Creighton University
Drake
Softball Opens Home Schedule Against Drake On Wednesday
3/21/2017 12:30:00 PM | Softball
Bluejays play their first of 12 scheduled home games
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Creighton opens its 12-game home schedule with a contest against Drake on Wednesday.Â
Matchup
Wednesday, March 22 • Drake (16-12) at Creighton (8-16) • Creighton Sports Complex • 4 p.m.Â
Follow the Action
Live stats for this weekend's action can be found at Creighton.Statbroadcast.com.
Live streams with audio commentary will be available on Jays Video for all 12 Bluejay home games this season.Â
Scoring updates and infographics will be provided via Twitter at @BluejaySoftball.
Scouting Creighton (8-16)
The Bluejays wrapped up their final regular-season tournament with a 2-3 showing at the Hawkeye Invitational in Iowa City, Iowa (March 17-19).
The Creighton offense is led by three players hitting above the .250 mark.Â
Tash Coffiel leads the team with a .292 average with a team-best 19 hits, while Ashley Cantu (.283) and Sam Dellinger (.273) are close behind.
Cantu currently owns an eight-game hitting streak and leads the team with 13 runs, and Dellinger has a team-best five extra-base hits (three doubles, two home runs) and .409 slugging percentage.
Anna O'Gorman, Jordyn Sturgeon and Allie Reinhart each own 11 RBIs to pace the Jays.Â
In addition to her production at the plate, Dellinger holds a Creighton-low 2.89 ERA in 26.2 innings pitched over nine appearances, including three starts.Â
Bryana Clark has logged a team-high 65.0 innings during 15 appearances, including 11 starts in the circle with a 3.45 ERA, four complete games and 4-6 record.
Scouting Drake (16-12)
The Bulldogs enter Wednesday's game following three losses at Wichita State during the first weekend of Missouri Valley Conference play.
Drake is led offensively by four regulars hitting above .300. Mandi Roemmich owns a team-best .356 average.Â
Roemmich enters Wednesday fresh off a 3-for-3 performance during the Bulldogs' final contest against the Shockers.Â
Tasha Alexander owns a team-high 28 hits with a .337 batting average.
Sarah Maddox is hitting .329 and paces the Bulldogs with eight home runs and 22 RBIs.
In the circle, Nicole Newman holds a team-low 1.27 ERA with 94 strikeouts to only 19 walks in 55.0 innings. Newman's 12.0 strikeouts per seven innings mark currently ranks fifth in Division I.Â
Newman and Kailee Smith each own seven victories, while Smith has pitched in 18 contests and logged 92.2 innings.Â
Drake is 0-8 in true road games and 16-4 in neutral site games.
Head coach Rich Calvert is in his 15th season at of helm of Drake and owns 401 victories after picking up win No. 400 against Green Bay on March 10.Â
Series History vs. Bulldogs
Creighton owns a 58-31 advantage over Drake all-time as the two teams played as Missouri Valley Conference rivals from 1993-2013.
The Bluejays and Bulldogs first meeting occurred during the 1978 season.
Since Creighton softball started competing during the 1977 season, the Bluejays have played Drake during 35 of the possible 40 seasons including the last 24 dating back to the Creighton's first year in the MVC.
The Bluejays defeated the Bulldogs 4-0 last season in Des Moines.Â
Drake swept a doubleheader by scores of 1-0 and 5-1 in Omaha during the 2015 season.Â
Home-Opener History
Creighton is 8-2 in its last 10 home-openers, and 14-9 overall under Brent Vigness.Â
In program history, the Bluejays are 28-12 in home-opening games.
Cantu Honored By BIG EAST
Ashley Cantu made the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday following a 7-for-18 performance with seven runs scored during five games at the Hawkeye Invitational (March 17-19). Â
Cantu also hit her first career home run to lead off Creighton's final game of the weekend against South Dakota (March 19), becoming the first Bluejay to open a game with a homer since Ellen Homan did on March 19, 2014 against Wichita State.Â
Free Softball
Creighton played three extra-inning contests during the Hawkeye Invitational.Â
Each of the three games extra-inning affairs used the International Tie-Breaker Rule because of time constraints.
The Bluejays went 1-2 during those games, including a 4-2 win over host Iowa on March 19.Â
The Jays have already played four extra-inning games this season after playing only three such contests last season.Â
Offensive Outburst
The Creighton offense produced 12 runs on 11 hits during a five-inning victory over Valparaiso (March 17).
Freshmen Ashley Cantu and Sam Dellinger each scored three runs, while Tash Coffiel and Anna O'Gorman each crossed home plate twice.Â
Jordyn Sturgeon and O'Gorman each had three of the Jays' nine RBIs.Â
The Bluejays' output against the Crusaders marked the most runs scored in a single game since April 9, 2016 when Creighton defeated Georgetown 15-2 in five innings during the second game of a doubleheader in Omaha.
O'Gorman's First Round-Tripper
Anna O'Gorman hit her first home run as a Bluejay during her 106th game and 279th official at-bat in a Creighton uniform.Â
O'Gorman did not have a home run during her first two seasons at Creighton, but did have nine long balls as a freshman at Peru State during the 2014 season.Â
