Creighton University
St. John's
Bluejay Softball Meets Fifth-Seeded St. John's in BIG EAST Tourney Elimination Game on Friday
5/9/2024 11:43:00 PM | Softball
BIG EAST Tournament Game #56: St. John's Red Storm (31-26, 13-11) vs. Creighton Bluejays (34-21, 16-8)
Friday, May 10 • 2 p.m. CT • Providence, R.I. • Glay Field
LIVE VIDEOÂ |Â LIVE STATSÂ |Â CU NOTES
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    No. 3 seed Creighton (34-21) seeks its second trip to the BIG EAST Tournament Championship Game needing to win a pair of elimination contests on Friday. The Bluejays are set to battle fifth-seeded St. John's on Friday, May 10 in a contest beginning at 2 p.m. CT at Glay Field in Providence, R.I.
    The game will be televised on FS2, while live stats will be available via SidearmStats. Live stats and live video links for this week's BIG EAST Tournament can be found on the Creighton Softball schedule page on GoCreighton.com. Scoring updates and infographics will be provided via Twitter at @BluejaySoftball.
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Scouting Creighton (34-21, 16-8 BE)
   After dropping a 3-1 decision to second-seeded UConn on Thursday afternoon, the Bluejays look to rebound in the consolation bracket needing a win over fifth-seeded St. John's on Friday afternoon to continue their pursuit of the teams first BIG EAST Tournament Title.Â
   Offensively, Creighton leads the BIG EAST in batting average (.280), hits (395) and sacrifice flies (20), while ranking second in runs scored (234), RBI (214) and doubles (72).Â
   Hot hitting junior Sydra Seville continues to pace the Bluejays with a .370 batting average and carries a 12-game hitting streak into Friday's contest after finishing 2-for-3 on Thursday.
   Fifth-year senior Madeline Vejvoda is second on the team in batting average (.354), hits (58), doubles (12), RBI (29), walks (16) and runs scored (30). Fellow senior Cayla Nielsen follows closely behind with a .344 batting average on a team-best 64 hits (2nd in BE), including a BIG EAST-leading 16 doubles. She also ranks second on the team in RBI (30) and ranks third in runs scored (29).
   Sophomore Lily West owns a .320 batting average and ranks third on the team with 56 hits. She has contributed 10 doubles and a team-high 31 runs scored, while classmate Ella Dalton holds a .326 batting average at the plate on 44 total hits, with a team-best seven stolen bases.
   Senior Emma Rosonke hits at a .230 clip on 31 base hits, including three doubles and two home runs. The Omaha native also paces the team with 23 walks and ranks third with 28 RBI, while freshman slugger Sydney Potter holds a .245 batting average with a team-high nine home runs and 32 RBI.Â
   In the circle, the Bluejays own a 3.37 team-ERA with 278 strikeouts in 357.2 innings of work.
   Sophomore Natalia Puchino has been incredible in the circle this season, owning a BIG EAST-best 25-7 overall record. The Colo. native has thrown a league-high 192.2 innings while recording 166 strikeouts and a 1.82 ERA in the circle.
   Meanwhile, junior Kenzie Schopfer has logged a respectable 4.14 ERA with 62 strikeouts in 86.1 innings pitched this season. Senior Jena Lawrence has also posted a 2-4 record with a 4.91 ERA in 31.1 innings pitched, while freshman Brooklyn Patchen holds a 8.11 ERA with 25 strikeouts in 29.1 innings of work. Â
   Head coach Krista Wood is in her second season with the Bluejays and holds a 564-371 career record, including a 56-52 mark at Creighton.Â
Scouting No. 5 Seed St. John's (31-26, 13-11 BE)
   After falling to top-seeded Villanova in extra-innings in their first game on Thursday, the Red Storm rolled to a 12-2 win over Butler in an elimination game Thursday night.
   The Red Storm offensively is hitting .254, with 67 doubles, 31 home runs and 221 runs scored, while the pitching staff owns a BIG EAST-leading 2.87 ERA with 387 strikeouts in the circle this season.
   Sophomore Jess Bianco (.345) and junior London Jarrard (.319) are the only players hitting better than .300, while Jarrard also leading the team with 59 hits, 14 doubles, two triples, 10 home runs, 50 RBI and 36 runs scored. She is followed by sophomore Cassidy Stouffer, who owns a .287 batting average with 43 hits, including 13 doubles and 28 RBI.
   In the circle, the Red Storm have turned to sophomore's Loreley Francia (14-8) and Ana Serafinko (12-8) to handle a majority of the pitching duties this season. Serafinko paces St. John's with a 2.40 ERA with 166 strikeouts in 143.0 innings of work, while Francia has also provided 138.0 innings and 149 strikeouts for a 2.74 ERA.Â
   Head coach Michelle DePolo is in her first season at the helm of St. John's.Â
Series History Against the Red Storm
   Creighton and St. John's have met 29 times in program history, with 27 meetings happening since the Bluejays joined the BIG EAST in 2014.Â
   St. John's holds an 19-10 lead in the all-time series after Creighton took two of three from the Red Storm in Queens earlier this season. Additionally, the Bluejays are 2-1 all-time against St. John's in neutral site games, which includes an 8-1 win in the first round of the 2018 BIG EAST Tournament.Â
   Head coach Krista Wood owns an 4-3 record as a head coach against St. John's.Â
Milestone Watch
- Cayla Nielsen owns 206 career hits and is three base hits shy of moving into fifth on Creighton's all-time career hits list.
- Cayla Nielsen is three doubles shy of tying Syacey Rybar (43) for third on Creighton's all-time career doubles list.
- Cayla Nielsen has recorded a BIG EAST-leading 16 doubles this season and is one shy of moving moving into a tie for third on Creighton's single season doubles list.
- Cayla Nielsen needs just four walks to tie Karla Hughes (69) for 10th on Creighton's all-time career walks list.
- Alyssa Gappa owns 22 career hit-by-pitches, three shy of moving into a tie with Michelle Koch and Lauren Cisneros (25) for fifth all-time for hit-by-pitches in a career.Â
- Alyssa Gappa needs just two more hits to record the 100th hit of her Bluejay career. Â
- Emma Rosonke has driven in 106 runs over the course of her Bluejays career. She is just one RBI shy of tying Lauren Cisneros (107) for 10th on Creighton's all-time career Runs Batted In list.Â
- Natalia Puchino owns 279 career strikeouts as a sophomore. She is just three strikeouts away from moving into a tie with Sydnee Eck for tenth on Creighton's career strikeout record board.
- Natalia Puchino's currently ranks tied for third in the NCAA this season with 25 wins. With one more wins, Puchino will move into a tie with Bluejay Hall of Famer Tara Oltman (26) for sixth on Creighton's single season wins list.Â
CU in the BIG EAST Tourney
Creighton is 2-3 all-time in the BIG EAST Tournament, earning an 8-1 win over St. John's in the BIG EAST Tournament Opener in 2018 and a 4-2 win over Butler in the Bluejays 2024 BIG EAST Tournament Opener on Wednesday.Â
   The Bluejays, however, have suffered a 9-1 loss to DePaul in 2014, a 6-2 loss to DePaul in 2018 and a 3-1 setback to UConn on Thursday.Â
   Complete results and Creighton BIG EAST Tournament records can be found later in the notes packet.Â
Seville Extends Hitting Streak to 12
   Junior Sydra Seville, one of the hottest hitters in the BIG EAST, extended her hit streak to a team-leading 12 consecutive games, after collecting her a pair of multi-hit games in the Bluejays two BIG EAST Tournament contests.Â
   During her 11-game hitting streak, the New Lenox, Ill. native is hitting a team-best .529 with 18 hits, six RBI, seven runs scored and three stolen bases. She has since risen her batting average to .359, which is the best mark on the team.Â
   Seville's 11-game hitting streak is the teams longest hitting streak since Ashley Cantu recorded a hit in 13 straight game during the 2019 season.
   Below is a list of Creighton's top hitting streaks since 1999.
Hit Streak      Player            Year  Â
17      Renae Sinkler-O'Gorman   2008
17      Jamie Reiss   2007
14      Liz Dike   2015
14      Marie Gieron   2001
13      Ashley Cantu   2019
13      Jayci Foster   2018
13      Ellen Homan   2012
11      Sydra Seville   2024
Sydney Clutch Potter
Freshman Sydney Potter has came up clutch for the Bluejays driving in a total of four runs on three hits during Creighton's two BIG EAST Tournament games this year.Â
   On Wednesday, Potter went 2-for-2 with a Creighton Single Game BIG EAST Tournament Record three RBI in the Bluejays' 4-2 win over Butler. She then delivered an RBI single to left to score the Bluejays lone run in the Jay's 3-1 setback to UConn on Thursday.Â
   Potter's four RBI in this week's BIG EAST Softball Championships are the most by a Bluejay in a single BIG EAST Tournament in program history.Â
BIG EAST Tournament MilestonesÂ
   The following Creighton Single BIG EAST Tournament Record have been or are in reach of being broken on Friday.Â
- Games Played in a single BIG EAST Tournament (Multiple Bluejays)
- Games Started in a single BIG EAST Tournament (Multiple Bluejays)
- Sydra Seville has four hits this postseason, which is two behind Ashley Cantu's six in 2018.Â
- Sydra Seville owns 7 total bases in the 2024 BIG EAST Tournament and needs one more to tie Ashley Cantu's eight from 2018.Â
- Sydney Potter established a new Creighton single BIG EAST Tournament record with four RBI.
- Sydra Seville beat out an inside the park home run for the Bluejays first home run in their three BIG EAST Tournament appearances.
- Ashten Pierson has tied Creighton's Single BIG EAST Tournament record with five assists and can add to the program record on Friday.Â
- Natalia Puchino's 2.69 ERA is the lowest by a Bluejay pitcher in a single BIG EAST Tournament in program history. Her 13.0 innings pitched this week surpassed Kiele Miller (12.0 IP) for the most innings pitched in a single BIG EAST Tournament in school history.
On The Double
   With two doubles on Wednesday against Butler, Creighton has hit 72 total doubles this season. That figure currently ranks second in the BIG EAST and fifth all-time on Creighton's single-season doubles list.Â
   In head coach Krista Wood's first two seasons with Creighton, the Bluejays have recorded 149 doubles, including 77, the second most in a single season in program history, last season. Â
Doubles
1.   79   1993
2.   77   2023
3.   74   2001
   4.   73   1999
   5.   72   2024
6.   71   2004
   7.   65   1997
      65   1989
   9.   64   2005
10.   63   1994
Puchino Eyes Spot in Career Strikeout Top-10
Sophomore pitcher Natalia Puchino enters Friday's contest against St. John's with 279 career strikeouts, sitting three shy of tying Sydnee Eck for tenth on Creighton's career strikeout record board.
   Earlier this season, Puchino became just the eighth Bluejay in the last 25 years to record at least 250 career strikeouts. She is also the first Bluejay pitcher to record back-to-back 100 strikeout seasons since Sydnee Eck did so in the 2015-16 seasons.Â
    Puchino's 279 career strikeouts are the most since Kiele Miller recorded 334 punchouts from 2018-2020. Last season, Puchino became just the fifth Bluejay to record 100 strikeouts in their freshman season.Â
CAREER STRIKEOUTS
   No.   Name   Ks   Years
   1.   Tara Oltman   1,086   2007-10
   2.   Tammy Nielsen   914   2003-05
   3.   Becca Changstrom   860   2011-14
   4.   Shelli Mellegaard   495   1999-02
   5.   Kandy Foust   458   1983-86
   6.   Kiele Miller   334   2018-20
   7.   Holly Hesse   308   1979-82
   8.   Marcia Jacobsen   294   1981-84
   9.   Kelly Brookhart   289   1988-91
   10.   Sydnee Eck   282   2015-16
   -   Natalia Puchino   279   2023-pr.
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 spring, improving to 22-0 when scoring at least five runs in a game. In those 22 games, Creighton has outscored their opponents, 182-60.
   Over the last 24 seasons, Creighton is 374-54 when scoring five or more runs. In the same time span Creighton is 240-408-3 when scoring four runs or fever.Â
   Creighton is also 158-36 when scoring five or more runs in a game since joining the BIG EAST in 2014.Â
   During that same time frame the Bluejays are 92-4 when scoring eight or more runs, which included a perfect 14-0 record this season. Including the Jays 14 wins this season, Creighton has now won 24 consecutive games when scoring eight or more runs dating back to a 9-8 loss at St. John's on April 2, 2022.
All Puchino Does is Win, Win, WinÂ
   After guiding the Bluejays pitching staff to 13 wins in the circle last season, sophomore Natalia Puchino has been red hot for the Bluejays in 2024.Â
   The Milliken, Colo. native is 25-7 with four saves in the circle for the Bluejays this season. She currently leads the BIG EAST with a 1.82 ERA and 166 strikeouts in a league-leading 192.2 innings of work this season.Â
   Puchino's 25 victories in the circle this year are tied for the third most in the NCAA this season and are the seventh most by a Bluejay pitcher in a single season in program history.
   Puchino sits just one win shy of tying Tara Oltman for sixth on the all-time single-season wins list.Â
WINS
   No.   Name   W   Year
   1.   Tara Oltman   32   2010
   2.   Tara Oltman   31   2008
   3.   Tara Oltman   29   2009
   4.   Tammy Nielsen   28   2005
      Tammy Nielsen   28   2004
   6.   Tara Oltman   26   2007
   7.   Natalia Puchino   25   2024
   8.   Kelly Brookhart   23   1990
   9.   Becca Changstrom   22   2013
   10.   Marcia Jacobsen   21   1981
Nielsen Cracks Career Hits Top-10
   In her fifth year with the Bluejay softball program, outfielder Cayla Nielsen has turned into one of the most prolific hitters to ever wear a Bluejay uniform.Â
   Owning 206 career hits, the Blair, Neb. native ranks sixth all-time in career hits and is now just three hits shy of moving into the top-five in program history. Â
   Collecting her 200th career hit in the series opener against Providence on Friday, May 3rd, Nielsen became just the 10th Bluejay in program history to collect 200 career hits.Â
CAREER HITS
   No.   Name   H   Years
   1.   Christy Lunceford   245   1994-97
   2.   Heidi Geier   243   1996-99
   3.   Kelly Brookhart   218   1988-91
      Ashley Cantu   218   2017-21
   5.   Sue Frederick   209   1986-89
   6.   Cayla Nielsen   206   2020-Pr.
   7.   Ellen Homan   203   2011-14
      Wendy Moon   203   1991-94
   9.   Renae Sinkler   201   2007-10
      Jean Tierney   201   1980-83
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Emma's Keeping it 100
Senior Emma Rosonke recorded the 100th RBI of her Bluejay career delivering a walk-off RBI doubles in the Bluejays' 8-7 series opening win over Villanova on April 5 and collected her 100th career hit with a single to center in the Bluejays' 7-3 win over Omaha on April 23.Â
   The Omaha native is just the 12th Bluejay in program history to ever record 100 hits and 100 RBI in their Creighton careers.Â
   Rosonke is now just one RBI away from tying Lauren Cisneros for 10th on Creighton's all-time career Runs Batted In list.Â
RUNS BATTED IN
   No.   Name   H   RBI   Years
   1.   Amy Baker   191   167   2010-13
   2.   Renae Sinkler   201   146   2007-10
   3.   Abby Johnson   172   144   2002-05
   4.   Kailey Wilson   168   125   2019-23
   5.   Bailey Dawson   183   121   2006-09
      Stacey Rybar   194   121   2001-04
   7.   Liz Dike   180   119   2012-15
   8.   Jody Schwartz   179   113   1985-88
   9.   Christy Lunceford   245   110   1994-97
   10.   Lauren Cisneros   165   107   2003-06
   11.   Emma Rosonke   103   106   2021-Pr.
   12.   Dede Pendleton   184   103   1991-95
Dirty Thirty
   Completing a series sweep over DePaul on April 28, Creighton recorded its 30th win of the season, capturing the Bluejays 24th 30-win season in program history.Â
   Prior to this season, the last time the Bluejays collected 30-wins in a season was 2010, when the Jays captured their fifth MVC Tournament title, finishing the year in the NCAA Tournament with a 37-23 record.Â
Creighton's 30 Win Seasons
Total Wins   How Often   Last Time
51   1 time   1981
49   1 time   1989
46   1 time   1980
44   2 times   2005
43   2 time   2008
40   1 time   2007
39   2 times   1990
38   2 times   1991
37   1 time   2010
36   1 time   1986
35   1 time   2009
34   3 times   2024
33   1 time   1998
32   3 times   1997
31   1 times   1999
30   1 time   2001
Happy Anniversary
Saturday marks the 21st anniversary of two of the three longest games in NCAA history, both of which involved Creighton. On May 11, 1991, Creighton faced Utah in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament in Omaha.
   In an era when pitching dominated, it's not surprising that Creighton won a 1-0 pitcher's duel. What makes that night so special is that it took 31 innings!
   Star Creighton pitcher Kelly Brookhart, who had thrown a complete-game shutout earlier in the day, threw all 31 innings in the longest game in NCAA history. She threw the shutout despite allowing 25 hits and walking eight Utes (all intentional) while stranding an NCAA record 31. Brookhart was no slouch at the plate in that game either, going 6-for-11.
   The 31 inning game took 6:24 to complete, and finished at 12:24 a.m. on May 12th.
   Making the day even crazier was that the Bluejay win forced the "if necessary" game to be played, and that started just 21 minutes later at 12:45 a.m.
   Game two turned out to be the third-longest game in NCAA history, as Utah won a 4-3 game in 25 innings after the teams agreed to go to the international tiebreaker rule and place a runner on second base to start the 25th inning.
   Brookhart came on in relief in the nightcap and finished off the final 20.1 innings, part of her 58.1 innings of work in an 18-hour span.
