BIG EAST Softball Championships – Presented by JEEP
Game #57: #2 UConn Huskies (29-25) / #4 Butler Bulldogs (25-19) vs. #3 Creighton Bluejays (30-26)
Friday, May 8 • 4 p.m. CT • Rosemont, Ill. • Parkway Bank Softball Complex
WATCH | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES
• Coming off an 4-2 upset win over top-seeded Providence on Thursday, third-seeded Creighton (30-26) takes the loser of second-seeded Connecticut (29-25) and fourth-seeded Butler (25-19) at 4 p.m. Central on Friday afternoon at the Parkway Bank Softball Complex in Rosemont, Ill.
At stake … a spot in Saturday’s BIG EAST Tournament Championship game.
• Evan Stockton and Brea Lassek will call the game on ESPN+, while live stats will be available via Statbroadcast.
Live stats and live video links for this weekend’s tournament can be found on the Creighton Softball schedule on GoCreighton.com.
Scoring updates and infographics will be provided via Twitter at @BluejaySoftball.
• Creighton and Connecticut have met 24 times previously, with the Huskies holding an 18-6 edge in the all-time series.
The Huskies have won seven of the last eight meetings, including taking two of three from the Bluejays in Storrs earlier this season and a 9-3 decision in the first round of the BIG EAST Tournament on Thursday.
Creighton is 2-4 all-time at neutral sites against the Huskies, including a 1-4 mark at the BIG EAST Tournament.
Head coach Krista Wood is 4-13 all-time against Connecticut as a head coach.
• Creighton and Butler have met 35 times previously with Creighton holding a 21-14 lead in the overall series.
The Bluejays have won nine of the last 10 meetings, including two out of three meetings in Indianapolis earlier this season.
Creighton is 2-0 against Butler in the BIG EAST Tournament, posting wins over the Bulldogs in the opener each of the last two seasons.
Head coach Krista Wood is 13-4 all-time against Butler as a head coach, including an 10-4 mark at Creighton.
• With a win…
Creighton would improve to 31-26 this season.
Creighton would advance to its third straight BIG EAST Tournament final, which is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. Central.
Creighton would improve to 9-7 in the BIG EAST Tournament, including an 8-5 mark under head coach Krista Wood.
Creighton would improve to 5-3 all-time at the BIG EAST Tournament as a No. 2 seed.
Creighton would improve to 69-40 overall in its 32 all-time conference tournament.
• Last night’s 4-2 victory over Providence means that Creighton has won at least one conference tournament game in 16 of the 20 conference tournament appearances, including four of the five appearances in the BIG EAST.
• Head coach Krista Wood improved to 7-5 in the BIG EAST Tournament, following Thursday’s 4-2 victory over Providence. Wood’s seven wins are the third-most amongst the active coaches in the BIG EAST, trailing only Villanova’s Bridget Orchard (13 – 7 Years) and UConn’s Laura Valentino (10 – 7 years).
• Creighton is searching its third consecutive BIG EAST Tournament Finals appearance with a win over UConn/Butler on Friday night. While the Bluejays are still looking for its first BIG EAST Tournament title, the Jays did win six Missouri Valley Conference Tournament titles (1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2010). CU is 0-3 all-time in the BIG EAST Tournament finals.
Creighton owns 14 BIG EAST Tournament titles in 13 years as a league member. Men’s Soccer (2022) has won one title and Baseball (2019, 2025) has won two, while Volleyball (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) has 11 titles and is Creighton’s only women’s program to win a BIG EAST Tournament.
• Creighton has now won 30 games in a season for the 26th time, and has now won 30 games in three straight seasons for the first time since doing it four years in a row from 2007-2010
• With Creighton’s 4-2 win on Thursday, the Bluejays have now won 26 of its last 35 conference tournament games decided by two runs or less, dating back to 2000.
Overall, Creighton is 41-19 in conference tournament games decided by two runs or less, including a 5-1 mark in the BIG EAST Tournament.
• Senior Lily West collected a pair of hits in yesterday’s two games against UConn and Providence, surpassing Heidi Geier for sole possession of second on Creighton’s all-time career hits list with 244 career hits.
The Choctaw, Okla. native enters Friday’s semifinals contest needing just one hit to tie Bluejay Hall of Famer Christy Lunceford’s program record of 245 career hits, a record that has stood since 1997.
• Lily West’s double in the first inning of Thursday’s 4-2 win over Providence was the 37th double of her historic career, the sixth-most by a Bluejay in program history.
• Lily West extended her team-leading on-base streak to 19 games in a row with a double in the first inning of its victory over Providence. Her 19-game on-base streak is one game off her career-high 20-game on-base streak set earlier this season.
During her current 19-game on-base streak, West is hitting .344 (21-of-61) with four doubles, two homers, 10 walks and 14 runs scored.
Overall, West has reached base safely in 49 of the 56 games this season and reaching safely in each of its last 37 games against BIG EAST competition.
• Senior catcher Lily West has been a fixture in the Bluejays starting lineup since stepping foot on campus in 2023 and is reaching uncharted territory as she has started in all 222 games of her Bluejay career.
Her 222 games played are tied for fifth-most in CU history with Hall of Famer Jody Schwartz and are the most by a Bluejay since Beth Herod’s 233 from1989-93.
• Junior Kaelan Schultz pushed her hit streak to a career-high 11 straight games, going 4-for-7 with a pair of doubles against UConn and Providence on Thursday. Schultz’s 11-game hitting streak is the longest of any Bluejay this season and the longest since Sydra Seville recorded a hit in 11 straight games last season.
Over the course of her 11-game hitting streak, Schultz is hitting ,472 (17-of-36 ) with six doubles, two home runs, six RBI and 7 runs scored.
• Creighton hit three homers in Thursday’s win over Providence, marking the first time the Bluejays homered three times in a single league tournament game since the blasting three homers against Wichita State on May 13, 2010.
• Sophomore Tara Vandewater tied a BIG EAST Tournament record with two homers in the Bluejays’ 4-2 win over Providence last night. She became the first Bluejay to home twice in a conference tournament game since Stacey Rybar hit a pair at Evansville on May 10, 2003, while becoming the first Bluejay to homer twice in the same BIG EAST Tournament.
• Senior Ella Dalton entered the regular season finale last weekend having hit one home runs in the first 53 games of the season. The Elkhorn, Neb. native has now hit a home run in two of the last three games, including a crucial go-ahead blast to right field in last nights 4-2 win over Providence.
• Creighton owns 49 home runs this season, the fifth-most in a single season in program history. The Jays next home run will be the Bluejays 50th home run of the season, marking the first time CU has hit 50 or more homers in back-to-back seasons in program history.
• One of the most impressive stats from last night’s win over Providence was that the Friars were 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position, while the Jays went 1-for-1. On the flip side, Creighton was just 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position in its loss to UConn earlier in the day.
Milestone Watch
– Lily West owns 244 career hits, one hits shy of tying Hall of Famer Christy Lunceford’s all-time school record of 245 hits set back in 1997.
– Lily West has scored 134 career runs and needs just three runs scored to tie Cayla Nielsen’s school record of 137 runs scored from 2020-2024.
– Zoey Greenwood boasts 60 hits this season and is now just four hits shy of breaking Creighton’s freshmen hits record of 64 hits set by Wendy Moon in 1991.
– Zoey Greenwood has recorded 24 stolen bases this season and is now two stolen bases shy of passing Heidi Geier for third on Creighton’s single season stolen base list.
– Zoey Greenwood owns a team and BIG EAST-best 15 doubles this season and is now two doubles shy from tying Cayla Nielsen and Temple Windhorst for the third-most doubles in a single season in program history.
– Tara Vandewater has driven in 56 runs this season and is now two RBI shy from moving into a tie with Renae Sinkler O’Gorman (58) for second on Creighton’s single season RBI record board.
– Tara Vandewater has scored 44 runs this season, one run shy of tying Ashley Cantu for fifth on Creighton’s single season runs scored list.
– Ashten Pierson has been hit by a pitch 23 times in her career and is now one hit by pitch shy of tying Alyssa Gappa for sixth on Creighton’s career hit by pitch record list.
– Ashten Pierson owns 38 career stolen bases and is now three stolen bases shy of tying Danielle Fitzgerald for sixth on the career stolen base list.
– Ashten Pierson has racked up 18 stolen bases this season and is now one shy of tying Heidi Geier for ninth on Creighton single season stolen base list.
– Ashten Pierson has collected 99 career hits and is now one hits away from 100 for her career.
– Ella Dalton has recorded 32 career stolen bases and is just one stolen base shy of cracking the top 10 on Creighton’s career stolen base list.
– Ella Dalton has been hit by a pitch nine times this season, one shy of moving into a tie for fourth on Creighton’s single season hit-by-pitch record board.
– Erika Perez owns 73 career walks and is now five walks away from tying Jody Schwartz for eighth on Creighton’s career walks top 10 list.
– Keegan Mayhue has hit 12 home runs this season, one homer shy of moving into a tie for 10th on Creighton’s single season home run list and is just three home runs shy of tying Amy Baker’s freshman record of 15 home runs set in 2010.
– Keegan Mayhue has drove in 45 runs this season, one RBI shy of moving into a tie for fifth on Creighton’s single season RBI list.