Softball Heads West for Torero Classic

CHICAGO – The DePaul softball squad travels to San Diego, Calif. for the Torero Classic set for Feb. 18-19. The Blue Demons will open competition on Friday with a matchup against Iowa at 6:30 p.m. CT followed by a meeting with San Diego at 9 p.m.

Live updates can be found by following @DePaulSB on twitter and live stats can be found here.

Coming in Hot
The Blue Demons enter the second weekend of the 2022 campaign with a 4-0 record after sweeping the competition at the DePaul Dome Tournament. DePaul began the season with an 8-0 win over Valparaiso in five innings before taking down Western Michigan 4-3 on Friday evening. Behind Nicole Sullivan's grand slam, DePaul beat St. Thomas 8-3 and closed out the weekend with a 3-2 win over Murray State.

Sullivan, Lehman Earn BIG EAST Honors
After a strong start to the season last weekend, Nicole Sullivan was named BIG EAST Player of the Week while pitcher Sarah Lehman landed on the weekly honor roll. Sullivan led the squad with seven RBI while batting .455 on the weekend. In the circle, Lehman went 2-0 in two appearances while striking out 15 batters.

Scouting San Diego
The host Toreros split the opening weekend with a 3-3 mark, picking up victories over Colorado State, Ole Miss and Dixie State at the Easton Classic in Fullerton, Calif. MJ Knighten is in her second season as the head coach at San Diego and saw the program finish 13-29 in 2021. The Toreros saw five batters record five or more hits in opening-weekend led by six apiece from Amanda Limon and Jocellia Roberts.

Scouting Iowa
Iowa enters weekend two after a 3-1 showing at the Northern Lights Southern Nights Invitational in Leesburg, Fla. The Hawkeyes went 26-18 in a Big Ten only schedule in 2021. Renee Gillispie is in her third season as the head coach in Iowa City. Freshman Tristin Doster shined in opening weekend with a .459 batting average to include six RBIs while scoring three runs.

Scouting South Dakota State
The Jackrabbits posted a 3-2 record at the Doc Halvorson Invitational hosted by Northern Iowa on opening weekend. Rozelyn Carrillo and Lindsey Culver led the Jacks at the plate in their opening weekend, posting .588 and .522 batting averages, respectively. The duo knocked 10 hits and four RBIs apiece over the five games. In 2021, South Dakota State won the summit league and advanced to the NCAA Tournament with a 43-8 record on the season. 2022 marks the eighth season at the helm for head coach Krista Wood.

Scouting Oregon State
Head Coach Laura Berg enters her 10th season in Corvallis and has directed the Beavers to four NCAA tournament appearances. In 2021, Oregon State went 20-26 including a 7-17 mark in the PAC-12. Opening week of action saw the Beavers go 3-2 including wins over Southern Utah, New Mexico State and Texas State. Frankie Hammoude is a threat behind the plate after producing 10 hits including five home runs on .625 batting in opening week. Hammoude set the program record for home runs in a season in 2021.

Leaders Lead
The Blue Demons return sixth-year senior Skylor Hilger in addition to a trio of fifth-year seniors Maranda Gutierrez, Kate Polucha and Natalie Halvorson. Add-in graduate transfer Lehman and the Blue Demons have experience up and down the lineup. Juniors Brooke Johnson, Grace Frazier and Tori Meyer saw their first taste of collegiate softball in 2021 and will bolster the veteran laden-crew.

There's a First Time for Everything
A pair of Blue Demons notched the first hits of their collegiate careers last weekend at the DePaul Dome Tournament. Sophomore catcher Riley Pool knocked a single to center field in the season-opener against Valparaiso for her first base hit, while freshman Anna Wohlers sent an RBI double to center field in a win over Western Michigan to mark her first hit of a promising career.

Adix at her Alma Mater
The Blue Demons are led by former All-American pitcher Tracie Adix-Zins, now in her fourth year at the helm in Lincoln Park. Adix led DePaul to two appearances in the WCWS in 2005 and 2007 and finished her senior season with a .89 ERA and was honored as an NFCA Second-Team All-American. Since returning to Chicago, Adix-Zins has led the Blue Demons to a pair of BIG EAST Championships (1 regular season, 1 tournament), an NCAA Tournament Appearance whilst navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic. DePaul has amassed a 73-38 (.658) record under the direction of Adix-Zins.

Playing the Best
Adix-Zins assembled a strong 2022 schedule for the Blue Demons including contests with 12 NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago and 10 of those reigning from power five conferences. DePaul will host local foes Illinois and Northwestern at Cacciatore Stadium for midweek matchups while also traveling to Notre Dame.

Up Next
Following the weekend trip to the west coast, DePaul will head south to Orlando, Fla. and the Knights Classic held Feb. 25-27. The Blue Demons will face off against Oakland, Florida, Ole Miss and Central Florida in the three-day span.

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Players Mentioned

Grace Frazier

Maranda Gutierrez

Skylor Hilger

Brooke Johnson

Sarah Lehman

Tori Meyer

Kate Polucha

Riley Pool

Nicole Sullivan

Anna Wohlers