â
Series History vs. South Dakota
The Bluejays hold a 13-3 series advantage over the Coyotes.Â
Creighton and South Dakota met during the 2015 season and split a doubleheader in Omaha.Â
Series History vs. Santa Clara
Creighton is 6-0 all-time against Santa Clara. The teams most recently met on March 13, 1999 during the National Invitational Tournament in San Jose, Calif.
Series History vs. Weber State
The Bluejays defeated the Wildcats 7-2 in the only previous meeting on March 11, 2011 during the Diamond Devil Invitational in Tempe, Ariz.Â
Series History vs. Illinois-Chicago
The Flames hold a 3-1 all-time record against the Jays. In the most recent matchup, Illinois-Chicago defeated Creighton 6-3 on March 13, 2010 during the Wildcat Invitational in Tucson, Ariz.Â
Nebraska Roots On South Dakota Squad
South Dakota's roster includes five players from the state of Nebraska.
All five players have started each game for the Coyotes during the 2017 season.Â
Freshman Camille Fowler, a graduate of Millard South, has started in left field and hit leadoff.Â
Colon, Neb. product (Bishop Neumann HS) and sophomore Morgan Vasa has hit second and played right field.Â
Junior Christy Warnock, a graduate of Millard North, controls center field while hitting in the 3rd spot of the lineup.Â
Sophomore Jessica Rogers from Lincoln, Neb. (Southwest HS) starts behind the plate and hits towards the bottom of the lineup.
Finally, sophomore Jamie Holscher (Lincoln Northeast HS) plays third base and hits primarily in the No. 9 position.Â
The Bluejays' roster includes nine players from the state of Nebraska (Tash Coffiel, Jen Daro, Sam Dellinger, Jayci McGill, Mileah McKelvy, Anna O'Gorman, Mikaela Pechar, Allie Reinhart and Jordyn Sturgeon).
Walk-Off Win
Creighton used a walk-off fielder's choice to pick up its second victory of the season with a 1-0 extra-inning win over Evansville on Feb. 18.Â
With Mikaela Pechar at third base, Aujanae McCoy sent a ground ball to shortstop. The Purple Aces infielder fielded the ball and threw it towards home, but Pechar beat the tag.Â
The win over Evansville marked the Bluejays' first walk-off victory since April 13, 2016 when Creighton defeated Iowa State 1-0 on an RBI bunt-single from Mileah McKelvy in the bottom of the seventh.
Complete-Game Clark
Junior Bryana Clark pitched her second complete game of the season during the Bluejays' 1-0 eight-inning win over Evansville (Feb. 18).
Clark allowed four hits, walked one and struck out six in eight innings of work.
She also had a complete-game and did not allow an earned run during Creighton's 2-1 win over Saint Mary's (Feb. 10) at the Kajikawa Classic.
Small-ballÂ
Creighton had one sac fly and five sacrifice bunts over the course of five games at the Plainsman Invitational.Â
On the season, the Jays have a total of three sacrifice flys and seven sac bunts through 10 games. Last season Creighton had five sacrifice flies and led the BIG EAST with 48 sacrifice bunts, including 15 from senior Kelsey Allender.Â
Anna O'Gorman and Sam Crowley each lead the Bluejays this season with two sac bunts, while O'Gorman also leads the team with two sac flies.Â
