Creighton University
South Dakota
Softball Seeks Second Win In As Many Weeks Against South Dakota
4/2/2019 2:30:00 PM | Softball
Bluejays opened their home schedule with an 11-5 win against the Coyotes on March 27
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Game #26 • Wednesday, April 3 • Creighton (11-14) at South Dakota (22-17) • 3 p.m.
Up Next
Creighton heads to South Dakota to face the Coyotes a week after the Bluejays opened their home schedule with an 11-5 victory against USD.
Follow The Game
A live stream for Wednesday's game will be available via GoYotes.com/Watch.
Live stats will be available for the game via SIDEARM Sports.Â
Links to video and 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 (11-14)
The Bluejays opened their home schedule with a victory against South Dakota last Wednesday, but lost three times during a BIG EAST series on Saturday and Sunday at Providence.
The Bluejays lost in walk-off fashion during both games of a doubleheader on Saturday and by a single run on Sunday.
Freshman Kiara Mills lead Creighton and ranks eighth in the BIG EAST with a .346 batting average and third in the league with a .769 slugging percentage. Mills also paces the Bluejays in home runs (5) and RBIs (19).Â
Lead-off hitter and center fielder Ashley Cantu ranks 10th in the BIG EAST with a .342 batting average and is third in on-base percentage (.478). The junior paces the Bluejays in hits (25), runs scored (18) and walks (19). Cantu has reached base in 13 straight games entering Wednesday.
Creighton owns a .264 team-batting average and averages 4.80 runs per game. The Bluejays have scored 10 or more runs during five games this season.
Logan Black leads the Creighton pitching staff with a 3.68 ERA (70.1 innings), while Kiele Miller ranks seventh in the BIG EAST with 61 strikeouts and 14th nationally with 10.1 strikeouts per seven innings. Miller also 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 (22-17)
The Coyotes enter Wednesday's game after sweeping Purdue Fort Wayne without allowing a run. South Dakota scored 23 runs, posted three shutouts and improved to 5-1 in Summit League action.
Jamie Holscher leads the Summit League in hits (47), home runs (10) and RBIs (38). The Lincoln, Nebraska native finished 2-for-3 with a first-inning solo home run against Creighton last week during the Bluejays' home-opener.Â
Shortstop Lauren Eamiguel went 1-for-4 against the Bluejays before reaching base during each of her nine plate appearances against Purdue Fort Wayne (five hits, four walks). Eamiguel earned this week's Summit League Player of the Week honors.Â
Alexis Devers earned Summit League Pitcher of the Week honors after posting two complete-game shutouts against the Mastodons. Devers did not pitch against Creighton last Wednesday.Â
Series History Against Coyotes
Creighton leads the all-time series against South Dakota, 16-7.
The Bluejays have won three consecutive games against the Coyotes, including an 11-5 victory in Omaha last week. Â
Wilson Claims Spot on BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Freshman Kailey Wilson earned a spot on this week's BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll.
Wilson connected on a pinch-hit home run to tie the game against Providence and force extra innings in the first game of the series, and hit a triple in the second game for her first two career extra-base hits.Â
The freshman ended the week with a batting average of .500 (4-for-8) and a slugging percentage of 1.125.
Bluejays vs. Coyotes Part II
Wednesday marks the second time Creighton and South Dakota will meet within an eight-day span.
The Bluejays tied a program record with six home runs to down the Coyotes, 11-6, during Creighton's home-opener on March 27 at the Creighton Sports Complex.
In addition to tying a program record for homers, the Bluejays countered each time South Dakota scored during an inning.Â
The Coyotes scored a single run in the first, third, fifth, sixth and seventh innings, while the Bluejays scored multiple runs during each of those innings, with the exception of the seventh.
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 Wednesday against the Coyotes, Ashley Cantu tallied an inside-the-park homer and Mileah McKelvy, Kelli Finan and Mikaela Pechar each launched one.
Recent Power Surge
Creighton hit only four home runs during the first 18 games of the season, but the Bluejay have hit 15 homers during their past seven games, including six last Wednesday against South Dakota during Creighton's home-opener.Â
Kiara Mills leads the Bluejays with five home runs. All five of her homers have occurred during the past two weeks, including two at home against South Dakota and two in the conference opener against Georgetown (March 23).Â
Mileah McKelvy has four homers and Kelli Finan has three, while Ashley Cantu has two inside-the-park home runs.Â
Roecker In Relief
Senior Laura Roecker leads the Bluejays with 14 appearances, including 10 in relief. She owns a 2.88 ERA during 24.1 innings of relief work and holds the opposition to a .200 batting average. Roecker has not allowed a hit or run during five different relief opportunities.Â
The senior pitched 7.1 innings of relief during Creighton's extra-inning loss against Providence on Saturday. 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.
One-Run Games Becoming More Common
Since March 17, Creighton has played five one-run games, including four during BIG EAST play. The Bluejays are 1-4 during those contests with all four losses coming in league games.
Creighton is 3-5 overall during one-run games this season, but 0-4 during one-run BIG EAST contests.Â
The Bluejays' last one-run victory came on March 17, 1-0 against South Dakota State.Â
