Verdun Earns All-Region First Team Once Again
5/17/2012 12:00:00 AM | SOFTBALL
May 17, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. - On the bus ride to practice on Thursday, Kirsten Verdun found out she had been named NFCA Great Lakes All-Region First Team for the second year in a row.
The first time was a thrilling experience. The second time was an affirmation that Verdun at utility-pitcher is one of the top all-around players in the country.
Pitcher is such a specialized position, and not many aces around the nation have put up numbers on the mound and in the batter's box like the DePaul sophomore.
Verdun is 26-13 with a 1.65 ERA heading into the 4 p.m. NCAA Regional opener against Massachusetts Friday at University Field. She has 247 strikeouts in 250 innings and opponents are batting .204 against her.
When Verdun walks into the pitching circle on Friday for the 40th time in 2012, it will tie a DePaul record set by Sarah Martz in 2004.
Offensively, Verdun leads the Blue Demons in batting average (.373), home runs (11), RBIs (40), hits (59), doubles (12) and walks (29).
"This is significant because it shows I've been consistent, Verdun said. "A lot of any individual award comes from your team being good.
"A huge part of all this is the defense behind me. Our catchers have performed well and the offense has come through with timely hitting.
"Being all-region does put a bit of a target on my back, but that's been there all season as people always want to beat DePaul anyway."
The first to take aim at Verdun and Blue Demons will be Massachusetts (38-11) in the NCAA Championship.
"The tough schedule we played this season (12 games against teams in the Top 25) prepared us for the NCAA tournament," Verdun said. "We have confidence that when we play our game, we can compete with anyone.
"Hopefully everything we've learned in all those tough games will help us this weekend."
