Thursday, April 14
Omaha, Neb.
3:00 pm
Creighton University
14-18, 4-10
1
vs
9
Villanova
20-19, 8-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Villanova
2
1
1
0
0
0
5
9
12
0
Creighton
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
2
1
Photo by: Chelsea Nicholson
Softball Falls In Series Opener To Villanova, 9-1
4/14/2022 5:54:00 PM | Softball
Kiara Mills hits inside the park home run for the Bluejays lone run of the game.
OMAHA, Neb. – The Creighton softball team dropped the series opener to Villanova, 9-1, on Thursday afternoon at the Creighton Sports Complex.
The Bluejays moved to 14-18 on the year and 4-10 in BIG EAST play with the loss, while Villanova improved to 20-19 overall and 8-4 in conference action.
The Wildcats wasted no time jumping out to an early lead on a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. Villanova's Chloe Smith drew a four-pitch walk to open the game and was moved over to third on a single by Paige Rauch. Following a walk by Megan Kern, Villanova plated their first run of the game on a groundout to third. Angela Giampolo then drew a four-pitch walk of her own before Kelsey White drove in the Wildcats second run on a sacrifice fly.
Villanova added to their lead in the second as Dani Dabroski singled up and stole second before scoring on a single from Rauch to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead.
Junior Kiara Mills cut the deficit down to two in the bottom half of the innings as the California native hits a high fly ball to center field, which Villanova's centerfielder lost in the sun and was unable to make the catch. Mills did not break stride coming all the way around for the inside the park home run, making the score 3-1. It was the Bluejays first inside the park home runs since former Bluejay Ashley Cantu hit on March 27, 2019, against South Dakota.
The Wildcats would then tack on a run in the top of the third when Giampolo led off the inning with a single and was pushed across the plate on an RBI double from Ally Jones.
Pitching would take over from there until the top of the seventh inning when Villanova added an additional five runs on a pair of home runs by Jones and Rauch pushing the advantage out to 9-1.
Villanova had three women generate multiple hits, led by Rauch's 3-4 day with four RBI. Creighton's lone hits of the game came from Mills' inside the park home run and a single by sophomore Alyssa Gappa.
Rauch improved to 11-5 with the complete game victory, allowing only two hits and just the one Bluejay run. Junior Kate Mullally (4-6) was tagged with the loss for Creighton, allowing five hits and four runs in three innings. Junior Mikayla Santa Cruz tossed the final four innings, allowing seven hits and five runs while striking out the Wildcat batters.
Creighton and Villanova resume their series on Friday at 1 p.m. at the Creighton Sports Complex. The game will be broadcasted live on FloSports.
The Bluejays moved to 14-18 on the year and 4-10 in BIG EAST play with the loss, while Villanova improved to 20-19 overall and 8-4 in conference action.
The Wildcats wasted no time jumping out to an early lead on a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. Villanova's Chloe Smith drew a four-pitch walk to open the game and was moved over to third on a single by Paige Rauch. Following a walk by Megan Kern, Villanova plated their first run of the game on a groundout to third. Angela Giampolo then drew a four-pitch walk of her own before Kelsey White drove in the Wildcats second run on a sacrifice fly.
Villanova added to their lead in the second as Dani Dabroski singled up and stole second before scoring on a single from Rauch to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead.
Junior Kiara Mills cut the deficit down to two in the bottom half of the innings as the California native hits a high fly ball to center field, which Villanova's centerfielder lost in the sun and was unable to make the catch. Mills did not break stride coming all the way around for the inside the park home run, making the score 3-1. It was the Bluejays first inside the park home runs since former Bluejay Ashley Cantu hit on March 27, 2019, against South Dakota.
The Wildcats would then tack on a run in the top of the third when Giampolo led off the inning with a single and was pushed across the plate on an RBI double from Ally Jones.
Pitching would take over from there until the top of the seventh inning when Villanova added an additional five runs on a pair of home runs by Jones and Rauch pushing the advantage out to 9-1.
Villanova had three women generate multiple hits, led by Rauch's 3-4 day with four RBI. Creighton's lone hits of the game came from Mills' inside the park home run and a single by sophomore Alyssa Gappa.
Rauch improved to 11-5 with the complete game victory, allowing only two hits and just the one Bluejay run. Junior Kate Mullally (4-6) was tagged with the loss for Creighton, allowing five hits and four runs in three innings. Junior Mikayla Santa Cruz tossed the final four innings, allowing seven hits and five runs while striking out the Wildcat batters.
Creighton and Villanova resume their series on Friday at 1 p.m. at the Creighton Sports Complex. The game will be broadcasted live on FloSports.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Paige Rauch (11-5)
L: Mullally, Kate (4-6)
Batting:
2B: Chloe Smith 1 ; Angela Giampolo 1 ; Ally Jones 1
HR: Paige Rauch 1 ; Ally Jones 1
RBI: Paige Rauch 4 ; Ryan Henry 1 ; Kelsey White 1 ; Ally Jones 3
SF: Kelsey White 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Chloe Smith 2 ; Paige Rauch 2 ; Angela Giampolo 2 ; Ally Jones 1 ; Dani Dabroski 2
SB: Paige Rauch 1 ; Dani Dabroski 1
Batting:
HR: Mills, Kiara 1
RBI: Mills, Kiara 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mills, Kiara 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
UTL
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
P
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