The Creighton Bluejays (41-14) come into the Fayetteville Regional as the No. 3 seed and will take on 2-seed Kansas in Friday's first round nightcap.
Winners of 13 of their past 14 games, including seven consecutive, the Bluejays are both regular season and tournament champions of the Big East Conference and are back in the NCAA Tournament for the 12th time in school history, first since 2019. They hold a 25-17 all-time series advantage over Kansas and will face the Jayhawks for the first time since 2023, which Kansas won 3-1.
En route to the Big East Tournament Championship, Creighton defeated St. John's, Xavier and then UCONN in the final round. Along with being the Kings of the Big East, the Bluejays earned two wins over Chapel Hill Regional 3-seed Nebraska, plus took down Austin Regional 3-seed Kansas State during the regular season.
Led by long-time head coach Ed Servais, who is currently wrapping up his Retirement Tour after 22 seasons and more than 700 wins with the Bluejays, the strength of the very experienced Creighton squad is on the mound as the Big East's pitching statistical leader in nearly every major category.
The talented, heavy-righty arsenal includes Big East Pitcher of the Year Dominic Cancellieri and Big East Freshman of the Year Wilson Magers. Along with Cancellieiri and Magers on the Big East's first-team squad was fellow right-handed pitcher Garrett Langrell. Catcher Connor Capece, outfielder Nolan Sailors and third-baseman Matt Scherrman were selected for the second team. Additionally, Servais and his assistants were named the Big East Coaching Staff of the Year.
Creighton and Kansas will play the second game of the Fayetteville Regional on Friday at 7 p.m. CT at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville. The game will be streamed live on ESPN-Plus.
Below is a comparison of the Arkansas and Creighton's metrics and stats – assuming they face off – as well as a look the projected starting lineup and noteworthy pitchers for the Bluejays.
Creighton Projected Starting Lineup
1. CF Tate Gillen – Junior, 6'1", 185 pounds
2025 stats: .262/.378/.385, 55 GP, 221 AB, 58 H, 43 R, 13 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 36 RBI, 38 BB, 44 K, 13 SB
2. 3B Matt Scherrman – Senior, 6'2", 210 pounds
2025 stats: .304/.392/.491, 49 GP, 161 AB, 49 H, 39 R, 10 2B, 1 3B, 6 HR, 42 RBI, 20 BB, 40 K, 5 SB
3. LF Nolan Sailors – Senior, 6'0", 190 pounds
2025 stats: .392/.490/.555, 55 GP, 209 AB, 82 H, 56 R, 16 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, 39 RBI, 31 BB, 35 K, 27 SB
4. SS Ben North – Junior, 6'0", 200 pounds
2025 stats: .303/.394/.480, 55 GP, 221 AB, 67 H, 46 R, 16 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR, 55 RBI, 27 BB, 57 K, 14 SB
5. C Connor Capece – Sophomore, 6'0", 190 pounds
2025 stats: .367/.437/.506, 46 GP, 158 AB, 58 H, 37 R, 11 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 40 RBI, 13 BB, 29 K, 1 SB
6. RF Teddy Deters – Junior, 6'2", 210 pounds
2025 stats: .228/.360/.317, 52 GP, 189 AB, 43 H, 38 R, 5 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, 31 RBI, 33 BB, 47 K, 1 SB
7. 1B Will MacLean – Senior, 6'3", 220 pounds
2025 stats: .242/.383/.423, 52 GP, 182 AB, 44 H, 40 R, 9 2B, 8 HR, 31 RBI, 25 BB, 42 K, 2 SB
8. DH Dakota Duffalo – Senior, 6'1", 190 pounds
2025 stats: .276/.397/.410, 37 GP, 105 AB, 29 H, 22 R, 3 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 21 RBI, 19 BB, 26 K
9. 2B Kyle Hess – Senior, 6'1", 195 pounds
2025 stats: .280/.497/.439, 48 GP, 132 AB, 37 H, 39 R, 11 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 23 RBI, 35 BB, 29 K, 4 SB
Creighton Noteworthy Pitchers
RHP Dominic Cancellieri – Senior, 5'11", 200 pounds
2025 stats: 12 APP, 12 GS, 2-1 W/L, 51 IP, 43 H, 25 R, 11 ER, 21 BB, 54 K, .226 BAA, 1.94 ERA
RHP Wilson Magers – Freshman, 6'2", 200 pounds
2025 stats: 15 APP, 13 GS, 6-2 W/L, 69.2 IP, 47 H, 34 R, 24 ER, 37 BB, 51 K, .234 BAA, 3.10 ERA
RHP Garrett Langrell – Senior, 6'7", 225 pounds
2025 stats: 24 APP, 6-1 W/L, 48.2 IP, 45 H, 18 R, 15 ER, 9 BB, 52 K, .241 BAA, 2.77 ERA
RHP Matthew Aukerman – Senior, 6'4", 240 pounds
2025 stats: 25 APP, 8-0 W/L, 42.2 IP, 29 H, 14 R, 12 ER, 19 BB, 37 K, .193 BAA, 2.53 ERA
RHP Jack Pineau – Sophomore, 6'0", 185 pounds
2025 stats: 9 APP, 9 GS, 3-0 W/L, 34.2 IP, 42 H, 26 R, 22 ER, 18 BB, 34 K, .300 BAA, 5.71 ERA
RHP Shea Wendt – Sophomore, 6'1", 205 pounds
2025 stats: 15 APP, 5 GS, 0-1 W/L, 26.2 IP, 19 H, 14 R, 11 ER, 24 BB, 37 K, .207 BAA, 3.71 ERA
