DePaul University Athletics
DePaul University
St. John's
Blue Demon Home Runs Rock Cacciatore Stadium
4/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | SOFTBALL
April 3, 2011
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CHICAGO - It all began with Samantha Dodd's home run over the left-field fence.
An inning later, Katelyn Braget blasted one beyond Cacciatore Stadium's right-field fence.
Finally, Kirsten Verdun ripped a towering home run to center field.
The softball was flying in every direction Sunday during DePaul's 7-0 BIG EAST Conference victory over St. John's to sweep the three-game series.
"I had to get my mentality right," Dodd said. "I had a rough day yesterday, but I came in today, had a couple good swings and was feeling great.
"That home run, right off the bat, I knew it. Rounding first base, I thought: `Oh yeah, it's out of here.'"
After getting swept by Louisville last Wednesday, the Blue Demons have won three in a row by a cumulative score of 26-4. They are now 20-10 overall, 5-1 in the BIG EAST.
"We had been struggling after last Wednesday," Dodd said. "Jeanne (athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto) had a talk with us and said we weren't playing with confidence. That's the fire that we feed off of---playing with confidence."
After Dodd led off the second inning with her home run, Allie Braden hit a one-out double and scored on Alex Morocco's single. Morocco took second on the throw, advanced to third on Sean Plese's sacrifice bunt and scored on winning pitcher Kirsten Verdun's two-out base hit. Verdun improved her pitching record to 12-3.
Braget led off the third with her solo shot and Lindsey Dean followed up with a single. Pinch-runner Sarah Shizas and Dodd (single) wound up at second and third with one out. Braden's groundout to the right side scored Shizas.
Braget had an RBI double in the fourth and Verdun left the yard in the sixth.
"They're finding their stride, and they're in a good spot right now," said DePaul coach Eugene Lenti. "If you find good pitches to hit and swing right, good things are going to happen.
"We told them in practice the other day that our problems are not drastic. They were just little things that we needed to get turned around right away.
"It seems like we found a quick fix."
There was a looseness about the team that had been missing in recent weeks.
"That's how you have to play," Lenti said. "It's easier to play looser when you're ahead. It makes it easier to score more runs and easier to defend.
"We're getting contributions all throughout the lineup. Braget had a big day and Dodd picked it up. Alex, Kirsten and Sean continue to do a good job, and Allie Braden contributes from the bottom of the lineup."
For Dodd, it's all about regaining confidence.
"We've been stressing hitting through the ball and driving it," Dodd said. "Most of the time in practice has been about hitting.
"I've never seen so many home runs in a game. It's us coming together as a team. When we do, it speaks for itself.
"This is the team we'll see for the rest of the season as long as we stay true to our mechanics, our mentality is right and we continue to practice hard.
"We can only go up."
It will be a quick turnaround for the Blue Demons, who take a ride up to Evanston on Tuesday to face Northwestern in a 4 p.m. showdown.
NOTES: In Sunday's game, Dodd was 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run... Morocco, Verdun and Braget each had two hits... Verdun and Braget had two RBIs apiece... Plese, Megan Coronado, Lindsey Dean and Braden each had a hit in the 13-hit attack ...in five games this past week, Morocco batted .615 with eight hits, five RBIs, four runs and two walks... she had a .667 on-base percentage and a .692 slugging percentage for a combined OPS of 1.359... Plese hit .600 in the five games and Coronado hit .429... Verdun batted .417 with a homer and five RBIs... Dean hit .400 and was followed by Braget (.364, five RBIs) and Lynsey Ciezki (.273)... DePaul hit .328 as a team while going 3-2 on the five-game home stand... in the circle, Verdun was 3-1 with a 0.35 earned-run average and just one earned run over 20 innings... the freshman lefty had 17 strikeouts and just two walks in those 20 innings while giving up 14 hits... on the season, Plese leads DePaul with a .429 batting average followed by Morocco (.423), Dodd (.316), Verdun (.312) and Braget (.269)... Morocco leads in hits (41) and runs (19) and is second in RBIs with 13... Verdun leads in home runs (seven), RBIs (22) and walks (24).
