Creighton University
Providence
Softball Starts Final BIG EAST Road Stretch With Weekend At Providence
4/28/2017 5:15:00 PM | Softball
Creighton will play its final six regular season BIG EAST games on the road
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Creighton resumes BIG EAST play and starts a stretch of six league road games with a weekend series at Providence.Â
Matchup
Saturday, April 29 • Creighton (18-26, 8-7 BIG EAST) at Providence (17-23, 5-10 BIG EAST) • 11 a.m. (CT) (DH)
Sunday, April 30 • Creighton at Providence • 10 a.m.Â
Follow the Action
Live stats for this weekend's action can be found at Creighton.Statbroadcast.com.
A videostream of Saturday's doubleheader will be available on Friars.com/CollegeSportsLive, but a subscription is required to watch the contests.
Sunday's game will be featured on the BIG EAST Digital Network, which can be found at FoxSportsGo.com or by downloading the FOX Sports Go app.
Scoring updates and infographics will be provided via Twitter at @BluejaySoftball.
Scouting Creighton (18-26, 8-7 BIG EAST)
Creighton enters the weekend with six victories during its past seven BIG EAST games and in fourth place in the league standings.
Reining BIG EAST Player of the Week Sam Dellinger leads the Bluejays' offense in batting average (.368), hits (50), doubles (13), home runs (10), RBIs (40), total bases (93), slugging percentage (.684) and on-base percentage (.423). The freshman enters the weekend with an 11-game hitting streak.
Dellinger is hitting .392 with six doubles, six home runs and 25 RBIs during BIG EAST action.
Tash Coffiel leads the offense during BIG EAST play with a .431 average, 22 hits and a .482 on-base percentage.Â
Creighton is hitting .266 as a team through 44 games, including .323 during 15 league contests.
Bryana Clark has logged a team-high 123.0 innings in the circle and holds a team-low 3.41 ERA. Clark also owns 83 strikeouts.
Scouting Providence (17-23, 5-10 BIG EAST)
The Friars have won five of their last six games, including two BIG EAST victories over Seton Hall last weekend at Providence.
Emma Lee leads the Providence offense with a .360 batting average, 54 hits and 11 doubles from the lead-off position.
Nicole Lundstrom paces the Friars with eight home runs, 30 RBIs, 38 runs scored, 39 walks, a .516 on-base percentage and .645 slugging percentage, and ranks second on the team with a .355 batting average.Â
During BIG EAST play, Julianne Rurka leads the team with a .394 batting average and .535 on-base percentage.Â
Christina Ramirez has pitched 153.1 innings during 27 appearances (25 starts) and holds a team-best 4.61 ERA. The Providence pitching staff holds a 5.17 team-ERA.Â
Head coach Kerri Jacklets is in her 12th season at Providence.Â
Series History vs. Friars
Creighton leads the all-time series against Providence 6-2.Â
The Bluejays swept a doubleheader against the Friars last season.Â
Providence won two out of three games against Creighton in Rhode Island to conclude the 2015 season.Â
Last Time Out
The Creighton softball team launched four home runs, but the Bluejays fell 13-10 to South Dakota on Thursday afternoon at the Creighton Sports Complex in Omaha, Neb.Â
Anna O'Gorman hit a three-run home run, Sam Crowley launched a two-run shot, Sam Dellinger produced a two-run homer and Jayci McGill powered a two-run home run as the Bluejays battled back from an early seven-run deficit to close the final margin to just three.
O'Gorman finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs from her three-run homer and extended her one-base streak to 16 and hitting streak to nine, while Dellinger tallied a 3-for-4 performance with three RBIs, a double and home run as the freshman extended her team-leading hitting streak to 11 games.
The Bluejays four home runs were a season-high, and the fifth-best mark in program history as the team has hit five home runs in a game four different times. Creighton also recorded at least 10 hits for the third time in the past four games and eighth in the past 11.
O'Gorman On A Roll
Senior utility player Anna O'Gorman did not hit her first home run until her 106th game in a Creighton uniform on March 17 against Valparaiso, but has three homers during her past four games.
During Creighton's two midweek games against Nebraska (April 25)Â and South Dakota (April 27), O'Gorman finished 5-for-7 with two home runs, five RBIs and three runs scored.
She also enters the weekend with a streak of reaching base in 16 consecutive games and has hit in nine-straight. O'Gorman is 15-for-31 (.483 average) with three home runs, two doubles, and 13 RBIs during the nine-game hit streak, and bumped her overall season batting average from .271 to .323.Â
Marathon Game
Creighton's contest against Nebraska (April 25) lasted two hours and 57 minutes on a cold, windy and rainy night in Omaha.
Tuesday's game marked Creighton's longest seven-inning game by time since 1998.Â
The Bluejays and Huskers combined for 18 walks and 17 strikeouts during Nebraska's 5-4 win.Â
Creighton's longest game before Tuesday came during a 14-12 win over Providence on March 23, 2016 that took two hours and 55 minutes to complete.Â
Seventh-Inning Outburst
Creighton scored eight runs during the seventh inning during the final game of its three-game series at Villanova (April 8-9).
The Bluejays also scored two runs during the final frame on Tuesday against Nebraska before scoring four on Thursday in the seventh against South Dakota. Â
Creighton tallied nine runs during the seventh inning earlier this season against Weber State (9-6 win on Feb. 25).
The Jays have outscored their opponents 34-16 during the final frame this season (44 games), which is the most runs Creighton has scored during the seventh inning in a single season since 1997, topping the previous high set in 2012 (28 in 54 games).Â
Last season, Creighton scored only nine runs during the seventh inning across all 47 games.
Despite the scoring margin, the Bluejays are only 1-18 when trailing after six innings, but is 10-0 when leading and 4-2 when the game is tied heading into the final frame.
Dellinger Named BIG EAST Player of the Week
Freshman Sam Dellinger earned BIG EAST Player of the Week status (April 24).
Dellinger helped the Bluejays pick up three wins last week while going 10-for-17 (.588 average) with seven runs scored, three doubles, three home runs and eight RBIs during five games.Â
The freshman started the week with a 4-for-4 outing including two doubles and two RBIs during the first game of a doubleheader at UMKC (April 18).
She also hit a three-run walk-off home run to give Creighton a 11-2 five-inning victory over Butler during the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday. The game-ending home run was her second in as many weeks, as she hit a two-run home run against Seton Hall to give Creighton an 8-0 six-inning win (April 14).
Dellinger capped her week with two home runs during the series finale against Butler on Sunday, becoming the first Bluejay to have a multiple home runs in a game this season.
She currently holds an 11-game hitting streak and has scored at least once during each of the past eight games.
The Papillion-La Vista product leads Creighton in nearly every offensive statistical category.
Dellinger started the week ranked first among all BIG EAST freshmen in hits, home runs, doubles, RBIs, total bases and slugging percentage.Â
Bluejays Keeping It Close
Creighton has played in 13 one-run games this season, and holds a 7-6 during those games.
Five of the Jays last nine games have been decided by one run.Â
The Bluejays own two walk-off one-run victories.Â
Small-ballÂ
The Bluejays have a total of seven sacrifice flies and 40 sac bunts through 44 games. Creighton leads the BIG EAST in sacrifice bunts.
Last season the Jays finished with five sacrifice flies and led the BIG EAST with 48 sacrifice bunts, including 15 from senior Kelsey Allender.Â
Jordyn Sturgeon leads the Bluejays this season with seven sac bunts, while Anna O'Gorman and Allie Reinhart each lead the team with two sac flies.Â
Double-Digit Hits
The Bluejays have recorded 10 or more hits during eight of their last 11 games, including three of their last four.
Creighton has recorded a season-high 14 hits on three different occasions (twice during the past six games), including its second game of a doubleheader against UMKC on Tuesday (April 18).Â
The Bluejays are 10-4 when recording 10 or more base knocks and 15-4 when outhitting its opponent. By comparasion, the Jays are 3-21 when they are outhit by the opposition (0-1 when hits are tied) and 2-10 when allowing 10 or more hits.Â
Bluejays Streaking
Prior to a loss in the final game of last weekend's series against Butler, Creighton picked up six consecutive BIG EAST victories.
The last time the Bluejays picked up six-straight conference victories was during the 2013 season when the team competed in the Missouri Valley Conference.Â
During the streak, the Jays hit .389 with 63 hits, including 18 extra-base knocks, and outscored their opponents 42-13. Â
The Bluejays' longest BIG EAST winning streak last season was four (April 2-10).Â
Turning The Page During Conference Play
After starting the season 9-16, the Bluejays have started conference play 8-7.
During 15 BIG EAST contests Creighton is hitting .323 with 38 extra-base hits.Â
By comparison, the Bluejays are hitting only .235 during nonconference action (29 games).
Five different Creighton players hold a batting average of better than .333 during conference play, led by Tash Coffiel's .431 average.Â
Infielder Aujanae McCoy has seen the most improvement during BIG EAST play.Â
The senior owns only nine hits during nonconference action (.170 average) and has walked only twice. During league action, McCoy is 13-for-34 (.382 batting average) has walked five times, been hit once and holds a .475 on-base percentage.
