Creighton will look to improve upon its hot start when it plays at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Classic in Denton, Texas this weekend. The Bluejays are off to their first 4-0 start since the 2007 team opened the year with six straight wins.
The Bluejays open the tournament hosted by North Texas with a pair of games on Friday. The Jays take on Northern Illinois (3-2) at 10 am, before playing against South Dakota State in the Jackrabbits' season-opener at 12:30 pm. On Saturday the Jays face the hosts UNT (1-3) and Sam Houston State (0-5), before closing out the tournament on Sunday morning with a rematch against NIU.
UNT will provide live stats for all five of Creighton's games this weekend at the tournament home page.
The Bluejays have scored more runs through their first four games of the season than any previous four-game span in school history – plating 54 runs in their series sweep at Arkansas-Pine Bluff last weekend. The Jays scored at least 10 runs in each of the four games, marking the first time in school history the team has scored in double figures in four straight games. By comparison, Creighton did not score its 54th run of the season in 2011 until its 19th game. The Jays scored more than 10 runs just once in 2011 and had scored at least 10 runs in just three games of the previous two seasons combined.
Creighton's offensive numbers are impressive to say the least, as the team is hitting .447 and nine players are batting at least .400. The Jays hit 12 doubles in their first four games, one season after collecting only 25 two-baggers in the entire 53-game schedule (it took 22 games to reach 12 doubles last year). CU has already surpassed its 2011 total for triples, as the five on opening weekend are already more than the four hit as a team in 53 games last year.
Junior Amy Baker was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week after going an impressive 10-for-15 (.667) from the plate, with 13 RBI in four games. Baker, who made two starts at catcher and her first two career starts at first base, smashed four doubles over the weekend – three more than her entire 2011 campaign. She had three hits in three of the four games, after owning three three-hit games in her first 111 career contests. Baker enters the weekend eight RBI short of becoming the ninth player in school history to reach 100 career RBI.
Freshman Bri Lingl started the two games behind the plate that Baker started at first base and impressed in her debut weekend, going 6-for-9 with three runs scored, a double and a triple. The rookie went 4-for-4 in her first start. Lingl wasn't the only freshman making an impression on opening weekend, as Liz Dike, Taylor Flodman and Allie Mathewson all earned starts. Dike started every game at shortstop and hit .462 (6-13), finishing the weekend with a double, triple and an inside-the-park home run. Mathewson hit leadoff in each game, going 7-for-18 (.389) with a team-leading nine runs scored. Flodman went 2-for-5, making one start and appearing in all four games.
The Bluejay pitching staff allowed only four earned runs in 24 innings for a 1.17 ERA. Becca Changstrom went 2-0, allowing seven hits and no runs, while striking out 11 and walking just one in seven innings of work. Brittany Telecky logged 4.2 innings of scoreless relief for the Jays. Sammy Snygg and Alexis Cantu each picked up wins in their starts, while the two combined for a no-hitter in the finale. In fact, Snygg has not allowed a hit in seven innings this season.
The Bluejays open the tournament hosted by North Texas with a pair of games on Friday. The Jays take on Northern Illinois (3-2) at 10 am, before playing against South Dakota State in the Jackrabbits' season-opener at 12:30 pm. On Saturday the Jays face the hosts UNT (1-3) and Sam Houston State (0-5), before closing out the tournament on Sunday morning with a rematch against NIU.
UNT will provide live stats for all five of Creighton's games this weekend at the tournament home page.
The Bluejays have scored more runs through their first four games of the season than any previous four-game span in school history – plating 54 runs in their series sweep at Arkansas-Pine Bluff last weekend. The Jays scored at least 10 runs in each of the four games, marking the first time in school history the team has scored in double figures in four straight games. By comparison, Creighton did not score its 54th run of the season in 2011 until its 19th game. The Jays scored more than 10 runs just once in 2011 and had scored at least 10 runs in just three games of the previous two seasons combined.
Creighton's offensive numbers are impressive to say the least, as the team is hitting .447 and nine players are batting at least .400. The Jays hit 12 doubles in their first four games, one season after collecting only 25 two-baggers in the entire 53-game schedule (it took 22 games to reach 12 doubles last year). CU has already surpassed its 2011 total for triples, as the five on opening weekend are already more than the four hit as a team in 53 games last year.
Junior Amy Baker was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week after going an impressive 10-for-15 (.667) from the plate, with 13 RBI in four games. Baker, who made two starts at catcher and her first two career starts at first base, smashed four doubles over the weekend – three more than her entire 2011 campaign. She had three hits in three of the four games, after owning three three-hit games in her first 111 career contests. Baker enters the weekend eight RBI short of becoming the ninth player in school history to reach 100 career RBI.
Freshman Bri Lingl started the two games behind the plate that Baker started at first base and impressed in her debut weekend, going 6-for-9 with three runs scored, a double and a triple. The rookie went 4-for-4 in her first start. Lingl wasn't the only freshman making an impression on opening weekend, as Liz Dike, Taylor Flodman and Allie Mathewson all earned starts. Dike started every game at shortstop and hit .462 (6-13), finishing the weekend with a double, triple and an inside-the-park home run. Mathewson hit leadoff in each game, going 7-for-18 (.389) with a team-leading nine runs scored. Flodman went 2-for-5, making one start and appearing in all four games.
The Bluejay pitching staff allowed only four earned runs in 24 innings for a 1.17 ERA. Becca Changstrom went 2-0, allowing seven hits and no runs, while striking out 11 and walking just one in seven innings of work. Brittany Telecky logged 4.2 innings of scoreless relief for the Jays. Sammy Snygg and Alexis Cantu each picked up wins in their starts, while the two combined for a no-hitter in the finale. In fact, Snygg has not allowed a hit in seven innings this season.
