Friday, April 24
Storrs, Conn.
2:00 PM
Creighton University
26-22, 14-5
11
at
12
Connecticut
24-24, 14-5
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creighton | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 15 | 1 |
| UConn | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | X | 12 | 13 | 0 |
Photo by: Joel Deman
Softball Drops Slugfest at UConn, 12-11
4/24/2026 5:47:00 PM | Softball
STORRS, Conn. – The Creighton softball team scored in every inning and tied the single season school record for doubles, but it wasn't enough as the Bluejays dropped the series opener at UConn, 12-11, on Friday afternoon at Burrill Family Field in Storrs, Conn.
The loss snapped the Bluejays 29 game winning streak when scoring eight or more runs, as CU fell to 26-22 on the year and 14-5 in BIG EAST play. UConn, meanwhile, improved to 24-24 overall and into a tie for second in the BIG EAST standings with a 14-5 league record.
The Bluejays came out swinging in the top of the first as freshman Zoey Greenwood led off the game with a single into shallow left center and advanced to third on the 11th double of the season from junior Avery Barnard. Following a lineout from Lily West, junior Kaelan Schultz executed a perfect safety squeeze to give the Jays an 1-0 advantage.
UConn, however, surged ahead with four runs in the bottom half of the frame as the first six Huskies reached base safely. A leadoff walk to Kaitlyn Kibling and a single from Savannah Ring proved costly as Cat Petteys laced the first of her three doubles off the left centerfield wall to grab a 2-1 lead. Haley Coupal followed with a walk before back-to-back RBI singles from Kaitlyn Breslin and Emma Willers pushed the Huskies lead to 4-1.
Creighton answered with a run in the top of the second using an RBI single from junior Ashten Pierson to cut the deficit to 4-2, but the Huskies countered with a second RBI double from Petteys and an RBI groundout from Willers to extend the lead out to 6-2.
The Jays responded in the top of the third as back-to-back singles from Schultz and Vandewater set up Mayhue for a two-out, two-run double to trim the deficit to 6-4.
UConn, however, stretched its lead to 8-4 in the home half of the fourth with an RBI single from Savannah Ring and the third RBI double of the game from Petteys.
Creighton would chip away at the deficit, plating two runs in the top of the fourth on a hit-by-pitch from Ella Dalton, a single from Pierson and a two-run double from Greenwood, before leveling the contest at 8-8 with a two-run double down the left field line from Dalton in the fifth. Dalton's two-run double in the fifth was the Bluejays 79th double of the season, tying the record for the most doubles in a single season in program history.
All knotted at 8-8, UConn took advantage of a Bluejay error and loaded the bases on a single from Bella Cruz and an intentional walk to Petteys, before Haley Coupal ripped a bases clearing double off the glove of Barnard in the right centerfield gap to give the Huskies an 11-8 lead.
Creighton responded once again in the top of the sixth with another two-out RBI singles from Mayhue and an RBI single from Perez to make it a one-score game at 11-10 but allowed an RBI single from Cruz in the bottom half of the frame as UConn took a 12-10 lead into the seventh.
Down to their final three outs, Creighton loaded the bases on a walk to Dalton and back-to-back singles from Pierson and Greenwood with no one away. Barnard then drove in Dalton and moved Pierson to third on a sacrifice fly to deep center to cut the deficit to 12-11. After Greenwood stole second to put runners on second and third with one out, West attempted a suicide squeeze to score Pierson from third, but the Huskies sniffed it out and cut the game-tying run down out home to preserve their one-run lead. Jessica Walter would then get Schultz to roll one over to third to close out the Huskies 12-11 victory.
Bluejay reliever Landrie Harris took the loss (4-4) allowing eighth runs, five earned, in 4.1 innings of work, while UConn reliever Amber Bretton nabbed the win (3-0) after allowing three runs in 1.2 innings pitched. Walter also picked up her ninth save of the season, tying Nebraska's Jordy Frahm for the nation's lead.
Offensively, Creighton finished the day with 13 hits, including a season-high tying five doubles. Pierson led the way with a season-high three hits, Greenwood and Mayhue each collected three hits and combined for five RBI in the setback.
The Bluejays and Huskies will continue their three-game set on Saturday at 3 p.m. Central in a game streamed on ESPN+.
NOTES: Creighton recorded a season-high tying five doubles today, tying the Bluejays single season program record with 79 doubles this season ... Creighton had its 29-game win streak when scoring eight or more runs snapped. The Bluejays last loss when scoring eight or more runs was against UConn on March 28, 2025 ... Creighton has scored 318 runs this season and is now just three runs shy of breaking the school record of 321 runs scored in a single season set last spring ... With one run scored on Friday, Lily West moved into a tied with Heidi Geier and Ashley Cantu for fourth on Creighton's all-time runs scored list with 129 career runs scored ... Ashten Pierson stole a pair of bases on Friday, recording the 37th stolen base of her career and passing Katie Ayers for eighth on Creighton's career stolen base list ... Ella Dalton also cracked Creighton's career stolen base top-10 with her 32nd career stolen base on Friday.
The loss snapped the Bluejays 29 game winning streak when scoring eight or more runs, as CU fell to 26-22 on the year and 14-5 in BIG EAST play. UConn, meanwhile, improved to 24-24 overall and into a tie for second in the BIG EAST standings with a 14-5 league record.
The Bluejays came out swinging in the top of the first as freshman Zoey Greenwood led off the game with a single into shallow left center and advanced to third on the 11th double of the season from junior Avery Barnard. Following a lineout from Lily West, junior Kaelan Schultz executed a perfect safety squeeze to give the Jays an 1-0 advantage.
UConn, however, surged ahead with four runs in the bottom half of the frame as the first six Huskies reached base safely. A leadoff walk to Kaitlyn Kibling and a single from Savannah Ring proved costly as Cat Petteys laced the first of her three doubles off the left centerfield wall to grab a 2-1 lead. Haley Coupal followed with a walk before back-to-back RBI singles from Kaitlyn Breslin and Emma Willers pushed the Huskies lead to 4-1.
Creighton answered with a run in the top of the second using an RBI single from junior Ashten Pierson to cut the deficit to 4-2, but the Huskies countered with a second RBI double from Petteys and an RBI groundout from Willers to extend the lead out to 6-2.
The Jays responded in the top of the third as back-to-back singles from Schultz and Vandewater set up Mayhue for a two-out, two-run double to trim the deficit to 6-4.
UConn, however, stretched its lead to 8-4 in the home half of the fourth with an RBI single from Savannah Ring and the third RBI double of the game from Petteys.
Creighton would chip away at the deficit, plating two runs in the top of the fourth on a hit-by-pitch from Ella Dalton, a single from Pierson and a two-run double from Greenwood, before leveling the contest at 8-8 with a two-run double down the left field line from Dalton in the fifth. Dalton's two-run double in the fifth was the Bluejays 79th double of the season, tying the record for the most doubles in a single season in program history.
All knotted at 8-8, UConn took advantage of a Bluejay error and loaded the bases on a single from Bella Cruz and an intentional walk to Petteys, before Haley Coupal ripped a bases clearing double off the glove of Barnard in the right centerfield gap to give the Huskies an 11-8 lead.
Creighton responded once again in the top of the sixth with another two-out RBI singles from Mayhue and an RBI single from Perez to make it a one-score game at 11-10 but allowed an RBI single from Cruz in the bottom half of the frame as UConn took a 12-10 lead into the seventh.
Down to their final three outs, Creighton loaded the bases on a walk to Dalton and back-to-back singles from Pierson and Greenwood with no one away. Barnard then drove in Dalton and moved Pierson to third on a sacrifice fly to deep center to cut the deficit to 12-11. After Greenwood stole second to put runners on second and third with one out, West attempted a suicide squeeze to score Pierson from third, but the Huskies sniffed it out and cut the game-tying run down out home to preserve their one-run lead. Jessica Walter would then get Schultz to roll one over to third to close out the Huskies 12-11 victory.
Bluejay reliever Landrie Harris took the loss (4-4) allowing eighth runs, five earned, in 4.1 innings of work, while UConn reliever Amber Bretton nabbed the win (3-0) after allowing three runs in 1.2 innings pitched. Walter also picked up her ninth save of the season, tying Nebraska's Jordy Frahm for the nation's lead.
Offensively, Creighton finished the day with 13 hits, including a season-high tying five doubles. Pierson led the way with a season-high three hits, Greenwood and Mayhue each collected three hits and combined for five RBI in the setback.
The Bluejays and Huskies will continue their three-game set on Saturday at 3 p.m. Central in a game streamed on ESPN+.
NOTES: Creighton recorded a season-high tying five doubles today, tying the Bluejays single season program record with 79 doubles this season ... Creighton had its 29-game win streak when scoring eight or more runs snapped. The Bluejays last loss when scoring eight or more runs was against UConn on March 28, 2025 ... Creighton has scored 318 runs this season and is now just three runs shy of breaking the school record of 321 runs scored in a single season set last spring ... With one run scored on Friday, Lily West moved into a tied with Heidi Geier and Ashley Cantu for fourth on Creighton's all-time runs scored list with 129 career runs scored ... Ashten Pierson stole a pair of bases on Friday, recording the 37th stolen base of her career and passing Katie Ayers for eighth on Creighton's career stolen base list ... Ella Dalton also cracked Creighton's career stolen base top-10 with her 32nd career stolen base on Friday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Amber Bretton (3-0)
L: Harris, Landrie (4-4)
S: Jessica Walter (9)
Batting:
2B: Greenwood, Zoey 1 ; Barnard, Avery 1 ; Mayhue, Keegan 1 ; Perez, Erika 1 ; Dalton, Ella 1
RBI: Greenwood, Zoey 2 ; Barnard, Avery 1 ; Schultz, Kaelan 1 ; Mayhue, Keegan 3 ; Perez, Erika 1 ; Dalton, Ella 2 ; Pierson, Ashten 1
SH: Schultz, Kaelan 1
SF: Barnard, Avery 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Greenwood, Zoey 1 ; West, Lily 1 ; Schultz, Kaelan 1 ; Vandewater, Tara 2 ; Mayhue, Keegan 1 ; Bailey, Emma 1 ; Vazquez, Chiqui 1 ; Dalton, Ella 2 ; Pierson, Ashten 1
SB: Greenwood, Zoey 1 ; Dalton, Ella 1 ; Pierson, Ashten 2
HBP: Dalton, Ella 1
Batting:
2B: Cat Petteys 3 ; Haley Coupal 1
RBI: Savannah Ring 1 ; Cat Petteys 4 ; Haley Coupal 3 ; Kaitlyn Breslin 1 ; Emma Willers 2 ; Bella Cruz 1
SH: Kaitlyn Kibling 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kaitlyn Kibling 2 ; Savannah Ring 2 ; Cat Petteys 3 ; Haley Coupal 1 ; Caylee De Meo 1 ; Isabella Lundquist 1 ; Bella Cruz 2
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
3
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
UTL
/ Softball
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