Creighton University
St. John's
Softball Starts BIG EAST Home Schedule With Showdown Against St. John's
3/30/2017 2:30:00 PM | Softball
Bluejays will host three BIG EAST teams this season
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Creighton hosts St. John's for the Bluejays' first BIG EAST home series of the 2017 season. Â
Matchup
Saturday, April 1 • St. John's (15-10, 3-0 BIG EAST) at Creighton (11-17, 2-1 BIG EAST) • Creighton Sports Complex • 12 p.m. (DH)
Sunday, April 2 • St. John's at Creighton • Creighton Sports Complex • 11 a.m. (Pink Out Game)
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 (11-17, 2-1 BIG EAST)
Creighton opened its BIG EAST schedule with a 2-1 showing at Georgetown (March 25-26).Â
Tash Coffiel leads the Bluejays with 27 hits and is one of three players hitting over .300.
Coffiel is batting .329, while Ashley Cantu holds a .324 batting average and Sam Dellinger is hitting .304.Â
Cantu leads the team with 16 runs, while Dellinger owns a team-best eight extra-base hits (five doubles, three home runs) and .481 slugging percentage.
Dellinger also paces the Jays with 17 RBIs and a .382 on-base percentage.Â
In addition to her production at the plate, Dellinger holds a Creighton-low 2.36 ERA in 35.2 innings pitched over 11 appearances, including four starts. The freshman has two complete games, two wins and two saves.Â
Bryana Clark has logged a team-high 76.0 innings during 17 appearances in the circle, including 13 starts, with a 3.41 ERA, five complete games and 5-7 record.
Scouting St. John's (15-10, 3-0 BIG EAST)
The Red Storm capped a three-game sweep of Providence to open BIG EAST play with an 11-0 victory which included a no-hitter by BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week Tori Free.
Kaitlin Mattera leads the St. John's offense with a .413 batting average and .519 on-base percentage.Â
The Red Storm own a .306 team-batting average, good enough for second in the BIG EAST.Â
Gretchen Bowie ranks second in the league with 21 RBIs and is tied for the team-lead with three home runs.Â
Four different pitchers have started at least five games for the St. John's as the team leads the conference with a 3.25 ERA and 15 victories. McKenzie Murray leads the group with a 2.70 ERA and 6-0 record in 46.2 innings pitched.
St. John's is led by 11th year head coach Amy Kvilhaug.Â
Series History vs. Red Storm
St. John's leads the all-time series against Creighton 7-3.
Last season the Red Storm took two games from the Bluejays in Queens, N.Y.
St. John's defeated Creighton in two out of three games during a weekend series in Omaha during the 2015 season.Â
The Bluejays are 2-6 against the Red Storm since joining the BIG EAST.
Pink Out Game
The Creighton softball team will be holding its first-ever Pink Out Game on Sunday (April 2). Fans are encouraged to wear pink to Sunday's 11 a.m. contest, while the Bluejays will don pink uniforms.Â
Three Complete-Game Pitchers
Bryana Clark, Michal Hylton and Sam Dellinger each pitched complete games during Creighton's three-game series against Georgetown this past weekend (March 25-26).
The last conference series to feature three different Bluejay pitchers toss three complete was April 6-7, 2002, when Shelli Mellegaard, Kristan Melton and Melissa Plog each had complete games during Creighton's three-game sweep of Missouri Valley Conference foe Indiana State. That trio also did not give up a run in 15 innings of work.
Freshmen Shine To Open BIG EAST Slate
Freshmen Ashley Cantu and Sam Dellinger combined to go 11-for-20 with six extra-base hits and 11 RBIs during the first three BIG EAST games.Â
Cantu went 7-for-11 with three runs scored, three doubles and four RBIs, while Dellinger finished 4-for-9 with seven RBIs, two doubles and one home run as Creighton finished 2-1 against Georgtown.
Cantu had two doubles during Creighton's second game against Georgetown (March 25) tying the Creighton individual single-game high for doubles (since 1995).
RBI Record Set
Sam Dellinger had six RBIs during the second game of Creighton's doubleheader against Georgetown on March 25 (11-6 win), becoming the first Bluejay individual with six RBIs in a single BIG EAST contest.Â
Dellinger went 2-for-3 with a two-RBI double, two-run home run, a sacrifice fly and a RBI-walk.Â
The previous single-game high for RBIs by a Creighton individual in one BIG EAST contest was five, achieved four times, last by Allie Reinhart on March 23, 2016 against Providence.Â
Dellinger's six RBIs were also the most by a Creighton freshman since Amy Baker had six on April 5, 2010 against North Dakota State. Â
The Creighton single-game record for RBIs in any contest since 1995 is eight, set by current assistant coach Alexis Cantu against Wichita State (April 6, 2012).
Dellinger Makes BIG EAST Honor Roll
Sam Dellinger earned her first conference honor this week, claiming a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (March 27).
During Creighton's four games over the past week, the freshman finished 6-for-13 with seven RBIs, three runs, two doubles, and one home run. Dellinger also walked twice and had a sacrifice fly.
She also picked up a complete-game win and a two-inning save in the circle while allowing only one earned run in 9.0 innings of work.Â
Dellinger's six-RBI game during the second contest of a doubleheader on Saturday (March 25) against Georgetown set a Creighton single-game record for the most RBIs by a Bluejay individual in a single BIG EAST contest and the most by a freshman since 2010.Â
Small-ballÂ
The Bluejays have a total of five sacrifice flies and 21 sac bunts through 28 games. Creighton's sacrifice-bunt total is tied for the most in the BIG EAST.Â
Last season the Jays finished with five sacrifice flies and led the BIG EAST with 48 sacrifice bunts, including 15 from senior Kelsey Allender.Â
Aujanae McCoy leads the Bluejays this season with three sac bunts, while Anna O'Gorman leads the team with two sac flies.Â
