DePaul University Athletics
Yniguez, Heteniak Help Keep DePaul in First Place
5/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | SOFTBALL
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - DePaul certainly made the most of its two hits on Saturday.
One of those was Brittney Yniguez's two-run home run that helped launch the Blue Demons to a 4-0 victory over Syracuse in the second game of a BIG EAST Conference doubleheader.
DePaul (37-15, 18-3 in the BIG EAST) won the opener 1-0 in eight innings as Bree Brown was one out away from a perfect game.
The Blue Demons have now won eight in a row and 16 of their last 17. They remain in first place, a half-game ahead of Notre Dame (17-3), which swept a doubleheader from St. John's.
Becca Heteniak won her 11th game in a row in raising her record to 19-9. The senior ace limited Syracuse (29-24, 10-10) to five hits with five strikeouts and three walks.
In the opener, it was the irrepressible Yniguez who drove in the winning run in the top of the eighth. Alex Morocco scored after a one-out single and advanced to second on a groundout.
"I was just trying to get a base hit after striking out twice and hitting a weak grounder," Yniguez said. "I was trying to come through for my team and also do it for Bree. She had pitched such a great game."
Morocco's heads-up baserunning provided DePaul with an early lead. She was hit by a pitch in the first inning, advanced to third on a Lynsey Ciezki infield single and scored on a fielder's choice.
Two innings later, Morocco drew a one-out walk, advanced to second on a groundout and scored on an error.
After Ciezki was hit by a pitch in the sixth, Yniguez belted one over the left-field fence.
"I was a little frustrated during that at-bat because I kept fouling off good pitches to hit," said Yniguez, who now leads the team in RBI with 33 and is second in home runs with seven. "So, I stepped to the back of the batter's box and waited. It was an inside fastball, and I knew right away it was gone."
Making some adjustments in her approach has resulted in a 12-game hitting streak for Yniguez.
"Earlier in the season, I was trying to kill the ball," she said. "I've loosened up a little now. I have this goal of trying to get at least one hit in every game."
She had the biggest hit of all in game one.
"Brittney has been driving in some big runs for us, "said DePaul coach Eugene Lenti. "She is coming through for us as the No. 4 batter.
"We were scuffling in the first game, and she did a great job. In the second game, she put the nail in the coffin with the two-run homer."
DePaul's pitching tossed 15 scoreless innings on Saturday and gave up just six hits while racking up 22 strikeouts.
"Bree was unbelievable in the first game and Becca did a great job in the second game," Lenti said. "When you get pitching like that, you put yourself in a position to win.
"Our pitching has been very good since the St. John's doubleheader, with the exception of our loss at Illinois State. That's a big reason for these winning streaks."
In the last 17 games, the pitching staff has given up an average of 1.88 runs per game and has recorded seven shutouts.
During the current eight-game winning streak, opponents are averaging just one run per game.
All that remains is the final game of the regular season on Sunday. If the Blue Demons can prevail over Syracuse, they will capture the BIG EAST Conference regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in next week's BIG EAST Championship tournament.
NOTES: A victory on Sunday will also give DePaul its longest winning streak of the season at nine games... DePaul has gone 5-0 this week behind some phenomenal pitching... Brown is 2-0 with one save and a 0.00 earned-run average... she has given up two unearned runs and seven hits in 19 innings with 34 strikeouts and no walks... Heteniak is 3-0 with a 0.82 ERA and has given up two runs and eight hits in 17 innings with 17 strikeouts and six walks... offensively, Yniguez leads the way this week batting .375 with one home run, four RBI and two runs... Heteniak is hitting .364 with four RBI and three runs... on the season, Sean Plese leads the team with a .356 batting average followed by Morocco at .342... Morocco leads DePaul in hits with 50 and is second in doubles with nine... Yniguez is hitting .319 with seven home runs and a team-high 33 RBI... Tara Voss is batting .317 and leads the team in home runs (eight) and runs (39) and is second in RBI (31) and hits (46)... Heteniak is hitting .314 and leads in doubles (10) and walks (44)... Shea Warren is hitting .295 followed by Samantha Dodd (.287), Marie Thompson (.281) and Ciezki (.272)... Heteniak is 19-9 with a 1.80 ERA and 190 strikeouts in 167.2 innings... Brown is 16-5 with a 2.43 ERA and 184 strikeouts in 146.2 innings... opponents are batting .186 against Heteniak and .206 versus Brown... in BIG EAST play, Morocco is batting .439 followed by Ciezki (.413), Plese (.412), Dodd (.400), Thompson (.389), Yniguez (.383, 26 RBI), Heteniak and Katelyn Braget (.333) and Voss (.328).
