DePaul University Athletics
DePaul Wins Eighth Straight Behind Defense and Dodd
3/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | SOFTBALL
March 13, 2011
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Samantha Dodd had a day, and DePaul's defense did the rest.
Dodd was 2-for-3 with three RBIs in the Blue Demons' 5-4 victory over Southern Illinois Sunday to capture the Saluki Invitational title.
DePaul (15-2) has now won eight in a row and 12 of its last 13.
Dodd's two-run single in the first inning, scoring Alex Morocco and Lynsey Ciezki and Megan Coronado's first collegiate home run in the third had staked the Blue Demons to a 3-0 lead.
Dodd's RBI double in the fifth brought home Coronado to give DePaul a 4-0 advantage. One batter later, Dodd scored on Lindsey Dean's pinch-hit double.
"Lindsey smashed that ball so hard, I thought it was gone," Dodd said. "That was one of the hardest-hit balls I've ever seen from her."
That turned out to be the game-winning hit as SIU (13-8) rallied with four runs in the last two innings.
Winning pitcher Bree Brown had been cruising along, giving up just one hit over the first five innings. But the Salukis cut the DePaul lead to 5-2 on Taylor Orsburn's two-run home run in the top of the sixth.
One inning later, Morgan Barchan's two-run single made it a one-run game. Kirsten Verdun came on in relief, and after giving up a single to Haley Gorman, the freshman induced a grounder back to the circle for the final out.
It was Verdun's third save of the season.
"Bree was great until she started getting behind hitters and they started whacking the ball," said DePaul coach Eugene Lenti. "Bree came up to me after the game and said: `I've got to do a better job of closing a game.'
"She wasn't getting her pitches down low enough. Make them hit ground balls because we are playing a Major League kind of defense right now. Going the whole weekend without any errors is a tremendous accomplishment."
The defense certainly came through in the third inning when second baseman Allie Braden threw out SIU's Chelsea Held at home plate.
"Our defense is what won the title for us," Lenti said. "Allie made some nice plays and Alex is roaming center field chasing everything down.
"Our pitchers should take advantage of the way their teammates are playing behind them."
After going 1-for-10 in the first three games of the Saluki Invitational, Dodd had a talk with assistant coach Nancy Evans.
"She told me I get too stressed out after going oh-fer in a game and I start to over-think everything," Dodd said. "She's right. That's my biggest weakness. I start over-analyzing situations and guessing what a pitcher is going to throw.
"I came into this game just trying to hit the ball hard, and it worked. I'm going to try and stick with this thought process."
Dodd said Lenti puts a premium on stellar defense, and it shows.
DePaul has committed three errors all season---SIU made three errors in Sunday's game alone. Blue Demon opponents have made 22 errors this season resulting in 21 unearned runs. DePaul has only given up five unearned runs.
"When you make the routine plays, then it becomes a race to 21 outs---and we've done well," Dodd said. "We have to continue to do the little things that have made us successful.
"We don't want to get too excited about the winning streak. We're going to have a big target on our back, and teams are going to come after us."
That could start Thursday when DePaul faces No. 10/9 Oklahoma at the prestigious Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif. The Blue Demons will also encounter No. 12/13 Texas and No. 4/4 Arizona at the Classic along with New Mexico and Long Beach State, which is receiving votes in the national polls.
NOTES: This was the third consecutive title for DePaul, following up its success at the USF Tournament and the Wolf Pack Classic in Reno, Nev.... Morocco, Dodd and Sean Plese each had two hits Sunday against SIU while Coronado, Dean and Marla Mathews each had one... Dodd had three RBIs while Dean and Coronado each had one... in the four games at the Saluki Invitational, Morocco hit .500 with four runs and one RBI... Plese was 3-for-4 and Coronado 2-for-4 with a home run, three runs and two RBIs... Verdun hit .364 and Braget batted .308 with five RBIs... Dodd had three hits, three RBIs and three runs... Verdun had two wins and a save while Brown had two wins... during the eight-game winning streak that dates back to Feb. 20, Plese is batting .800 and Morocco is hitting .500 with 15 hits and six runs... Dean is 1-for-2 and Verdun is hitting .400 with seven RBIs... Lynsey Ciezki is hitting .391 over the last eight games with seven runs while Braget is batting .333 with seven RBIs... Ali Warren is also hitting .333 while Dodd is at .308 and Coronado is at .300... during this stretch, DePaul has outhit its opponents .306 to .184 and outscored them 39-15... the Blue Demons have 67 hits over the last eight games to 37 for the opposition... DePaul has made just one error during the winning streak while its opponents have committed 12... Verdun is 5-0 and has two saves during the streak with a 1.22 earned-run average... she has 25 strikeouts in 34.1 innings and opponents have hit just .165 against her... Bree Brown is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 18.2 innings and an opponents' batting average of .197... Dean is 1-0 with a 2.33 ERA and a .286 opponents' batting average.
