Huskies Beat Creighton, Advance to the BIG EAST Tournament Semifinal

Thursday, May 7

Chicago, IL

4:00 PM

University of Connecticut

29-25

Creighton

29-26

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Creighton	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	7	1
UConn	1	2	0	4	2	0	X	9	10	1

Photo by: Steve Woltmann

Huskies Beat Creighton, Advance to the BIG EAST Tournament Semifinal

5/8/2026 12:11:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

CHICAGO, Ill. – The No. 2 seed UConn softball team won their opening round game in the 2026 BIG EAST Tournament on Thursday afternoon, defeating the Creighton Bluejays, 9-3 at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex. After going down 3-0 in the 1^st inning, the Huskies rallied to score nine unanswered runs, sending UConn to the semifinal.

Graduate Jessica Walter got the nod in UConn's opening round game, making her 16^th start of the season for the Huskies. After a rocky first inning, Walter settled in, keeping Creighton scoreless for the final six innings, tossing her first complete game of the season. The Delaware native gave up two earned runs on seven hits, adding three strikeouts and picking up her seventh win on the year.

Creighton jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the 1^st inning.

UConn responded with a run in the bottom of the 1^st inning. Kaityn Breslin delivered a two-out double to left center field, scoring Haley Coupal all the way from first base, putting the Huskies on the board at 3-1.

UConn continued to fight their way back into the game, tying the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the 2^nd inning on a pair of hits. Kaitlyn Kibling led off the inning with her team-leading sixth triple of the season, putting her in scoring position for Ava Calciano to bring her home with a sacrifice fly to left field, making it a one-run game at 3-2. The next batter, Caylee De Meo knotted the score at 3-3 with her fourth home run of the season, a solo shot to deep left field.

The game entered a weather delay during the bottom of the 2^nd inning, pausing play for one hour and 34 minutes. UConn's offense kept their foot on the gas pedal coming out of the delay, putting pressure on the Bluejays pitching staff.

UConn broke through in the bottom of the 4^th inning, scoring four runs to take the lead for good. The BIG EAST Player of the Year Cat Petteys delivered what proved to be the game-winning hit with her team-leading 18^th home run of the year, a two-run shot to left center field, putting the Huskies in front, 5-3. Kibling added to the lead with her second triple of the game, scoring Emma Willers all the way from first base. Ava Calciano later scored Kibling with a double off the top of the right center field wall, pushing the UConn lead to 7-3.

Walter shut down the Bluejays lineup from the fifth inning on, retiring nine of the last ten Creighton hitters.

UConn added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the 5^th inning, ballooning the lead to 9-3. Breslin came up big with another clutch two-out RBI, singling to center field, scoring pinch runner Isabella Lundquist from second base. Petteys scored the Huskies final run of the game on a wild pitch.

News and Notes

Jessica Walter tossed her first complete game of the season.

Kaitlyn Kibling extended her on base streak to 22 straight games, recording her second three-hit game of the season. She now has a team high seven triples this season.
Cat Petteys hit her team-leading 18^th home run of the season, extending her on base streak to 12 straight games. She recorded her 14^th multi-RBI game this season.
Kaitlyn Breslin recorded her 13^th multi-hit and 16^th multi-RBI games this season.

Savannah Ring recorded her 18^th multi-hit game this season.
Haley Coupal has reached base safely in 13 straight games.
Ava Calciano recorded her seventh multi-RBI game this season. She has reached base safely in eight consecutive games.
Caylee De Meo hit her fourth home run of the season.
All nine in UConn's lineup reached base safely.
UConn had seven extra base hits. They were 5-6 leading off each inning (.833), and hit .500 with two outs.
The Huskies worked nine walks, one shy of their season high.
UConn left nine runners on base.

Up Next

UConn moves on to the BIG EAST semifinal on Friday, May 8, where they will matchup with the No. 4 seed Butler Bulldogs. First pitch is set for 2:00pm EST and will be streamed on ESPN+.

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