OMAHA, Neb. – The Creighton softball team scored seven runs in the first innings to guide the Bluejays to a 7-3 win over crosstown rival Omaha on Tuesday night at the Creighton Sports Complex.
With the win, the Bluejays improved to 28-19 overall, while the Mavericks fell to 32-11 with the loss.
Three different Bluejays posted multi-hit performances, recording nine total hits in the victory. Lily West and Sydra Seville each finished the day 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, while Madeline Vejvoda tallied a pair of hits, an RBI and a run scored in four at-bats. Senior Emma Rosonke also recorded the 100th hit of her Bluejay career, becoming just the 12th Bluejay in school history to record 100 career hits and 100 career RBI.
Junior Kenzie Schopfer allowed just one run on four hits with three strikeouts in 5.2 innings of relief to secure her fifth win of the season.
After surrendering the first run of the game in the top half of the first on a sacrifice fly from Alex Olsen, the Bluejays plated seven runs on six hits, three walks and a hit-by-pitch to seize a 7-1 advantage as the first eight Creighton batters reached base safely.
Senior Cayla Nielsen opened the frame with her 13th double of the season, moving into a tie for 10th on Creighton’s single-season doubles list before a walk to West put runners on first and second. Vejvoda then drove in the first run of the game for the Jays with an RBI bloop single just inside the left field foul line. Rosonke followed with a walk to load the bases before a five-pitch walk to Ella Dalton gave the Bluejays a 2-1 lead.
An RBI single to center by Seville pushed the advantage to 3-1, moments before Alyssa Gappa was hit-by-a-pitch to extend the lead to 4-1. Sophomore Erika Perez then gave Creighton a 6-1 edge in the contest, lining a two-run single down the left field line before Omaha recorded their first out of the inning. Following another fielder’s choice, West capped off the Bluejays seven-run first with an RBI single to right to make the score 7-1.
Omaha answered with a run in the top of the second, perfecting a double steal to cut the deficit to 7-2, while a solo home run in the top of the seventh from Maggie O’Brien capped off a 7-3 victory for the Bluejays.
Creighton returns to the diamond on Friday afternoon when they begin a three-game BIG EAST series against DePaul at 3 p.m.
Creighton Softball defeats UNO
