WICHITA -- The Wichita State softball team (26-16, 8-6) handed Creighton (27-12, 6-1) its first conference loss of the season, but the Bluejays promptly responded in the nightcap to salvage a doubleheader split with the Shockers Saturday afternoon at Wilkins Stadium.

The teams will complete the series Sunday at noon.

Game One: Shockers 3, Creighton 0
The pitcher's duel between Creighton's Tara Oltman and WSU's Ashly Bright lived up to the billing early, as Bright struck out five of the first Bluejay hitters she faced and Oltman returned the favor with three strikeouts in the first two frames.

Katie McGeeney scored the first hit of the day with a leadoff single in the first, while Creighton got its first base hit with a leadoff single by Bailey Dawson in the fourth. Dawson's single put together Creighton's first threat of the game after she stole second and advanced to third on a sacrifice by catcher TJ Eadus, giving the Bluejays a runner on third and one out. Bright answered the call after injuring herself on the sacrifice, and struck out Renee Sinkler before getting Michelle Graner to pop out foul to first to end the threat.

In the sixth, Sinkler crushed a Bright pitch that bounced off the right-center wall for a two-out double before Michelle Graner drew a four-pitch walk, but Bright responded once again striking out pinch-hitter Mary Egan to end the inning.

Wichita State scored the first run of the day in the sixth when McGeeney drew a leadoff walk and went to second on the sacrifice by Kara L'Huillier. Britnee Barnett then reached on a fielder's choice after McGeeney slid under the tag of third baseman Liz McKewon at the corner. Cynthia Verhulst was then intentionally walked before Heather Gerritse layed down a perfectly executed squeeze to bring home McGeeney, giving WSU a 1-0 lead. Jamie Hull then ripped a 2-2 pitch right back up the middle, bringing home Barnett and Caley Roberts, who was running for Verhulst, breaking the game open, 3-0.

Creighton responded with back-to-back singles in the seventh but leadoff hitter Jessi Jadlowski lined into a double play at third as Hull threw over to first to end the game.

Bright (16-10) picked up the win, working all seven innings of the five-hit shutout, walking three and striking out 11 on the day. Oltman (18-5) took the loss, giving up three runs on four hits while walking three and striking out six. Hull was 2-for-3 with two RBI to lead the Shockers.


Game Two: Creighton 3, Shockers 1
The Bluejays scored runs in the second and third to pick up the win in the nightcap.

Creighton scored its first run of the day and the first run of the second game in the second inning of game two thanks to a pair of Shocker errors. Michelle Koch reached on a one-out infield single and came around to score after two Shocker miscues, giving CU a 1-0 lead.

The Shockers threatened in the bottom of the frame, but Creighton starter Emily Humpal (5-2) stranded two in scoring position after catching Dixon looking at a third strike, ending WSU's first bid to score in the game. Creighton added another run in the third on an RBI single by Cassidy Nee to take a 2-0 lead to the fourth.

A two-out double off the glove of Jamie Hull at third provided Creighton its third run of the day after Michelle Graner ripped the ball down the left line to bring home Sinkler from first, after the CU first baseman reached after being hit with two outs. Graner's RBI gave Creighton a 3-0 lead after five innings, all the offense Humpal needed, as she kept the Shockers off the board until the seventh, when Cynthia Verhulst broke up the shutout with a leadoff solo home run that towered over the center field fence to cut the Creighton lead to 3-1.

After a bloop single by Jamie Stanclift Humpal turned the ball over to Oltman, who finished off the Shockers with a pair of strikeouts to pick up her fifth save of the season. Brianna Smet (9-4) was saddled with the loss, giving up three runs on eight hits, two of which were earned. Smet walked one and struck out two.

--Wichita State--