Softball Heads To Carbondale For Coach B Classic

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Creighton heads to Carbondale, Illinois for the Coach B Classic. The Bluejays are scheduled to play four games in three days.

Game Schedule
Game #1 • Friday, Feb. 28 • Creighton vs. Purdue Fort Wayne • 12:15 p.m.
Game #2 • Saturday, Feb. 29 • Creighton at Southern Illinois • 2:30 p.m.
Game #3 • Saturday, Feb. 29 • Creighton vs. Murray State • 4:45 p.m.
Game #4 • Sunday, March 1 • Creighton vs. Northern Kentucky • 10:00 a.m.
*All times listed are Central Standard Time

Follow The Games
Live stats for three of the games will be available via StatBroadcast, while the contest between Creighton and Southern Illinois will have live stats via SIDEARM Sports.

The game between the Bluejays and Salukis (Saturday, 2:30 pm) will be broadcasted on ESPN3.

Links to live stats and video 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 (7-5)
The Bluejays went 2-1 last weekend at the Tiger Classic in Nashville.

Creighton posted victories against Rider and Central Connecticut State before falling to Bowling Green.

Ashley Cantu leads the Bluejays and the BIG EAST with a .500 batting average. Cantu also paces the team with 16 hits. Kiara Mills paces the team with a .618 slugging percentage, including a team-best five doubles. Mills is also tied for the team lead with nine runs scored.

Five different players have hit a home run, while Mileah McKelvy paces the team with 14 RBIs.

Creighton leads the BIG EAST with a .308 team-batting average and 5.75 runs per game.

Kiele Miller leads the conference with 56 strikeouts in 42 innings pitched. Miller owns a 1.83 ERA and is holding opponents to a .230 batting average.

Mikayla Santa Cruz holds a 3.86 ERA during 29 innings of work with 22 strikeouts.

Both Miller and Santa Cruz have appeared in eight games, with each starting five times.

The Bluejays rank second in the conference with a 2.67 team-ERA.

Head coach Brent Vigness, Creighton's winningest coach across all sports, is in his 27th season at the helm of the Bluejays.

Scouting Purdue Fort Wayne (1-10)
The Mastodons enter the weekend on a five-game losing streak.

Purdue Fort Wayne's lone victory came against Southern Miss (7-5) on Feb. 15 at the Troy Invitational.

Madeline Swart leads the offense with a .351 average and a team-leading 13 hits.

Morganne Denny owns a team-best 10 RBIs, while Olivia Stansbury paces the squad with three homers.

The Mastodons are hitting .226 as a team and averaging just over three runs per game.

Lauren McConnell leads the pitching staff with 28.1 innings pitched. McConnell owns a 4.94 ERA. The staff holds a 6.90 team ERA.

Shaina Eyre has pitched 17.1 innings with a 4.44 ERA.

Purdue Fort Wayne has allowed 20 stolen bases through 11 games.

Germaine Fairchild is in her sixth season as the Mastodons' head coach.

Series History Against Mastodons
Creighton leads the all-time series against Purdue Fort Wayne, 2-0.

The Bluejays and Mastodons last met at the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimmee, Florida in 2006 and Creighton earned a 5-1 win.

Scouting Murray State (9-4)
The Racers finished last weekend 2-2 at the Stinger Classic in Montgomery, Alabama.

Sierra Gilmore leads Murray State offensively. Gilmore paces the team in average (.395), hits (15), runs (9), doubles (4), home runs (4) and RBIs (17).

Logan Braundmeier is not far behind with a .368 batting average (14 hits) and eight runs scored, while Lexi Jones is hitting .333 with four home runs and 13 RBIs.

Four different players have stolen four bases as the team owns 21 steals.

The Racers own a 2.36 ERA as a team, with Hannah James leading the team with 33 2/3 innings and 24 strikeouts. Jenna Veber owns a 2.83 ERA in 23 innings of work.

Head coach Kara Amundson is in her eighth season at the helm of Murray State.

Series History Against Racers
Creighton and Murray State have not met prior to this weekend.

Scouting Southern Illinois (6-6)
The Salukis started the year with five straight losses, including setbacks against South Carolina, Ohio State and Purdue. SIU responded with six consecutive wins before falling to UMass Lowell by a single run on Sunday.

Susie Baranski leads the team with 13 hits and a .419 average, while Kyleigh Decker paces the Salukis with two home runs and 10 RBIs.

SIU is hitting .196 as a team with 20 extra-base hits.

Two freshmen have logged a combined 68 innings in the circle for the Salukis. Sarah Harness has tossed 45 2/3 innings and has 43 strikeouts to only 10 walks with a 3.07 ERA. Carlee Jo Clark owns 22.1 innings and a 4.07 ERA.

SIU holds a 4.15 team ERA and opponents have hit .320.

Kerri Blaylock is in her 21st season as the head coach of Southern Illinois.

Series History Against Salukis
Creighton leads the all-time series against Southern Illinois, 36-26.

The Bluejays and Salukis split a pair of matchups last season in Carbondale. SIU posted a 1-0 win before Creighton won 2-1.

Scouting Northern Kentucky (4-5)
The Norse head to Illinois after a 1-4 showing last weekend at the Gardner-Webb Invitational in North Carolina.

Four players are hitting better than .300, led by Hailey Whitmer (.385).

Josie Frazier leads the team with 11 hits, posting at least one during each game.

Taylor Ginther paces the pitching staff with a 2.43 ERA during 23 innings of work, including two complete games. Ashlyn Zuberer has pitched 19 2/3 innings (3.56 ERA), while Caitlin Karo owns 11 innings from two starts (3.18 ERA).

Head coach Kathryn Gleason is in her fifth year at the helm of Northern Kentucky.

Series History Against Norse
Sunday will be the first meeting between Creighton and Northern Kentucky.

Alm and McKelvy Make All-Classic Team
Sam Alm and Mileah McKelvy each earned spots on the Tiger Classic All-Tournament Team.

Alm led the Bluejays with four sacrifice hits and posted a .429 batting average with three hits. She also scored twice, drove in two and stole a base.

McKelvy led the Bluejays with five hits (.556 average) and six RBIs.

The senior went 2-for-2 with three RBIs, a walk and sacrifice fly against Rider on Saturday before going 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a pair of doubles.

McKelvy and Miller Nab Spots on Honor Roll
Mileah McKelvy and Kiele Miller each made the BIG EAST weekly honor roll, the league announced on Monday.

McKelvy ended the Tiger Classic with a .556 batting average (5-for-9) with six RBIs, a walk and a sacrifice fly.

Miller posted a career-high 14 strikeouts during a complete-game effort against Central Connecticut State on Sunday.

Miller's 14 strikeouts were the most by a Creighton pitcher since Micaela Whitney had 15 against Butler during 8 2/3 innings of work on April 24, 2016, and the most in just seven innings of work since Amanda Hess had 15 against Central Arkansas on Feb. 17, 2007.

The Creighton record for strikeouts in a game is 19 by Tammy Nielsen in 9 innings of work against Southern Illinois (March 29, 2003).

Abby Johnson owns the program record for strikeouts in a seven inning game with 17 against UMKC on March 30, 2005.

Miller Closing In On 300 Career Strikeouts
Kiele Miller recorded 14 strikeouts during a complete game effort on Saturday to move into seventh on Creighton's career strikeouts list with 297.

The junior needs only three strikeouts to become the seventh player in Bluejay softball history to record 300 or more strikeouts.

Creighton Career Strikeouts
Rk Ks Player Years
1. 1,086 Tara Oltman 2007-10
2. 914 Tammy Nielsen 2003-05
3. 860 Becca Changstrom 2011-14
4. 495 Shelli Mellegaard 1999-02
5. 458 Kandy Foust 1983-85
6. 308 Holly Hesse 1979-82
7. 297 Kiele Miller 2018-Pr.
8. 294 Marcia Jacobsen 1981-84
9. 289 Kelly Brookhart 1988-91
10. 282 Sydnee Eck 2015-16

Small-Ball Bluejays
The Bluejays lead the BIG EAST with 23 sacrifice bunts and four sacrifice flys.

Creighton ranks first in Division I for sacrifice bunts. UT Martin ranks second with 20, while Louisiana Tech and Texas are tied for third with 17.

Sam Alm owns a team-best eight sacrifices, while Victoria Alvarez has three and nine other players have at least one.

Alm currently ranks second nationally with 0.73 sacrifice bunts per game.

Creighton owned 48 sacrifice bunts in 44 games last season, which led the BIG EAST.

Kaitlynn Hunt paced the Bluejays with 13, while Jayci Foster had 11 and Sam Alm tallied 10.

Hunt ranked fourth nationally with 0.31 sacrifice bunts per game.

Creighton also led the BIG EAST with 49 sacrifice bunts in 2018, while the Bluejays' Sam Crowley led Division I with 0.41 sac bunts per game.

2020 NCAA Sacrifice Bunt Leaders
(as of 2/24)
Rk Team SAC Bunts
1. Creighton 23
2. UT Martin 20
3. Texas 17
Louisiana Tech 17
5. Kentucky 16
UT Arlington 16
Appalachian St. 16
8. Western Kentucky 15
Nicholls St. 15
10. Texas St. 14

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Players Mentioned

Sam Alm

Victoria Alvarez

Ashley Cantu

Jayci Foster

Kaitlynn Hunt

Mileah McKelvy

Kiele Miller

Kiara Mills

Mikayla Santa Cruz