Creighton University
Loyola (Chicago)
Softball Continues Season at Cougar Invite
2/29/2024 12:50:00 PM | Softball
The Bluejays are set to battle Loyola Chicago, St. Thomas, Illinois State and SIUE in Edwardsville, Ill.
Game #14: Creighton Bluejays vs. Loyola Chicago Ramblers
Saturday, March 2, 2024 • 9:30 a.m. || LIVE STATS
Game #15: Creighton Bluejays vs St. Thomas Tommies
Saturday, March 2, 2024 • 12 p.m. || LIVE STATS
Game #16: Creighton Bluejays vs. Illinois State Redbirds
Sunday, March 3, 2024 • 12 p.m. || LIVE STATS
Game #17: Creighton Bluejays at SIU Edwardsville
Saturday, March 3, 2024 • 2:30 p.m. || LIVE STATS | WATCH
Up Next
Creighton (8-5) heads to Edwardsville, Ill. for another jam-packed weekend of tournament play at the Cougar Invite.
Sitting at 8-5 after three weeks of play, the Bluejays are set to battle four new opponents, beginning with a contest against Loyola Chicago on Saturday at 9:30 a.m.
Creighton will then take on St. Thomas at 12 p.m. before returning to the field on Sunday at 12 p.m. for a matchup against former Missouri Valley Conference rival Illinois State.
The Bluejays will then wrap up their stay with a contest against host SIU Edwardsville at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
Follow The Games
Live stats for all five of Creighton's games this weekend in Edwardsville, Ill. will be provided via Statbroadcast at http://creighton.statbroadcast.com.
Creighton's game against SIU Edwardsville on Sunday will be the only game broadcasted.
Links to live stats and live video can be found on the Creighton Softball schedule page.
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 (8-5)
Creighton enters the weekend with a 8-5 overalls record after posting a 2-3 showing at the Libby Matson Tournament in Stockton, Calif. last weekend. The Bluejays collected a pair of victories over Pacific and Stony Brook in the event.
Offensively, Creighton is hitting .213 with 13 doubles, 32 RBI and 33 runs scored, led by fifth-year senior Cayla Nielsen and her .289 batting average and team-high totals of 13 hits, three doubles and five runs scored runs scored.
Classmate Madeline Vevjoda also owns a .278 average with 10 hits, while senior Alyssa Gappa owns a team-high seven RBI with two home runs and three doubles on a .242 batting average.
In the circle, Creighton has posted a 3.61 ERA with 58 strikeouts to just 39 walks, while holding opponents to .228 hitting in 87.1 innings of work.
Sophomore Natalia Puchino owns a 5-1 overall record with a 1.22 ERA and 35 strikeouts in the circle thus far. Jena Lawrence has also impressed over the first three weekends, posting 2-1 record with a 2.94 ERA in 16.1 innings pitched, while junior Alexis Wiggins holds a 3.00 ERA with five strikeouts in 9.1 innings of work.
Head coach Krista Wood is in her second season with the Bluejays and holds a 538-354 career record, including a 30-36 mark at Creighton.
Scouting Loyola Chicago (6-5)
After starting the 2024 season with five consecutive wins, Loyola Chicago has lost five of its last six outings and enters the Cougar Invite sporting a 6-5 overall record.
The Ramblers are coming off a stunning 8-0 victory over Pittsburgh last weekend at the USF Tournament in Tampa, Fla.
Loyola Chicago is hitting .217 as a team thus far, led by senior Teagan Sopczak's .318 batting average. Junior Rile Owens (.310) is the Ramblers only other player batting better than .300, while senior Sydney Barnett has posted a .219 average with a team-high two home runs and 11 RBI.
Junior Peyton Pepkowski has been the ace in the circle, throwing 39.0 if the team's 69.1 innings this season. She owns a 4-2 record with a 2.15 ERA with 29 strikeouts. Fellow junior Andie Broniewicz has also pitched significant innings, logging a 4.92 ERA with 16 punchouts in 21.1 innings of work.
Head coach Alicia Abbott is in her fourth season at the helm of the Ramblers program. Loyola Chicago were tabbed second in the A-10 Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Series History Against the Ramblers
Creighton leads the all-time with Loyola Chicago, 5-1, in a series that dates back to 1986.
The Bluejays and Ramblers have not met since 1998, when Creighton claimed a pair of home victories. Overall, Creighton has won the last four meetings, while Loyola Chicago's lone win in the series was a 2-1 victory back on March 7, 1995, in Kissimmee, Fla.
Head Coach Krista Wood is 1-1 all-time against Loyola Chicago as a head coach. Both contests were played when Wood's was the head coach at SDSU.
Scouting St. Thomas (1-14)
St. Thomas is 1-14 this season and enters the weekend with a nine-game losing streak. The Tommies lone win of the season was a 5-0 shutout in the opener of the Easton Bama Bash on Feb. 16 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The Tommies have struggled thus far in the circle, entering the Cougar Invite with a 9.38 ERA with 60 walks to just 41 strikeouts in 86.1 innings pitched.
Junior's Christina Crawford (0-7, 8.42 ERA) and Ella Cook (1-3, 8.78 ERA) have handled the majority of the pitching duties early on, accounting for 64.0 of the club's 86.1 innings pitched.
Offensively, the Tommies are hitting .206 as a team, led by junior Kaitlyn Raymond's .281 batting average at the plate.
Sophomore Avery Wukawitz follows closely behind with a .279 average on a team-best 12 hits, including a team-high four doubles and 11 runs scored. Cook has also provided a bat for the Tommies, recording a team-high 12 RBI while posting a .263 batting average.
Head coach Jennifer Bagley Trotter is in her third season at the helm of the St. Thomas program. The Tommies were picked tied for sixth in the Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Series History Against the Tommies
Creighton is 1-1 all-time against St. Thomas, with both meetings coming last season in the DePaul Dome Tournament to open the 2023 season.
The Bluejays claimed a 6-1 in the first meeting, while St. Thomas snagged a 6-4 win in the second game.
Head Coach Krista Wood is 4-1 all-time against St. Thomas, having outscored the Tommies 35-8 in five contests.
Scouting Illinois State (2-14)
Illinois State is 2-14 this season after recording a pair of victories over UT-Arlington last weekend at the Razorback Invitational. The Redbird's dropped their first 11 contests of the season before claiming a 6-0 victory over the Mavericks last Friday.
As a team the Redbirds enter the weekend hitting just .192 with 75 hits, including 14 doubles while scoring 26 runs.
Junior Delainey Bryant paces the team with a .300 batting average and four doubles, while classmate Abby Knight follows closely behind with a .273 average and a team-best five RBI.
In the circle, Illinois State own a 4.67 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 102 innings of work.
Freshman Paige McLeod leads the way with a 3.44 ERA with a team-high 15 strikeouts in 40.2 innings this season, while sophomore Hannah Meshnich has posted a 3.85 ERA with nine punchouts in 40.0 innings of work.
Illinois State was picked to finish fourth in the MVC Preseason Coaches' Poll as head coach Tina Kramos is in the midst of her 24th season at ISU and second at the helm of Redbirds program.
Series History Against the Redbirds
Creighton is 32-36-1 all-time against Illinois State in a series that dates back to 1981.
The former Missouri Valley Conference rivals have not met since 2012, when the Redbirds swept a three-game series in Normal, Ill. ISU has won the last five meeting in the series, with the Bluejays last victory coming via a 1-0 shutout on May 7, 2011.
The Bluejays and Redbirds have met 15 times on a neutral field with the Jays holding a 9-6 record. The two teams met annually from 1993-2012 as both teams owned membership in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Head Coach Krista Wood has never coached against Illinois State in her coaching career.
Scouting SIU Edwardsville (6-7)
SIU Edwardsville is 6-7 this season after going 2-3 last weekend at the Blues City Tournament in Memphis, Tenn., which included wins over DePaul and Memphis.
Offensively, SIUE is hitting .272 as a team, led by junior leadoff hitter Paige Rocha's .392 batting average and team-high totals of six doubles and 10 runs scored.
Senior Jenna Herron currently leads three other Courgar's hit over .300 with a .389 average. Grave Lueke follows closely behind with a .333 average with a team-high 10 RBI and two home runs.
Senior's Sydney Baalman and Kelsey Ray handle the majority of the innings for the pitching staff. Baalman owns a 1.98 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 28.1 innings of work, while Ray holds a 2.26 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 31 innings pitched this season.
Head coach Ben Sorden is in his second season at the helm of SIUE. The Cougars were picked fifth in the OVC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Series History Against the Cougars
Sunday will mark the first meeting between Creighton and SIU Edwardsville in program history.
Head Coach Krista Wood is 0-2 all-time against SIUE as a head coach, with both setbacks coming during the 2017 season at SDSU.
Milestone Watch
- Cayla Nielsen is two runs shy of a spot in the Top-10 on Creighton's all-time runs scored list. Lauren Cisneros currently is in 10th with 113 runs scored.
- Natalia Puchino is just two strikeouts away from recording the 150th strikeout of her Bluejay career.
- Alyssa Gappa owns 16 career hit-by-pitches, two shy of moving into a tie with Liz McKewon for eighth all-time for hit-by-pitches in a career.
Free Softball
Last Friday, Creighton played its first extra inning game of the season, picking up a 5-4 10-inning win over Pacific in the Libby Matson Tournament.
Senior Cayla Nielsen lifted the Bluejays to the victory, launching a two-run home run to straight away center in the top of the 10th innings to give Creighton a 5-3 lead.
The 10-inning game was the Bluejays longest game by innings since dropping a 3-2 10-inning contest to Omaha on April 21, 2021. The 10-inning game against Pacific is also tied for the fifth longest game by innings this season in the NCAA.
Overall, Creighton is 90-95-2 all-time in extra innings games, including a 14-13 mark since joining the BIG EAST in 2014. Amongst the extra-inning games is the Bluejays NCAA record 31-inning contests against Utah on May 11, 1991, as well as the third longest game in NCAA History in the 25-inning affair against Utah just 21-minutes later on May 12, 1991.
Bluejays Keeping it Close
Through the first 13 games of the season, Creighton has already played eight games decided by two or less runs, including five one-run contests.
The Bluejays are 7-1 overall during games decided by two runs or less this season. CU's lone setback was a 5-4 loss to Texas State on Feb. 11.
Last season, Creighton played 20 two-run games, posting a 7-13 overall record, while recording a 4-9 record in one-run contests.
Magic Number 5
Since the turn of the century, Creighton has had tremendous success when scoring five or more runs. The Bluejays have continued that success this season, improving to 3-0 when scoring at least five runs in a game.
Over the last 24 seasons, Creighton is 355-54 when scoring five or more runs. In the same time span Creighton is 234-394-3 when scoring four runs or fever.
Creighton is also 140-36 when scoring five or more runs in a game since joining the BIG EAST in 2014.
During that same time frame the Bluejays are 78-4 when scoring eight or more runs, which included a perfect 9-0 record last season.
Last season Creighton was 18-8 when scoring five runs or more, outscoring their opponents 195-102 during those 26 games.
Lead Generally Safe
Creighton has done an excellent job protecting leads this season. In fact, there's only been one game that Creighton has led at an point in which it hasn't won, a Feb 11. game at Texas State when CU couldn't hold onto a 4-2 seventh inning lead.
Creighton is 3-1 when leading after four innings, 6-1 when leading after five innings and 6-1 when leading after six innings this season.
Puchino Nabs BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week
Sophomore Natalia Puchino dominated in the circle once again for the Bluejays, earning BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week honors on Feb. 19.
Puchino is the first Bluejay pitcher to secure BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week honors since Mikayla Santa Cruz earned the honor on Feb. 14, 2022. This week's accolade also marks the second BIG EAST weekly honor for Puchino in her career, as she earned BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors once last season.
The Milliken, Colo. native was impressive in the circle for the Bluejays last week, posting a 1-0 record and two saves in 11.1 scoreless innings. She recorded 11 strikeouts while limiting her opponents to just four hits and three walks in her three appearances.
Overall, Puchino leads the BIG EAST with a 0.34 ERA, allowing just one run in 20.1 innings pitched. She also ranks tied for second in the BIG EAST with 24 total strikeouts.
Nielsen Reaches 150 Hit Milestone
Fifth-year senior outfielder Cayla Nielsen reached the 150-hit plateau on Feb. 17 against Colgate at the Hatter Classic in Florida.
The Blair, Neb. native recorded her 150th hit with an RBI single down the left field line during the bottom of the fourth inning in the Jays' 3-2 win over the Raiders.
Nielsen is just the 15th Bluejay player since 1999 to record 150 hits in their career. Overall, Nielsen has recorded 155 career hits, including 27 doubles, three triples and 17 home runs.
Durable Vejvoda
Senior infielder Madeline Vejvoda continues to be a fixture in the Creighton starting lineup. Not only has she started every game this season, but she's reaching uncharted territory as she has now started in each of Creighton's last 128 consecutive games dating back to March 7, 2021.
Her 128 straight starts is the longest streak by a Bluejay since Kelsey Allender started 185 consecutive games from 2013-2016.
Over the course of her Bluejay career, Vejvoda has started 139 of the 152 games she has played in.
Puchino Off To Dominate Start
After guiding the Bluejays pitching staff to 13 wins in the circle last season, sophomore Natalia Puchino is off to a sizzling start for the Bluejays in 2024.
The Milliken, Colo. native is 5-1 with two saves in the circle already this season. She currently ranks second in the league with a 1.22 ERA and is tied for second in the league with 35 total strikeouts.
See You On The Bases
Since joining the Bluejays in 2020, senior Cayla Nielsen has been a fixture on the base paths for the Bluejays. In her five years at Creighton, Nielsen has reached base safely in 119 of her 161 career games, recording a .401 on-base percentage, which ranks as the 13th-best percentage by a Bluejays since 1999.
Last season, Nielsen reached base in 44-of-53 games played and lead Creighton with a .489 on-base percentage, a figure that ranked sixth-best in Creighton history for one season.
Three of the four marks above her were accomplished by former Bluejay players and assistant coaches Alexis Cantu and Renae Sinkler, while Kailey Wilson holds two of the top-10 marks in program history.
Already this season we have seen Nielsen reach base safely in nine out of the first 13 games, while recording a team-high 13 hits.
Best On-Base Percentage, CU History, Season
Rk. OBP% Name Year
1. .547 Alexis Cantu 2012
2. .541 Kailey Wilson 2022
3. .514 Renae Sinkler 2010
4. .492 Renae Sinkler 2009
5. .490 Christy Lunceford 1996
6. .486 Cayla Nielsen 2023
7. .482 Tash Coffiel 2016
8. .479 Kailey Wilson 2021
.479 Ashley Cantu 2018
10. .477 Liz Dike 2015
Nielsen On Quest To Top-10
Entering her final season with the Bluejays, senior Cayla Nielsen looked to climb the Bluejay ranks in several career stat categories.
After the first three weekends of play, Nielsen currently ranks tied for ninth all-time with a .326 career batting average. She is also on the verge of entering the Top-10 list for runs scored (two shy) and doubles (seven shy).
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. .353 Kailey Wilson 168-476 2019-23
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 Cayla Nielsen 155-476 2020-pr.
9. .326 Christine Fukumoto 110-337 2004-05
RUNS SCORED
No. Name R Years
1. Stacey Rybar 132 2001-04
2. Jean Tierney 130 1980-83
3. Heidi Geier 129 1996-99
Ashley Cantu 129 2017-21
5. Sue Frederick 128 1986-89
6. Christy Lunceford 122 1994-97
7. Renae Sinkler 120 2007-10
8. Bailey Dawson 119 2006-09
9. Liz Dike 118 2012-15
10. Lauren Cisneros 113 2003-06
