Softball Continues Season At Mean Green Classic

Download PDF of Notes

Up Next
Creighton continues its season at the Mean Green Classic in Denton, Texas.

The Bluejays are scheduled to face Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Northwestern State on Friday before playing North Texas and Pine Bluff on Saturday.

Game Schedule
Game #6 • Friday, Feb. 15 • Creighton vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff • 11 a.m.
Game #7 • Friday, Feb. 15 • Creighton vs. Northwestern State • 1:30 p.m.
Game #8 • Saturday, Feb. 16 • Creighton at North Texas • 4 p.m.
Game #9 • Saturday, Feb. 16 • Creighton vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff • 6:30 p.m.
*All times listed are Central Standard Time

Follow The Games
Live stats for the four contest and the game between Creighton and New Mexico will be provided via Creighton.Statbroadcast.com.

Links to live stats and video can be found on the Creighton Softball schedule page.

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

Scouting Creighton (1-4)
The Bluejays opened the 2019 season with five games in Las Cruces, New Mexico that were each decided by at least seven runs, including four run-rule shortened games.

Creighton's lone win of the opening weekend came against UTEP (13-5 in six innings) on Feb. 9.

The Bluejays hit .248 as a team, which included only four extra base hits (three doubles, one triple).

Kelli Finan paced the team offensively with five hits and five RBIs.

Creighton was outscored 46-22 during five games and allowed 13 home runs.

Returning pitchers Kiele Miller and Logan Black each recorded a total of 11 strikeouts.

Creighton also returned five position players that started at least half of last season's games and received five first-place votes and 43 points for the top position in the 2019 BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Scouting Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-0)
The Golden Lions enter the 2019 season after finishing 19-28 overall, including 11-6 in SWAC play for a second place finish in the Western Division last season.

Shortstop Alexandria Taylor and pitcher Juliana Dominguez each made the 2019 Preseason All-SWAC Second Team.

Taylor hit .242 with eight doubles, one triple and 17 RBIs last season, while Dominguez led the team with a 3.13 ERA.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff was picked to finish fourth of five in the Western Division of the conference.

Michael Bumpers enters 2019 in his first season as the interim head coach of the Golden Lions.

Series History Against Golden Lions
Creighton leads the all-time series against Arkansas-Pine Bluff 5-0.

The Bluejays and Golden Lions last met at the UCA Tournament in Conway, Arkansas during February of 2013.

Creighton and Arkansas-Pine Bluff also met for a four-game series in Pine Bluff for the opening weekend of the 2012 season.

The two teams were scheduled to play during the 2017 season in Omaha, but the games were cancelled because of inclement weather.

Scouting Northwestern State (2-2)
The Lady Demons started their 2019 campaign with a 2-2 showing at the Texas Classic.

Freshman Bronte Rhoden recorded both victories in the circle and allowed only three earned runs during 11.1 innings of work.

Northwestern State was held to only 16 hits over the course of four games, but the team drew 24 walks to end the weekend with a .361 on-base percentage.

The Lady Demons were picked to finish sixth (of 12) in the Southland Conference as sophomore Cayla Jones made the Preseason All-Southland Conference First Team, and junior Kaitlyn St. Clair claimed a spot on the second team.

Head coach Donald Pickett is in his 11th season at Northwestern State.

Series History Against Lady Demons
The series between Creighton and Northwestern State is tied at 1-1.

The Bluejays claimed a 4-3 eight-inning victory during the 2002 OU/Nike Classic in Norman, Oklahoma, while the Lady Demons earned a 2-1 eight-inning win during the Tulsa Invitational in 2014.

Scouting North Texas (4-1)
The Mean Green claimed four wins at the Aggie Classic in College Station, Texas last weekend, including a run-rule victory against No. 20 Texas A&M.

Junior Katie Clark posted a .565 batting average with 13 hits and tied for the team-lead with seven RBIs. Clark tallied consecutive four-hit games and had at least two during four of the first five games of the season. Clark earned 2018 Conference USA Newcomer of the Year accolades after transferring from Stephen F. Austin.

The Mean Green hit .299 as a team and outscored the opposition 40-17.

North Texas recorded a 0.91 ERA as the pitching staff allowed only five earned runs.

Preseason All-Conference USA selection Hope Trautwein struck out 31 batters and walked only four during 20.1 innings of work, including 12 during 7.0 innings of work against Northern Colorado.

The Mean Green were picked fourth (of 12) in the 2019 C-USA Preseason Poll.

Head coach Rodney DeLong is in his first year at the helm of North Texas after leading Austin Peay to a program-record 39 wins in 2018.

Series History Against Mean Green
Creighton leads the all-time series against North Texas 5-4.

The two teams met twice during the North Texas Invitational in 2016, as the Mean Green won 11-1 before the Bluejays won 5-4 in eight innings.

This year marks the sixth time Creighton has played a tournament in Denton, Texas, and third time in the past four years.

Walk This Way
Freshman Kailey Wilson walked seven times during the Bluejays' opening weekend, including three times against UTEP on Feb. 9.

The rest of the team combined to walk a total of 12 times over the course of five games.

Last season two different Bluejays walked three times during a single game.

Ashley Cantu led the 2018 squad with 22 walks, while a total of six players earned double-digit walks a season ago.

Freshmen Contributions
Creighton started two freshmen during the season-opener, and a total of four first-year players saw the field during the opening weekend.

Kailey Wilson and Sam Alm each earned starting nods during all five games, while Kiara Mills started once and played four times and Kate Mullally pinch-ran once.

The four Bluejay freshman combined for six hits, four runs scored and seven RBIs.

Wilson went 2-for-2 in season-opener (Feb. 8 vs. UTEP), becoming the first Creighton freshman with multiple hits in the season-opener since Liz Dike and Allie Mathewson in 2012.

McKelvy Always On Base
Junior Mileah McKelvy reached at least once during all five games in New Mexico.

McKelvy tallied four hits, walked twice and was hit by the pitch twice to end the weekend with a .500 on-base percentage.

Dating back to the end of last season, McKelvy has reached base in 12 consecutive games..

Bluejay Preview Position-By-Position
Pitching
Kiele Miller returns poised to lead the Bluejay pitching staff after pacing the team with 135.2 innings pitched as a freshman.

The All-BIG EAST Second Team selection posted 147 strikeouts and led the BIG EAST with a 1.42 ERA during league action (59.0 IP) in 2018. Logan Black contributed 55.1 innings in the circle during her freshman campaign last year. Black started one game during each conference series and ranked second on the team in overall starts (12) and wins (8).

The Bluejays added Laura Roecker for the new season. Roecker spent three seasons at Nebraska-Omaha and earned Second Team All-Summit League honors in 2016.

Kate Mullally joins the Creighton program from Seward, Nebraska. Mullally helped lead Seward to a runner-up finish at the 2017 Nebraska Class B State Tournament while posting a 2.28 ERA with 175 strikeouts. She ended her high school career as Seward's career leader in wins (73) and second in strikeouts (614).

Infield
Jayci Foster will anchor the Creighton infield after starting 39 games at second base last season. The Papillion, Nebraska native held Creighton's longest hitting streak at 13 games and ranked second on the team in home runs with six, including a walk-off homer during
extra innings against Providence to kick start the Bluejays' best BIG EAST run to date.

Junior Kaitlynn Hunt also returns up the middle after making 32 starts at shortstop. She ranked third on the team with 50 assists (one behind Foster) and did not commit an error during conference play.

The corner infield positions are open as four-year starter Tash Coffiel graduated after starting 165 games, primarily at third base, and Hope Moreno transitioned from playing first base in 2018 during her final year of eligibility to an undergraduate student assistant coach position for the 2019 season.

Returners Victoria Alvarez and Kelli Finan each saw time at infield positions, but neither have a starting spot solidified.

Alvarez started four games at third base and seven at shortstop while recording 17 assists and a .367 on-base percentage at the plate.

Finan primarily played in left field (25 starts), but also saw time at first base (seven starts), second base (four starts) and shortstop (two starts). The Long Beach State transfer made an immediate impact during her first season in the Bluejay lineup by leading the team with 36 RBIs and ranking second in slugging percentage (.579).

Freshmen Kailey Wilson, Sam Alm and Kiara Mills will each fight for a starting nod.

Wilson, the 2017 Colorado High School Athletic Association 5A Player of the Year, owns a powerful bat, and will seek the primary first base position.

Alm begins her Creighton career after posting a Nebraska Class A state record for career batting averge (.534) and setting Millard West's career hit mark with 203. She can play nearly any position across the diamond in both the infield and outfield.

Mills, another utility infielder and former club teammate of Alvarez, helped lead the St. Lucy's Priory Regents to the 2017 CIF South section semifinals.

Outfield
Creighton's outfield will be guided by lead-off hitter Ashley Cantu. The 2017 All-BIG EAST selection and 2018 BIG EAST All-Tournament team honoree is the only Bluejay that started all 43 games last season.

She led the team in multiple offensive categories and became the eighth player in program history to finish the season with a batting average better than .400 (min. 2 AB/game played). Cantu also finished ninth in Division I with 1.05 runs per game and posted Creighton's best individual on-base percentage (.479) since her sister, Alexis, set the school record with a .547 mark in 2012.

After primarily playing in right field each of the past two seasons, Cantu may slide into center for her junior season.

Finan and sophomore Courtney Sandell each started multiple games in the outfield last season for the Bluejays, and fourth-year junior Mileah McKelvy, Southern Utah transfer Nicole Simonson and Alm will each fight for playing time.

Juniors Sydney Jenkins and Kristin Fry and sophomore Jacey Sawyer add depth to the Bluejays outfield, but all three will primarily appear in pinch-running situations. The trio combined for 23 runs as pinch runners in 2018.

Catcher/Designated Player
After spending the past two seasons as Creighton's second catcher, junior Mikaela Pechar will have her chance as the primary backstop this year. Pechar made 11 starts behind the plate and led the squad with 25 pinch-hit plate appearances last season. She ranked fifth on the team with 22 RBIs a year ago and nine of her 19 hits were of the extra-base variety.

Valentina Bertrand, Hope Bonar and Kiahana Scott will each have opportunities for playing time at catcher, while Hunt may see time behind the plate after primarily playing catcher at Nebraska-Omaha in 2017.

Creighton used eight different players as a starting designated player a year ago, and 2019 may feature a similar variety.

Senior Nikki McNeil, the freshman trio of Wilson, Alm and Mills and McKelvy will each likely appear in the offensive specialist position throughout the season.

Creighton Picked To Win BIG EAST
After ending last season in the title game of the BIG EAST Championship, the Creighton softball team is the favorite in the 2019 BIG EAST Softball Preseason Coaches' Poll, the league announced on Jan. 17.

The Bluejays received five first-place votes and 43 overall points to claim the top spot. Villanova, St. John's and DePaul rounded out the top four, respectively, as all three schools earned one first-place vote a piece.

The Bluejays wrapped up the 2018 season at 28-15, including 12-3 in league play for a second place finish in the regular-season standings. The squad went 1-1 at the BIG EAST Championship in Rosemont, Illinois for a runner-up trophy.

Creighton enters 2019 seeking its first regular-season conference title since 2013 when the Bluejays won the Missouri Valley during their final year in the league.

Creighton sits at the top of the BIG EAST preseason poll for the first time since joining the league prior to the 2014 season. The Bluejays were picked fifth each of the past four years, and second preceding its first season in the league. The last time Creighton was picked to win their conference was in 2010 when the program competed in the Missouri Valley.

Since 2000, the Bluejays have been picked to win a conference title five different times and achieved the regular-season crown twice during those years. Overall, Creighton owns seven regular-season conference titles, most recently in 2013.

St. John's claimed the top spot in the preseason coaches' poll each of the previous three seasons, but only ended as regular-season champions in 2017. Since Creighton joined the BIG EAST, DePaul owns three conference titles and St. John's has two. The BIG EAST coaches have correctly picked the conference champion twice (2014, 2017) in the past five seasons.

The Bluejays' BIG EAST conference slate begins the weekend of March 23-24 at Georgetown.

2019 BIG EAST Softball Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Creighton (5) 43
2. Villanova (1) 39
3. St. John's (1) 37
4. DePaul (1) 35
5. Butler 30
6. Seton Hall 15
7. Georgetown 14
8. Providence 11

New Faces Around BIG EAST Softball
Of the eight softball programs across the league, Villanova, St. John's, DePaul and Providence each have new head coaches.

Creighton's Brent Vigness enters his 26th season at the helm of the Bluejays and is currently the longest tenured coach in BIG EAST softball.

Below is a list of the current head coaches of the eight BIG EAST softball teams.

Team    Coach Yr As HC
Butler   Scott Hall   9th
Creighton   Brent Vigness   26th
DePaul   Tracie Adix-Zins   1st
Georgetown   Pat Conlan   14th
Providence   Jill Karwoski   1st
Seton Hall   Paige Smith   7th
St. John's   Bob Guerriero   1st
Villanova   Bridget Orchard   1st

Creighton's 2018 Marked Best BIG EAST Finish
Creighton's 12 league wins in 2018 were the most since joining the BIG EAST prior to the 2014 season.

The Bluejays second place finish also marked their highest placement since joining the league.

Creighton's best finish in the BIG EAST Conference prior to last season was fourth (10-10) in 2014.

The Jays' league winning percentage of .800 marked the best since 2008 (.875) when the team finished 21-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference.

One of Nations Most Improved Teams
Creighton was the eighth-most improved team in Division I softball from 2017 to 2018. The Bluejays went 18-32 in 2017 before going 28-15 a year ago.

School (coach) '17 W-L, '18 W-L *Games improved
South Dakota St. (Krista Wood) 19-35, 37-18, 17½
Austin Peay (Rodney DeLong) 17-31, 39-19, 17
Long Beach St. (Kim Sowder) 23-28, 43-14, 17
Drake (Rich Calvert) 28-27, 45-12, 16
Eastern Ky. (Jane Worthington) 27-31, 45-21, 14
Middle Tenn. (Jeff Breeden) 19-30, 39-22, 14
UNCG (Janelle Breneman) 29-24, 46-13, 14
Creighton (Brent Vigness) 18-32, 28-15, 13½
Towson (Lisa Costello) 23-27, 42-19, 13½
Arizona St. (Trisha Ford) 31-22, 48-13, 13
*To determine games improved, add the
difference in victories between the two seasons to the difference in losses, then divide by two. Ties not counted. This includes postseason play.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sam Alm

Victoria Alvarez

Valentina Bertrand

Logan Black

Hope Bonar

Ashley Cantu

Tash Coffiel

Kelli Finan

Jayci Foster

Kristin Fry

Kaitlynn Hunt

Sydney Jenkins

Mileah McKelvy

Nikki McNeil

Kiele Miller

Kiara Mills

Hope Moreno

Kate Mullally

Mikaela Pechar

Laura Roecker

Courtney Sandell

Jacey Sawyer

Kiahana Scott

Nicole Simonson

Kailey Wilson