Creighton University
Villanova
Softball Steps Up To The Plate For BIG EAST Play At Villanova
3/16/2023 5:51:00 PM | Softball
Game #25-27:  Creighton Bluejays (13-11, 0-0 BIG EAST) at Villanova Wildcats (10-13, 2-1 BIG EAST)
Friday, March 17, 2023 • 12 p.m. • Saturday, March 17, 2023 • 2 p.m. • Sunday, March 19, 2023 • 11 a.m. • Villanova, Pa. • Villanova Softball Complex
|Â LIVE VIDEOÂ |Â LIVE STATSÂ |Â CU NOTES (PDF)Â |Â
Up Next
Creighton (13-11, 0-0 BIG EAST) opens BIG EAST Conference play this weekend when it travels to Pennsylvania to take on Villanova (10-13, 2-1 BIG EAST) in a three-game set.Â
Due to anticipated cold weather, the Bluejays and Wildcats will no play a doubleheader on Friday at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Central Time, before battling on Sunday at 11 a.m. The games will be contested at the Villanova Softball Complex in Villanova, Pa.
Follow The Games
This weekend's series will have live stats provided through StatBroadcast, while the live video will be featured on FloSports.Â
Links to the video and live stats can be found on the Creighton Softball schedule page on GoCreighton.com.Â
Scoring updates and infographics will be provided via Twitter at @BluejaySoftball.
Bluejays not Blue Jays
Creighton's mascot is the Bluejays or Bluejay, one word. Conversely the MLB Toronto team is the Blue Jays.
Scouting Creighton (11-11, 0-0 BE)
Creighton softball has won 10 of its last 13 games to improve to 13-11 on the season. The first 22 of those games were away from home, including 19 neutral-site contests, before the Bluejays soared to a 10-1 run-rule victory and a 6-0 victory over Kansas City in the home opener on Wednesday.
Junior Payton Akers (4-2) and freshman Natalia Puchino (7-4) have been a force in the circle for the Bluejays this season. Akers paces the pitching staff with a 1.89 ERA and a team-high 46 strikeouts in 37 innings, while Puchino follows closely behind with a 2.03 ERA in 62 innings of work with 44 strikeouts, Sophomore Alexis Wiggins (2-4) has also provided depth, holding a 3.39 ERA with 37 in 41.1 innings of work this season.
As a staff, Creighton holds a 2.52 ERA with 132 strikeouts in 152.2 innings of work.
Junior Cayla Nielsen paces Creighton's offense and ranks second in the BIG EAST with a .393 batting average with seven doubles and 14 runs scored, while four other Bluejays hold at least a .300 batting average from the plate.Â
Junior Madeline Vejovda owns a .375 average with a team-high 27 hits and 18 runs scored, while Saren Croker and Lily West have posted .348 and .312 batting averages respectfully.Â
Junior Alyssa Gappa leads the BIG EAST and ranks 14th national with nine doubles. She is also tied for the league lead with six home runs while junior Emma Rosonke paces the BIG EAST with 19 RBI on a .286 batting average.Â
Senior Kailey Wilson, the reigning BIG EAST Player of the Year, is tied for the team lead with six home runs, 17 walks and 18 RBI while posting a .279 batting average. Â
Overall, Creighton is hitting .289 with 118 runs scored (4.92 runs per game) and 57 extra-base hits.Â
The Bluejays return 12 letterwinners from last year's squad, while 10 newcomers enter the program with first year head coach Krista Wood.Â
Creighton was picked fifth in the preseason BIG EAST Coaches poll.Â
Scouting Villanova (10-13, 2-1 BE)
Villanova is 10-13 this season and are coming off a pair of victories over Georgetown last weekend in their BIG EAST opener.Â
Villanova offensively is hitting .231 as a team and averages 3.91 runs per game, while opponents are hitting .284 on the season with an average of 4.52 runs scored per game.Â
Junior Tess Cites paces the Wildcats offensive with a .355 batting average on a BIG EAST-best 27 hits, including a team-high five doubles and 12 runs score. Sophomore Alexa Raphael (.313) is the only other player hitting better than .300, while senior Chole Smith is not far behind with a .270 batting average respectfully.Â
In the circle, the Wildcats have turned to freshman Kat Gallant (4-3) after graduating 2022 All-BIG EAST First Team Pitcher Paige Rauch last season. Gallant paces Villanova with a 2.46 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 42.2 innings of work. Graduate Peyton Schnackenberg has also provided 50 innings and 35 strikeouts for a 3.22 ERA.Â
As a team, Villanova owns a 4.01 ERA with 90 strikeouts in 138 innings pitched.Â
Villanova was picked to finish second in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll as head coach Bridget Orchard is in her fifth season with the Wildcats.Â
Series History Against Wildcats
Villanova leads the all-time series against Creighton, 12-10.
Creighton won the first four meetings between the two school before dropping eight straight to the Wildcats from 2015 to 2017. The Bluejays, however, won six of the next seven meetings, before the Wildcats swept Creighton in a three-game series last season.Â
Head coach Krista Wood is 2-0 all-time against Villanova, Including a 5-4 extra-inning win over the Wildcats in last year's NCAA Tournament.
League-Opener History
Creighton is 5-3 in BIG EAST openers and have won 12 of its last 16 conference opening-games, including wins in the final seven Missouri Valley Conference lid-lifters.Â
The Bluejays dropped last season's conference opener to Georgetown, 6-4 in extra innings before having the other two games cancelled due to weather.Â
The Bluejays are 23-13 all-time in their first conference game of the season during stints in the HCAC (2-3), WAC (1-1), MVC (15-6) and BIG EAST (5-2).
Krista vs. The BIG EAST
Throughout her career at South Dakota State, head coach Krista Wood's teams were at their best against BIG EAST competition.Â
In her eight seasons with the Jackrabbits, Wood's compiled a 21-5 overall record against the BIG EAST, including a 17-1 mark in the past six seasons that has featured an active 11 straight victories.Â
Below is a breakdown of Wood's record against every BIG EAST team.
Opponent   SDSU   CU
Butler   3-0   0-0
Creighton   10-4   0-0
DePaul   2-0   0-0
Georgetown   0-0   0-0
Providence   2-1   0-0
Seton Hall   1-0   0-0
St. John's   1-0   0-0
Connecticut   0-0   0-0
Villanova   2-0   0-0
Totals   21-5   0-0
Bluejays Picked 4th In Preseason Poll
The Creighton softball team was picked fifth in the 2023 BIG EAST Softball Coaches' Poll.Â
Creighton received 34 points, three points behind Butler (37) who was picked fourth. DePaul held the top spot with 58 points and three first-place votes, while the defending BIG EAST Tournament champion Villanova received 57 points and four first-place votes for the second position.
The defending BIG EAST regular-season champion Connecticut checked in at third with 56 points and two first-place votes. Providence (30), Seton Hall (28), Georgetown (14) and St. John's (10) rounded out the poll in sixth through ninth positions.Â
Creighton returns 12 letterwinners, including a bulk of its 2022 starting lineup, led by two-time unanimous All-BIG EAST First Team selection and the 2022 BIG EAST Player of the Year, Kailey Wilson. Wilson returns to the Bluejays lineup after leading the BIG EAST with a .436 batting average, the second highest single season batting average in school history, last season.
The 2023 season marks head coach Krista Wood's first at the helm of the Bluejays after spending eight years as head coach at South Dakota State.
BIG EAST play begins March 17, as Creighton plays at Villanova. The top six finishers in the BIG EAST regular-season standings will qualify for the BIG EAST Championship presented by Jeep, with the winner receiving the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Regional.
2023 BIG EAST Softball Preseason Coaches' Poll
DePaul (3) - 58
Villanova (4) - 57
Connecticut (2) - 56
Butler - 37
Creighton - 34
Providence - 30
Seton Hall – 28
Georgetown – 14
St. John's - 10
No-Hitter For Puchino
Freshman Natalia Puchino made an impressive statement in her first start at the Creighton Sports Complex.Â
The Milliken, Colo. native tossed the first no-hitter of her collegiate career on March 15 against Kansas City. It was also the first complete game no-hitter since Micaela Whitney fired a complete-game no-hitter against Seton Hall on April 2, 2016.Â
Just four Roos reached base, two on walks, one on an error and one on a fielder's choice, while Puchino recorded a season-high six strikeouts in the gem.Â
CU Sports Complex Turns Into Launching Pad
Creighton blasted five home runs during game two against Kansas City in the Bluejays home-opening doubleheader on March 15.
The five home runs were the most home runs in a single game since the Bluejays hit six against South Dakota on March 27, 2019. The five blasts are also tied for the third most in a single game in program history.Â
In total, Creighton and Kansas City combined to hit seven home runs in the doubleheader.Â
We're Going Back-To-Back
Lily West and Madeline Vejvoda hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth innings vs. Kansas City on March 15.Â
It's the first time Creighton has hit back-to-back home runs since Sam Alm, Emma Rosonke and Shayna Dahlen homered consecutively in the second innings against Villanova on April 16, 2022.
Vejvoda Rediscovers Long Ball
Madeline Vejvoda entered Wednesday's contest with two home runs in her career, both during the 2021 season. She added another home run on Wednesday against Kansas City, pushing her career total to three.Â
Vejvoda's previous home run was all the way back on March 20, 2021, against Connecticut, while her first career home run was on March 5, 2021, against Illinois-Chicago.Â
It was exactly 81 games in between her second and third career home runs.Â
Lights Out Pitching
Payton Akers is in the middle of a great stretch, allowing just two runs in her last nine appearances to lower her ERA to a team-best 1.89. That figure ranks second in the BIG EAST.
The Cedar Rapids, Iowa native has recorded a 3-0 record with a save while allowed just nine hits in 19.1 innings of work since Feb. 25. In that span, Akers holds a 0.73 ERA and has struck out 23 batters, compared to just eight walks.Â
Wilson's Rewriting Record Book
Senior Kailey Wilson entered her fifth year with the Bluejays as one of the most dominant hitters in school history.
Wilson currently ranks fifth in Bluejay history with a .356 career batting average, while ranking seventh in home runs with 32, eighth in walks with 79 and 10th in RBI with 104.Â
Wilson is also on the verge of entering the Top-10 list for doubles (4 shy).Â
BATTING?AVERAGE (minimum 250 at-bats)
   No.   Avg.   Name   H-AB   Years
   1.   .404   Anne Timmermann   116-287   1977-79
   2.   .382   Ashley Cantu   218-570   2017-21
   3.   .379   Christy Lunceford   245-646   1994-97
   4.   .358   Heidi Geier   243-678   1996-99
   5.   .356   Kailey Wilson   138-388   2019-pr.
   6.   .336   Renae Sinkler   201-599   2007-10
   7.   .331   Kiara Mills   123-372   2019-22
   8.   .328   Melanie Dorsey   198-604   2002-05
   9.   .326   Christine Fukumoto   110-337   2004-05
   10.   .325   Mary Yori   176-542   1980-82
HOME?RUNS
   No.   Name   HR   Years
   1.   Amy Baker   58   2010-13
   2.   Renae Sinkler   50   2007-10
   3.   Liz Dike   39   2012-15
   4.   Lauren Cisneros    37   2003-06
      Stacey Rybar   37   2001-04
   6.   Alexis Cantu   33   2012-14
   7.   Kailey Wilson   32   2019-pr.Â
   8.   Bailey?Dawson   30   2006-09
      Abby Johnson   30   2002-05
   10.   Michelle Graner   27   2007-10
      TJ?Eadus   27   2007-08
RUNS?BATTED?IN
   No.   Name   RBI   Years
   1.   Amy Baker   167   2010-13
   2.   Renae Sinkler   146   2007-10
   3.   Abby Johnson   144   2002-05
   4.   Bailey?Dawson   121   2006-09
      Stacey Rybar   121   2001-04
   6.   Liz Dike   119   2012-15
   7.   Jody Schwartz   113   1985-88
   8.   Christy Lunceford   110   1994-97
   9.   Lauren Cisneros   107   2003-06
   10.   Kailey Wilson   104   2019-pr.
Creighton At Home
Since joining the BIG EAST in 2014, the Bluejays own a 55-53 record at home.
Creighton opened the 2023 home schedule with a pair of victories against Kansas City as Natalia Puchino tossed a no-hitter and the Bluejays launched six home runs in the two games.
The Bluejays finished 3-10 at home last season, which included a pair of wins over Providence and a win against DePaul.Â
Last season, Creighton hit .280 at home with 17 doubles, two triples and 19 home runs. Senior Kailey Wilson paced the Bluejays offense with a .544 batting average with four doubles, six home runs and 13 RBI, while Emma Rosonke (.333) led the team with 18 runs batted in.Â
A total of 41 home runs (19 by CU, 22 by opponents) were hit during 87 innings of action.Â
Creighton posted 13 wins at home in 2018, the most in a single season since claiming 19 home victories in 2008.
Year-by-year home records since 2014:
2023: 2-0
2022: 3-10
2021: 8-3
2020: No home games
2019: 5-6
2018: 13-6
2017: 6-6
2016: 7-8
2015: 4-9
2014: 9-6
HRs Hit At CU Sports Complex By Year
HRs (CU HRs) Number of Games   Year  Â
7 (6)Â Â Â 2Â Â Â 2023
41 (19)Â Â Â 13Â Â Â 2022
34 (16)Â Â Â 11Â Â Â 2021
--      No home games   2020
33 (15)Â Â Â 11Â Â Â 2019
47Â Â Â (25)Â Â Â 19Â Â Â 2018
29Â Â Â (13)Â Â Â 12Â Â Â 2017
26Â Â Â (9)Â Â Â 15Â Â Â 2016
41Â Â Â (16)Â Â Â 13Â Â Â 2015
29Â Â Â (17)Â Â Â 15Â Â Â 2014
