Creighton University
UMKC
Softball Back In Action This Weekend Against UMKC and SDSU In Kansas City
3/13/2019 12:30:00 PM | Softball
Bluejays have not played a game since Feb. 24
Up Next
Creighton heads to Kansas City this weekend for five games in three days against UMKC and South Dakota State.
The Bluejays were originally scheduled to host the Kangaroos and Jackrabbits for the Creighton Tournament but unplayable field conditions forced the relocation of the games.Â
Game ScheduleGames #14 & #15 • Friday, March 15 • Creighton at UMKC (DH) • 3 p.m.
Game #16 • Saturday, March 16 • Creighton vs. South Dakota State • 12 p.m.
Game #17 • Saturday, March 16 • Creighton at UMKC • 2:30 p.m.
Game #18 • Sunday, March 17 • Creighton vs. South Dakota State • 11 a.m.Â
*All times listed are Central Standard Time
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Follow The Games
Live stats will be available for each of the games.
Links to live stats can be found on the Creighton Softball schedule page.
Scoring updates and infographics will be provided throughout the weekend via Twitter at @BluejaySoftball.
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Scouting Creighton (6-7)
Friday's doubleheader will mark the Bluejays' first games since their 2-1 victory over Southern Illinois on Feb. 24 in Carbondale, Illinois. Creighton is 5-3 during its last eight games after starting the season with a 1-4 showing at the NM State Invitational. Â
Senior Kelli Finan paces the team with 11 RBIs and is tied for the team lead in runs scored (10), hits (12 [.316 batting average]), doubles (2), home runs (1) and stolen bases (2).Â
Finan and freshman Sam Alm are the only two Bluejays to start each of Creighton's first 13 games. Alm ranks second in RBIs with 10 while joining Finan for the team lead with 12 hits (.324 batting average) and two doubles.
Freshman Kiara Mills leads the team with four extra-base hits (two doubles, two triples).Â
Logan Black anchors the Creighton pitching staff with a 3.53 ERA in a team-high 35.2 innings of work. Black owns a 0.70 ERA with 16 strikeouts during her last three starts (all complete games).
Laura Roecker owns a team-best nine appearances in the circle, including six in relief, while Kiele Miller paces the team with 34 strikeouts in 22.1 innings. Â
Head coach Brent Vigness, Creighton's winningest coach across all sports, is in his 26th season at the helm of the Bluejays.
Scouting UMKC
The Kangaroos enter the weekend with a 15-7 record after a 2-2 performance at the Kansas Invitational this past weekend.Â
UMKC has already matched its win total from 2018 as the 'Roos went 15-41 a year ago.
Junior Sydney Garcia leads the team with a .400 batting average and has scored a UMKC-best 19 runs through the first 22 games.Â
Maegan Rollow leads the team with 11 extra-base hits, including four homers while Chyanne Onstad paces the squad with 17 RBIs.Â
The Kangaroos are hitting .295 as a team and scoring 5.77 runs per game (42nd in Division I). UMKC has stolen 51 bases (63 attempts) and ranks 11th nationally with 2.32 stolen bases per game. Faith Willis is a perfect 10-for-10 in swiping bags, while four other players have stolen at least seven bases.Â
Freshman Kailyn Packard claims a 1.57 ERA during 58 innings pitched to pace the Kangaroo pitching staff. Packard ranks 32nd nationally by allowing only 4.1 hits per seven innings (34 hits allowed) and owns four complete games, including two shutouts.
Packard, D.J. Cannon (LHP) and Mia Hoveland have each started seven contests in the circle for UMKC. All three pitchers are in each their first season with the Kangaroos. Â
Head coach Meredith Smith Neal is in her 13th season at UMKC.Â
Series History Against Kangaroos
The Jays and Roos have played a total of 49 games against each other, with Creighton holding a 47-2 edge in the series.Â
The Bluejays swept the Kangaroos during a doubleheader in Omaha last season. Thesecond game ended in a 13-12 result featuring a total of 10 home runs, including a program-high six by Creighton.
Scouting South Dakota State
The Jackrabbits are out to a 19-5 start to the 2019 campaign, including wins during nine out of 10 games in Florida from March 5-10. SDSU has yet to lose consecutive games this season and is 14-1 since Feb. 17.Â
South Dakota State leads the Summit League in nearly every statistical category and ranks in the top-40 nationally in batting average (.305), on-base percentage (.405), slugging percentage (.484), runs per game (6.33), fielding percentage (.974), doubles per game (1.63) and double plays per game (0.58).
Ali Herdliska anchors the offense with a .435 batting average, .557 on-base percentage and .797 slugging percentage. Herdliska leads the team in hits (30), home runs (6), RBIs (26) and walks (19). The senior first baseman has reached base during 23 out of 24 possible games this season, including 17 games to start the season and each of the last six.Â
Peyton Daugherty paces the Jackrabbits with 23 runs scored and six stolen bases. Â
In the circle, Summit League Pitcher of the Week Kendra Conrad owns a 1.38 ERA during 30.1 innings pitched.Â
Taylor Compton claims a team-best 15 appearances, including eight starts, and logged 56.2 innings and leads the pitching staff with 30 strikeouts.Â
SDSU's 2.96 team-ERA leads the Summit League.Â
Head coach Krista Wood is in her fifth year at the helm of the Jackrabbits.Â
Series History Against Jackrabbits
Creighton leads the all-time series against South Dakota State, 13-7-1.
The two teams last met on March 18, 2017 in Iowa City, Iowa at the Hawkeye Invitational. The Jackrabbits claimed a 4-3 extra-inning win during that meeting.
The Bluejays' last win against South Dakota State came during the first game of a doubleheader in Omaha during the 2016 season.Â
Weather Pushes Back Jays Home Opener
Creighton's first home series against Lamar (March 2-3) was canceled because of inclement weather.
Cold temperatures and snow caused the Bluejays to also cancel a home weekend series against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (March 8-9) and the relocate Creighton Tournament, which was scheduled for March 15-17.Â
In total, six home games have been officially canceled and five have been relocated.
Creighton's new home opener is scheduled for March 27 against South Dakota.Â
The Bluejays were also scheduled to travel to Chattanooga for the Frost Classic (Feb. 22-24) but heavy rain caused Creighton to pull out of the tournament and reschedule games to be played in Carbondale, Illinois.Â
To date, nine games on Creighton's original schedule have been canceled, seven have changed locations and two new games have been scheduled since Feb. 16.Â
Black Named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week
Logan Black claimed BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week honors on Feb. 25.
Black tossed two complete games during the Bluejays' trip to Carbondale, Illinois (Feb. 22-24) and did not allow an earned run during 13.0 innings of work.Â
The sophomore struck out a total of 14 batters, including a career-high 13 against Evansville on Feb. 24, the most by a Creighton pitcher since Micaela Whitney had 15 at Butler on April 24, 2016. She also held the opposition to a .184 batting average.Â
The weekly honor is Black's first of her collegiate career.Â
The right-hander anchored a Bluejay pitching staff that claimed a 1.21 ERA and struck out a total of 28 hitters during four games in Carbondale.Â
The Omaha, Nebraska native lowered her season ERA to a team-best 3.53 during 35.2 innings. She also paces the team with three complete games and ranks second in strikeouts with 28.Â
Black owns a 0.70 ERA with 16 strikeouts during her last three starts (all complete games).
Roecker In Relief
Senior Laura Roecker faced only 16 batters while not allowing a hit or run during 5.0 innings of relief in Carbondale, Illinois (Feb. 22-24).Â
She hit one batter but did not allow a hit or run and left three runners stranded in 2.0 frames while earning the victory against Saint Louis (Feb. 22).
The UNO transfer also walked one and struck out two while not allowing a hit or run during 3.0 innings against Southern Illinois (Feb. 24) to earn her first save as a Bluejay.
Roecker leads the Bluejays with nine appearances, including six in relief. She owns a 3.60 ERA during 11.2 innings of relief work and holds the opposition to a .162 batting average. The senior has not allowed a hit or run during four different relief opportunities, including her last three (5.2 innings).Â
