DePaul University Athletics
DePaul University
UMKC
Blue Demons Open Arlington Invitational With Win Over UMKC
2/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | SOFTBALL
ARLINGTON, Texas - DePaul's bats came alive in the Blue Demons' 9-4 victory over Missouri-Kansas City to begin the Arlington Invitational on Friday afternoon.
DePaul (4-7) got off to a quick start, putting two runs on the board behind a bases-loaded, RBI single by Dylan Christensen and a passed ball that scored Angela Scalzitti.
After holding UMKC (7-3) to just two hits in the first two frames, the Blue Demons put three more runs on the board in the top of the third, highlighted by a two-run blast by Mary Connolly.
The Kangaroos got a run back from a solo home run in the home half of the third to cut the score line to 5-1 in favor of DePaul.
The Blue Demons responded by adding a pair of runs from UMKC miscues in the top of the fourth. Micah Fitzgerald scored on another passed ball while Haydn Christensen raced across the plate following a throwing error by the catcher to make it a 7-1 game.
UMKC found its rhythm in the sixth, plating three runs on three hits and brought the margin down to three.
Nicole Pihl then dished out a two-run homer to give DePaul all the run support it would need. The Kangaroos went down in order in the seventh to hand the Blue Demons the win.
In total, DePaul smacked 10 hits from seven different players. D. Christensen, Pihl and Scalzitti all collected two hits to pace the Blue Demon offense.
DePaul used all three pitchers on its staff en route to its fourth win of the season. Megan Leyva got the starting nod and threw 5.1 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits.
Maxine Rodriguez came in relief of Leyva to get the final two outs of the sixth before Mary Connolly shut the door in the seventh.
The Blue Demons have a quick turnaround and will face Texas Tech at 4:30 p.m. to conclude the first day of the Arlington Invitational.
Notes: This was the 11th meeting between these programs all-time… DePaul has won all 11 contests… Morgan Maize extended her streak of reaching base safely to eight-straight games… Staci Bonezek saw her streak of seven-straight games reaching base safely come to a close… Mary Connolly has hit a home run in back-to-back games for the second time this season… the Blue Demons improve to 3-1 this season when scoring six or more runs… DePaul is also 4-0 when holding opponents to five runs or fewer… as a team, the Blue Demons collected 10-plus hits for the fifth time this season.
