Creighton University
Seton Hall
Softball Seeks Postseason Spot With Final Home Series Against Seton Hall
5/2/2019 3:35:00 PM | Softball
Bluejays will recognize their seniors between games of Saturday's doubleheader
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Creighton hosts Seton Hall for the final weekend of the regular season as both the Bluejays and Pirates are fighting for a spot in the BIG EAST tournament.Â
Creighton will recognize its five seniors between games of Saturday's doubleheader.
Game ScheduleÂ
Games #42 • Saturday, May 4 • Seton Hall (22-23, 8-8 BIG EAST) at Creighton (19-22, 7-11 BIG EAST) • 12 p.m. (DH)
Game #43 & 44 • Sunday, May 5 • Seton Hall at Creighton • 11 a.m.Â
*All times listed are Central Standard Time
Follow The Games
A video stream for Saturday's doubleheader will be available via GoCreighton.com/Watch.
Sunday's contest will be broadcast on the BIG EAST Digital Network which can be found on Caffeine TV and Twitter Live.
Live stats will be available for the game via StatBroadcast.
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 (19-22, 7-11 BIG EAST)
The Bluejays head into the final weekend of the regular season with hopes of qualifying for the BIG EAST Championship field.
Creighton needs to sweep Seton Hall AND Villanova or Providence must end the weekend without a win and at least two losses.Â
The Bluejays are 6-3 during their last nine BIG EAST games after starting the year 1-8 with six losses by one or two runs.
Freshman Kiara Mills leads the team in batting average (.359), triples (2), home runs (9), RBI (28) and slugging percentage (.699). Mills is hitting .310 with four homers and 11 RBIs during BIG EAST play.
Lead-off hitter and center fielder Ashley Cantu holds a .355 batting average (8th in BIG EAST) and leads the team with a .470 on-base percentage (4th in BIG EAST). The junior paces the Bluejays in hits (44 -- 9th in BIG EAST), runs (26) and walks (27 -- 2nd in BIG EAST).Â
Cantu is hitting .364Â with 20 hits and 16 walks during 18 BIG EAST games.
Mileah McKelvy ranks second on the Bluejays in home runs (6) and RBIs (26) while hitting .323. She has also been hit by the pitch a nine times and claims a .446 on-base percentage, which is tied for second-best on the team.Â
McKelvy is tied for the team-lead in homers during league play with Mills and Kailey Wilson with four and leads the team with 13 RBIs in BIG EAST action.
Kaitlynn Hunt leads the BIG EAST with 12 sacrifice bunts, while Jayci Foster and Sam Alm each have 10. Hunt ranks fourth nationally with 0.31 sacrifice bunt per game.
Creighton owns a .278 team-batting average and averages 4.83 runs per game. The Bluejays are hitting .283 with 89 runs during 18 league contests.
Logan Black paces the Bluejay pitching staff with 95.1 innings pitched (21 appearances, 16 starts) and owns a 3.67 ERA with 78 strikeouts.
Laura Roecker leads Creighton with 25 appearances, including 14 times in relief (91.1 innings pitched), and is the team-leader with a 3.22 ERA, including a 1.52 mark during league play.Â
Kiele Miller ranks 25th nationally with 9.1 strikeouts per seven innings (88 in 68.0 innings) and is 7-5 with three shutouts during 15 appearances, including 13 starts (4.32 ERA).Â
The Creighton pitching staff claims a 3.80 ERA with 219 strikeouts and holds the opposition to a .249 batting average. The Bluejays claim a 3.35 ERA and 90 strikeouts during 119.0 innings of conference play.
Head coach Brent Vigness, Creighton's winningest coach across all sports, is in his 26th season at the helm of the Bluejays.
Scouting Seton Hall (22-23, 8-8 BIG EAST)
The Pirates enter the final weekend of the regular season in fifth place at 8-8 in league play with wins during four of their last six BIG EAST games.
Seton Hall qualifies for the conference tournament with more wins this weekend than Providence OR Villanova.
Janae Barracato and Hailey Arteaga provide a one-two punch at the top of the Pirate lineup.Â
Barracato is hitting .472 during league play with 25 hits, including nine doubles, one triple and one home run, while driving in a team-best 17 runs. Overall, the sophomore lead-off hitter holds a .333 batting average with 20 doubles, two home runs, 29 RBIs and 34 runs scored.
Arteaga holds a .404 average overall, including a .411 mark in BIG EAST games. The junior outfielder claims 17 doubles, six home runs and 37 RBIs.
Baylee Allender leads the Pirates with nine home runs, including a league-best six during conferece action. She is also hitting .352 in league play with 11 runs scored.
Allender is the sister of Creighton softball alums Kelsey Allender (2013-16) and Teir (Wilbur) Allender (1990-92).Â
Reganne Camp leads the Seton Hall pitching staff with 115 strikeouts during 118.2 innings of work. Her 4.13 ERA leads the team. Madison Strunk and Chrisa Head have combined for 82 strikeouts and 111.1 innings pitched.
The Pirates hold a 4.29 team ERA overall and 3.82 ERA in BIG EAST play.Â
Paige Smith is in her seventh season at the helm of Seton Hall.
Series History Against Pirates
Creighton leads the all-time series against Seton Hall, 9-5.
The Bluejays have won seven consecutive games against the Pirates, including three in Omaha during the 2017 season.Â
Seton Hall's last win against Creighton came on April 2, 2016 in South Orange, New Jersey.
Bluejays' Second Half Surge
Creighton started the BIG EAST season with only one win in its first nine games (1-8) but is 6-3 during its last nine league games with series wins in each of the last three weekends.
The Bluejays won two out of three games each of the past three weekends against Villanova, Butler and DePaul to move their overall BIG EAST record to 7-11.Â
Creighton sits in sixth place in the league standings heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
BIG EAST Tournament Within Reach
Thanks to a 6-3 record during the last three weekends, Creighton enters the final weekend of the regular season with a chance to qualify for the BIG EAST Championship, which is slated for May 10 and 11 in Rosemont, Illinois.
The top four teams in the final standings, based on winning percentage, will qualify for the postseason conference tournament.
The Bluejays need to sweep Seton Hall AND Villanova or Providence must finish 0-2 or 0-3.
In other words, Creighton is eliminated from postseason play with a loss OR a single win by both Villanova AND Providence.Â
Villanova hosts DePaul for a three-game set, while Providence travels to Washington, D.C. to play three games against Georgetown.Â
Senior Day Saturday
Creighton will recognize its five senior student-athletes -- Valentina Bertrand, Kelli Finan, Jayci Foster, Nikki McNeil and Laura Roecker --Â and senior manager, Giana Devito, between games of Saturday's doubleheader.
Bertrand is finishing her fourth season as a Bluejay, Foster is completing her third, Finan and McNeil are wrapping up their second years in Omaha and Roecker is in her first season at Creighton. Devito worked with the Creighton softball program for four years.
Home Sweep Home
Creighton must sweep Seton Hall to keep its postseason hopes alive.
The Bluejays have yet to finish a weekend unblemished this season.
Creighton's last three-game sweep occurred during the final weekend of the 2018 regular season as the Bluejays took three games from Villanova in Omaha and outscored the Wildcats 29-5.
The Bluejays swept the Pirates last season in South Orange (April 21-22, 2018) and outscored Seton Hall 19-9.
Creighton's Close Contests
Creighton has played 18 games decided by two or fewer runs, including 11 BIG EAST contests.
The Bluejays' last five games have been decided by two or fewer runs (two wins).
Creighton is 6-12 overall (3-8 in BIG EAST play) during games decided by two runs or less this season.Â
The Bluejays picked up a pair of wins by two runs this past weekend against DePaul, but also lost one game by a single run.
Small-Ball Bluejays
Creighton owns 45 sacrifice bunts through 41 games, which leads the BIG EAST.Â
Kaitlynn Hunt paces the Bluejays with 12, while Jayci Foster and Sam Alm each have 10. Â
Hunt ranks fourth nationally with 0.31 sacrifice bunts per game.
Last season, Creighton led the BIG EAST with 49 sacrifice bunts, while the Bluejays' Sam Crowley led Division I with 0.41 sac bunts per game. Â
Wilson Named To BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Kailey Wilson earned a spot on this week's BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll, the league announced on Monday.Â
Wilson led the Bluejays with a 1.091 slugging percentage behind the power of two home runs and one double during three games against DePaul. She also paced the team with five RBIs and went 2-for-4 during each of the final two games of the weekend.Â
The freshman leads Creighton with a .394 batting average during league play (13 hits), as well as slugging percentage (.848) in conference action with four homers, one double and one triple.
Recent Power Surge
Creighton hit only four home runs during the first 18 games of the season, but the Bluejays have launched 31 homers during their past 23 games, including 18 during 18 BIG EAST games.Â
Kiara Mills leads the team with nine, while Mileah McKelvy has six.
Kailey Wilson owns five and 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 and two of Wilson's have been during pinch-hit ABs.
Mills, McKevly and Wilson each have four round-trippers during league play to pace the Bluejays.
CU Sports Complex Turns Into Launching Pad
Creighton and South Dakota combined for seven home runs during the Bluejays' home-opener on March 27, St. John's and Creighton combined for nine homers during a three-game series in Omaha (April 6-7) and the Bluejays hit four homers against Nebraska on April 9 at the Creighton Sports Complex.
The Bluejays own 11 home runs through eight games played at home, compared to only 24 during 33 contests played away from Omaha.
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
Below is a list of the home run totals at the CU Sports Complex during the past 10 years:
HRs (CU HRs) Number of Games Year
21 (11) 8 2019
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
Creighton hit 37 home runs overall last season, 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).
