DePaul University Athletics
DePaul University
Saint Mary's
DePaul Softball Uses Power to Surge Past St. Mary's
2/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | SOFTBALL
Box Score: DePaul 9, St. Mary's 5 
HONOLULU - The Blue Demons used the deep ball five times en route to a 9-5 victory over St. Mary's on Saturday evening to close out the Hawaii Paradise Classic.
DePaul (1-4) fell behind in the first inning after a wild pitch gave St. Mary's (1-4) a 1-0 lead after the opening stanza.
Megan Leyva got the Blue Demons on the board with a two-run home run - the first of her career - and put DePaul on top 2-1 in the second inning.
The scoreboard did not change until the fourth inning when Gena Lenti scored on a Leyva sacrifice fly. The Blue Demons took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the frame.
St. Mary's leveled the game with two runs coming across the plate before the conclusion of the fourth.
DePaul maintained its composure and got back on top after Morgan Maize blasted her third home run of the weekend over the center field wall. Mary Connolly also touted a solo shot in the fifth inning and gave the Blue Demons a 5-3 cushion.
Staci Bonezek and Brittany Boesel followed suit in the sixth as they both smacked their first home runs of the season in the frame.
The Gaels scrapped together a pair of runs in the home half of the sixth and kept the game close at 8-5 heading into the seventh.
Connolly pushed across the final run with an RBI single to put DePaul on top for good at 9-5. St. Mary's went down in order to give the Blue Demons their first victory of 2015.
Maxine Rodriguez earned her first career win in the circle as the sophomore went seven innings, scattering four hits and collecting two strikeouts.
DePaul had eight players tally a hit and five separate hitters added at least one RBI.
Maize paced the offense with a 4-for-5 performance and two RBI. Dylan Christensen, Naomi Tellez and Connolly each totaled two hits in the balanced outing.
The Blue Demons return to the diamond next weekend when they travel to Houston, Texas for the Hilton Plaza Invitational. DePaul opens with Northern Iowa at 9 a.m. and Stephen F. Austin at 11:30 a.m. to begin the tournament on Friday, Feb. 13.
Notes: This was the second meeting between the schools all-time… both teams split in the Hawaii Paradise Classic this season… Morgan Maize set a career-high with four hits… Maize went 7-for-15 with three home runs on the weekend… Mary Connolly tied Becca Heteniak for sixth on the program's all-time home runs list (30)… head coach Eugene Lenti moves into a tie with Jan Hutchinson for sixth on the NCAA's all-time wins list with 1,215… Dylan Christensen continued her hit streak to four games.
