OMAHA, Neb. – A sixth-inning two-run double from senior Cayla Nielsen and a two-run home run from sophomore Lily West helped lift the Creighton softball team to a 5-2 victory over South Dakota on Tuesday night at the Creighton Sports Complex.
The victory lifted the Bluejays to 24-16 this season, while the Coyotes fell to 18-23 overall with the loss.
A pitcher’s duel early, saw South Dakota place the first dent on the scoreboard, plating their lone two runs in the top of the third inning. Back-to-back singles from Alivia Conte and Tatum Villotta and a walk from Gabby Moser loaded the bases for Delaney White, who lined a two-run single to center to give the Coyotes a 2-0 lead.
The Bluejays answered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the third as a single from sophomore Ella Dalton, a walk to senior Emma Rosonke and a wild pitch put runners on second and third with no outs. Following a strikeout sophomore Erika Perez lifted a sacrifice fly to deep left allowing Dalton to come into score the Bluejays first run of the contest and cut the deficit down to 2-1.
After a pair of scoreless frames that saw sophomore Natalia Puchino strikeout the side in the top half of the sixth, Creighton stepped to the plate looking to make some noise. The Jays did just that plating four runs on two hits to take a 5-2 lead.
Senior Alyssa Gappa got things started by collecting the 20th hit-by-pitch of her Bluejays career, moving into a tie for sixth with Sami Herbster on the all-time career hit-by-pitch record list. Perez followed with a six-pitch walk, before advancing on another Coyotes wild pitch. With runners on second and third, Nielsen stepped up and delivered a two-out, two-run double into left giving the Jays a 3-2 lead. Three pitches later West launched her second home run of the season over the left field wall to extend the Bluejays lead to 5-2.
Down to their final three outs, South Dakota showed no quit as Conte recorded her second hit of the night to lead off the top of the seventh. However, back-to-back groundouts and an incredible game-ending diving catch from true freshman Ashten Pierson capped off the 5-2 come-from-behind victory for Creighton.
West paced the Bluejays offense with a pair of hits, while Puchino picked up her 17th win of the season, tossing 3.0 scoreless frames of relief.
Creighton returns to action this weekend as they return to BIG EAST play on the road at UConn. The three-game series with the Huskies is set to begin on Friday, April 12 at 5 p.m. CT.
Creighton Softball downs South Dakota
