Saturday, April 13
Storrs, Conn.
1:00 P.M.
Creighton University
25-17, 0
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1
Connecticut
21-19, 0
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4
5
6
7
8
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Creighton
0
0
0
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UConn
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1
0
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1
7
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Photo by: Andrew Grieve
Vejvoda & Nielsen’s Timely Hitting and Puchino’s Strong Pitching Lifted Bluejays to 2-1 Win Over UConn in Eight Innings
4/13/2024 6:19:00 PM | Softball
STORRS, Conn. – Clutch hitting from seniors Madeline Vejvoda and Cayla Nielsen, mixed with strong pitching from sophomore Natalia Puchino proved to be the difference as the Creighton softball team topped UConn 2-1 in eight innings on Saturday afternoon at Burrill Family Field in Storrs, Conn.
The win snaps a nine-game losing streak to the Huskies and moved the Bluejays record to 25-17 overall and to 9-5 in BIG EAST play. UConn falls to 21-19 on the season and back into a tie with the Bluejays in the BIG EAST standings with a 9-5 league record.
Creighton's late inning heroics were made possible by outstanding pitching from Puchino in the circle. The sophomore right hander picked up her 18th win of the season, allowing just one-run on seven hits with eight strikeouts in the complete-game effort.
Deadlocked in a scoreless battle in the sixth inning, UConn took a 1-0 lead in large part to a solo home run to left from All-BIG EAST performer Lexi Hastings.
Down to their final two outs, Creighton leaned on Vejvoda to come up in the clutch for the Bluejays. The Papillion native delivered, blasting her second home run of the season over the right center field wall to level the game at 1-1.
Looking to close out the contest in the bottom of the seventh, UConn placed a runner on first with a leadoff single from Lauren Benson. Following a fly out to center, Benson was pitch ran for by Kaitlyn Kibling. Kibling would then try to steal second to put a runner in scoring position, but freshman catcher Sydney Potter had other plans, throwing out her fourth runner of the season to send the game into extras.
In the eighth seniors Emma Rosonke and Alyssa Gappa would draw a pair of walks to put runners on first and second with only one out for Nielsen at the top of the order. Nielsen would drive in the go-ahead run with an RBI single into center, scoring pinch runner Mikayla Chairez from second to give the Bluejays a 2-1 lead.
Down to their final out in the bottom of the eighth, the Huskies placed runners on the corners after a double from Hastings and a walk from Rosie Garcia. Cool, calm and collected, Puchino would fire three straight strikes to strikeout Hope Jenkins and secure the 2-1 win for the Bluejays.
Creighton finished the contest with three hits, including the 100th career hit from sophomore Lily West in the top of the first inning.
Creighton and UConn with conclude their three-game series with the rubber match on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. CT.
The win snaps a nine-game losing streak to the Huskies and moved the Bluejays record to 25-17 overall and to 9-5 in BIG EAST play. UConn falls to 21-19 on the season and back into a tie with the Bluejays in the BIG EAST standings with a 9-5 league record.
Creighton's late inning heroics were made possible by outstanding pitching from Puchino in the circle. The sophomore right hander picked up her 18th win of the season, allowing just one-run on seven hits with eight strikeouts in the complete-game effort.
Deadlocked in a scoreless battle in the sixth inning, UConn took a 1-0 lead in large part to a solo home run to left from All-BIG EAST performer Lexi Hastings.
Down to their final two outs, Creighton leaned on Vejvoda to come up in the clutch for the Bluejays. The Papillion native delivered, blasting her second home run of the season over the right center field wall to level the game at 1-1.
Looking to close out the contest in the bottom of the seventh, UConn placed a runner on first with a leadoff single from Lauren Benson. Following a fly out to center, Benson was pitch ran for by Kaitlyn Kibling. Kibling would then try to steal second to put a runner in scoring position, but freshman catcher Sydney Potter had other plans, throwing out her fourth runner of the season to send the game into extras.
In the eighth seniors Emma Rosonke and Alyssa Gappa would draw a pair of walks to put runners on first and second with only one out for Nielsen at the top of the order. Nielsen would drive in the go-ahead run with an RBI single into center, scoring pinch runner Mikayla Chairez from second to give the Bluejays a 2-1 lead.
Down to their final out in the bottom of the eighth, the Huskies placed runners on the corners after a double from Hastings and a walk from Rosie Garcia. Cool, calm and collected, Puchino would fire three straight strikes to strikeout Hope Jenkins and secure the 2-1 win for the Bluejays.
Creighton finished the contest with three hits, including the 100th career hit from sophomore Lily West in the top of the first inning.
Creighton and UConn with conclude their three-game series with the rubber match on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. CT.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Puchino, Natalia (18-4)
L: Kinney P (5-4)
Batting:
2B: West, Lily 1
HR: Vejvoda, Madeline 1
RBI: Nielsen, Cayla 1 ; Vejvoda, Madeline 1
SH: Perez, Erika 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vejvoda, Madeline 1 ; Chairez, Mikayla 1
Batting:
2B: Hastings L 1
HR: Hastings L 1
RBI: Hastings L 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hastings L 1
SB: Hastings L 1
CS: Kibling K 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
pr/rf
AB
1
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
UTL
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
C/INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
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