Creighton University
South Dakota
Softball Opens Home Slate With Wednesday Afternoon Matchup Against South Dakota
3/26/2019 1:45:00 PM | Softball
Bluejays latest home-opener since 2013
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Game #22 • Wednesday, March 27 • South Dakota (19-16) at Creighton (10-11) • 4 p.m.
Up Next
Creighton will host its home opener on Wednesday afternoon against South Dakota.
Follow The Game
A video broadcast with commentators will be available via JAYS Video (GoCreighton.com/Watch).Â
Live stats will be available for the game via StatBroadcast.com.
A link 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 (10-11)
The Bluejays open their home schedule after a 1-2 showing against Georgetown during the first weekend of BIG EAST play.Â
Creighton led 4-1 and lost by a single run during both setbacks against the Hoyas.
Ashley Cantu and Kiara Mills own identical .368 batting averages to lead the Bluejays through the first 21 games of the season.Â
Cantu also paces Creighton in runs (17), walks (17) and on-base percentage (.514). Her on-base percentage leads the BIG EAST and ranks 56th nationally.Â
Mills is the team-leader in home runs (3), triples (2) and slugging percentage (.763).
The Bluejays have five individuals with 10 or more RBIs, paced by Mills and Kelli Finan with 14 a piece.Â
Creighton owns a .264 team-batting average and averages 4.76 runs per game.Â
Logan Black leads the Creighton pitching staff with a 3.95 ERA (55.0 innings), while Kiele Miller ranks fifth (5th) in the BIG EAST with 61 strikeouts and 15th nationally with 10.1 strikeouts per seven innings. Miller leads the BIG EAST with a .213 batting average against.
Head coach Brent Vigness, Creighton's winningest coach across all sports, is in his 26th season at the helm of the Bluejays.
Scouting South Dakota (19-16)
The Coyotes head to Omaha after a 2-1 showing during their first Summit League series against Western Illinois.
Summit League Player of the Week Jamie Holscher paces South Dakota's offense and leads the conference in hits (42), home runs (9), RBIs (35) and slugging percentage (.736), while ranking second in batting average (.396).
Camille Fowler and Alyssa Fernandez each own 23 runs scored to lead the Coytoes, while Fowler has walked a team-best 13 times and Fernandez has struck out only twice in 100 at-bats.Â
South Dakota is hitting .287 as a team and averages 4.63 runs per game.Â
Eight players have started at least 30 of the first 35 games of the season, including four who have started all 35.Â
Dustie Durham claims a team-low 3.35 ERA during 77.1 innings pitched (20 appearances, 13 starts). Durham also ranks tied for second on the team with a .328 batting average and second in RBIs (21).
Alexis Devers paces the Coyotes with 93.1 innings of work (19 starts) and 50 strikeouts.Â
The Coyote pitching staff owns a 3.76 ERA.Â
Robert Wagner is in his third season as South Dakota's head coach.
Series History Against Coyotes
Creighton leads the all-time series against South Dakota, 15-7.
The Bluejays won a pair of games against the Coyotes last season, including a 10-2 victory at home.Â
Finally Playing At Home
Creighton's original home-opener was scheduled for March 2 against Lamar but winter weather in the Omaha area forced the cancellation of the entire series.Â
The Bluejays also canceled their home series against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (March 8-9) and were forced to relocate their home tournament to Kansas City (March 15-17).Â
In total, 11 home games from the original schedule have been either canceled or relocated.
Wednesday's game will be Creighton's latest home-opener since 2013 when the Bluejays' first home game took place on March 29 against Northern Iowa.Â
Home-Opener History
Creighton is 8-2 during its last 10 home-openers, and 15-10 overall under Brent Vigness.Â
In program history, the Bluejays are 29-13 in home-opening games.
Last season, the Buejays defeated Southeast Missouri 6-3 during the 2018 home-opener.
Creighton had a total of 22 home games on its original scheduled, but 11 games have been canceled or relocated because of inclement weather.Â
The Bluejays played 19 home games during the 2018 season and went 13-6 during those contests.Â
Mills Earns BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll Spot
Freshman Kiara Mills earned a spot on this week's BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after opening conference play with a .556 average, three home runs and seven RBIs.Â
She also walked three times and scored four runs.
Mills became the first Creighton freshman with multiple homers in a BIG EAST game since 2017 (Sam Dellinger on April 23 vs. Butler) and the first Bluejay freshman since 2012 with three runs scored in a conference game (Bri Lingl vs. Indiana State).
The West Covina, California native capped her weekend against Georgetown by driving in all four of Creighton's runs with a single and three-run home run.
Creighton Puts Up 12 Runs In One Inning
The Bluejays scored 12 runs in the top of the sixth inning during their conference opener against Georgetown (March 23) for the most runs in a single inning by a Creighton team since the Bluejays' tallied 13 runs in the bottom of the first inning against North Dakota State on April 5, 2010.Â
Creighton recorded 11 runs in the bottom of the third inning against Villanova last season (May 5, 2018), which was the most in a single inning by the Bluejays since joining the BIG EAST, prior to Saturday.Â
Bluejays Blast Three Consecutive Homers
Jayci Foster, Mileah McKelvy and Kiara Mills hit consecutive home runs to end Creighton's 12-run sixth inning against Georgetown on Saturday.Â
The Bluejays' hit three consecutive home runs for the first time since March 22, 2014 (also in the top of the 6th) against Butler.
Foster started the homer parade with her first career grand slam before McKelvy and Mills each hit solo shots.Â
Jays Ended 2018 Regular-Season With 7 In Omaha
Creighton concluded the 2018 regular-season with a stretch of seven consecutive games in Omaha.
The Bluejays went 5-2 during those seven games, including 5-1 in BIG EAST play.
Creighton finished the season 13-6 at home.Â
Creighton's 13 wins (13-6) in Omaha during 2018 marked the most for the Bluejays since joining the BIG EAST. The program record for wins in a single-season at home is 24 (24-4 in 1989).
CU Sports Complex Turns Into Launching Pad
A total of 47 home runs were hit during 19 Creighton games played at the Creighton Sports Complex in 2018, which is the most during the past 10 seasons. The Bluejays hit 25, while opponents had 22.
Creighton hit a program-record six home runs against UMKC at home on April 17, and the two teams combined for 10 homers.
During the past 10 seasons, the most home runs Creighton has hit during a single season at home is 26 (2010).
During the 2015 season, 41 home runs were hit during the span of 13 games, but 25 of those were hit by the opposition, which is the most during the past 10 seasons.Â
Here's a look at the home runs totals at the CU Sports Complex during the past 10 years:
HRs (CU HRs) Number of Games Year
47 (25) 19, 2018
29 (13) 12, 2017
26 (9) 15, 2016
41 (16) 13, 2015
29 (17) 15, 2014
20 (13) 14, 2013
34 (20) 16, 2012
26 (12) 14, 2011
42 (26) 19, 2010
26 (19) 18, 2009
By comparison, the Bluejays hit only 12 home runs and allowed 15 during 24 games away from the Creighton Sports Complex.
Creighton's 37 home runs last season were the most since the team hit 42 in 2014. The program record for home runs in a season is 66, which was set during 2010. The Bluejays have hit more than 30 home runs 13 different times in program history (each time since 2001).
RPI Update
Creighton is ranked No. 187 in the latest RPI, released by the NCAA on Monday (297 Division I schools ranked).
The Bluejays own the sixth-best RPI among BIG EAST teams.
BIG EAST Teams in Division I RPI
115. DePaul
121. St. John's
143. Providence
150. Villanova
184. Seton Hall
187. Creighton
224. Georgetown
229. Butler
