Creighton University
Missouri State
Softball Returns To Lone Star State For North Texas Invitational
2/12/2020 2:15:00 PM | Softball
The Bluejays will play two games on both Friday and Saturday
Up Next
Creighton heads back to the Lone Star State for the North Texas Invitational in Denton, Texas. The Bluejays will play four games in two days.
Game Schedule
Game #1 • Friday, Feb. 14 • Creighton vs. Missouri State • 2 p.m.
Game #2 • Friday, Feb. 14 • Creighton at North Texas • 7 p.m.
Game #3 • Saturday, Feb. 15 • Creighton vs. UT Martin • 10 a.m.
Game #4 • Saturday, Feb. 15 • Creighton vs. Abilene Christian • 12:30 p.m.Â
*All times listed are Central Standard Time
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Follow The Games
Lives stats for each game will be available via StatBroadcast.
There will not be a video stream for 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.
Scouting Creighton (3-2)
Creighton started its season with a 3-2 showing at the H-E-B Classic in San Antonio.
The Bluejays posted only one hit in a season-opening 2-0 loss to Toledo before ending the weekend with 43 runs and 53 hits, including a 24-1 victory (18 hits) against the same Toledo squad.
Senior Ashley Cantu paced the offense with 12 hits, the most of any individual in Division I during the opening weekend, and scored five times.Â
Kiara Mills and Victoria Alvarez each scored six times, while Mileah McKelvy led the team with eight RBIs.
The Bluejay hit .363 as a team, including four games with more than 10 hits.Â
Kiele Miller led the team with 18 innings pitched and recorded 23 strikeouts while posting a 2.72 ERA.Â
Creighton ended the weekend with a 2.76 ERA as a team.Â
Head coach Brent Vigness, Creighton's winningest coach across all sports, is in his 27th season at the helm of the Bluejays.
Scouting Missouri State (1-4)
The Bears opened 2020 with a 1-4 showing at the NFCA Lead-off Classic in Clearwater, Florida.Â
Missouri State faced five schools from the Power Five Conferences and notched a 3-0 win against Baylor, while falling to Mississippi State, then-No. 8 Minnesota, NC State and Notre Dame.Â
Preseason All-MVC pitcher Steffany Dickerson made the All-Tournament team during the opening weekend in Clearwater after allowing only one earned run during 14.0 innings of work and tallying 18 strikeouts to four walks.Â
Offensively, Missouri State managed only 19 hits and five runs during five games. Daphne Plummer paced the squad with four hits, while Tess Weakly scored twice and posted a two-run homer against NC State.Â
The Bears were picked to finished fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason coaches' poll.
Head coach and Creighton graduate Holly Hesse is in her 32nd season at Missouri State.
Series History Against Bears
Creighton leads the all-time series against Missouri State, 49-31.Â
The two teams last met in 2013, Creighton's last year in the Missouri Valley Conference.
The Bluejays and Bears met annually from 1993-2013 as members of the MVC.
Scouting North Texas (4-1)
The Mean Green started their season with a 4-1 showing in Louisiana during the first weekend of the season.
North Texas posted wins against Prairie View A&M, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, then-No. 10 Louisiana and McNeese State.
Hope Trautwein, the 2020 Conference USA Preseason Pitcher of the Year, earned co-pitcher of the week from the league after allowing one earned run in 11.1 innings pitched. She held the opposition to a .128 batting average and recorded 14 strikeouts.Â
Lacy Gregory paced the Mean Green offense with five hits (.385 average) and four runs scored.
Tayla Evans led the team with three extra-base hits (two doubles, one home run), while Kourtney Williams  delivered a go-ahead pinch hit homer against Louisiana.Â
The Mean Green were picked as the preseason favorites in the Conference USA for the first time in program history.Â
Head coach Randy DeLong is in his second season at North Texas.Â
Series History Against Mean Green
The series between Creighton and North Texas is tied at 5-5.Â
The Mean Green defeated the Bluejays last season, 7-3, during the 2019 Mean Green Classic.
Scouting UT Martin (3-2)
The Skyhawks started 2020 with a 3-2 record at the Southeastern Louisiana Lion Classic with a pair of victories against Alabama State and one against Grambling State
Shyanne Sheffield led the offense with six hits, five RBIs and four runs scored. Lead-off hitter Paige Clark posted five hits, drove in four runs and stole four bases.Â
The UT Martin pitching staff recorded a 1.18 ERA and held the opposition to a .164 batting average.
Hannah Ridolfi did not allow an earned run during 10.1 innings of work (3 appearances), while Seeley Layne made four appearances, struck out 13 batters during 10.1 innings and allowed one earned run.
The Skyhawks were picked ninth in the OVC Preseason Poll.Â
Head coach Brian Dunn is in his first season at the helm of UT Martin.Â
Series History Against Skyhawks
Creighton leads the all-time series against UT Martin, 2-0.Â
The Bluejays earned a pair of one-run victories against UT Martin in 1996 during the Rebel Spring Games in Orlando.Â
Scouting Abilene Christian (1-3)
The Wildcats opened the new season with a 1-3 record at the Aggie Classic in College Station, Texas.Â
ACU split a pair of games against UT Arlington and lost twice to host Texas A&M.Â
Blair Clayton led the Wildcats' offensively with five hits, two home runs and six RBIs.
Abilene Christian hit .170 with 17 hits and 11 runs scored over four games.
The Wildcats posted a 5.60 ERA. Both Alivia Sinnott and Samantha Bradley each pitched 11.1 innings.Â
ACU was picked ninth in the Southland Conference Preseason Poll, while both Bradley and Linsey Tomlinson earned recognition on the preseason all-conference team.
Head coach Abigail Farler is in her first year as head coach of the Wildcats.
Series History Against Wildcats
Saturday will mark the first meeting between Creighton and Abilene Christian.
Bluejays Score All The Runs
Creighton scored 24 runs against Toledo to establish a new program single-game record for runs scored.
The Bluejays jumped out to a 20-0 lead with seven runs in the first inning and 13 in the second.Â
The previous program record for runs in a single game was 20 against College of Saint Mary on Feb. 9, 2000.Â
The NCAA record for runs scored in a Division I game is 48 by Canisius against Roberts Wesleyan on May 1, 1985.
Creighton Single-Game High for Runs
Rk Runs Opponent Date
1. 24 vs. Toledo 2/8/20
2. 20 vs. College of Saint Mary 2/9/00
3. 19 vs. Howard 3/4/12
4. 18 at Arkansas-Pine Bluff 2/11/12
18 vs. Saint Louis 2/20/09
18 at Nebraska Wesleyan 5/1/78
18 at Peru State 4/12/77
13-Run Second Inning
The Bluejays tallied 13 runs in the second inning against Toledo, the most since Creighton scored 13 runs in the bottom of the first inning on April 5, 2010 against North Dakota State.
Of the 13 runs scored, only six of the runs were driven in via a hit.Â
Three runs scored on base-loaded walks, two scored because of errors, and two others crossed home plate with infield ground outs.Â
Nationally Ranked Opening Weekend
In addition to their record-setting 24 runs against Toledo, Creighton scored 43 runs and produced 53 hits during the first five games of the season.
The Bluejays ranked 10th nationally with 8.60 runs per game through the opening weekend and posted a BIG EAST-best .363 batting average, good enough for 18th in Division I.Â
The last time the Bluejays score 40 or more runs in the first weekend of the season was in 2012 when Creighton had 54 during four games at Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
The previous high for runs scored in the first weekend of games since the Bluejays joined the BIG EAST (2014) was 34 in 2018.
Starting On The Right Foot
Creighton opened the season with a winning record during the opening weekend for the fourth time since joining the BIG EAST in 2014.
The three other years in which the Bluejays posted a winning record during the opening weekend were in 2014, 2015 and 2018.Â
Creighton qualified for the BIG EAST Tournament during both 2014 and 2018.
2020: 3-2 in San Antonio, Texas
2019: 1-4 in Las Cruces, N.M.
2018: 3-2 in Las Vegas, Nev.
2017: 1-4 in Tempe, Ariz.
2016: 1-4 in Tempe, Ariz.
2015: 3-2 in Tempe, Ariz.
2014: 3-2 in Tempe, Ariz.
Creighton failed to finish in the top four of the BIG EAST standings and missed the postseason each of the three years the team did not post a winning record during the opening weekend.
The last time Creighton opened the year with a perfect showing at a tournament was in 2007 when Creighton went 5-0 at the UCA Spring Clash in Conway, Arkansas.
This year marked the first time the Bluejays are in Texas for the opening weekend since 2004 when Creighton played six games at the UNT Betlin Round-Up in Denton.Â
Cantu Named BIG EAST Player of the Week
Senior outfielder Ashley Cantu collected a 12 hits, the most by any player in Division I softball during the opening weekend and earned the first BIG EAST Softball Player of the Week honor for 2020.
The Frisco, Texas native went 12-for-20 (.600 batting average) and scored five runs to help the Bluejays start the season with a 3-2 showing at the H-E-B Classic in San Antonio, Texas.Â
Cantu started the weekend by going 1-for-7 during a pair of games on Friday before closing the trip with 11 hits in 13 at-bats and five runs scored over the course of Creighton's final three games.
The senior went 5-for-5 with four RBIs, two doubles and two runs scored in the Bluejays' 24-1 victory over Toledo on Saturday. Her five hits marked a program-best for a single game lasting seven innings or shorter. Cantu also matched her career-highs for RBIs and doubles.
She ended the weekend by going 4-for-5 and scoring three times against Incarnate Word on Sunday. Cantu struck out but reached first base on a dropped third strike during her lone plate appearance without a hit.
