DePaul University Athletics
Softball Kicks off 2005 Season
2/3/2005 12:00:00 AM | SOFTBALL
Printable Notes
CHICAGO - The DePaul softball team kicks off its 2005 campaign this weekend at the Clearwater Invitational, hosted by the University of Florida. The Blue Demons, entering their final season in Conference USA, hope leave the conference as champions having already won three C-USA Tournament Championships and three regular season titles.
The Blue Demons finished the 04’ season 30-31-1, however their record was not indicative of their success on the field. DePaul won the C-USA Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 10th time in 11 years.
Head Coach Eugene Lenti is entering his 24th season at the helm of the Blue Demon program looks forward to this season team. “This team will definitely return DePaul to its place as a Top-25 powerhouse,” Lenti said. “We look at last year was an aberration. Even with all of last year’s struggles we still ended up as C-USA tournament champions and made a solid showing at the NCAA Tournament.”
The Blue Demons will be led by two-time All-American and 2005 Preseason C-USA Player of the Year, Saskia Roberson. Roberson is the league’s top returning home run (13) and RBI (55) threat from a year ago and brings a lofty .340 career average into her final campaign with the Blue Demons. Roberson finished the 2004 season with the 46th best batting average in the country (.393) and the 40th highest slugging percentage.
2005 also returns All- C-USA sophomore Linda Secka and All-Freshman selection Jessica Evans. Secka will run the outfield in center, while Evans will get the call at short. Secka finished the 04’ season with the 18th highest conference batting average (.349) and led the Blue Demons with four triples. Evans whose season ended prematurely with a shoulder injury had the fifth best team batting average (.300).
The Blue Demons open play on Friday afternoon with No. 14 Tennessee, the team that ended DePaul’s 2004 season with a 4-0 win in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Regional in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Tennessee, who led the nation with a .978 fielding percentage in 2004, returns nine starters including pitching ace, sophomore All-American Monica Abbott. Abbott broke the NCAA freshman strikeout record, sending 582 batters back to the dugout in 352 innings pitched.
DePaul will face Garner Webb for the first time in school history on Friday. The Bulldogs returned two starters from a team that finished sixth in the Atlantic Sun Conference a year ago. Garner-Webb is led by senior pitcher Stacie Reichert, who struck out 213 batters in 254 innings.
The Blue Demons will close out pool play on Saturday facing Florida A&M and Central Florida. Florida A&M returns nine starters including first team All-Mid Eastern Atlantic Conference, Daniella Brown and Delia McMillan. Brown finished the season with a team high 26 RBI while McMillan led the team with a .310 batting average.
DePaul will face one of the NCAA’s best hitters in Central Florida’s Stephanie Best. Best finished her junior season with the seventh best batting average (.442) and third best slugging percentage (.840) in the NCAA. The Knights finished the 2004 season second in the Atlantic Sun Conference. This is the first time in school history that DePaul and UCF will face one another.
Following pool play the Blue Demons will enter Championship play and face either Appalachian State, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Louisville or Oklahoma on Sunday. The Blue Demons have been successful against all five teams carrying a 20-14 record, including a 16-8 record against Louisville. Championship play is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. (CST) on Sunday.
Since 1985, the Blue Demons are 11-9 in season openers, including 5-2 since 1998.
The Other Dugouts
No. 14 Tennessee
Friday, February 4 – 1:30 p.m. (CST)
Series: 0-2
Last Time Out: L, 4-0 (2004)
Garner-Webb
Friday, February 4 – 4:00 p.m. (CST)
Series: 0-0
Last Time Out: Never played
Florida A&M
Saturday, February 5 – 11:00 a.m. (CST)
Series: 1-0
Last Time Out: W, 7-0 (1991)
Central Florida
Saturday, February 5 – 1:30 p.m. (CST)
Series: 0-0
Last Time Out: Never Played
Other Tournament Participants
Appalachian State
Series: 0-0
Last Time Out: Never Played
Florida
Series: 1-1
Last Time Out: L, 3-2 (1999)
Florida Atlantic
Series: 0-0
Last Time Out: Never Played
Louisville
Series: 16-8
Last Time Out: W, 5-3 (2004)
Oklahoma
Series: 3-5
Last Time: L, 5-1 (2004)
Preseason Conference USA Honors
Roberson is the league’s top returning home run (13) and RBI (55) threat from a year ago and brings a lofty .340 career average into her final campaign with the Blue Demons. Roberson, who finished the 2004 season with the 46th best batting average in the country (.393) and the 40th highest slugging percentage, is the league’s only returning All-American.
2004 All C-USA recipient sophomore Linda Secka joined Roberson on the preseason honor list in the outfield. Secka played centerfield and finished the 2004 season with the 18th highest conference batting average (.349) and led the Blue Demons with four triples.
Picked Fourth
DePaul enters its final season in Conference USA and was tabbed to finish the regular season in fourth behind the favorite Louisville, Houston and USF. The Blue Demons have won three regular season titles (2001, 2002, 2003) and three consecutive Tournament Titles (2002, 2003, 2004).
Tournament Season
The Blue Demons will participate in some of the nations best tournaments, the Clearwater Invitational, the Stanford Invitational, the NFCA Lead Off Classic and the KIA KLASSIC. The Blue Demons are scheduled to play six teams that are receiving votes in the USA TODAY/NFCA Preseason Poll. No. 6 Stanford is the Blue Demons highest ranked opponent. DePaul will face off against Stanford at the Stanford Invitational on February 12th.
New Faces
The Blue Demons have five new faces in the dugout, freshmen Katie Hanson (Oregon, Ill.), Allie Mulligan (Chicago, Ill.), Marcy Wilus (Lyons, Ill.) and Sandy Vojik (Riverside, Ill.). Megan Huitink a sophomore transfer from the University of Illinois also joins DePaul this season. The five new faces add power, speed and versatility to Blue Demon line-up.
