Blue Demons Tangle with the Cardinals

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 5 seeded DePaul softball team faces the No. 1 seed Louisville in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Softball Championship at 9:00 a.m. (CST) Sunday at Ivy Field.

The Blue Demons and Cardinals are no stranger to meeting in conference tournaments. The teams have faced off seven times since 2000, with the Blue Demons owning a perfect record in the post season. DePaul leads the overall series 18-13,  but dropped the teams regular season meeting on April 19. 

DePaul advanced to the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship after defeating No. 5 Syracuse 8-0, in five innings on Friday.  Junior Kate Sheaks led the Blue Demons and tied a BIG EAST Championship record five RBI. 

Entering Sunday's game the Blue Demons have won six straight and are batting .317 as a team during those games.  Junior Linda Secka has given DePaul an offensive boost registering 10 hits while Sheaks has a team high nine RBI in the last six games.

Louisville advanced to the semifinal after downing No. 8 St. John's 8-2.  The Cardinals are led by BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year, Catherine Bishop, who led the league in three pitching categories during conference play. Bishop (28-5) led the BIG EAST in opponents' batting average (.158), innings pitched (94.0), and wins with 13.

Rain in South Bend has slowed the progress of the championship and has forced the event to move to Ivy Field, home of Notre Dame softball. The other semifinal game between No. 7 Pittsburgh and No. 3 Notre Dame is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. with the championship game at 2:00 p.m.  The championship game will be aired live on CSTV and simulcast on www.und.com for free.

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