Softball Closes Out Regular Season

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CHICAGO – Heading into the final week of regular season, the DePaul softball team sits a top the Conference USA standings and has one of the best winning percentages in the NCAA (.714). The Blue Demons will travel to Evanston on Tuesday to take on No. 15 Northwestern and will return to Wish Field for their final five games of the season.  They will play a doubleheader with Loyola-Chicago on Thursday and a three-game C-USA series with second place Louisville over the weekend.

The Blue Demons open the week’s action at No. 15 Northwestern on Tuesday.  The Wildcats enter the cross-town rival as the Big Ten’s No. 1 team and are scheduled to play No. 1 Michigan over the weekend. The Wildcats are the first ranked team that the Blue Demons have faced since March 18th when the team played then No. 5 Michigan the KIA Klassic, in Fullerton, California.

DePaul will see a familiar face in the opposing dugout on Thursday.  The Blue Demons will face former assistant coach Yvette Healy, who is now the head coach Loyola.  In her first season, Healy has led the Ramblers to a 17-28 start.   Coming into Thursday’s contest, the Blue Demons have won 51 of their 56 meetings with the Ramblers. 

The Blue Demons will close out the season with a three-game C-USA series with Louisville.  The C-USA regular season champion will be crowned over the weekend as two-games separate the Blue Demons and the Cardinals. Last season the Blue Demons and the Cardinals met four times, three-times during the regular season and once during the C-USA Tournament.  Louisville led the 2004 series 3-1, but the Blue Demons lead the overall series, 16-8.

The Blue Demons have won 23 of their last 26 games.

 

Facts on File

No. 15 Northwestern (35-12, 15-1 Big Ten)

Series with DePaul: 19-12

Last time vs. DePaul: L, 6-2

Head Coach:  Kate Drohan

Loyola (17-28, 8-6 Horizon League)

Series with DePaul:  5-51

Last time vs. DePaul:  L, 7-0

Head Coach:  Yvette Healy

Louisville (36-16, 17-4 C-USA)

Series with DePaul: 8-16

Last time vs. DePaul: L, 5-3

Head Coach:  Sandy Pearsall

Last Week

DePaul finished off the week with a perfect 5-0 record, capping off the weekend with its seventh straight Conference USA series win and fifth season sweep.  The Blue Demons took a doubleheader from Valparaiso on Thursday, taking the first game 9-1 and the second game 2-0.  Over the weekend, DePaul got its first look at the USF Softball Field, the site of the 2005 C-USA Tournament.  The Blue Demons found success in Tampa, sweeping the three-game series from the Bulls.  Sophomore Megan Huitink capped off her week on Saturday with her second straight shutout victory.  The sophomore finished the week with 0.00 ERA and 14 strikeouts.  Huitink is the first Blue Demon to record back-to-back shutouts since Lindsay Chouinard did it in 2003 against USF (C-USA Tournament) and Wright State (NCAA Tournament).  At the plate, sophomore Linda Secka finished the week with a team best .333 batting average, two doubles and two RBI. 

So Hard to Say Good-Bye

The Blue Demons will celebrate Senior Day on Sunday, May 8.  The Blue Demons will say good-bye to a five seniors, Jenny Doezie, Kathleen Goss, Dana Kenney, Ashley Parker and Saskia Roberson.  The seniors have appeared in three NCAA Regionals, won three C-USA Tournaments and two regular season C-USA crowns.  Over the last four seasons, the five seniors have helped DePaul to a 162-64 record.

 

Huitink Named Pitcher of the Week

For the second time this season, sophomore Megan Huitink has been named Conference USA Pitcher of the Week.  The sophomore threw back-to-back shutouts last week 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. 

 

Nine!

The Blue Demons rode the wave of a nine games winning streak from March 26-April 10. DePaul, 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.

 

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 Putting Out the Records

Senior All-American Saskia Roberson has her eyes on three DePaul career records, the record 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 7 games left in the season, Roberson has registered 423 putouts, 34 RBI and nine doubles, pulling her within games of records.  The senior already holds the school record for most career home runs, a record she broke as a junior.  Roberson has 48 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 .440 and has recorded eight RBI and two doubles and a home run.  A nine-game hitting streak is the longest hit-streak a Blue Demon has had this season. 

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 April 24 both seniors have surpassed the previous home run mark of 38.  Roberson currently has a four home run lead over Glowacz and trails her by one, in the RBI race.    

Senior’s Seeing Double

Jenny Doezie and Saskia Roberson became members of the double-double club this season. The two seniors have recorded two doubles in one game.  Doezie registered her first double-double game against Houston on March 22nd.  Roberson recorded two double-doubles this season, her first coming 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 has be exceptional on the mound in her last 16 appearances, picking up the win in 13 of those games.  The sophomore (20-5) has allowed just 12 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 with Southern Miss. Vojik finished the series with a .889 slugging percentage and Bandauski finished with a .714 slugging percentage.

 

Closing Specialist

Senior pitcher, Leslie Scott has been the Blue Demons closer this season.  The senior has pitched the final inning five times this season, giving up no runs and five hits.

 

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 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. 

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.

 

Becoming Cacciatore Stadium

DePaul will play their final season on Wish Field before the field is closed for improvements and will be renamed Cacciatore Stadium.  The stadium will feature covered dugouts, enhanced batting cages and bullpen areas, permanent seating and a working press box.

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