Creighton University
Nebraska
Softball Concludes Home Schedule With Games Against Nebraska and South Dakota
4/24/2017 6:45:00 PM | Softball
Bluejays host Nebraska on Tuesday and South Dakota on Thursday
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Creighton hosts Nebraska and South Dakota for a pair of midweek games to conclude the Bluejays' 2017 home and nonconference schedule.Â
Matchup
Tuesday, April 25 • Nebraska (20-25 at Creighton (18-24) • Creighton Sports Complex • 6 p.m.Â
Thursday, April 27 • South Dakota (16-27) at Creighton • Creighton Sports Complex • 3 p.m. (NOTE TIME CHANGE)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 (16-23, 6-6 BIG EAST)
The Bluejays enter Tuesday's contest with seven wins during their last nine games.Â
Tash Coffiel leads the Creighton offense wth a .367 batting average and .418 on-base percentage. She owns a .431 batting average during BIG EAST play with 22 hits (15 games).
BIG EAST Player of the Week Sam Dellinger paces the Bluejays with 37 RBIs and 20 extra-base hits (11 doubles, nine home runs). Dellinger has six doubles, six home runs and 25 RBIs during BIG EAST action.
Creighton is hitting .264 as a team through 42 games, including .323 during 15 league contests.
Bryana Clark has logged a team-high 121.0 innings in the circle and holds a team-low 3.47 ERA. Clark also owns 82 strikeouts.
Scouting Nebraska (20-25)
The Huskers head to Omaha following a 14-0 victory over No. 25 Illinois on Sunday.Â
Alyvia Simmons leads the team with a .357 batting average and .409 on-base percentage.Â
MJ Knighten owns a team-best 46 hits, 33 runs scored, five home runs and 25 RBIs. Knighten also has 10 stolen bases to pace Nebraska.
In the circle, Cassie McClure holds a team-low 4.06 ERA in 28 appearances, while Kaylan Jablonski has pitched in 32 games (22 starts) and tallied 153.1 innings.
Series History vs. Huskers
Nebraska and Creighton have met for 120 games since 1978.
The Huskers hold a 83-37 advantage in the all-time series.
Nebraska won the last meeting 11-1 on April 21, 2015 in Lincoln.
The Huskers took the most previous game played in Omaha, 4-3 on April 3, 2013.
The Bluejays' last win against Nebraska came on April 25, 2012 at the Creighton Sports Complex (2-1).
Scouting South Dakota (17-26)
The Coyotes have won four of their last five games and are 8-7 in Summit League play.
Offensively, South Dakota is hitting .295 as a team with five starters holding an average of .300 or better.
The balanced offensive attack features three players with 10 or more doubles, five with three or more home runs and four with more than 20 RBIs.
Emily Winckler has 10 doubles, four home runs and 27 RBIs, as well as 24 walks. The primary designated player owns a team-best .424 on-base percentage.
Jessica Rodgers leads the team with a .331 average, and Camille Fowler paces the squad with 44 hits.Â
South Dakota has five players who have started every game this season, while nine have started at least 40 of 43 games.Â
Ally Wiegand leads the team with a 3.79 ERA while Rachel Cue has pitched 104.2 innings and owns a 5.28 ERA. As a staff, the Coyotes hold a 5.32 ERA.Â
Series History vs. Coyotes
The Bluejays hold a 13-6 series lead against the Coyotes, but 0-3 this season.
The two teams played once at the Santa Clara Invitational and twice at the Hawkeye Invitational. South Dakota claimed a 20-6 victory in the first meeting of the season in California (Feb. 24), and picked up 7-0 and 5-3 (8 innings) wins in Iowa City (March 18 and 19).
Last Time Out
The Bluejays swept Butler during a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon before dropping a single game on Sunday.
Allie Reinhart's sacrifice fly drove in the winning run during the bottom of the 7th for Creighton's 4-3 win in the first game.Â
The Jays scored 11 unanswered runs with six in the fourth and five in the fifth to run-rule Butler 11-2 during the second game of the double-dip. Sam Dellinger's three-run home run home run ended the game.Â
On Sunday, Creighton jumped out to a 5-0 lead before Butler scored 10 two-out runs to take a five-run lead before winning 10-7.
Dellinger Named BIG EAST Player of the Week
Freshman Sam Dellinger earned BIG EAST Player of the Week status (April 24).
Dellinger helped the Bluejays pick up three wins last week while going 10-for-17 (.588 average) with seven runs scored, three doubles, three home runs and eight RBIs during five games.Â
The freshman started the week with a 4-for-4 outing including two doubles and two RBIs during the first game of a doubleheader at UMKC (April 18).
She also hit a three-run walk-off home run to give Creighton a 11-2 five-inning victory over Butler during the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday. The game-ending home run was her second in as many weeks, as she hit a two-run home run against Seton Hall to give Creighton an 8-0 six-inning win (April 14).
Dellinger capped her week with two home runs during the series finale against Butler on Sunday, becoming the first Bluejay to have a multiple home runs in a game this season.
She currently holds a nine-game hitting streak and has scored at least once during each of the past six games.
The Papillion-La Vista product leads Creighton with 11 doubles, nine home runs, 37 RBIs, 83 total bases and a .648 slugging percentage. Dellinger also ranks second on the team in batting average (.352), hits (45), on-base percentage (.411) and runs scored (25).
She ranks first among all BIG EAST freshmen in hits, home runs, doubles, RBIs, total bases and slugging percentage.Â
Double-Digit Hits
The Bluejays have recorded 10 or more hits during seven of their last nine 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 10-3 when recording 10 or more base knocks and 15-3 when outhitting its opponent. By comparasion, the Jays are 3-20 when they are outhit by the opposition (0-1 when hits are tied) and 2-9 when allowing 10 or more hits.Â
Bluejays Streaking
Prior to Sunday's loss, Creighton picked up six consecutive BIG EAST victories.
The last time the Bluejays picked up six-straight conference victories was during the 2013 season when the team competed in the Missouri Valley Conference.Â
During the streak, the Jays hit .389 with 63 hits, including 18 extra-base knocks, and outscored their opponents 42-13. Â
The Bluejays' longest BIG EAST winning streak last season was four (April 2-10).Â
Turning The Page During Conference Play
After starting the season 9-16, the Bluejays have started conference play 8-7.
During 15 BIG EAST contests Creighton is hitting .323 with 38 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 .431 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 13-for-34 (.382 batting average) has walked five times, been hit once and holds a .475 on-base percentage.
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