Not many teams in any sport are dominant for a prolonged stretch of time. Any number of factors can put an end to even the smallest of athletic dynasties. Still, the Creighton softball staved off a drop in success the past few years, as they dominated the Valley during the last three regular seasons. The Bluejays entered 2010 having won the past three Valley championships, earning three straight #1 seeds in the MVC Tournament.
This year went a little differently. After starting the conference season with two wins over Indiana State, the Bluejays lost their next seven games including five conference games before rebounding and going 19-5 to finish out the regular season. That effort was only good enough for third place this year, as Southern Illinois and Illinois State took advantage of some ill-timed troubles on Creighton’s behalf.
CU now travels to Des Moines for the MVC Tournament, which starts Thursday at Drake. It’s Creighton’s opportunity to write a positive ending to what at times seemed like a bad dream of a season.
This season the tournament gets a new look. Instead of being a double-bye single elimination tournament, three extra games now make it a double-elimination tournament if you make it into the quarterfinals. This gives teams in the losers bracket the opportunity to play themselves back into championship contention and the automatic bid to softball’s Big Dance.
Glancing at the new bracket, Creighton’s first game will happen around 6:30 p.m. against the winner of Wichita State and host school Drake (the 1:30 p.m. game). During the regular season, the Bluejays swept the season series against both teams pretty convincingly. They will have to do the same to advance to the next round. If the Bluejays lose on Thursday, they will head back to Omaha wondering what happened.
If you follow Twitter at all and the official Creighton Twitter account, then you might have seen that record breaking pitcher Tara Oltman, who was interviewed this week on Bluejay Banter on Big Sports 590 AM, has thrown all of Creighton Softball’s 552 pitches at the State Farm MVC Tournament since her freshman year in 2007. They will need her arm if Creighton is to win the tournament.
Down the stretch, Oltman has been a workhorse. She pitched in all three games in the series against Evansville last weekend, including 172 pitches on Friday and another 114 on Sunday. She will leave the Valley with many records including starts and strikeouts. It is possible that she could pitch five times in three days. It is amazing to me how she can do that. The throwing motion in the game of softball seems so much more painful than throwing in baseball, but what do I know? Oh, I know this: although Oltman will be able to keep the Bluejays in games, it will be up to the rest of the team to help them win:
“The team has really increased its focus and our overall intensity,” said Oltman. “We have just really seen the results of that on the field.”
The other big name to watch for the Jays is Renae Sinkler. The reigning MVC Player of the Year leads the Valley with 22 home runs (becoming the first CU player to reach 20 homers in a single season). She will leave Creighton with a career record in home runs. Think of her slugging this way: Of the 228 players on Creighton softball’s all-time roster, only 8 have hit 20 homers in their career. Sinkler hit more than 20 this year alone. Teams will try to pitch around her, but at some point they will have to face her. She also leads the Valley in RBI with 55, becoming the first player in MVC history to score and drive in 50 runs in one season.
Let’s take a look at the other contenders this weekend:
Southern Illinois: The #1 seeded Salukis come into the tournament winning 6 of their last 7 games. At the plate SIU is led by Katie Wilson, who leads the team in RBI (51) and is second on the team in home runs (12). On the mound the Salukis rely on the arm of Danielle Glasson, who is 23-12, completed 22 of the 29 games she started and has 7 shutouts. Southern Illinois was 2-0 against the Jays with the third game being canceled because of weather.
Illinois State: Creighton will likely meet the Redbirds on Friday with a win on Thursday. The Bluejays took 2 of 3 from the Redbirds a couple weeks ago but those two losses are the only ones suffered in their last 10 games. Kara Nelson leads the Valley with a .405 batting average and hits to get on base, not drive the runners in. That is left up to junior Abby Olson, who is third in the league with a .371 batting average, and second in the league with 52 RBI and 18 homeruns. Megan Warner is the star on the mound, third in the league with a 1.88 ERA and a 14-8 record, but not used nearly as heavily as Oltman (CU) and Glosson (SIU). Warner did garner MVC pitcher of the week honors to finish the season.
The Salukis and Redbirds will be well rested going into Friday since they get a double-bye to start the tournament. Southern Illinois actually has the better seeding for the tournament, but Illinois State has the best RPI in the conference at 34. Southern Illinois (50) and Creighton (77) need to win the tournament to get into the NCAA Tournament. Illinois State has an outside chance of getting an at-large bid due to their RPI.
Amy Baker could be a factor for the Jays
The Bluejays are no strangers to success in the MVC Tournament: CU won the event in 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2007. The Jays have a great chance to take the tournament if Oltman and Sinkler continue their excellent play. But inevitably, it takes an x-factor — someone like Amy Baker — to step up and make big plays in game-changing situations.
With a win on Thursday, Creighton will advance to the tournament quarterfinals against Illinois State, who will be waiting to play their first game on Friday at 1:30. The Bluejays were 2-1 against Illinois State during the regular season with all three games played in Normal. Depending on how they fare from there they will either play Friday 4:00 or 6:30 p.m. With a loss, it will take an extra victory to take them to Saturday’s MVC final. The finals can be seen on Fox Sports Net (Channel 47 in Omaha). You can follow the other games from the MVC Championship Central.