Regardless if it is Christa or her older brother Darin, opposing pitchers do not like to see either of the Rufs step into the batter’s box.

Darin Ruf, a senior who plays first base for the Jays baseball team, is happy to see his little sister Christa join the Jays softball team as a freshman center fielder.

It is tough to compare the two as ball players because, as they will remind you, they are playing two different sports, as similar as baseball and softball may seem.

Darin is a ball-crushing first baseman that has had a very decorated career as a Bluejay. He has been named Joe Carter Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, and won a Rawlings Gold Glove Award as the nation’s best fielding first baseman.

In her freshman year, Christa has proved to be a much different athlete than her big brother: she has been used multiple times as a pinch runner.

Both are graduates of Westside High School in Omaha, where each had celebrated high school careers.

Darin earned a varsity letter three times in both baseball and football and received two varsity letters in basketball, but his little sister wasn’t far behind. Christa earned four varsity letters in softball and three in track. She was also named all-state in Nebraska as a junior when she compiled a .374 batting average and tied a school record with six triples.

When asked who was the better athlete, an interesting answer arose.

“I’m faster than him. I can say that. He has longer strides, but I think I could beat him in a race,” Christa said.

Darin actually gave his little sister the nod as well.

“We all know that speed is not my forté, and she is really fast, but I think my longer strides would be tough to match. I would say she is [the better athlete], just because I am aging and she is in her prime,” Darin said.

The Rufs’ bond goes deeper than the shared athleticism that most people see. Both players look up to each other, and Christa listed her big brother Darin as the athlete she

most admires on her Creighton Athletics biography page.

“He takes constructive criticism really well, he is a really positive athlete and he doesn’t really get down on himself,” Christa said. “He has one of the greatest work ethics of anyone I’ve seen. He can listen to a coach, take what they say and do it.”

Darin is certainly pleased that his sister holds him with such regard.

“Older brothers like hearing things like that because we look out for our younger brother and sisters in protective way, and to know she looks up to me in that way means that I did all right,” Darin said.

Above all, Darin is glad that his sister will receive many of the same opportunities that he has as both a student and an athlete.

“It is a great to know that she is going to have many of the same opportunities I have had in my time at Creighton,” he said. “She has worked very hard over the last few years to put herself in this situation, and she is extremely deserving of it.”