Softball Drops BIG EAST Tourney Opener

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Creighton	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	7	1
UConn	1	2	0	4	2	0	X	9	10	1

Creighton

UConn

ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Creighton Softball scored three runs in the top of the first inning, but second-seeded Connecticut responded with nine unanswered runs to upend the Bluejays, 9-3, in the opening round of the 2026 BIG EAST Softball Tournament Presented by JEEP.

Creighton (29-26) won't have much time to regroup, as the Bluejays will face top-seeded Providence tonight at 7:30 p.m. Central in an elimination game. That battle will air on ESPN+, and have live stats at https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=659257.

Creighton wasted no time punishing UConn starter Jess Walter in the top of the first inning. Kaelan Schultz doubled and Zoey Greenwood walked to open the game, then both women came around to score on Lily West's double to the wall in left-center. West would later score on a Connecticut error to give the Bluejays an early 3-0 lead.

UConn answered in the home half of the first inning with a two-out rally. Haley Coupal walked and scored on a double by Kaitlyn Breslin. The Huskies leveled the score at 3-all in the bottom of the second when Kaitlyn Kibling tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ava Calciano, followed by a home run to left by Caylee De Meo. The game was halted one out later with Connecticut batting in the bottom of the second inning due to lightning, a delay that would last 98 minutes.

The Huskies claimed their first lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as BIG EAST Player of the Year Cat Petteys launched her 18th home run of the season, a two-run shot, to make it 5-3. Kibling later added her league tournament record second triple of the game to push the UConn margin to 6-3 and end the start for CU ace Audrey Gilman. Calciano greeted reliever Landrie Harris with a double as the Huskies closed the fourth inning with a 7-3 advantage.

Connecticut tacked on two more insurance runs in the fifth, both with two outs. Breslin blooped a single into center to score Isabella Lundquist, and Petteys later scored on a wild pitch.

Walter (7-8) earned the victory in the circle, allowing six hits, three runs (two earned) and three walks while striking out two in her first complete game effort of the season. Gilman (15-9) allowed seven hits, seven runs and six walks in 3.2 innings to pick up the loss.

Schultz led the Bluejay offense with a 3-for-4 afternoon while tying a league tournament record with two doubles. Kibling had three hits for UConn, as the Huskies managed seven extra-base hits in addition to nine walks and three singles.

With the win, Connecticut (29-25) will play fourth-seeded Butler on Friday at 1 p.m. Central, with the victor of that contest advancing to Saturday's championship game. Butler scored nine runs in the top of the first inning to defeat Providence 10-3 in the first game of the tournament earlier on Thursday.

NOTES: Today's first round game was a rematch of last year's BIG EAST Tournament title game won by the Huskies ... Kaelan Schultz's double down the line on the game's second pitch was her 100th career hit ... Lily West's two-run double in the first inning was the 36th of her career, which is tied for sixth-most in program history. It was also her 243rd career hit, which is tied for second-most in CU history, and extended her reached base safely streak to 18 games in a row ... Lily West played in her 221st career game, good for a tie for sixth-most in CU history and the most by a Bluejay since Stacey Rybar's 221 from 2001-04 ... Creighton had been outscored 66-33 in the first inning during the regular-season before outscoring Connecticut 3-1 today in the opening frame. Creighton hadn't scored three or more runs in the first inning of a BIG EAST Tournament game since taking a 5-0 lead on St. John's on May 11, 2018 ...Creighton upped its single-season school-record totals to 344 runs, 315 RBI and 92 doubles ... Zoey Greenwood moved into a tie for second on Creighton's freshman hits leaderboard and now has 60, four behind Wendy Moon's 64 in 1991.

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Team Stats

Schultz Kaelan

Greenwood Zoey

West Lily

Pierson Ashten

Players Mentioned

Audrey Gilman

Zoey Greenwood

Landrie Harris