Creighton Softball went toe-to-toe with BigEast leader St. John’s over the weekend, picking up a 6-4 win in game two of the three-game series while narrowly dropping the other two contests, including a 13-inning opener.
After falling 1-0 in a resumed game that stretched into the 13th inning, Creighton bounced back with a Senior Day win behind sophomore Kaelan Schultz’s three-run home run and junior Erika Perez’s four-hit day. In Saturday’s finale, the Bluejays rallied late but came up just short in a 5-4 loss.
“I thought we played well this weekend,” Head Coach Krista Wood said. “We pitched well. I mean, they’re the best pitching staff in the league. I thought we battled at the plate [and] made adjustments. I was proud of the way that we played this weekend.”
Creighton’s pitching was a highlight across all three games. Senior Kenzie Schopfer and sophomore Brooklyn Patchen combined for 12 scoreless innings in the series opener before St. John’s broke through in the 13th. The Bluejays’ offense responded in game two, stringing together timely hits and capitalizing on small-ball opportunities to even the series.
“They’re doing a good job of making adjustments and [doing] what we call ‘pass the bat.’ Family at-bats—like next person up, next person up, next person up,” Wood said. “So we just say, ‘Put a good swing on the ball and good things happen.’”
In the series finale, Creighton fell behind early but continued to chip away, refusing to let St. John’s pull away comfortably. Trailing 3-1 in the fifth, junior outfielder Ella Dalton sparked the Bluejays’ offense with a double down the right-field line. She advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a throwing error to cut the deficit to one. Dalton finished the game with two hits, including a triple in the seventh that put the tying run 60 feet from home.
“She’s made some good adjustments,” Wood said of Dalton. “It’s tough when you’re going against a left-handed pitcher, but she made great adjustments and put better swings on balls. She got herself in scoring position, and then we were able to…give ourselves an opportunity to score.”
Down 5-3 in the final frame, the Bluejays had one more push left. After Dalton’s triple and a single from senior outfielder Sydra Seville, sophomore infielder Ashten Pierson laid down a squeeze bunt to bringhome Schultz from third to creep within one. Although a groundout halted the rally, Creighton’s late inningpush in game three demonstrated the team’s ability to stay competitive against the top team in the conference.
Pierson’s execution on both sides of the ball stood out, providing a steady presence in the middle infield throughout the weekend. Her defensive instincts helped limit damage against a powerful St. John’s lineup, and her timely bunt gave the Bluejays a real chance to extend the game in the seventh.
“She’s like a little vacuum in the middle infield,” Wood said. “I mean, she’s great. She always just happens to be in the right spot and has good hands and makes great plays.”
With three Big East series remaining in the regular season, the Bluejays sit at 9-9 in conference play and continue to push for a coveted spot in the postseason tournament. After a midweek matchup with the Omaha Mavericks, the Bluejays travel to the Windy City to face DePaul in a three-game series. The first pitch is set for Friday at 1 p.m.