Creighton University
Nebraska-Omaha
Softball Squares Off Against Crosstown Foe UNO On Tuesday Afternoon
4/15/2019 5:15:00 PM | Softball
Bluejays and Mavericks were originally scheduled to play on March 20
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Creighton heads towards central Omaha to Westside Field at Westbrook on Tuesday afternoon for a crosstown matchup against Nebraska-Omaha. The game was originally scheduled for March 20.
Game Schedule
Game #33 • Tuesday, April 16 • Creighton (14-18) at Nebraska-Omaha (4-35) • 4 p.m.
*Game played at Westside Field at Westbrook
Follow The Games
Live stats will be available for the game via SIDEARM Sports.
Links to the live stats and video can be found on the Creighton Softball schedule page.
Scoring updates and infographics will be provided via Twitter at @BluejaySoftball.
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Scouting Creighton (14-18)
The Bluejays enter the week with wins in three out of their last four games, including a BIG EAST series victory at Villanova and midweek win against Nebraska.
Lead-off hitter and center fielder Ashley Cantu leads the Bluejays with a .371 batting average and .483 on-base percentage. The junior paces the Bluejays in hits (36) and walks (21). She also is tied for the team-lead with 21 runs scored. Cantu has reached base in 20 straight games and is on a Bluejay season-best 12-game hitting streak.Â
Kiara Mills and Mileah McKelvy each lead the Bluejays with six home runs and 21 RBIs, while MIlls paces Creighton with a .676 slugging percentage (three doubles, two triples, six homers).Â
Kelli Finan is tied with Cantu for the team-lead in runs scored (21) and is hitting .301 with four homers and 20 RBIs.
Creighton owns a .273 team-batting average and averages 5.03 runs per game.Â
Logan Black paces the Bluejay pitching staff with 81.0 innings pitched (17 appearances, 13 starts) and owns a 3.89 ERA with a team-high 65 strikeouts.Â
Laura Roecker leads Creighton with 20 appearances, including 11 times in relief (70.0 innings pitched), and is the team-leader with a 3.20 ERA, including a 0.98 mark during her last four starts.Â
Kiele Miller ranks 11th nationally with 9.8 strikeouts per seven innings (62 in 44.1 innings).
The Creighton pitching staff claims a 4.01 ERA with 167 strikeouts and holds the opposition to a .246 batting average.Â
Head coach Brent Vigness, Creighton's winningest coach across all sports, is in his 26th season at the helm of the Bluejays.
Scouting Nebraska-Omaha (4-35)
The Mavericks enter the week following a 1-2 showing during a Summit League series at Purdue Fort Wayne.
UNO owns only four victories overall during 2019, including two during league play.
Emma Dargy leads the Mavericks offensively with a .275 batting average, .417 on-base percentage and .441 slugging mark. She is tied with Alexa Sedlak and Jamie White for the team lead with three home runs. Sedlak leads UNO with 15 runs scored, while Janae Cameron paces the squad with 15 RBIs.
The Mavericks are hitting just .217 as a team and average 2.42 runs per game.Â
Sydney Hampton leads the team with 29 appearances in the circle, including 17 starts, while Ryanne Millington owns a team-high 94.0 innings pitched (27 appearances, 12 starts). The pitching staff claims a 6.31 ERA.Â
Amanda Eberhart is in her first season as UNO's head coach.Â
Series History Against Mavericks
Creighton leads the all-time series against UNO, 27-9, which dates back to 1977.Â
The Mavericks earned an 8-5 victory against the Bluejays last season at the Creighton Sports Complex.
Tuesday will be Creighton's first road game against UNO since 1985.
The last 14 games between the two schools have been hosted by Creighton. Last season's game marked the first between the Bluejays and Mavericks since 1995.Â
Creighton Seeks Sweep of UNO and Nebraska
The Bluejays defeated Nebraska 9-1 in five innings last week in Omaha.Â
A win against UNO on Tuesday would mark the first season since 1995 in which Creighton defeated both the Cornhuskers and Mavericks during the same season.Â
Bluejays Snap Losing Skids
Creighton snapped a six-game losing streak (all BIG EAST games) with a 9-1 five-inning win against in-state rival Nebraska on April 9. The victory marked the Bluejays' first against the Cornhuskers since 2012.Â
Creighton blasted four home runs, including three during the first inning and scored nine unanswered runs.Â
Senior Laura Roecker needed only 73 pitches for the complete-game victory.Â
The Bluejays also snapped a nine-game BIG EAST losing streak by winning the final two games of this past weekend's series against Villanova. The Bluejays outscored the Wildcats 16-2 during the pair of victories.Â
Roecker Makes BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Senior Laura Roecker earned a spot on this week's BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll. She did not allow an earned run during 12.0 innings of work for a pair of complete-game victories against Villanova this past weekend and allowed only one during 5.0 innings against Nebraska (April 9).
Roecker, a transfer from UNO, is 3-1 with a 0.98 ERA during her last four starts. She has allowed five runs (three earned), struck out 12, walked four and held the opposition to a .205 batting average over 21.1 innings in those starts.
During her first five starts of the season, Roecker posted a 2-3 record with a 5.49 ERA. The senior recorded 21.2 innings during those five starts and allowed 29 runs (17 earned) and a .306 opponents' average, while posting 15 strikeouts and 14 walks.Â
Overall, Roecker leads the Bluejays with a 3.20 ERA and seven victories (7-8) during a team-high 20 appearances (nine starts). In BIG EAST play, Roecker owns a 1.21 ERA during 34.2 innings of work (eight appearances, four starts).
Roecker In Relief
In addition to her late surge as a starter, Laura Roecker leads Creighton with 11 relief appearances. She owns a 3.11 ERA during 27.0 innings of relief work and holds the opposition to a .208 batting average.Â
The senior pitched 7.1 innings of relief during Creighton's extra-inning loss against Providence on March 30. She posted five consecutive scoreless innings before the Friars tallied the winning run during the 12th inning.Â
Roecker faced only 16 batters while not allowing a hit or run during 5.0 innings of relief during Creighton's trip to 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.
Creighton's Close Contests
Since March 17, Creighton has played eight games decided by two or less runs including seven during BIG EAST play. The Bluejays are 1-7 during those contests with all seven losses coming in league games.
Creighton is 3-9 overall (0-7 in BIG EAST play) during games decided by two runs or less this season.Â
The Bluejays' last victory during a game decided by two runs or less came on March 17, a 1-0 win against South Dakota State.Â
Recent Power Surge
Creighton hit only four home runs during the first 18 games of the season, but the Bluejays have launched 24 homers during their past 14 games, including 14 during 12 BIG EAST games.Â
Kiara Mills and Mileah McKelvy each lead Creighton with six home runs.
Kelli Finan has four, while Mikaela Pechar and Ashley Cantu each have three. Two of Cantu's round-trippers have been inside-the-park home runs.Â
Creighton Ties Program Record For Homers
The Bluejays hit six home runs on March 27 against South Dakota to tie a program record.Â
Creighton set its single-game record for homers in a game with six last season against UMKC (April 17).
Kiara Mills hit two long balls on against the Coyotes, Ashley Cantu tallied an inside-the-park homer and Mileah McKelvy, Kelli Finan and Mikaela Pechar each launched one.
McKelvy Moves Into Top 10 on HBP List
Junior Mileah McKelvy earned a pair of free passes being hit by the pitch this past weekend against Villanova and now has been hit nine times this season to lead the Bluejays, which is tied for sixth-most in a single season at Creighton.Â
McKelvy currently ranks eighth on Creighton's career record list for times hit by pitch with 17.Â
The junior was hit by the pitch three times in Kansas City (March 15-17) including twice with the bases loaded.
Creighton Career Hit By Pitch List
1. Jen Daro, 39 (2014-17)
2. Michelle Graner, 34 (2007-10)
3. Alexis Cantu, 29 (2012-14)
4. Michelle Koch, 25 (2007-10)
Lauren Cisneros, 25 (2003-06)
6. Sami Herbster, 21 (2000-03)
7. Liz McKewon, 18 (2008-11)
8. Mileah McKelvy, 17 (2016-Present)
9. Renae Sinkler-O'Gorman, 16 (2007-10)
10. Tash Coffiel, 13 (2015-18)Â
