Creighton University
South Dakota
Softball Plays Host To South Dakota For Wednesday Afternoon Matchup
4/27/2021 9:45:00 AM | Softball
Bluejays are 7-3 at home this season, including 6-1 during April
Up Next
Creighton welcomes South Dakota for the Bluejays' final home midweek contest of the season.
Game Schedule
Wednesday, April 28 • South Dakota (12-33) at Creighton (13-12) • 4 p.m.Â
Follow The Game
Live video and live stats will be available for Wednesday's contest.
Video will be provided on YouTube.com/GoCreighton, while live stats will be on StatBroadcast.
Links to the video and live stats will be available on the Creighton softball schedule page.
Scoring updates and infographics will be provided via Twitter at @BluejaySoftball.
Scouting Creighton (13-12)
The Bluejays enter Wednesday's contest on a four-game losing streak after being swept at DePaul (April 17-18) and losing last week at UNO's new home facility.
Creighton played 10 consecutive home games from March 20-April 14 and finished 7-3 (6-3 BIG EAST) before its current skid.
Creighton ranks second in the BIG EAST with a .285 team batting average.
Fifth-year senior and lead-off hitter Ashley Cantu paces the BIG EAST with a .429 batting average and is tied for fourth in the league with 36 hits. Cantu also leads the Bluejays with 16 runs scored.
Sophomore Kailey Wilson leads the conference in slugging percentage (.776). She is also fifth in the league for batting average (.408), tied fifth for on-base percentage (.483) and second for home runs (8) and fifth in RBIs (25).
Kiara Mills ranks second on the team and eighth in the conference with a .615 slugging percentage with six home runs and three doubles. The sophomore first baseman is also second on the team with 14 RBIs, while posting a .292 batting average with 19 hits and a
.410 on-base percentage (10 walks, 3 HBP).
Mikayla Santa Cruz owns a 4.41 ERA during 52 1/3 innings of work, while Parker Boyd leads the Creighton pitching staff with 79 2/3 innings of work and owns a 4.83 ERA. The graduate transfer has 76 strikeouts (5th in BIG EAST) including 28 looking, which leads the conference.
Bluejay pitchers have combined for a 4.48 ERA and 135 strikeouts.
Head coach Brent Vigness is in his 28th season at the helm of the Bluejays and owns 803 wins at Creighton, the most by any head coach across all of Creighton athletics.
Scouting South Dakota (12-33)
The Coyotes head to Omaha after going 1-3 against South Dakota State this past weekend.
USD opened the weekend with a 3-1 win before losing three consecutive contests by eight or more runs.
Lead-off hitter Camille Fowler leads the team in hits (41), walks (12) and stolen bases (14). The Omaha native and three-time All-Summit League performer owns 12 multi-hit games this season.Â
In six previous games against Creighton, Fowler has scored six runs and tallied five hits.
Lauren Eamiguel paces the Coyotes with 24 runs scored and nine doubles. USD's shortstop and third hitter in the order, is also tied for the team lead with two home runs and ranks second on the team with nine multi-hit games.
Lauren Wobken owns a team-high 27 RBIs and ranks third on the team with 37 hits, while serving as the Coyotes' primary clean-up hitter. She is also the only USD player to start each of the team's 45 games this season.
The Coyotes' pitching staff owns a 6.07 ERA.
Sarah Lisko leads the team with 123 3/4 innings pitched and a 4.53 ERA, while Gill Woodward ranks second on the staff with 52 1/3 innings of work.
Seven different pitchers have appeared in the circle this season and combined for only 107 strikeouts in 275 2/3 innings pitched.
Opponents also own a .359 batting average with 112 extra-base hits.
South Dakota also owns a .930 fielding percentage (87 errors) and has allowed 80 unearned runs.
Head coach Robert Wagner is in his fifth season at the helm of the Coyotes.
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Series History Against Coyotes
Creighton leads the all-time series against South Dakota, 16-7.
The Bluejays defeated the Coyotes 11-5 during the last meeting between the two schools on March 27, 2019.
Creighton has won three consecutive games against USD.
South Dakota's last victory against the Bluejays came in 2017 -- a 13-10 win in Omaha.
The winning team in seven of the last nine meetings has scored at least six runs and 10 or more during five of those contests.
Last Time Out
The Creighton softball team fell to UNO, 3-2, in 10 innings on April 21 at the Mavericks' new home facility, Connie Claussen Field.
The Bluejays dropped their season record to 13-12, while the Mavericks improved to 10-23.
The contest marked Creighton's first extra inning contest since April 23, 2019 at South Dakota State (8-7 loss).
Creighton put one on in the top of the 10th inning but did not score before UNO put a runner at third with only one out in the last of the frame. Allison Helton lifted a fly ball to the deepest part of center field where Cayla Nielsen caught the ball to record the second out of the inning, but Emily Klosterman scored easily from third base to end the game.
UNO started the scoring with a run in the bottom of the first.
Creighton responded with one run in the second frame without recording a hit. Kiara Mills led off the inning by being hit by the pitch and Madeline Vejvoda walked to put runners at first and second. A strikeout and fly out put the Bluejays one out away from failing to score, but Mikayla Paulson drew a walk to load the bases before Nielsen drove in a run with a full-count walk.
The Bluejays took the lead in the third. Kailey Wilson launched her team-leading eighth home run well over the right-field wall and over the Creighton bullpen to push the Bluejays ahead 2-1.
The Mavericks pushed across their second run of the game in the bottom half of the inning and tied the contest at 2-2.
Both teams put up zeros in the fifth through seventh frames to force extra innings.
Creighton and UNO combined to walk 14 times (seven each) during the 10-inning tilt, while the Mavericks' pitchers recorded 14 strikeouts and Bluejay pitching had five. UNO ended the contest with a total of 15 left on base.
The loss extended the Bluejays' losing streak to four games.
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Manthie's Current On-Base Streak
Left fielder Brittney Manthie has reached base in 10 consecutive games entering Wednesday, which is Creighton's longest active streak.
During the past 10 games, Manthie is hitting .368 (7-of-19) with seven hits, seven walks, three runs scored and two stolen bases.
The Minnesota native has played in all 25 games this season (20 starts) and owns 13 hits, 10 runs scored, seven walks and three stolen bases. She has also reached base because of an error a team-high four times.
Home Runs Tell The Tale
Creighton is 7-1 this season when not allowing a home run, but just 2-7 when allowing two or more long balls.
The Bluejays are also 10-5Â when hitting at least one home run and 3-7Â when not hitting a homer.
During Creighton's 13 wins this season, the Bluejays have hit 16 home runs and allowed nine.
Comparatively, Creighton has allowed 28 home runs during its 12 losses this season.
Creighton At Home
Since joining the BIG EAST in 2014, the Bluejays own a 51-44 record at home.
Creighton played 10 straight games at home (March 20-April 14) and posted a 7-3 mark during those contests.
A total of 31 home runs (15 by CU, 16 by opponents) have been hit during 70 innings of action this season at the Creighton Sports Complex.
During the 2019 season, 33 home runs were launched during 11 games at the CU Sports Complex, while 47 were hit during 19 games in 2018.
The Bluejays did not play a home game last season because of the season ending on March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Creighton posted 13 wins at home in 2018, the most in a single season since claiming 19 home victories in 2008.
Including Wednesday, Creighton has four remaining home games during 2021.
Year-by-year home records since 2014:
2021: 7-3
2020: No home games
2019: 5-6
2018: 13-6
2017: 6-6
2016: 7-8
2015: 4-9
2014: 9-6
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HRs Hit At CU Sports Complex By Year
HRs (CU HRs) Number of Games Year
31 (15) 10 2021
No home games in 2020
33 (15) 11 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
