Creighton University
Villanova
Softball Visits Villanova To Continue BIG EAST Play
4/6/2017 4:30:00 PM | Softball
Creighton is winless in three previous games at the home of the Wildcats
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Creighton continues BIG EAST Conference play with three games at Villanova.Â
Matchup
Saturday, April 8 • Creighton (11-20, 2-4 BIG EAST) at Villanova (17-12, 2-4 BIG EAST) • Villanova, Pa. • 11 a.m. (DH)
Sunday, April 9 • Creighton at Villanova • Villanova, Pa. • 10 a.m.Â
Follow the Action
Live stats for this weekend's action can be found on Gametracker, with links to each game found at the top of the GoCreighton.com homepage or on the Creighton Softball schedule page.
Video streams for all three games against the Wildcats will be featured on College Sports Live, but a subscription is required to view the contests.Â
Scoring updates and infographics will be provided via Twitter at @BluejaySoftball.
Scouting Creighton (11-20, 2-4 BIG EAST)
Creighton opened its BIG EAST home schedule with three losses against BIG EAST-leading St. John's (April 1-2).Â
The Bluejays were scheduled to play a mid-week contest at Kansas (April 4), but rainy conditions postponed and eventually canceled the contest.Â
Tash Coffiel leads the Creighton offense with a .352 batting average and .406 on-base percentage. The junior shortstop has a team-best 32 hits.Â
Ashley Cantu is also hitting better than .300, as the freshman holds a .304 batting average and leads the team with 18 runs.
Freshman Sam Dellinger paces the Jays with 19 RBIs and eight extra-base hits.Â
In the circle, Dellinger holds a Creighton-low 3.32 ERA in 38.0 innings pitched over 12 appearances, including five starts. The freshman has two complete games, two wins and two saves.Â
Bryana Clark has logged a team-high 83.0 innings during 20 appearances in the circle, including 14 starts, with a 3.80 ERA, five complete games and 5-9 record.
Scouting Villanova (17-12, 2-4 BIG EAST)
The Wildcats opened BIG EAST play by taking two of three at Seton Hall, but were swept by Butler last weekend in Indiana.
Villanova is a perfect 5-0 at home this season (all nonconference games).
Nikki Alden leads the Wildcats and ranks among the leaders in the BIG EAST with a .418 batting average. She also paces the squad with seven home runs and 28 RBIs.Â
Lauren Herschberg owns a team-best 33 hits, seven doubles and holds a .363 average, while the Wildcats are hitting .308 as a team with six players hitting above the .300 mark.
In the circle, Brette Lawrence holds a BIG EAST-best 2.67 ERA in 110.0 innings (21 appearances, 16 starts). Lawrence also has 101 strikeouts to only 20 walks.Â
Series History vs. Wildcats
Villanova and Creighton have met 10 times previously, with the Wildcats leading the series 6-4.Â
Villanova has won the past six games, including sweeps during each of the past two seasons.Â
Last season the Wildcats swept the Bluejays in Omaha and allowed only three total runs over three games.Â
Villanova also picked up two shutout victories and a 9-3 win during three games in Pennsylvania during the 2015 campaign.
Creighton's last win against Villanova came on April 6, 2014 in Omaha.
The Bluejays have yet to pick up a victory at Villanova (0-3). Â
Last Time Out
Creighton hosted St. John's for the first three-game BIG EAST series this season in Omaha (April 1-2).Â
The Red Storm took all three games by scoring a total of 34 runs.
St. John's clinched the first game 10-1 in five innings before recording a come-from-behind 11-7 victory in the second game of a doubleheader (April 1). Creighton led 7-3 before the Red Storm scored eight unanswered runs during the fifth and sixth innings of game two.
During the series finale on Sunday (April 2), Creighton rallied from a 5-1 deficit to take a 6-5 lead after five innings, but St. John's scored eight runs in the sixth to complete the weekend sweep with a 13-6 win.
McCoy Hits First Career Home Run
Senior Aujanae McCoy launched her first career home run to give Creighton a 6-5 lead during the final game of the Bluejays' series against St. John's.Â
McCoy entered Sunday's (April 2) contest with seven extra-base hits and seven RBIs in 75 games played in a Creighton uniform before she hit her go-ahead two-run homer on a 1-2 pitch during the bottom of the fifth inning.Â
McCoy is known less for her power and more for her speed, as she owns 24 stolen bases during two seasons at Creighton and had 84 steals during her freshman and sophomore years at Butler (Kan.) Community College.
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Senior Jen Daro was hit by the pitch during the seventh inning of Creighton's final game against St. John's (April 2), marking the 35th time she has been hit in her career, and setting Creighton's career mark for hit by pitch.
The previous record was held by Michelle Graner (2007-10) with 34.
Daro has been hit by six pitches this season through 30 games played.Â
Last season, she was hit by a team-high seven pitches (47 games).
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.
