DePaul University
Wright State
Softball Sweeps Competition on Opening Day
2/9/2018 12:00:00 AM | SOFTBALL
DePaul vs. IUPUI Box
DePaul vs. Wright State Box
CHICAGO - The DePaul softball team opened the 2018 season on Friday with two victories on the first of three days of competition at the Total Control Sports Invitational. In a non-traditional doubleheader, the Blue Demons downed IUPUI 5-2 and finished the day with a 4-0 shutout win against Wright State.
In the season opener against IUPUI, the Blue Demons (2-0) stormed out to a 3-0 lead in the opening inning. DePaul scored its first run of the season on a squeeze bunt down the third base line by Megan Leyva. Six pitches later, first baseman Morgan Greenwood pushed a sacrifice fly to deep left-center field to plate the second run of the contest. The Panthers committed a fielding error later in the inning allowing Leyva to score, giving DePaul the 3-0 advantage.
Catcher Jessica Cothern added a spark to DePaul's offensive motion in the top of the fifth as the right-hander ripped a shot to deep center and used her speed to complete an inside-the-park homerun. Two innings later, another IUPUI error gave DePaul the 5-0 edge heading into the final frame of the game. Freshman Pat Moore, in her collegiate debut, pitched six innings of shutout ball before handing the ball off to senior Kennedy Garcia in the seventh. Moore, game one's winning pitcher, picked up 10 strikeouts in the contest.
IUPUI (0-1) attempted a comeback in the final frame, using an RBI-triple by Haley Ginger and RBI-single by Sabrina Trevino to plate two runs, but the surge was stifled as Garcia struck out the final two Panthers to end the contest.
In the nightcap, DePaul used a four-hit, complete game shutout pitching performance by sophomore Missy Zoch and timely hitting by Alysia Rodriguez, Kate Polucha, and Angela Scalzitti to defeat Wright State 4-0.
Scalzitti put the Blue Demons on the board in the top of the third with an RBI-single up the middle. Two batters later, left fielder Polucha drove in DePaul's second run of the contest with a single to center, recording her first collegiate career RBI.
In the fourth, Rodriguez drove in her first run of the contest with a single to right. Three innings later, the third baseman belted a solo shot over the left field fence, giving DePaul the 4-0 lead and eventual victory.
Zoch, who struck out seven Raiders, picked up her first win of the season.
DePaul returns to action tomorrow in day two of the Total Control Sports Invitational. The Blue Demons will meet Eastern Kentucky at 9 a.m. and then square off with Wright State again at 11:30 a.m. Both games will take place at the Dome at the Ballpark in Rosemont.
Game Notes
-Coach Lenti has now tallied 1,294 career wins. That mark places him fifth all-time in NCAA history and fourth all-time among active coaches.
-DePaul softball has won 1,390 games dating back to its first season in 1977.
-The Blue Demons' first home game at Cacciatore Stadium will take place on March 30 when they host Villanova in doubleheader action.
-DePaul used 10 hits to drive in nine runs in their first two games of 2018.
