Mikayla Santa Cruz and Alexis Wiggins Secured First BIG EAST Pitcher and Freshman of the Week Honors
2/14/2022 2:45:00 PM | Softball
Brittney Manthie also earns spot on BIG EAST Honor Roll
Junior Brittney Manthie also earned a spot on the BIG EAST Honor Roll following her performances last week.
This marks the first BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week honor for the Bluejays since Kiele Miller earned the accolade on April 22, 2019. It is Santa Cruz's first BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week honor in her career at Creighton.
Santa Cruz tossed a pair of complete game to post a 1.15 ERA, while allowed just two earned runs in 15.2 innings of work and struck out 17 batters during three appearances to earn a spot on the UTEP Invitational All-Tournament team in El Paso, Texas.
The Tucson, Arizona native went the distance, allowing an earned run on five hits while notching six strikeouts in a 6-2 win over Idaho State to open the 2022 season.
The Bluejay junior returned to the circle on Saturday afternoon when she tossed her second complete game of the season. Santa Cruz gave up just one run on six hits and struck out nine as the Jays captured an eight-inning 3-1 victory over Abilene Christian.
Wiggins also earned All-Tournament honors after posting a BIG EAST-best 0.69 ERA over 13 innings of work while also striking out 17 batters.
The Nebraska native collected her first win as a Bluejays, tossing all five innings in the 9-1 win over Abilene Christian on Sunday morning. Wiggins struck out five while allowing just three total hits in the win.
She did not allow a run in 3.2 innings of work and struck out eight batters in her first collegiate appearance against UTEP on Friday night before earning her first collegiate start on Saturday night against UTEP.
Wiggins struck out four and allowed just one earned run on six hits over 4.1 innings of work, before having to leave the game after taking a liner off her leg in the bottom half of the fifth inning.
Manthie earned BIG EAST Honor Roll recognition after collecting a BIG EAST-best nine hits on 9-for-14 hitting (.643 batting average) and scoring seven runs to also earn All-Tournament honors at the UTEP Invitational last weekend.
The Annandale, Minnesota native started the weekend by going 3-for-3 with a run scored and a stolen base to lead the Bluejays to a 6-2 win over Idaho State.Manthieadded a pair of hits and another run scored in the night cap to finished opening day with a .833 batting average (5-for-6).
The junior continued her dominance at the plate by going 2-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored in a 3-1 win over Abilene Christian on Saturday afternoon.Manthiewent just 1-for-4 in the night cap againstUTEPbut did draw another walk and added another run to her impressive performance.
She ended the weekend by going 1-for-2 and scored two more times as Creighton run-ruled Abilene Christian, 9-1, on Sunday morning.Manthiealso drew her fourth walk of the weekend and reached base on a fielder's choice during her lone plate appearance without a hit.
Creighton (3-2) is back in action on Friday as they take on Ohio at 10 a.m. in the Cardinal Classic hosted by Lamar.
