Creighton University
San Jose State
Softball Sets To Start Season At 2017 Kajikawa Classic
2/7/2017 1:01:00 PM | Softball
Bluejays open new year with five games in three days
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Creighton opens its 2017 campaign at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz, marking the fifth consecutive season the Bluejays have opened the season in Tempe. The Jays went 1-4 at last season's event.Â
Game Schedule
Game #1 • Feb. 9 • Creighton vs. San Jose State • 4:00 p.m.
Game #2 • Feb. 9 • Creighton vs. No. 9 Oregon • 6:45 p.m.
Game #3 • Feb. 10 • Creighton vs. Saint Mary's (CA) • 10:30 a.m.
Game #4 • Feb. 10 • Creighton vs. Stanford • 4:00 p.m.Â
Game #5 • Feb. 11 • Creighton vs. Cal Poly • 10:00 a.m.Â
*All times listed are Central Standard Time
Follow the Action
Links to live stats and updates for the Kajikawa Classic can be found at http://admin.thesundevils.com/gameday/softball-vs-utep/softball/17/.
Scoring updates and infographics will be provided via Twitter at @BluejaySoftball.
Scouting Creighton
Picked fifth (of eight teams) in the 2017 BIG EAST Preseason Coaches Poll, Creighton returns five starters, including its in entire infield from last season's team that finished 25-22 overall and 7-11 in league action (fifth place).Â
Two-time All-BIG EAST Selection Allie Reinhart returns after leading the 2016 sqaud with 46 hits, and Tash Coffiel remains with the program after posting a team-best .353 batting average.Â
Three-year starting corner infielder Jen Daro also returns after leading the team with nine home runs and 39 RBIs.Â
Creighton returns only one pitcher (Michal Hylton) who made more than one appearance in a Bluejay uniform last season.
The Jays welcomed 10 new faces to the program including two transfers from South Dakota State, two from 2016 NJCAA National Champion Butler (Kan.) Community College, and the 2015-16 Nebraska Gatorade Softball Player of the Year.Â
Scouting San Jose State
2016 All-Mountain West and NFCA All-Pacific Region selections Brittany Abacherli and Madison Aurin return from a San Jose State squad that finished second in the
MWC (17-7) and 28-24 overall.Â
The Spartans were picked third in the 2017 Mountain West Preseason Coaches Poll. Â
Abacherli, the Spartans' starting center fielder and leadoff hitter, made the All-Pacific Region Second Team after hitting .351 with 12 home runs, 49 RBIs, 12 doubles and 56 runs scored. She also went 15-for-15 in stolen base attempts.
Aurin, SJSU's sophomore first baseman, hit .344, launched 10 homers and drove in 41 runs and claimed a spot on the All-Pacific Region Third Team.
As a team, the Spartans led the Mountain West Conference with a .335 team batting average, a mark good enough for 10th nationally.
Katelyn Linford returns in the circle for San Jose State after going 10-10 with a 5.08 ERA during a team-leading 31 appearances and 22 starts while logging a Spartan-best 122 2/3 innings. Â
Head coach Peter Turner returns for his 11th season.Â
Scouting No. 9 Oregon
The Ducks led Division I with a .353 team batting average, on their way to an appearance in the Super Regionals and No. 10 ranking in the final USA Today/NFCA Poll.
Oregon returns four starters from a 2016 squad that won its fourth consecutive Pac-12 championship and was picked in a tie for third in the 2017 Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll.Â
NFCA Second Team All-American shortstop Nikki Udria returns after hitting .405 with 17 home runs last season, the second-best total in school history.
Also among the returners are 2015 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and 2016 Pac-12 Third Team selection Jenna Lilley and 2016 co-Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Megan Kleist.
Lilley finished 2016 with a .326 average and 35 runs scored. She led the Ducks with a .427 average and was one of three finalists for NFCA Freshman of the Year in 2015. She will also play on the 2017 USA Softball Women's National Team.
Kleist went 17-6 last season with a 2.36 ERA as the Ducks No. 2 pitcher behind three-time All-American and three-time Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year Cheridan Hawkins.Â
Mike White is in his eighth season as head coach at Oregon where he has a 328-93-1 record, reached the Super Regionals each season and made three appearances in the Women's College World Series.Â
Scouting Saint Mary's (CA)
The Gaels finished 2016 at 20-27-1 and fourth in the West Coast Conference (7-8).
Senior pitcher Katie Moss and All-WCC First Team selection headlines the 2017 roster. Moss tossed 169 innings for the Gaels, striking out 130 and posting a 2.53 ERA in 38 apperances, including 23 starts.Â
Offensively, Hailey Sparacino held a .278 average and tallied 40 hits (second on team).
Both Moss and Sparacino earned spots on the 2017 All-West Coast Conference Preseason Team as the Gaels were picked fourth in the coaches' preseason poll.Â
Head coach Jessica Hanaseth-Rodgers returns for her 12th season at the helm of Saint Mary's.Â
Scouting Stanford
The Cardinal concluded the 2016 season with a 13-35 record (0-24 in Pac-12).Â
Stanford checks in at No. 9 (of nine teams) in the 2017 Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll.
2016 NFCA All-West Region Third Team outfielder Bessie Noll hit .300 and led Stanford with a .611 slugging percentage during her junior season.
Three-time All-Pac-12 selection Kylie Sorenson led the Cardinal in batting average (.339), home runs (8), RBIs (25), walks (20) and on-base percentage (.456), and returns for her senior season.Â
Sophomore Carolyn Lee recorded a team-best 33 appearances, including 31 starts, and threw 13 complete games during her 2016 Pac-12 All-Freshman Team season. Â
Stanford is led by third-year head coach Rachel Hanson.Â
Scouting Cal Poly
The Mustangs closed 2016 at 27-23 and 10-11 in the Big West (fifth place).Â
Cal Poly returns seven starters and was picked fourth in the 2017 Big West Preseason Coaches Poll.Â
Three-time NFCA All-Region selection Sierra Hyland returns after ranking eighth in Division I with a 1.19 ERA and tallying 194 strikeouts. Over three seasons, Hyland has 690 strikeouts with a 1.74 ERA in 680.2 innings pitched.Â
Offensively, Hyland also led Cal Poly with three home runs and 29 RBIs while hitting .336.
2016 All-Big West First Team selection Stephanie Heyward returns as the Mustangs' leading hitter. Heyward hit .390 and scored 31 runs.Â
Jenny Condon is in her 13th season at Cal Poly.Â
Series History vs. San Jose State
The Bluejays and Spartans have split two previous meetings. San Jose State won the most recent meeting 11-2 during the 2014 Kajikawa Classic.Â
Series History vs. Oregon
Creighton leads the all-time series against Oregon 2-1. The teams last met during the 2010 Kajikawa Classic, with the Ducks picking up an 8-2 victory. The Bluejays' last victory in the series came against No. 18 Oregon on Feb. 25, 2005 at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga.
Series History vs. Saint Mary's (CA)
The Bluejays and Gaels will be meeting for the first time.
Series History vs. Stanford
Creighton and Stanford have not played before their scheduled meeting at the 2017 Kajikawa Classic.
Series History vs. Cal Poly
Cal Poly leads the all-time series against Creighton 2-0. The Mustangs defeated the Bluejays 1-0 during the Kajikawa Classic on Feb. 6, 2015.
Omaha Connections
Creighton will face two teams with players from Omaha. Oregon features sophomore Darya Kaboli-Nejad who went to Skutt Catholic High School, and Stanford features Omaha Central graduate and current Cardinal sophomore Lauren Wegner.Â
Bluejay senior Jen Daro played two years of high school softball with Kaboli-Nejad as a Skyhawk, and six years of summer softball with Wegner. Fellow Creighton senior Anna O'Gorman also played summer ball for a year with Daro and Wegner.Â
Creighton junior Jordyn Sturgeon and sophomore Jayci McGill played summer ball with Kaboli-Nejad, and freshmen Sam Dellinger also played with both Kaboli-Nejad and Wegner.
The Bluejays' roster includes eight players from the Omaha area (Tash Coffiel, Daro, Dellinger, McGill, Mileah McKelvy, O'Gorman, Mikaela Pechar and Sturgeon).
Mix of New and Old
Creighton returns 11 letterwinners from last season's squad, but also welcomes 10 players to the program.Â
Of this season's 10 new faces, five are freshmen, four played previously at other Division I schools (South Dakota State, East Tennessee State and Kansas), and two won
a National Championship at the junior college level (Butler (Kan.) Community College). Â
By comparison, the Bluejays had nine newcomers in both 2015 and 2016, but returned 15 letterwinners last season and 10 during 2015.Â
2017 Creighton Preview
The 2017 Creighton softball team seeks a return to the BIG EAST Championship for the second time since joining the conference in 2014, and a NCAA Regional berth for the first time since 2010.Â
After putting themselves in a position to qualify for the four-team BIG EAST Â Championship with six wins through the first seven league games last season, the Bluejays dropped 10 of its final 11 conference games, including seven in a row to end the season. The Jays finished in fifth place (7-11) in the final standings and missed the postseason for the second-straight spring.
Overall, the Bluejays finished 25-22, to end the year above .500 for the fifth consecutive season.Â
Creighton welcomes back its entire starting infield from 2016, but is forced to replace the majority of its pitching, a two-year starting catcher and two starting outfielders.
Two-time All-BIG EAST Second Team outfielder Allie Reinhart and three-year starting corner infielder Jen Daro are two of five returning position players for the Jays.
Head coach Brent Vigness returns for his 24th season at Creighton as the winningest coach in school history, and picked up his 700th win as the Bluejays' head man
last year.Â
Pitching
Sydnee Eck and Micaela Whitney became just the third Creighton pitching duo to each have more than 100 strikeouts in a season, as the Bluejays were the only team in the BIG EAST with multiple pitchers over the century mark in punchouts last season. Neither Eck nor Whitney return for 2017.Â
Sophomore Michal Hylton returns with the most experience in a Bluejay uniform, tossing 46 1/3 innings during 15 appearances,
including seven starts, as a freshman in 2016.
Newcomers Bryana Clark, Jenny Hittinger and Sam Dellinger will each be called on to log innings during their first seasons in a Creighton uniform.
Clark enters the program after two seasons at South Dakota State, while Hittinger guided Butler Community College to the 2016 NJCAA Division I National Championship and earned Tournament MVP recognition.Â
Dellinger, the 2015-16 Gatorade Nebraska Softball Player of the Year, went 9-1 with a 1.93 ERA and 74 strikeouts during her senior year at Papillion-La Vista High School.
The Bluejays also plan to use Dellinger at multiple positions across the diamond (with the exception of catcher) for heroffensive production. The former Monarch and 2015 Omaha World-Herald All-Nebraska Honorary Captain hit .536 with 43 RBIs, 43 runs scored, 16 doubles and 10 home runs during her senior season. She also hit a Nebraska state-record 17 long balls as a junior.Â
Infield
Starters return at all four infield positions for the Bluejays.Â
Daro, a three-year starter, primarily played first base her first two and a half seasons as a Bluejay, before starting the final 20 games of 2016 at third base. She has played in all 143 games since enrolling and made 126 consecutive starts, and led the Bluejays with nine long balls and 39 RBIs last season.
Senior Anna O'Gorman also returns to the corner of the infield after starting all around the diamond for the first half of the season and at the first base the final 20 games. O'Gorman committed only three errors and hit a steady .250 during BIG EAST play.Â
Senior Aujanae McCoy (second base) and junior Tash Coffiel (shortstop) make up the middle infield for the Jays.Â
McCoy led the Bluejays and ranked eighth in the BIG EAST with 16 stolen bases (16-16).Â
Coffiel paced Creighton with a .353 batting average and reached base in 35-of-46 games played, while achieving the ninth-best on-base percentage (.463) in program history. She also led the Bluejays with 66 defensive assists.
Transfer Jayci McGill, senior Jessica Lewis and Dellinger will also fight for playing time, while NJCAA All-American Morgan Bohanan may see action following recovery from an off-season injury.Â
Outfield
Reinhart, a two-time All-BIG EAST selection, led the 2016 squad with 46 hits and is the only returning outfielder.Â
The largest void for the Bluejays is in center field, where Kelsey Allender started 188 out of 190 possible games during her four-year career at Creighton, and held a .973 career fielding percentage (five errors in 183 chances).Â
Primary left-fielder and 2016 Second Team All-BIG EAST selection Michelle Trulin also used up her final year of eligibility last season.Â
An early candidate for a starting outfield spot is freshman Ashley Cantu. Cantu, the sister of former Creighton standout player and current assistant coach Alexis Cantu, claimed District MVP and All-State honors while playing at Frisco Lone Star High School (Texas).Â
In addition to Cantu, junior Sam Crowley, and freshmen Sydney Jenkins, Kristin Fry, and Dellinger, will compete for the two outfield openings.
Catcher/Designated Player
Junior South Dakota State transfer Jordyn Sturgeon looks poised to take over behind home plate following the graduation of Blake Ringle who played all 47 games at catcher in 2016. Sturgeon hit .285 with five home runs and 20 RBIs during her sophomore season with the Jackrabbits.
Junior Kelsey Biaggi, sophomore Valentina Bertrand, freshman Mikaela Pechar and Reinhart may also see time throughout the season at the catching position.
Sophomore Mileah McKelvy hit .254 with three home runs and 16 RBIs in 34 games before suffering a season-ending knee injury as a freshman, and will look to build off her first year in Omaha while primarily serving as a designated player.
McGill, Dellinger and others will serve as the designated player throughout the season.Â
Bluejays Picked Fifth in BIG EAST Preseason Poll
The Creighton softball team was picked fifth in the 2017 BIG EAST Softball Preseason Coaches' poll, the conference announced Jan. 24.
Creighton received 27 points, four points behind Villanova (31) who was picked fourth. St. John's held the top spot with 48 points and six first-place votes, while defending regular-season champion DePaul received 44 points and two first-place votes for the second position.
2016 BIG EAST Tournament champion Butler checked in at third with 32 points. Seton Hall (21), Providence (11) and Georgetown (10) rounded out the poll in the sixth through eighth positions.
The Jays were also picked fifth last season before wrapping up the 2016 season at 7-11 and in fifth place.Â
