Softball Hits The Road For Iowa City

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Creighton visits Iowa City, Iowa for its final regular-season tournament of the season. The Bluejays will play five games in three days at the Hawkeye Invitational.

Game Schedule (Updated March 16)
Friday, March 17 • Creighton vs. Valparaiso • 3 p.m.
Saturday, March 18 • Creighton vs. South Dakota State • Noon
Saturday, March 18 • Creighton vs. South Dakota • 2:00 p.m.
Sunday, March 19 • Creighton at Iowa • 11 a.m.
Sunday, March 19 • Creighton vs. South Dakota • 1:00 p.m.

Follow the Action
Live stats for this weekend's action can be found at Creighton.Statbroadcast.com.

Scoring updates and infographics will be provided via Twitter at @BluejaySoftball.

Scouting Creighton (6-13)
The Bluejays opened the month of March with a 2-2 showing at the GCU Round Robin in Phoenix (March 4-5) and dropped a game at UNLV (March 7) before returning to the Midwest for a scheduled home weekend against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Because of forecasted cold temperatures and snow, Creighton's first home series (March 11-12) was canceled before the Golden Lions left the state of Arkansas.

Creighton is led offensively by Tash Coffiel. Coffiel holds a .286 batting average with a team-high 14 hits after going 5-for-11 during four games in Phoenix.

Anna O'Gorman leads the sqaud with eight RBIs and has a team-high nine walks, while Sam Dellinger has a team-best three extra-base hits and .375 slugging percentage (one double, two home runs).

Michal Hylton leads the Bluejays with 51.2 innings pitched. The sophomore has four complete games, 26 strikeouts and a 5.28 ERA. She has pitched in a team-high 13 contests.

Bryana Clark has logged 47.1 innings and owns a 3.55 ERA to go along with two complete-game victories.

Scouting South Dakota (7-14)
The Coyotes enter the weekend following four losses at the Husky Classic in Seattle, Wash. (March 10-12).

South Dakota most recent losses came to No. 7 Minnesota and No. 8 Washington.

The Coyotes have faced five teams ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 during the first month of the season, including three ranked in the top 10.

Shelby Keil leads South Dakota with a .371 batting average and 15 runs scored. Keil finished 4-for-5 with four runs scored during South Dakota's 20-6 win over Creighton at the Santa Clara Invitational (Feb. 24).

Six Coyotes had at least two hits against the Bluejays during the 14-run victory.

Keil also has a team-high seven doubles.

Emily Winckler leads the squad with three home runs and 15 RBIs.

In the circle, Ally Wiegand holds the lowest ERA (3.25 in 32.1 innings), as three different players have started at least six games.

Robert Wagner is in his first year at the helm of South Dakota.

Scouting Valparaiso (10-4)
The Crusaders ride a four-game win streak into Iowa City after a 4-1 performance at the Leon Smith Classic in Oxford, Ala.

Carly Trepanier and Sam Stewart each hit better than .450 to lead the Valparaiso offense.

Trepanier paces the team with 24 hits and a .462 average.

Stewart ranks third in Division I with a 1.135 slugging percentage. She has seven home runs and four doubles. She also owns a .459 batting average (17-for-37) and .580 on-base percentage, which includes 11 walks and one hit by pitch. The senior leads the team with 23 RBIs and 16 runs scored.

In the circle, Ashlyn Montgomery holds a team-best 1.75 ERA and logged a team-high 44.0 innings pitched.

Mackenzie Grossmann owns a Valpo-best 39 strikeouts in 37.1 innings.

Valparaiso head coach Kate Stake is in her third year with the program.

Scouting South Dakota State (12-14)
The Jackrabbits finished 8-3 during six days of games in Clearwater, Fla.

Ali Herdliska leads the team in batting average (.338), hits (27), doubles (9) and RBIs (26).

Herdliska, the 2016 Summit League Freshman of Year, had 15 hits and 14 RBIs during 11 games in Florida on her way to Summit League Player of the Week honors (March 13).

Lyndsey Crist paces South Dakota State with 19 runs scored, 16 walks and a team-best .396 on-base percentage.

In the circle, Abby Deane and Ashlyn Bender have each recorded six victories. Deane has a 3.25 ERA in 84.0 innings pitched with 85 strikeouts, while Bender owns a 2.46 ERA in 71.0 innings.

Head coach Krista Wood is in her third year as head coach of the Jackrabbits.

Scouting Iowa (2-14 as of 3/14)
The Hawkeyes opened the season with consecutive victories, but lost 14-straight heading into a mid-week doubleheader at Missouri.

Kaitlyn Mullarky leads Iowa with 14 hits, eight runs scored and four doubles.

Allie Wood has two home runs to lead the power attack.

In the circle, Shayla Starkenburg holds a 2.76 ERA with 38.0 innings pitching which includes five complete-game starts.

The Hawkeye Invitational marks Iowa's first home games of the season.

The 2017 season is Marla Looper's seventh year as head coach of the Hawkeyes.

Series History vs. South Dakota
The Bluejays hold a 13-4 series lead against the Coyotos.

The two teams have met once this season at the Santa Clara Invitational. South Dakota claimed a 20-6 victory during that contest (Feb. 24).

Series History vs. Valparaiso
Creighton leads the all-time series against Valparaiso 3-0.

In the most previous meeting, the Bluejays needed eight innings to defeat the Crusaders 3-1 on March 10, 2012 during the Diamond Devil Invitational in Tempe, Ariz.

Series History vs. South Dakota State
Creighton holds a 13-6-1 series lead against South Dakota State.

The Bluejays and Jackrabbits met four times last season, as the two teams spilt the meetings.

Series History vs. Iowa
The Bluejays are 20-8 all-time against the Hawkeyes.

In the most recent matchup, Iowa earned a 2-1 eight-inning victory on May 17, 2008 during the NCAA Regionals in Iowa City.

Creighton's last win in Iowa City came on April 20, 1999, as the Hawkeyes have taken the last four matchups at Iowa.

Creighton's last win against Iowa came on May 21, 2004 during the NCAA Regionals in Lincoln, Neb.

Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Senior Jen Daro was hit by the pitch during Creighton's game against UNLV (March 7), marking the 33rd time she has been hit in her career. She sits alone in second place on Creighton's career hit by pitch list.

The record is held by Michelle Graner (2007-10) with 34.

Daro was hit by a team-high seven pitches in 2016.

In 2015, Daro became the first player in school history to be hit by 10 or more pitches in
multiple seasons, as she was plunked 12 times as a freshman in 2014 before 10 beanings in 2015 during her sophomore
campaign.

Quick Start
Creighton outscored its opponents 11-1 during the first two innings in four games at the GCU Round Robin (March 4-5).

The Bluejays scored five in the second inning against Maine on March 4, before scoring three runs in the bottom of the first against Maine on March 5.

Creighton also scored one run during first at-bat in both games against Grand Canyon.

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Players Mentioned

Bryana Clark

Tash Coffiel

Jen Daro

Sam Dellinger

Michal Hylton

Anna O'Gorman