Softball Hosts Red-Hot Villanova This Weekend

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Games #37-38 • April 16 • Villanova at Creighton (DH) • 12:00 PM • Omaha, Neb. • CU Sports Complex
Game #39 • April 17 • Villanova at Creighton • 11:00 AM • Omaha, Neb. • CU Sports Complex • BEDN

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Two of the hottest teams in the BIG EAST meet this weekend in Omaha, when second-place Creighton (24-12, 6-1 BIG EAST) hosts third-place Villanova (21-13, 6-3 BIG EAST) for a three-game series.
   The series opens on Saturday with a Noon doubleheader before concluding on Sunday with an 11 am contest.
   The games will be played at the CU Sports Complex in Omaha, Neb.

Follow the Action
Live stats for the entire series will be available via links on GoCreighton.com, or at Creighton.StatBroadcast.com.
   Scoring updates and infographics will be provided via Twitter at @BluejaySoftball.
   All three games will also have free live video. Saturday's doubleheader can be found at GoCreighton.com/Watch, while Sunday's game will be broadcast on the BIG EAST Digital Network at FoxSportsGo.com, with Thor Tripp and Rob Simms on the call.

Scouting Creighton
Creighton Softball has won 19 of its last 23 games to improve to 24-12 on the season. The Bluejays are also 6-1 in BIG EAST play, good for second place, and have won six straight contests after midweek shutouts of Drake (4-0) and Iowa State (1-0).
   Creighton's hottest pitcher of late has been Micaela Whitney (7-4, 2.38 ERA). Whitney has won each of her last five starts, and her last seven decisions overall. Sydnee Eck has been named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week three times this season and leads the pitching staff with a 13-6 record. She's allowed just 110 hits and 23 walks in 113.1 innings of work, and owns a league-high 155 strikeouts on the spring to rank 24th nationally.
   Tash Coffiel is hitting a team-best .384 this season, and also tops the club with a .511 on-base percentage. Allie Reinhart leads the club in doubles (6) while ranking second on the team in batting average (.363) and RBI (25). Providing much of the power in the middle of the line-up has been junior Jen Daro, who hits .337 and has 35 RBI. She leads the BIG EAST with eight home runs. Creighton's hottest hitter of late has been Michelle Trulin (.297), who reached base eight of 10 plate appearances last weekend, including three extra-base hits.

Scouting Villanova
Villanova has won 12 games in a row, its longest streak since 2001, to improve to 21-13 overall and 6-3 in the BIG EAST. The Wildcats, however, enter the weekend 10-0 at home and 0-5 in true road games. VU is also 14-0 when scoring six runs or more, and 14-0 when allowing two runs or less. VU leads the league with a .315 batting average and a .972 fielding percentage.
   Lauren Herschberg leads VU with a .381 batting average, 43 hits and seven stolen bases. Dana Morris hits .324 and has nine doubles, six home runs and 34 RBI, while Brittany Husk paces the club with 27 runs scored and also hits .314.
   The Wildcat pitching staff is headed by Kate Poppe, who is 14-9 with a 2.94 ERA and 135 strikeouts in 126.0 innings of work. Jordan Prutzer (4-1, 2.68 ERA) and Brette Lawrence (3-3, 5.12 ERA) also log innings in the circle. Villanova owns a 3.45 ERA overall as a team in 221.0 innings, including 193 strikeouts and 75 walks. Teams are hitting .270 against the Wildcat pitching corps.

Series History vs. Villanova
Series: Creighton leads, 4-3. Since Creighton won a neutral site game played in 2006 in Florida, the home team has won all six meetings between the schools, as the teams have exchanged series sweeps the last two years.
Last Year's Meetings: Villanova swept Creighton by scores of 2-0, 4-0 and 9-3. Liz Dike led Creighton with three hits, while Blake Ringle homered and drove in two of CU's three runs on the weekend. Kate Poppe threw a no-hitter in game two for VU, and Creighton went 0-for-20 with two outs in the three game set.

Strong Start, Part I
Creighton is off to a strong start this season with a 24-12 record thanks to its current six-game winning streak, the program's longest since a nine-game streak last spring.
   This is also Creighton's best 36-game start since the 2013 team opened 25-11.
   By comparison, Creighton won 22 games all of last season, when it finished 22-21.
   This is the 20th straight year that Creighton has won 22 games or more, all under the direction of Brent Vigness. The only BIG EAST school with a longer active streak is DePaul, which has 31 straight seasons of 22+ wins entering this spring, and 17 victories currently.

Strong Start, Part II
Creighton is off to a 6-1 start in BIG EAST play, good enough to place the Bluejays in second place.
   This is the program's best start in league action since beginning 11-1 in 2009 in the Missouri Valley Conference. That team went on to win the MVC regular-season title.
   In fact, this is the sixth time that Creighton has started 6-1 or better in league play. Four of the first five teams to do so won the regular-season title, and the team that didn't won the conference tournament.
Year   Start   League, Finish   League Tourney Title?
1998   9-1   1st, MVC   No
2005   17-1   3rd, MVC   Yes
2007   9-1   1st, MVC   Yes
2008   6-1   1st, MVC   No
2009   11-1   1st, MVC   No
2016   6-1   ???, BIG EAST   ???

Consecutive Bunts Lead To Victory
Creighton was held without a hit in the first six innings on Wednesday vs. Iowa State, before breaking through with a unique rally.
   Allie Reinhart walked to open the bottom of the seventh in a tie game, then gave way to pinch-runner Katie Pascuzzi.
   Pascuzzi moved to second when BIG EAST home run leader Jen Daro put down a rare bunt. Daro's bunt squeezed past the pitcher for CU's first hit of the game.
   Mileah McKelvy, third on the team with three home runs, followed with a near-identical push bunt past the pitcher. With the first baseman charging in and the second baseman rotating to cover first, the ball would roll all the way to the outfield as Pascuzzi scored without a throw to secure the win via the rare walk-off bunt.

You'll Get Nothing And Like It
Creighton shut out both midweek opponents it faced this week, blanking MVC leader Drake (4-0) as well as Big 12 cellar dweller Iowa State (1-0). Not only that, but neither foe ever advanced a runner as far as third base in the two Bluejay wins.
   Creighton did not make an error defensively, and allowed just nine hits and four walks in 14 innings in the circle.
   This is the second time this season that CU has thrown consecutive shutouts, joining wins over Holy Cross and Hampton on March 9th.
   Creighton hasn't thrown three straight shutouts since March 9-10, 2013.

16 Candles
The last time Creighton hosted Villanova for a series, the teams locked up in a memorable duel that went 16 innings in the second game of the series.
   The teams were deadlocked at four runs each in the sixth inning when both teams brought back their game one starting pitcher.
   Villanova's Kate Poppe and Creighton's Becca Changstrom would proceed to each throw 10+ straight scoreless innings or relief.
   Creighton broke through in the bottom of the 16th inning, thanks in part to the Wildcat defense. A two-out error helped Liz Dike reach first base, and Alexis Cantu would follow with a walk-off home run to right to seal the 6-4 Bluejay victory that lasted 4:06.
   Poppe remains the Villanova ace, while Cantu is currently an assistant coach at Creighton.

Trulin Goes Yard, At Last
Michelle Trulin's first at bat last weekend vs. Georgetown was a memorable one, as the senior pulled a 1-2 pitch over the wall in right field to give Creighton a 3-0 lead.
   Not only was in Trulin's first home run this season, but her first roundtripper as a collegian. Trulin's homer came in her 186th game at the college level (including 111 games at Iowa Western CC), and in her 649th career plate appearance.
   Trulin entered the weekend with one extra-base hit in her first 189 at bats as a Bluejay, then had an extra-base knock in all three games last weekend vs. Georgetown. Besides her home run in the series opener, she also delivered doubles in game two and game three.

Reinhart Discovers Long Ball, Too.
Allie Reinhart entered last weekend with one home run all season before hitting homers in each of the first two games of the series vs. Georgetown. She added another home run on Tuesday at Drake.
   Reinhart had five home runs in her first three seasons on campus before rediscovering in the last five games.
   Reinhart is the second Bluejay this season to homer in consecutive games. Jen Daro homered in Creighton's eighth (Campbell) and ninth (Western Michigan) games, then did it again in game 27 (Providence) and game 28 (South Dakota State).

Back-To-Back
Allie Reinhart and Jen Daro hit back-to-back home runs in the second inning vs. Georgetown on April 9th, with both women homering on a 2-1 pitch against Delaney Osterday.
   It's the first time Creighton has hit back-to-back home runs since Liz Dike and Blake Ringle homered consecutively in the third inning vs. Butler on March 22, 2015.

White Hot Whitney
Micaela Whitney is in the middle of a great stretch, allowing just four runs in her last five starts to lower her ERA to a team-best 2.38. That figure ranks second in the BIG EAST.
   The Omaha native has allowed just 17 hits in 33 innings over the past two weeks while striking out 34, and she's thrown shutouts in four of her last seven starts.
   During her last nine outings, Whitney is 7-0 with a 1.34 ERA in 52.1 innings of work. In that time she's struck out 62 and allowed just 33 hits and 23 walks.
   Whitney's seven-game win streak is tied for the BIG EAST's second-longest active win streak. Villanova's Kate Poppe has won nine straight decisions, while DePaul's Morgan Maize has also won seven in a row entering this weekend.

No-Hitter For Whitney
Micaela Whitney threw the second complete game no-hitter of her Bluejay career on April 2 at Seton Hall. She struck out 11 and did not allow a walk in her gem. Just two Pirate runners reached base, one on hit-by-pitch in the second inning and another on a third inning error.
   Whitney needed just 72 pitches to complete her no-hitter, throwing 57 strikes.

List of No-Hitters Under Vigness
Micaela Whitney is the 12th different pitcher to throw a complete game no-hitter during Brent Vigness' 23 years at Creighton, but just the second to throw more than one. There have been 22 no-hitters overall under Vigness' watch.
   Tammy Nielsen had eight no-no's (two in 2003, five in 2004, one in 2005), while Whitney threw one on Feb. 5, 2015 vs. Pacific in her Bluejay debut.
   Ten other Bluejay pitchers have thrown a complete game no-hitter in that time, while current assistant coach Alexis Cantu was part of a combined no-hitter vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff on February 12, 2012.
   A complete list of no-hitters under Vigness can be found at the bottom of page four of these notes.

True Blue Trulin
Michelle Trulin has reached base in 16 of the last 17 games, batting .362 with 17 hits and 10 walks in that span.
   Trulin has also scored 19 times in those games, during which time Creighton is 14-3.
   Trulin's streak of 16 straight games reaching base (snapped Wednesday vs. Iowa State) was the longest mark of Trulin's Creighton career.   Creighton's last player to reach in 16 or more straight games was Kelsey Allender, who reached in 20 straight contests from Feb. 5-March 22, 2015.

Offensive Showcase
Creighton is 5-0 in BIG EAST home games this season, dominating games vs. Providence and Georgetown.
   Creighton scored 26 runs in three games vs. the Hoyas and 25 games in two contests against the Friars. Those rank as the top two scoring series against league competition since joining the BIG EAST.
   In five BIG EAST home games this spring, the Bluejays are hitting .392 and have outscored foes 51-23. Creighton owns a .506 on-base percentage and a .600 slugging percentage in the five games while producing 14 extra-base hits.
   Eight different women have five or more hits in those five games, and four of them have scored six times or more.
   Among those offensive standouts have been Michelle Trulin, who is hitting .545 (6-11) with seven walks and a .722 on-base percentage, scoring 11 times.

Magic Number 5
Creighton is 14-0 this season when scoring five runs or more, and was won its last 18 games dating to last season when that happens.
   That moves Creighton to 177-16 since 2007 when that happens. In the same time span Creighton is 136-183-2 when scoring four runs or fewer.
   Creighton's 14-12 victory in the nightcap vs. Providence on March 23rd snapped a 32-game losing streak when allowing 10 or more runs, a streak that dated to a 13-12 victory over Drake on April 9, 2002.

Leads Generally Safe
Creighton has done an excellent job of protecting leads this season. In fact, there's only been two games that Creighton has led at any point in which it hasn't won, a Feb. 12 game vs. Cal State Northridge when CU couldn't hold onto a 2-0 lead, and an April 2 game vs. Seton Hall when the Jays squandered leads of 1-0 and 2-1.
   Creighton is 20-1 when leading after three innings, 19-0 when leading after four innings, and 17-0 when leading after five or six innings this season.
   On the other end of the spectrum, eight of Creighton's 24 wins this season have been of the come-from-behind variety.

Creighton Picked Fifth in BIG EAST
As announced by the BIG EAST Conference on Feb. 1, Creighton was tabbed fifth in the Preseason Coaches' Poll, just one point shy of Seton Hall for fourth place. Last season's regular season and tournament champion, St. John's, was unanimously chosen to top the poll. The Red Storm received all seven available first-place votes for a total of 49 points, as the league's head coaches ranked the teams one through seven and were not allowed to vote for their own programs.
   With two All-BIG EAST selections returning, Creighton will look to build off of last year's 22-21 campaign. Allie Reinhart led the Bluejays with a .396 batting average, 21 hits and 12 RBI in conference play last season. Blake Ringle finished second on the team with 10 long balls, four of which came in BIG EAST action. Including Reinhart and Ringle, the Bluejays return 15 players from a year ago. Creighton welcomes seven newcomers to the roster: Aujanae McCoy, Tara Fallahee, Bry Flanagan, Kelly Mardones, Michal Hylton, Val Bertrand and Mileah McKelvy.

Line-up Switcheroo
Head coach Brent Vigness made several notable changes to his line-up during the March 30th doubleheader vs. South Dakota State, then has followed the same gameplan during the past nine games.
   Tash Coffiel, who had started 26-of-27 games at third base, has now started the last nine games at shortstop.
   Jen Daro, who had started all 27 games at first base, has now started the last nine games at third base.
   Anna O'Gorman, who had made five starts at second base, 11 starts in right field and nine starts at designated player, has made her first nine starts of the season at first base.
   In the circle, Kelly Mardones made her first start of the season in game two vs. SDSU, as well.
   The defensive changes seemed to work well, as Coffiel, Daro, O'Gorman and Mardones have handled 93-of-97 chances successfully.
   Creighton also turned a pair of double plays in game two vs. SDSU, both on line drives to third base where a runner was doubled off first base. It was just the seventh time in the last eight seasons that CU has turned a pair of double plays in the same contest.

RPI Update
The latest NCAA Softball RPI, released through games of April 10th, has Creighton with the fourth-best RPI in the BIG EAST.
   Creighton had an RPI of 145, trailing only DePaul (111), Villanova (115) and Butler (143).
   Creighton is 22-4 this year against teams with an RPI worse than 140, but 2-8 against teams in the top 140.

In The Circle
Creighton has used five different women inside the circle this year, with tremendous success.
   Creighton leads or is tied for the BIG EAST lead in wins (24), ERA (3.18), saves (2), strikeouts (254), oppsing batting average (.253) and fewest runs allowed (106).

What A Start!
Creighton opened its series with Providence on March 23rd with an eight-run first inning, keying an eventual 11-3 win.
   Creighton had not scored eight or more runs in the first inning since scoring 13 times in the first inning vs. North Dakota State on April 5, 2010.
   Creighton's top-scoring inning this season was a nine-run outburst in the second frame vs. Georgetown on April 9th. Creighton had not scored nine or more runs in an inning since scoring 12 runs in the third inning vs. Indiana State on March 31, 2012.

Allender Always In
Kelsey Allender continues to be a fixture in the Creighton line-up. Not only has she started every game this season, but she's started every game of her career.
   Allender enters Saturday's doubleheader vs. Villanova with 179 consecutive starts.
   Allender's not the only Blujeay with an impressive starting streak, as Jen Daro's made 115 straight starts (and has played in all 132 games since enrolling) and Blake Ringle's at 79 starts in a row.

Daro To Be Different
Jen Daro's grand slam in game two vs. Providence on March 23rd was her team-high sixth home run of the season. She added her seventh dinger on March 30th in game one vs. South Dakota State.
   She's the first Bluejay to launch a grand slam since Liz Dike on April 11, 2015, though Daro also hit a grand slam last year on April 8th vs. South Dakota.
   If you're curious, the last Creighton player with multiple grand slams in the same season is Bailey Dawson, who had two in 2008.

Give Me Four
Allie Reinhart went 4-for-4 in game two against Providence on March 23rd, becoming the first Bluejay with four hits in a game since Bri Lingl on April 5, 2014.
   Reinhart leads Creighton with 14 multiple-hit games, but that marked her first contest this year with three or more safeties. It was also her first career game as a Bluejay with four hits.
   Speaking of four, Michelle Trulin's four runs in game two vs. Providence on March 23rd were the most by a Bluejay since Kelsey Allender scored four times vs. Saint Peter's on March 12, 2015.
   Trulin has scored 15 times in the last 13 games after scoring nine times total in CU's first 23 games this season.

Situtational Numbers
Creighton is 15-2 this year when stealing a base, and had won 16 straight games dating to last year when picking up a steal prior to a March 30th game 2 loss to South Dakota State.
   Creighton is 13-0 this year when Allie Reinhart scores, and has won each of the last 18 games in which she's scored. Creighton is also 13-2 this year when Reinhart has an RBI. Reinhart is 23-for-52 in the last 18 games, producing 17 RBI and 11 runs in that span.
   Creighton is 18-1 this year when Michelle Trulin has a hit, and is 16-1 when Trulin scores this season. Trulin is 16-for-41 with 17 runs scored in CU's last 15 contests.
   Creighton is 13-1 when Mileah McKelvy has a hit.
   Creighton is 18-2 when scoring first this season and 24-2 when leading at any point this season.

McKelvy Delivers
Mileah McKelvy had the best game of her young career on March 5 vs. Niagara when she went 2-for-3 with two homers and five RBI in a Bluejay victory.
   The outburst came after she entered the contest with three career hits and one career RBI in her first 13 games played.
   McKelvy is the first Bluejay freshman with multiple home runs in a game since Amy Baker launched two round-trippers vs. Northern Iowa on April 17, 2010. Baker had three multi-home run games as a freshman and graduated in 2013 with a school-record 58 home runs overall.

Rebel Yell
Creighton has played some of its best softball of the season at the Rebel Spring Games in recent springs.
   This was the fourth straight season Creighton has spent its spring break in Florida at the Rebel Spring Games, and it has now gone 35-5 in those trips.
   In those games Creighton owns a collective ERA of 0.98, allowing just 38 earned runs in 271.1 innings. At the plate the Bluejays are hitting .270 in those Florida games, hitting 269-for-997 in the 40 games.
Year   W-L   AVG   R   HR   ERA
2016   9-1   .266   45   4   1.33
2015   9-1   .304   63   8   0.74
2014   11-1   .264   47   4   0.77
2013   6-2   .241   29   9   1.15

Eck Wins Three Weekly BIG EAST Awards
Junior RHP Sydnee Eck was named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 22, Feb. 29 and March 7.
   During those three weeks, Eck went 7-1 with a 2.70 ERA in eight appearances. She struck out 68 batters in 46.2 innings of work, allowing just 43 hits and 10 walks.
   Eck became CU's first hurler to be named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week in consecutive weeks since Becca Changstrom was honored by the BIG EAST on March 17 & 24, 2014, and is the first Bluejay softball player to be honored three straight weeks since at least the 2003 season.

Vigness Wins #700
Head Coach Brent Vigness is in his 23rd season as head coach at Creighton, where he owns a 710-503-3 record. He is the winningest coach in Creighton history in any sport and picked up his 700th victory against South Dakota State on March 10th.
   Vigness has a career record of 858-574-4 in 28 years overall, which includes five seasons at Assumption (Mass.) College.
   Vigness is assisted by two of his former players, Renae Sinkler and Alexis Cantu.
   Below is a look how long it's taken Vigness to reach each 100-win milestone at Creighton:
Win #   Date   W-L-T
100   4/23/97   100-100-0
200   5/6/00   200-168-0
300   3/12/04   300-252-0
400   2/17/07   400-305-1
500   4/4/09   500-345-2
600   4/21/12   600-422-3
700   3/10/16   700-500-3

Daro at the Bat
Junior first baseman Jen Daro had a huge weekend at the Troy Cox Classic from Feb. 19-21. In five games in Las Cruces, Daro combined to hit 6-for-12 at the plate with 13 RBI.
   She homered once in Creighton's 11-3 win over Campbell on Saturday, Feb. 20, and twice more in the Bluejays' following game that day, a 6-1 win over Western Michigan. Prior to Daro, the last Creighton player to homer in consecutive contests was Alexis Cantu—a current assistant on Creighton's coaching staff—in 2014.
   Cantu had also been the last Bluejay with multiple three-run home runs in the same game, having done so on April 6, 2012 at Wichita State as part of a game with three home runs.
   Daro's three different three-run homers over the course of two games on Feb. 20 are made more impressive when learning that CU hit seven total three-run homers in 2015.

Covering the Bases with Erin McGonigal
Fans who enjoyed following Creighton Softball along with Erin McGonigal last season can do so again this year, as the senior infielder chronicles the Bluejays' 2016 season in her "Covering the Bases" blog. Blog updates can be found online at GoCreighton.com.

Strength of Schedule
The Bluejays' schedule features eight opponents who made NCAA Tournament appearances last season, including five teams which won their respective regular-season conference championships: BYU (WCC), Cal State Northridge (Big West), New Mexico State (WAC), Oklahoma (Big 12), and St. John's (BIG EAST).
   Creighton's matchups with Oklahoma and New Mexico State in the Troy Cox Classic marked the fifth and sixth occasions already this season that the Bluejays faced off with teams that finished last season with RPI rankings better than 70: Tennessee (9), Oklahoma (12), New Mexico State (43), Cal State Northridge (51), BYU (56), and UC Riverside (70).
   One of Creighton's toughest tests of the year came immediately out of the gate with a season-opening matchup with perennial power Tennessee to begin the Kajikawa Classic on Feb. 11. In the contest, Creighton trailed by a slim, 3-0, margin until the sixth inning when Tennessee scored twice to seal a 5-0 victory. Last season, the Volunteers posted a 47-17 record and clinched the program's seventh Women's College World Series bid.

On the Road Again
Creighton's first 24 contests this season took place away from home, as the Bluejays take part in four consecutive tournaments: Kajikawa Classic (Feb. 11-13; Tempe, Ariz.), Troy Cox Classic (Feb. 19-21; Las Cruces, N.M.), North Texas Invitational (Feb. 27-28; Denton, Texas), and Rebel Spring Games (March 5-10; Kissimmee, Fla.).
   After travelling for the first month of the season, 13 of Creighton's following 19 contests were scheduled to take place at home inside the confines of the Creighton Sports Complex.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kelsey Allender

Valentina Bertrand

Tash Coffiel

Jen Daro

Liz Dike

Sydnee Eck

Tara Fallahee

Bry Flanagan

Michal Hylton

Kelly Mardones

Aujanae McCoy

Erin McGonigal

Mileah McKelvy

Anna O'Gorman

Katie Pascuzzi

Allie Reinhart

Blake Ringle

Michelle Trulin

Micaela Whitney