Bluejay Softball Battles Drake on Wednesday in Midweek Clash

Game Schedule
Wednesday, March 29 • Drake (6-20, 0-6 MVC) at Creighton (13-18, 0-6 BE) • 4 p.m. • Creighton Sports Complex
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | CU NOTES

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Creighton (13-18, 0-6 BIG EAST) steps out of BIG EAST play for a midweek contest against former Missouri Valley Conference rival Drake (6-20, 0-6 MVC) on Wednesday, March 29 at the Creighton Sports Complex beginning at 4 p.m.

Follow The Games

Live stats for Wednesday's game will be provided through StatBroadcast, while live video will be streamed through FloSports with Jake Ryan and Jon Schriner on the call.

Links to the video and live stats can be found on the Creighton Softball schedule page on GoCreighton.com.

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 (13-18, 0-6 BE)

Struggling as of late, Creighton enters Wednesday's contest with a 13-18 overall record after dropping their last seven games.

Creighton continues to be one of the top offensive teams in the BIG EAST, ranking second with a .287 batting average. The Bluejays, however, lead the way in runs scored (142), hits (237), RBI (133), doubles (50), home runs (24) and slugging percentage (.440).

Junior leadoff hitter Cayla Nielsen lead four Bluejays with a batting average over .300 with a .415 average. She ranks second in the BIG EAST with 34 hits, while her 22 runs scored tops the league.

Freshman Lily West has continued her hot hitting ranking second on the team with a .356 batting average. The Choctaw, Okla. native leads the BIG EAST with 36 and seven sacrifice hits, including five sac bunts.

Senior Saren Croker and junior Madeline Vejvoda have also provided a significant help at the plate with .328 and .313 batting averages respectfully.

In the circle, Creighton owns a 3.18 ERA, the second-best ERA in the BIG EAST, while ranking second in strikeouts with 151 in 198.1 innings of work.

Junior Payton Akers (4-5) and freshman Natalia Puchino (7-7) have been the driving force in the circle for the Bluejays this season. Akers paces the pitching staff with a 2.24 ERA and a team-high 52 strikeouts in 50 innings, while Puchino follows closely behind with a 3.04 ERA in 80.2 innings of work with 50 strikeouts. Sophomore Alexis Wiggins (2-4) has also provided depth, holding a 3.52 ERA with 42 K's in 47.2 innings of work this season.

The Bluejays return 12 letterwinners from last year's squad, while 10 newcomers enter the program with first year head coach Krista Wood.

Scouting Drake (6-20, 0-6 MVC)

Drake is 6-20 on the season and 0-6 in Missouri Valley Conference play heading into Wednesday's matchup. The Bulldogs have lost 10 straight games, dating back to a 14-5 win over St. Thomas on March 11.

Offensively, Senior Aubree Beitzinger leads the Bulldogs in batting average (.308), hits (24), and doubles (4), just ahead of junior Makayla Rice's .284 batting average, four doubles and 11 runs scored.

Sophomore Emma Dighton (.244, 4 HR, 18 RBI), Emily Valtman (.269, 2 HR, 11 RBI) and Addie Lightner (.211, 2 HR, 6 RBI) give the Bulldogs a dangerous trio who can hit the long ball.

As a team, Drake is hitting .239 with 158 hits, 23 doubles and 76 runs scored for a 2.92 runs per game average.

Mackenzie Hupke has been the top pitcher for Drake this season, holding a 3.43 ERA with 59 strikeouts over 53 innings of work. Dighton (2-6, 5.61 ERA in 43.2 IP) and Paige Bedsworth (0-5, 5.25 ERA in 26.2 IP) have also lent a helping hand this year.

As a pitching staff, Drake holds a 5.49 ERA with 129 strikeouts in 165.2 innings of work.

Drake was picked to finish seventh in the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll as head coach Rich Calvert is in his 20th season with the Bulldogs.

Series History Against Bulldogs

Creighton leads the all-time series against Drake, 60-31.

The Bluejays and Bulldogs met annually from 1993 to 2013 as members of the Missouri Valley Conference but have not met since March 4, 2018.

Drake and Creighton split a pair of contests while at the Mizzou Tournament in Columbia, Missouri. The Bluejay won 2-1 in the first game before Drake secured a 2-1 win in the second.

Head Coach Krista Wood is 4-7 all-time against Drake.

The Bluejays are Always On Base

This season four different Bluejays have posted on-base streaks of nine consecutive games or more. Junior Cayla Nielsen leads the way having reached base safely in 26 of the Bluejays 31 games this season. She has currently reached base in 10 straight contests but had a career-long 13-game on-base streak earlier this season.

Additionally, Nielsen has recorded at least one hit in each of the past 10 games, racking up a .516 (16-of-31) batting average with two doubles, three home runs and nine runs batted in.

Her 10-game hit streak is a career-long hit streak, surpassing a nine-game hit streak she had from Feb. 18 to March 4th earlier this season.

Junior Madeline Vejvoda also had an on-base streak snapped earlier this month after reaching safely in 11 straight contests, while classmate Alyssa Gappa has currently reached base safely in 12 consecutive games.

Senior Kailey Wilson had a nine-game on-base streak earlier this season and is currently on another nine-game on-base streak.

Freshman Phenom Delivering

Freshman Lily West has been dominant at the plate during her first season as a Bluejay. The Choctaw, Okla. native leads Creighton with 36 hits and holds the second-best batting average on the team at .356.

West has produced 11 multi-hit games this season, becoming the eighth freshman since 2003 to record at least 10 multi-hit games in a season. Allie Mathewson recorded 18 multi-hit games during her freshman season in 2012, the most in the past 20 seasons by a freshman.

Below is a list of Freshmen with at least 10 multi-hit games in a season.

Name Year Multi-Hit Games

Allie Mathewson 2012 18

Ellen Homan 2011 15

Kiara Mills 2019 13

Sam Dellinger 2017 13

Ashley Cantu 2017 13

Amy Baker 2010 12

Lily West 2023 11

Dawson Bailey 2006 11

Walk This Way

With a BIG EAST-best 19 walks this season, senior Kailey Wilson etched her name on Creighton's all-time top-10 list for career walks.

Wilson recorded her 19th walk of the season in the series finale against Seton Hall on March 25th, moving into the top-5 all-time with 81 career walks.

Kailey led the 2022 squad with 24 walks, while a total of four other players earned double-digit walks a season ago.

WALKS

No. Name BB Years

1. Michelle Graner 111 2007-10

2. Alexis Cantu 110 2012-14

3. Amy Baker 104 2010-13

4. Abby Johnson 85 2002-05

5. Kailey Wilson 81 2019-pr.

5. Renae Sinkler 81 2007-10

7. Jen Daro 80 2014-17

8. Jody Schwartz 78 1985-88

9. Ashley Cantu 70 2017-21

10. Karla Hughes 69 1979-82

On The Double

Senior Kailey Wilson finished the opening weekend with a .500 batting average on six hits, including four doubles, a home run and five RBI.

Wilson's four doubles where the most by a Bluejay in the opening weekend of a season since Amy Baker hits four doubles in a four-game series against Arkansas-Pine Bluff to open the 2012 season.

The four doubles also ranked tied for third nationally, behind Clemson's Valerie Cagle's five doubles and Wichita State's Lauren Lucas' six doubles during opening weekend.

Wilson has added five addition doubles since then, inching her closer to the all-time top-10 list for career doubles. She heads into this weeks contests with 32 career doubles, one double shy of entering Creighton career doubles top-10 list.

DOUBLES

No. Name 2B Years

1. Christy Lunceford 51 1994-97

2. Frenchy Nix 47 1998-01

3. Stacey Rybar 43 2001-04
4. Kelly Brookhart 40 1988-91

5. Abby Johnson 36 2002-05

Jody Schwartz 36 1985-88

7. Bailey Dawson 35 2006-09

8. Erin Fraser 34 1995-98
Dede Pendleton 34 1991-95

10. Wendy Moon 33 1991-94

- Kailey Wilson 32 2019-pr.

Bluejay Softball Battles Drake on Wednesday in Midweek Clash

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Payton Akers

Ashley Cantu

Saren Croker

Alyssa Gappa

Kiara Mills

Cayla Nielsen

Natalia Puchino

Madeline Vejvoda

Lily West

Alexis Wiggins

Kailey Wilson

Bluejay Softball Battles Drake on Wednesday in Midweek Clash

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Payton Akers

Ashley Cantu

Saren Croker

Alyssa Gappa

Kiara Mills

Cayla Nielsen

Natalia Puchino

Madeline Vejvoda

Lily West

Alexis Wiggins

Kailey Wilson

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