Softball Starts Spring Break Trip To Florida With Five Games In Longwood

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Creighton heads to Florida for THE Spring Games. The Bluejays will play five games in three days in Longwood.

Game Schedule
Game #1 • Friday, March 6 • Creighton vs. LIU • 10:00 a.m.
Game #2 • Friday, March 6 • Creighton vs. Bethune-Cookman • 12:30 p.m.
Game #3 • Saturday, March 7 • Creighton vs. #12 Florida State • 10:00 a.m.
Game #4 • Saturday, March 7 • Creighton vs. Cleveland State • 12:30 p.m.
Game #5 • Sunday, March 8 • Creighton vs. Longwood • 10:45 a.m.
*All times listed are Central Standard Time

Follow The Games
Live video will be available for each of the games via FloSoftball. A subscription is required to view the games.

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 (8-8)
The Bluejays finished last weekend 1-3 at the Coach B Classic in Carbondale, Illinois.

Creighton scored 10 runs in the first inning before posting a 14-1 win against Purdue Fort Wayne to open the weekend, but the Bluejays lost their final three games at SIU.

Ashley Cantu leads the Bluejays and the BIG EAST with a .457 batting average. Cantu also paces the team with 21 hits. Mikaela Pechar leads Creighton with a .735 slugging percentage with five doubles and two homers.

Five different players have hit a home run, while Mileah McKelvy paces the team with 18 RBIs and Pechar has 10.

Creighton leads the BIG EAST with a .310 team-batting average and 5.56 runs per game.

Kiele Miller ranks second in the conference with 71 strikeouts in 53 innings pitched. Miller owns a 2.91 ERA and is holding opponents to a .246batting average.

Mikayla Santa Cruz holds a 3.20 ERA during 35 innings of work with 24 strikeouts.

Both Miller and Santa Cruz have appeared in 10 games. Miller owns seven starts, while Santa Cruz has six.

The Bluejays rank second in the conference with a 3.26 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 LIU (7-11)
The Sharks head to Longwood after a 2-3 showing at the UCF Invitational last weekend. LIU picked up wins against Columbia and Drexel in Orlando.

Elena Valenzuela, the 2019 Northeast Conference Pitcher of the Year, earned pitcher of the week on Tuesday after pitching complete games during both of LIU's wins at UCF. Valenzuela leads the team with 45 2/3 innings pitched and holds a 3.68 ERA.

Victoria Lowe owns a team-best 2.67 ERA during 21 innings of work.

Ciara Grando leads the Sharks with a .270 batting average and two home runs, while

Kiana Cisneros paces the squad with 14 hits and eight runs scored.

The Sharks have attempted only five steals (four successful) and their opponents have only stolen nine bases in 16 tries.

LIU was picked first in the NEC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Roy Kortmann is in his 26th year at the helm of LIU.

Series History Against Sharks
Friday marks the first meeting between Creighton and LIU.

Scouting Bethune-Cookman (3-19)
The Wildcats' reached the 2019 NCAA Tournament after winning the MEAC Tournament title but have struggled out of the gate in 2020.

Bethune-Cookman picked up a victory during the opening weekend of the season before losing 12 straight. The Wildcats went 2-3 last weekend at the Stetson Hatter Classic and lost a pair of games at home against Sacred Heart on Tuesday.

Haley Parks leads the team with a .327 batting average and 11 runs scored. Quianah Mitchell paces the Wildcats with 19 hits, while Kaiya Epps-Lee owns a team-best two home runs and 11 RBIs.

The Wildcats average just over two runs per contest and are hitting .216.

Victoria Guzman has pitched 80.2 innings and owns a BCU-low 3.82 ERA.

The Wildcats were picked to win the MEAC as head coach Laura Watten is in her 14th year at Bethune-Cookman.

Series History Against Wildcats

Creighton leads the all-time series against Bethune-Cookman, 1-0.

The Bluejays defeated the Wildcats, 4-3, on March 3, 2006 at the UCF Tournament in Altamonte Springs, Florida.

Scouting #12 Florida State (11-6)

Florida State — the 2018 national champions — have faced nine ranked teams this season, with four victories, including wins against then-No. 19 Baylor and No. 21 Arkansas last weekend at the Wooo Pig Classic.

Kiersten Landers leads Florida State with a .345 batting average, 10 hits, and seven stolen bases (7-for-7) while Cassidy Davis paces the squad with 16 RBIs. Sydney Sherrill, a 2019 NFCA First Team All-American, is hitting .333 with four homers and 12 RBIs. Sherrill leads the team with 18 runs scored.

FSU averages 6.59 runs per game, which ranks second in the ACC and 21st
nationally.

Caylan Arnold -- a transfer from Tennessee and the 2017 SEC Freshman of the Year -- leads the Seminole pitching staff with a 1.29 ERA in 43 1/3 innings of work. Kathyrn Sandercock, a 2019 USA U-19 National Team member, owns a 2.52 ERA during 41 2/3 innings.

Head coach Lonni Alameda is in her 12th season at Florida State.

Series History Against Seminoles
Florida State leads the all-time series against Creighton, 2-1.

The Seminoles defeated the Bluejays, 3-2 in 1991, during the most previous meeting between the two schools.

Scouting Cleveland State (3-6)

The Vikings head to Longwood with four losses in their last five games. The team's three wins this season are against Incarnate Word (6-4), Fairleigh Dickinson (5-0) and Wagner (13-3).

Kelly Hysong leads Cleveland State at the plate and in the circle. Hysong owns a team-high nine hits and paces the pitching staff with a 1.87 ERA in 30 innings of work. The senior is also tied for the team lead with Becky Hurosky for runs scored (nine).

Sydney Bajusz owns team-bests in home runs (3) and RBIs (8).

The Vikings average 3.78 runs per game and are hitting .262, while the pitching staff owns a 3.50 ERA.

Cleveland State is led by second-year head coach Amy Kyler.

Series History Against Vikings
Saturday is the first meeting between Creighton and Cleveland State.

Scouting Longwood (5-9)

The Lancers played in the UCF Invitational last weekend and went 2-3.

Sydney Jacobsen leads the Longwood offense with a .368 batting average (14 hits). She also paces the team in extra-base hits (six) and RBIs (six).

Destiny Martinez has scored a team-high seven times, as the team averages 2.71 runs per game.

The Lancers are 22-for-30 in stolen bases and have allowed 21 steals in 21 attempts.

Sydney Backstrom owns a team-best 54 2/3 innings and a 3.13 ERA. She also has 43 strikeouts to 18 walks.

Head coach Kathy Riley is in her 23rd year at the helm of Longwood.

Series History Against Lancers
Sunday is the first meeting between Creighton and Longwood.

Creighton vs. Ranked Opponents
The Bluejays' contest against Florida State will be the first against a ranked opponent since 2018 when Creighton lost to #16 Minnesota, 7-3, in Las Vegas.

Creighton is winless in its last 12 games against ranked opponents.

The Bluejays last win against a ranked opponent came on Feb. 8, 2014 against No. 24 California (6-4) at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Arizona.

Pechar Listed On BE Weekly Honor Roll
Senior catcher Mikaela Pechar earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after leading the Bluejays offense at the Coach B Classic in Carbondale, Illinois.

Pechar recorded seven hits and hit .583 during four games. The senior also paced Creighton with a 1.000 slugging percentage (two doubles, one home run) and five RBIs.

She started the weekend by going 3-for-3 with two runs scored, three RBIs and a double against Purdue Fort Wayne (Feb. 28). Pechar also hit a two-run home run against Murray State on Friday for Creighton's first home run since the opening weekend (Feb. 9 at Incarnate Word).

Miller Reaches 300 Career Strikeouts
Kiele Miller reached the 300 strikeout plateau with three strikeouts in the first inning against Southern Illinois on Feb. 29 to become the seventh player in program history with 300 or more strikeouts.

The junior now ranks sixth in program history with 312 strikeouts after posting 15 during 11 innings this past weekend in Carbondale.

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. 312 Kiele Miller 2018-Pr.
7. 308 Holly Hesse 1979-82
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 29 sacrifice bunts and five sacrifice flys.

Creighton ranks second in Division I for sacrifice bunts.

Sam Alm leads Division I with 10 sacrifices, while Victoria Alvarez, Ashley Cantu, Kaitlynn Hunt and Cayla Nielsen each have three.

Alm also ranks first nationally with 0.67 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 0.31sacrifice 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 3/3)
Rk Team SAC Bunts
1. Nicholls State 30
2. Creighton 29
3. UT Martin 28
4. Louisiana Tech 24
Presbyterian 24
6. Texas 21
7. Ole Miss 20
UT Arlington 20
9. Cal Baptist 18
Texas State 18

Softball Starts Spring Break Trip To Florida With Five Games In Longwood

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sam Alm

Victoria Alvarez

Ashley Cantu

Jayci Foster

Kaitlynn Hunt

Mileah McKelvy

Kiele Miller

Cayla Nielsen

Mikaela Pechar

Mikayla Santa Cruz

Softball Starts Spring Break Trip To Florida With Five Games In Longwood

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sam Alm

Victoria Alvarez

Ashley Cantu

Jayci Foster

Kaitlynn Hunt

Mileah McKelvy

Kiele Miller

Cayla Nielsen

Mikaela Pechar

Mikayla Santa Cruz

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