Creighton University
Butler
Softball Welcomes Butler For Final BIG EAST Home Series
4/20/2017 3:45:00 PM | Softball
Bluejays will host five games over the course of seven days to conclude their 2017 home schedule
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Creighton welcomes Butler to Omaha for its final home BIG EAST series of 2017.Â
Matchup
Saturday, April 22 • Butler (17-23, 5-6 BIG EAST) at Creighton (16-23, 6-6 BIG EAST) • Creighton Sports Complex • 12 p.m. (DH)
Sunday, April 23 • Butler at Creighton • Creighton Sports Complex • 11 a.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.
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Scouting Creighton (16-23, 6-6 BIG EAST)
The Bluejays enter this weekend with wins in five of their last six games, including four consecutive BIG EAST victories.
Tash Coffiel leads the Creighton offense wth a .361 batting average and 43 hits. During 12 BIG EAST games, Coffiel is hitting .429 with a 18 hits.Â
Five different Bluejays are hitting above .300 during BIG EAST play as the team owns a .310 average through 12 league games.
Sam Dellinger paces the Jays with 31 RBIs and 16 extra-base hits (10 doubles, six home runs). Dellinger leads the BIG EAST with 19 RBIs during conference play.Â
Bryana Clark has logged a team-high 111.0 innings in the circle and holds a team-low 3.47 ERA and team-high 72 strikeouts with eight victories and seven complete games.
Scouting Butler (17-24, 5-6 BIG EAST)
The Bulldogs enter the weekend following a loss during a midweek game against Illinois.Â
Butler was swept last weekend by BIG EAST-leading St. John's in league action and has lost seven in a row overall.Â
The Bulldogs' last victory came on April 8 during the first of three games at Providence.Â
Jenna Foreman leads Butler at the plate with 44 hits and a .386 batting average.Â
Sarah Dixon owns a team-best 12 extra-base hits and paces the squad with 21 RBIs.Â
As a pitching staff the Bulldogs own a 4.41 ERA with three pitchers appearing in at least 20 games.
Head coach Scott Hall is in his seventh season at the helm of Butler.Â
Series History vs. Bulldogs
Creighton leads the all-time series against Butler 5-4.
The Bulldogs claimed two of three games in Indianapolis last season.
Butler also won two out three games over a three-game series in Omaha during the 2015 season.Â
Senior Weekend
Creighton will honor its five seniors (Jen Daro, Jessica Lewis, Aujanae McCoy, Anna O'Gorman and Allie Reinhart) and junior Kelsey Biaggi between games during Saturday's doubleheader.Â
Last Time Out
Creighton split a doubleheader at UMKC on Tuesday (April 18) as the Bluejays won game two 11-5, and the Roos took game one 6-5.Â
Freshman right-fielder Ashley Cantu went 3-for-3 with a single, double, triple, three runs and four RBIs, including the game-winning RBI, during the game two victory.
With the score tied 5-5 during the second game, Creighton built a six-run lead with a six-run fifth inning.
Freshman utility player Sam Dellinger finished 4-for-4 with two doubles, a home run and two RBIs as the Bluejays fell during game one. Dellinger's two-double performance tied a single-game high for a Creighton individual.
Morgan Byrn hit a two-run walk-off homer to lift UMKC to a one-run victory in game one.
Double-Digit Hits
The Bluejays have recorded 10 or more hits during five of their last six games.Â
Creighton has recorded a season-high 14 hits on three different occasions (twice during the past six games), including its second game of a doubleheader against UMKC on Tuesday (April 18).Â
The Bluejays are 9-2 when recording 10 or more base knocks and 13-3 when outhitting its opponent. By comparasion, the Jays are 3-19 when they are outhit by the opposition (0-1 when hits are tied) and 2-8 when allowing 10 or more hits.Â
Bluejays Streaking
Creighton's current four-game BIG EAST winning streak is its longest during the 2017 season.
During the streak, the Jays are hitting .396 with 44 hits, including 13 extra-base knocks, and have outscored their opponents 27-8. Â
The Bluejays' longest BIG EAST winning streak last season was four (April 2-10), and the Jays have never won five consecutive BIG EAST contests since joining the conference in 2014.Â
Turning The Page During Conference Play
After starting the season 9-16, the Bluejays have started conference play 6-6.
During 12 BIG EAST contests Creighton is hitting .310 with 30 extra-base hits.Â
By comparison, the Bluejays are hitting only .230 during nonconference action (27 games).
Five different Creighton players hold a batting average of better than .333 during conference play, led by Tash Coffiel's .429 average.Â
Infielder Aujanae McCoy has seen the most improvement during BIG EAST play.Â
The senior owns only seven hits during nonconference action (.149 average) and has walked only once. During league action, McCoy is 9-for-25 (.360 batting average) has walked five times, been hit once and holds a team-best .484 on-base percentage through 12 BIG EAST contests.
Lewis Shows Off Her Power
Senior infielder Jessica Lewis entered Creighton's series against Seton Hall with two career extra-base hits in 143 at-bats.Â
Lewis launched her first career home run and had a double off the center-field wall during the Bluejays' first game of the series (April 14), doubling her career extra-base hit total.Â
Freshmen StarsÂ
Freshmen Sam Dellinger and Ashley Cantu have proved to be key contributors for the Bluejays during their first season at Creighton.Â
Dellinger leads the team in doubles (10), home runs (6), RBIs (31), total bases (68) and slugging percentage (.576). During BIG EAST action, Dellinger has a league-best 19 RBIs.
The Papillion-La Vista product has started all 39 games this season with starts 17 in left field, 15 as designated player, seven in the circle and two at third base.Â
Dellinger finished 4-for-4 with two doubles, a home run and two RBIs during the first game of a doubleheader at UMKC (April 18).
Cantu leads the Bluejays with 26 runs scored and owns the third-best average (.336).Â
During BIG EAST play, the outfielder is hitting .395 with 17 hits, nine runs, five doubles and three stolen bases.
Cantu's infield single in the bottom of the 8th inning drove in the winning run during Creighton's 3-2 victory over Seton Hall on April 15.Â
She also had the game-winning RBI to cap a 3-for-3 performance with a single, double, triple, four RBIs and three runs scored during the Bluejays' 11-5 win during the second game of a doubleheader at UMKC (April 18).Â
The freshman from Frisco, Texas owns 31 starts in right field and has hit in the lead-off position 19 times.Â
Dellinger Earns BIG EAST Recognition
Sam Dellinger finished last weekend 5-for-12 with a home run, two doubles and five RBIs and claimed a spot on this week's BIG EAST Honor Roll (April 17).
The freshman launched her team-leading fifth home run to help the Bluejays run-rule Seton Hall during the first of three games (April 14).Â
She also went 2-for-4 with two RBIs -- driving in the first and fourth runs -- to guide Creighton to a 4-3 victory during the final game of the series against the Pirates (April 15).Â
Dellinger also earned a spot on the honor roll on March 27.Â
Small-ballÂ
The Bluejays have a total of five sacrifice flies and 35 sac bunts through 39 games. Creighton leads the BIG EAST in sacrifice bunts.
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
Tash Coffiel, Anna O'Gorman and Jordyn Sturgeon each lead the Bluejays this season with five sac bunts, while O'Gorman leads the team with two sac flies.Â
