OMAHA, NEB. – The Creighton softball team secured their spot in the 2024 BIG EAST Tournament after riding strong pitching from sophomore Natalia Puchino and an offensive outburst from senior’s Cayla Nielsen and Madeline Vejvoda during a doubleheader sweep of DePaul on Saturday at the Creighton Sports Complex in Omaha.
Puchino struck out nine, recording the 250th strikeout of her Bluejay career, during Creighton’s 2-1 victory in game one, while Nielsen and Vejvoda each finished with three hits in the Bluejays’ 7-4 victory in game two.
Creighton improved to 30-19 overall, recording their first 30-win season since 2010, while climbing into second in the BIG EAST standing with a 13-7 league record. With the pair of wins, Creighton secured their first bid to the BIG EAST Tournament since 2018. DePaul, however, fell to 8-35 overall and to 3-17 in BIG EAST play.
GAME 1: Creighton 2, DePaul 1
Creighton needed only a single run during both the fifth and sixth innings to outlast the Blue Demons, 2-1, during the first game of the day.
Puchino breezed through the first four innings of play, retiring the first 10 DePaul batters she faced.
Taking a scoreless draw into the bottom of the fifth innings, Creighton placed the first dent on the scoreboard using a sacrifice fly to deep center from Nielsen to give the Bluejays a 1-0 lead.
Following another shutout innings from Puchino in the top half of the sixth, Creighton added an insurance run as sophomore Ella Dalton lined a stand-up triple down the right field line and came in to score on another sacrifice fly to center from junior Sydra Seville.
Holding a 2-0 lead in the top of the seventh, DePaul cut the deficit down to 2-1 on an RBI single to left from Carly Alvers before the Bluejays closed the door with the ninth strikeout of the game from Puchino and a game-ending diving catch from Dalton in center.
Puchino earned her 21st win of the season, moving into a tie with Marcia Jacobsen for ninth on Creighton single season wins list. Six different Bluejays recorded a hit in the contest, while Nielsen and Seville collected the team’s lone RBI’s.
GAME 2: Creighton 7, DePaul 4
In game two, DePaul jumped out to an early lead, plating two runs in the top of the first on three hits as Riley Pool delivered a two-out two-run single up the middle to give the Blue Demons a 2-0 lead.
Creighton quickly responded in the bottom half of the frame as Nielsen and sophomore Lily West opened the inning with back-to-back single to left. Following a pair of outs, Dalton delivered an RBI single to left center to cut the deficit to 2-1, before an RBI single from Seville knotted things up at 2-2.
DePaul, however, would regain a two-run advantage in the top half of the third when Alvers blasted a two-run home run to left to make the score 4-2.
The Bluejays once again answered with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the fourth to level the contest back up at 4-4. A leadoff bunt single by Seville set the Bluejays up for success as Perez reached on a fielding error by the DePaul centerfielder before a sacrifice bunt from senior Alyssa Gappa advanced runners to second and third. Nielsen then entered Creighton’s career hits top-10 list delivering a two-run double into the right center field gap to knot things up at 4-4.
Creighton would then take its first lead of the contest in the bottom half of the fifth as Vejvoda recorded the 150thhit of her career on a leadoff double to left center before scoring on a single by Dalton and a pair of throwing errors by the Blue Demons.
Holding a 5-4 lead, Creighton tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth as West and Vejvoda each delivered RBI singles to center to secure the 7-4 win for the Bluejays.
Nielsen and Vejvoda each finished the game 3-for-4 with a double, while Nielsen recorded a pair of RBI and two runs scored. With Nielsen’s two runs scored this afternoon, she has tied the school record for most runs scored in a career with 132 (Stacey Rybar). West, Dalton and Seville each collected a pair of hits in the victory, as the Bluejays finished with 13 total hits.
Freshman Brooklyn Patchen recorded her first career win as a Bluejay, tossing 2.0 innings of scoreless relief, while Puchino picked up her fourth save of the season, climbing into a tie with April Trupp for fifth most saves in a single season in program history.
Due to the on-going threat of severe weather in the area, Sunday’s series finale has been moved up to a 10 a.m. start.
