Softball Heads to NCAA Tournament

NCAA Tournament Guide 
NCAA Region 8 Information

CHICAGO — The DePaul softball team will participate in NCAA Tournament this weekend, traveling to the No. 8 Region in Madison, Wisconsin.  The Blue Demons will play tournament host Wisconsin at 5:00 p.m. on Friday.

This is DePaul’s 11th NCAA tournament appearance, they advanced to the College World Series in 1999 and 2000.

 

Friday, May 20

            Game 1:           (# 2) DePaul vs. (#3) Wisconsin           5:00 p.m.

            Game 2:           (#1) Oregon St. vs. (#4) Wisc. Green Bay        7:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 21 

            Game 3:           Winner G1 vs. Winner G2        12:00 p.m.
            Game 4:           Loser G1 vs. Loser G2             2:30 p.m.

            Game 5:           Winner G4 vs. Loser G3           5:00 p.m.

Sunday, May 22

            Game 6:           Winner G3 vs. Winner G5        11:00 a.m.

            If Game:           Winner G6 vs. Loser G6           1:30 p.m.

First Round Opponent

No. 3 Wisconsin (31-22, 11-9 Big Ten)

Friday, May 20   5:00 p.m. (CST)

The Badgers earned their third NCAA Regional appearance after winning 18 of their last 20 games before falling to top-ranked Michigan in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament. They finished the regular Big Ten season in fifth place and return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002.

Wisconsin is led by senior catcher Boo Gillette, who was named to the Big Ten’s third team at catcher for the third straight season. She ranked second on the team with a .338 average during Big Ten play.  Gillette also tallied four home runs and her 12 RBI were fourth-best on the squad.

The Blue Demons and Badgers have not met since the 1999 season at Wish Field.  DePaul swept the double header, outscoring UW 16-2. 

 

The Other Dugouts

No. 1 Oregon State (40-14, 13-8 Pac-10)

The Beavers received the No. 8 overall seed after earning a share of the Pacific-10 Conference title. OSU is making their seventh consecutive appearance and has reached the championship game on four occasions (1999, 2000, 2003, 2004) before being eliminated.

Oregon State is led by sophomore pitcher Brianne McGowan (33-8), who is a four-time Pac 10 Pitcher of the Week and has been invited to try-out for the USA National team.  McGowan has appeared in 49 of the Beavers 54 games, struck out 293 batters and has allowed 203 hits in 268 innings of work.

For the second consecutive season, DePaul and Oregon State found themselves at the same regional.  Last season, both teams were placed at the Ann Arbor Regional; however they have never played one another at the Regional.  The Blue Demons and Beavers have met seven times, each winning three contests and one game ending in a tie.  They last met in 2001, OSU won the game 1-0.  

 

No. 4 UW-Green Bay (26-16, 13-5 Horizon League)

The UW-Green Bay softball team makes its inaugural appearance in the NCAA Tournament after capturing the schools first Horizon League Tournament crown. 

Senior pitcher Stephanie Hansen leads the Phoenix pitching staff with a 1.83 ERA, an 8-6 record and was named the MVP of the Horizon League Tournament.

The Blue Demons hold a 16-8 series advantage over the Phoenix but have not met since 1994.  DePaul won the last meeting 7-4 in Green Bay.

11th Time

DePaul is making its 11th all-time and ninth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Regional. DePaul is 20-16 all-time in regional action and won both the 1999 and 2000 regionals to advance to the College World Series. The Blue Demons have reached the regional finals five times.

Red Hot

DePaul has won at least one game in NCAA Regional play for eight consecutive years dating back to 1997.

 

2005 Conference USA Champions

Second-seeded DePaul captured its fourth-consecutive Conference USA Softball Tournament title with a 6-2 victory over top-seeded Louisville on Saturday, May 14 at the USF Softball Complex. The Blue Demons used a four-run fifth inning to take their first lead of the game and sophomore Megan Huitink, who was named Tournament MVP, held Louisville scoreless in three innings of relief to earn her second win of the tournament

 

All Conference Selections

The Blue Demons had five players named to an All Conference USA team and two were selected to the All-Freshman team.  Senior outfielder Dana Kenney, sophomore pitcher Megan Huitink and freshman utility player Sandy Vojik were all named to the first team.  Senior first basemen Saskia Roberson and senior outfielder Ashley Parker were named to the second team.  Designated player Marcy Wilus and Vojik were each named to the All-Freshman team. 

Since joining C-USA in 2000, the Blue Demons have had 25 first team selections and eight All-Freshman team members. 

C-USA All -Tournament Team

Sophomore pitcher Megan Huitink became the fourth consecutive Blue Demon to be named the MVP of the C-USA.  Joining Huitink on the All-Tournament team were seniors Saskia Roberson and Dana Kenney. Sophomore Kate Sheaks was named to the All-Tournament team at the Utility position. 

C-USA All-Decade

Head softball coach Eugene Lenti was named C-USA Coach of the Decade and former Blue Demon and current assistant softball coach Lindsay Chouinard was named Player of the Decade.  Current DePaul assistant Liz Bouck joined Chouinard on the All-Decade roster along with senior Saskia Roberson and Sarah Martz (2001-04).

 

Huitink Named Pitcher of the Week

For the second time this season, sophomore Megan Huitink was named Conference USA Pitcher of the Week.  The sophomore threw back-to-back shutouts and helped the Blue Demons to a perfect 5-0 record for the week ending May 1. She won two of DePaul’s five games, posting a 0.00 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 15 innings of work.  Huitink was also credited with a save at USF. 

 

No Hit Huitink

Sophomore pitcher Megan Huitink threw her first career no-hitter against Florida Atlantic on February 26, while the Blue Demons were competing at the NFCA Classic.  Huitink became only the sixth pitcher in the NFCA Classic’s ten-year history to throw a no hitter.  The sophomore struck out 12 of the 24 batters she faced.

 

Huitink and Kenney Sweep C-USA Honors

Sophomore Megan Huitink and senior Dana Kenney swept the Conference USA weekly softball awards after leading their team to a perfect 3-0 record in league play and 6-1 record overall for the week ending April 17.  Huitink was named Pitcher of the Week, while Kenney was named Hitter of the Week.

Huitink won four of DePaul’s six games last week posting a perfect 4-0 record with 31 strikeouts a 0.52 ERA and recorded her third shutout against Saint Louis. The sophomore allowed three hits against Saint Louis in Sunday’s series finale to extend the Blue Demons’ winning streak in C-USA games to 10. Huitink also picked up wins over Big Ten foe Illinois and Northern Illinois.

Kenney went 9-for-11 at the plate in the Blue Demons’ sweep of Saint Louis, which extended their winning streak in league play to 10 games. In Saturday’s doubleheader, the senior was a perfect 7-for-7 at the plate with a double, a triple and three RBI. For the week, Kenney batted .524 in six games.

 

Roberson C-USA Home Run Queen and RBI Princess

Seniors Saskia Roberson and Houston’s Kristin Glowacz are locked in a pair of tight races to see who will finish their respective careers as Conference USA’s all-time home run and RBI leaders. Through games of May 18 both seniors have surpassed the previous home run mark of 38.  Roberson currently has a two home run lead over Glowacz and trails her by four  in the RBI race. Roberson can break the RBI record this week, as Glowacz and Houston did not make the tournament.     

 

Roberson Putting Out the Records

Senior All-American Saskia Roberson has her eyes on three DePaul career records for  putouts, RBI and doubles.  The senior began the season with 878 putouts, 134 RBI and 31 doubles; needing 458 putouts and 44 RBI to take over the records and 13 doubles to enter the top-five.  With the regular season complete, Roberson has registered 478 putouts, 37 RBI and nine doubles.  During the C-USA Tournament Roberson took over the putout record,  registering 1,356 putouts as of May 18. The senior already holds the school record for home runs, a record she broke as a junior.  Roberson now has 49 career home runs.

 

Evans Streak

Sophomore Jessica Evans rode the wave of a nine game hitting streak, from March 26 - April 13 at Illinois. During the streak, Evans batted .483 and recorded 11 RBI, two doubles, a triple and a home run.  A nine-game hitting streak is the longest hit-streak a Blue Demon has had this season. 

Seeing Double

Jenny Doezie, Saskia Roberson and Kate Sheaks became members of the double-double club this season,  each recording  two doubles in one game.  Doezie registered her first double-double game against Houston on March 22nd.  Sheaks had her double-double at Wish Field againt Louisville. Roberson recorded two double-doubles this season, her first came against Gardner Webb (2/5) and her second against North Carolina (2/25).  In 2004, Roberson recorded a team high four double-doubles.  

Adix in the Circle

Sophomore right handed pitcher Tracie Adix had an exceptional couple of weeks, from March 22 – May 5. She appeared in 18 games picking up the win in 15 of those games. The sophomore (21-7) allowed just 13 earned runs and has struck out 49 batters for a 0.90 ERA in 100.2 innings of work. 

Collegiate Firsts

Freshman Sandy Vojik and junior Sara Bandauski each registered their first collegiate home run during the three-game Conference USA series with Southern Miss. Vojik finished the series with a .889 slugging percentage and Bandauski finished with a .714 slugging percentage.

 

Nine!

The Blue Demons rode the wave of a nine games winning streak from March 26-April 10. DePaul’s  streak was broken by a 7-6, loss at Illinois on April 12. The nine-game streak was the longest since the Blue Demons won 21-games in 2003 (March 26-April 24).  Illinois also broke that streak with a 1-1 tie in Champaign in 2003.

 

Tournament Season

The Blue Demons participated in some of the nation’s best tournaments; the Clearwater Invitational, the Stanford Invitational, the NFCA Lead-Off Classic and the KIA KLASSIC.  The Blue Demons faced eight ranked team in their first 18 games.  They picked up a pair of wins over ranked teams. They defeated No. 4 Oklahoma, 4-1 at the Clearwater Invitational and they shutout No. 18 Nebraska, 2-0 at the KIA Klassic. 

Related Videos