Softball Journeys To Texas For Schutt Invitational

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Creighton resumes its 2018 season at the Schutt Invitational in Denton, Texas. The Bluejays have four scheduled games over the course of two days. The Bluejays were originally scheduled to play five games during three days, but weather in the Denton area forced the tournament schedule to change.

Game Schedule
Game #6 • Saturday, Feb. 24 • Creighton vs. Prairie View A&M • 3:00 p.m.
Game #7 • Saturday, Feb. 24 • Creighton vs. Grambling State • 5:00 p.m.
Game #8 • Sunday, Feb. 25 • Creighton vs. Prairie View A&M • 9:00 a.m.
Game #9 • Sunday, Feb. 25 • Creighton at Grambling State • 11:00 a.m.
*All times listed are Central Standard Time

Follow The Games
All four of Creighton's games in Texas will have live stats. Links to the stats are available at GoCreighton.com.

There will not be a live stream for any of the games in Denton.

Scoring updates and infographics will be provided via Twitter at @BluejaySoftball.

Scouting Creighton (3-2)
The Bluejays started the 2018 campaign with a 3-2 showing at the Sportco Kick Off Classic in Las Vegas before travel issues forced the team to miss the Runnin' Bulldog Tournament this past weekend in Boiling Springs, North Carolina.

Senior Hope Moreno owned 10 hits (10-for-19), including two doubles, and recorded nine RBIs during the opening weekend on her way to BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll accolades.

Fellow senior Jordyn Sturgeon slugged .909 with one home run and one double while going 6-for-11 (.545) during four games.

As a team, Creighton hit .309 and outscored the opposition 36-17 through the first five games of the season.

Freshman Kiele Miller paced the Bluejays with 14.2 innings pitched during three appearances and struck out 15 hitters.

Scouting Prairie View A&M (1-6)
The Lady Panthers enter the weekend after splitting a doubleheader against Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Wednesday.

Prairie View A&M scored three runs during the top of the first inning of game one before defeating the Islanders 5-1 for its first win of the season.

The Lady Panthers have scored 11 runs during the first seven games of the season, but also lost a pair of games by a single run, including one in extra innings.

Destinee Williams has scored five runs and tallied three extra-base hits, while Alyssa Garcia owns four RBIs to lead the team.

Prairie View A&M's pitching staff is led by Vanessa Castro who owns a team-best 19.1 innings pitched and 2.90 ERA.

Head coach Vernon Bland is in his seventh season as head coach of the Lady Panthers.

Series History Against Lady Panthers
Creighton and Prairie View A&M have not met prior to the two scheduled games this weekend.

Scouting Grambling State (1-6)
Of the Tigers first seven games of the season, only one has needed all seven innings to complete.

Grambling State has been outscored 56-8 during its six losses. The Tigers only victory came against Jarvis Christian by a score of 14-0 in five innings.

Allye Hartley leads the offensive with a .333 batting average. Grambling State is hitting .226 as a squad with six extra-base hits.

Caitlin McDowell paces the pitching staff with 17.0 innings pitched and eight strikeouts, while the team has allowed 39 earned runs during 35.2 innings (7.65 ERA).

Head coach Wilbert Early is in his 12th season at Grambling State.

Series History Against Tigers
Creighton is 1-0 all-time against Grambling State.

The Bluejays defeated the Tigers 10-0 on Feb. 23, 2013 at the UCA Tournament in Conway, Arkansas during the only other meeting between the two schools.

Weather Plays Havoc During February
Creighton softball canceled its trip to North Carolina last weekend (Feb. 15-18) because of fog which caused flights to be canceled.

The Bluejays were also scheduled to play Friday, Saturday and Sunday this weekend, but heavy rain forecasted for the Denton area forced games to be canceled on Friday and push back the start of games until 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Creighton escaped bad weather during each of the past two seasons and were able to play in three separate tournaments (14 games played during each season) before the calendar turned to March.

In 2015, Creighton had two different tournaments canceled, which resulted in the Bluejays playing only seven games during the month of February.

Moreno Makes BIG EAST Honor Roll
Senior transfer Hope Moreno earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (Feb. 12) after she led the Bluejays' offense during the opening weekend of the season.

Moreno ended the weekend 10-for-19 with nine RBIs, two doubles and three runs scored. She posted back-to-back 4-for-4 performances with four RBIs against Utah Valley and North Dakota State.

She started all five games at first base and did not commit an error during 28 chances.

The senior first baseman spent three season at UTEP before transferring to Creighton.

Scoring All The Runs
Creighton scored 15 runs against Utah Valley during their second game of the season.

The Bluejays' run total marked their most in a single-game since April 9, 2016 against Georgetown (15-2 W).

Creighton's 14-run victory (15-1) also matched their largest margin of victory since a 16-2 win against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Feb 23, 2013.

Hit Parade
The Bluejays recorded 14 hits during two consecutive games against Utah Valley and North Dakota State, matching the team's season-high for hits in a single contest from last year.

The Creighton record for hits in a single game is 22 which has happened twice (March 4, 2012 vs. Howard & April 9, 2002 at Drake).

The most hits the Bluejays have recorded since joining the BIG EAST (2014) is 16 in a game against Providence during the 2016 season (March 23, 2016).

Freshmen Impress During Debuts
Freshmen Kiele Miller and Logan Black each recorded victories during their first career starts in the circle for the Bluejays.

Miller went 5.0 innings and struck out seven while allowing three hits and one run during Creighton's 15-1 victory against Utah Valley (Feb. 9).

Black gave up one run and five hits during 6.0 innings of work in the Bluejays' 9-1 win over Southern Utah (Feb. 10).

Victoria Alvarez and Courtney Sandell also had impressive starts to their respective careers.

Alvarez went 2-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs scored with her first career start at shortstop against Utah Valley, and Sandell finished 2-for-2 with two RBIs, two runs scored and two walks while starting in left field for the first time in her Bluejays career.

Softball Journeys To Texas For Schutt Invitational

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Players Mentioned

Victoria Alvarez

Logan Black

Kiele Miller

Hope Moreno

Courtney Sandell

Jordyn Sturgeon