DePaul University Athletics
DePaul University
12-1
Canisius College
0-4
Eleven-Run Fourth Inning Advances DePaul to Championship Game
2/23/2019 6:27:00 PM | SOFTBALL
The Blue Demons defeat Canisius and will play in the 8:00 p.m. CT Hawaii Tournament championship game.
HONOLULU, HI - DePaul scored eleven runs in a powerhouse fourth inning to double its lead against Canisius in a 11-5 win that advances the Blue Demons to the Hawaii Tournament championship game this evening.
Natalie Halvorson picked up her seventh win on the mound this season and held the Golden Griffins to only five runs and four hits.
Two different Blue Demons powered out home runs in the victory, with Morgan Greenwood slamming a two-run home run, her first of the season and Gabby O'riley launching a three-run home run and the second of her career after hitting her first in last night's win against Hawaii.
Canisius jumped out to an early lead after scoring five runs in the first two innings of play. DePaul would remain scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when Morgan Greenwood launched her first home run of the season that would score Jessica Cothern to close in on the deficit 5-2.
Kate Polucha and Gabby O'Riley each hit singles before Cara Jimenez entered the game to pinch run for O'Riley. A sacrifice bunt from Taylor Young would score Polucha and a sacrifice fly from Maranda Gutierrez would score Jimenez to bring DePaul within one run of Canisius.
With two outs, bases loaded and the Blue Demons trailing by one, Canisius would enforce a pitching change.
Out of the pitching change, Cothern would step back up to the plate and single through the left side. Skylor Hilger and Alysia Rodriguez hustled home on the play to put DePaul in a 6-5 lead.
The bottom of the fourth continued to stretch out, as Greenwood stepped up for another successful at-bat, doubling to left field to score Cothern and Angela Scalzitti.
With one last trick up DePaul's sleeve and two runners on base, O'Riley slammed her second career home run to double the lead 11-5 before the conclusion of the fourth inning.
Halvorson held Canisius to their five runs for the remainder of the game.
DePaul will play in the championship game tonight at 8:00 p.m. CT. The opponent will be determined by the outcome of the next game between Hawaii and Canisius.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Halvorson, Natalie (7-0)
L: Churchill, Alexis (0-1)
Batting:
RBI: Barnett, Ashley 2 ; Keller, Denver 1
SH: Keller, Denver 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Paradowski, Kara 1 ; Barnett, Ashley 1 ; Keller, Denver 1 ; Ho, Cassie 1 ; Vi, Sue 1
Batting:
2B: Greenwood, Morgan 1
HR: Greenwood, Morgan 1 ; O'Riley, Gabby 1
RBI: Gutierrez, Maranda 1 ; Cothern, Jessica 2 ; Greenwood, Morgan 4 ; O'Riley, Gabby 3 ; Rodriguez, Alysia 1
SH: Young, Taylor 1 ; Rodriguez, Alysia 1
SF: Gutierrez, Maranda 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Scalzitti, Angela 1 ; Cothern, Jessica 2 ; Greenwood, Morgan 2 ; Polucha, Kate 2 ; O'Riley, Gabby 1 ; Jimenez, Cara 1 ; Rodriguez, Alysia 1 ; Hilger, Skylor 1
SB: Polucha, Kate 1
