DePaul University Athletics
DePaul University
Butler
Softball's Comeback Falls Short on Senior Day
5/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | SOFTBALL
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| Box Score: Butler 5, DePaul 4
CHICAGO -- The DePaul softball team dropped the final game of the regular season to Butler on Sunday, 5-4. The Blue Demons (22-23, 13-4 BIG EAST) fell for only the third time in conference play at home this season on Senior Day.
Nicole Pihl provided the pop in the lineup on the afternoon with a home run that collected two RBI. Seven other players, including seniors Staci Bonezek and Mary Connolly, recorded a hit in the defeat.
Connolly went the distance on the mound and allowed five runs on seven hits with four strikeouts in her final start at Cacciatore Stadium.
DePaul got on the board in its first at-bat when Pihl launched a two-run homer -- her 11th of the season -- and made it 2-0 in favor of the home squad.
Butler (24-27, 9-12) used a two-run shot by No. 2 hitter Brandyce Salee to knot the game up at 2-2 in the third.
The Bulldogs kept up the pace and plated three more runs in the following inning. A bases-loaded balk aided the output, while a two-run double from Salee capped the scoring for the frame at made it 5-2.
Connolly brought a run back for the Blue Demons in the home half of the fourth when she took a pitch in the back with the bases loaded. DePaul trailed 5-3 at that point and the score stayed the same until the seventh.
Pihl began the inning by drawing a walk, followed by a base hit from Micah Fitzgerald. Following a sacrifice bunt by Gena Lenti, Bonezek pushed a ball into left field and brought the Blue Demons to within one at 5-4 with one out.
Back-to-back groundouts thwarted the comeback and ended the game with Butler taking the result, 5-4.
DePaul earned the No. 2 seed for the conference tournament next weekend and is slated to take on third-seeded Seton Hall at 1 p.m. at the Ballpark in Rosemont. No. 1 seed St. John's tangles with No. 4 seed Villanova at the conclusion of the first semifinal.
Notes: This was the ninth meeting between the two programs all-time... DePaul holds a 7-2 advantage overall... Mary Connolly extended her hitting streak to five games... Micah Fitzgerald, Ellie Forkin, Ali Lenti and Morgan Maize each extended their respective streaks to three... Nicole Pihl notched her 11th game of multiple RBI and eighth game of exactly two RBI this season... Connolly hurled her 16th complete game of 2015... Brittany Boesel earned her 183rd start of her career... Staci Bonezek earned the 200th appearance of her career... Dylan Christensen played in her 100th career game.
