DePaul University Athletics
Blue Demon Softball Hosts St. John's in Opening Homestand
3/21/2014 12:00:00 AM | SOFTBALL
March 21, 2014
CHICAGO - Spring has arrived and with it comes DePaul softball, which opens its 2014 conference slate by hosting St. John's in a three-game series, home-opening weekend at Cacciatore Stadium.
First pitch is set for noon CT on Saturday with a doubleheader on tap before the two squads wrap things up on Sunday with an 11 a.m. tilt.
The Blue Demons (16-6) are coming off a four-game split in their final weekend tournament of the season at the Titan Classic, where they fell against Texas Tech and UNLV on Friday evening before recovering to sweep Canisius and Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.
Junior Ali Lenti had a standout weekend for DePaul in Fullerton, Calif. and produced back-to-back multi-hit games against Texas Tech and Canisius. She led the Blue Demons by hitting at a .444 (4-for-9) clip over the four games and was to named to her first BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday.
Overall, DePaul is 12-3 in its past 15 outings and boasts a solid blend of pitching and offense this season. The Blue Demons lead the BIG EAST Conference in both team batting average (.301) are third in team ERA (2.52). Over 22 games, DePaul has crossed the plate 110 times (five runs per game).
Junior Mary Connolly is hitting .381 and leads the conference in total bases (48), slugging percentage (.762) and is second in homers (6) and RBI (16).
In the circle, senior ace Kirsten Verdun leads the BIG EAST in strikeouts (121) and is third in ERA at 1.66. Her 10 wins and three saves both lead the BIG EAST, while she rankes 18th in the nation in strikeouts, 23rd in K's per seven innings (9.1) and 17th in saves.
Scouting The Red Storm
St. John's enters the weekend at 13-13 overall and on a five-game winning streak, having defeated Cornell and Robert Morris twice during their most recent weekend trip to the Delaware Spring Invitational.
Four Red Storm batters are hitting north of .300, including standout freshman Kaitlin Fitzgerald (.389, 28 H, 17 RBI) and a pair of upperclassmen power bats in Erin Burner (6 HR) and Jackie Reed (4 HR). In the circle, the Johnnies sport a team ERA of 3.80 and are anchored by sophomore Tori Free, who has strikeout stuff (69K in 63.1 IP) and a 6-7 record to go with a 3.43 ERA. Senior Ashley Beza has been the second starter for SJU, firing 52.2 innings and keeping a 3.19 ERA.
DePaul has dominated the series in recent years, winning five straight over the Red Storm. The Blue Demons have not lost to St. John's since April 14, 2010 and swept the team's two meetings in Queens last season.
Award-Winning
DePaul has claimed five of the first 12 BIG EAST Conference weekly awards during the season's first six weeks.
On Monday, Ali Lenti made her first career appearance on the league's honor roll after hitting .444 (4-for-9) at the Cal State Fullerton Titan Classic.
The week prior, junior Mary Connolly took home Player of the Week honors on March 3 as senior Kirsten Verdun joined her on the honor roll. Nicole Pihl has also been honored as Player of the Week (2/24) with senior Hannah Penna joining her on the weekly honor roll.
Verdun began her season by earning a BIG EAST weekly honor in each of the first two weeks. On Feb. 10, the senior lefty was honored as Pitcher of the Week and followed it up with a Player of the Week recognition on Feb. 17. Junior Mary Connolly was also named Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 17, while classmate Staci Bonezek was an honor roll nominee on Feb. 10.
Still Going Strong
Head coach Eugene Lenti begins his 33rd season heading up the Blue Demon program in 2014, and the Hall of Famer has amassed an extraordinary career record of 1,186-576-6. He is the fifth winningest active coach in the nation and has led DePaul to the NCAA tournament in 15 of the last 17 years. That run includes four trips to the Women's College World Series. In three of the last six seasons, the Blue Demons have won either a BIG EAST regular-season title or BIG EAST Conference Championship tournament title. Lenti and his assistant coaches have also been honored as the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year three times.
Blue Demons Picked to Win BIG EAST Title
DePaul softball is the 2014 BIG EAST Conference favorite, according to the conference's annual preseason poll announced on Wednesday, Feb. 5. The Blue Demons, who will serve as host of the 2014 BIG EAST Championship in May, earned six first-place votes and tallied 48 total points.
Conference coaches ranked the teams one through seven and were not allowed to vote for their own programs. BIG EAST newcomer Creighton received 44 points along with two first-place votes to finish just behind the Blue Demons.
The Blue Demons have now been picked to win the conference twice in the past three seasons and six times total as the program enters its 10th season in the BIG EAST. DePaul has never been selected to finish any lower than fourth in a BIG EAST preseason poll.
