DePaul University
18-18, 8-6
St. John's
10-29, 4-13
Blue Demons Demolish St. John's,14-0, in Five Innings
4/15/2022 6:43:00 PM | SOFTBALL
Series finale scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Saturday on CBS Sports Network
CHICAGO — The bats were ablaze on Friday afternoon as DePaul took down St. John's 14-0 in five innings in game two of a BIG EAST doubleheader at Cacciatore Stadium.
DePaul (19-19, 8-6 BIG EAST) totaled 13 hits and scored in every inning to claim the second victory of the day and take the series with one game remaining. Six different Blue Demons recorded an RBI while three went yard. Maranda Gutierrez drove in four runs and Tori Meyer brought home three.
Senior pitcher Erin Hocker threw five innings, surrendering three hits and allowing a pair of free passes. The Great Falls, Montana native struck out a career-high six batters in the outing.
Much like the first game, the scoring started early thanks to Brooke Johnson's third home run of the day.
The bottom of the second inning saw Kate Polucha send a leadoff double to left field before Meyer brought her home on an RBI-single up the middle. Nicole Sullivan drew a walk before Riley Pool singled to the shortstop to load the bases. Gutierrez reached on a fielder's choice and everyone moved up 60 feet including Meyer who scored on a St. John's throwing error. Skylor Hilger sent a single to center field to bring Sullivan around before a Johnson sacrifice fly to left field scored Pool from third and put DePaul ahead 5-1 after two innings.
Polucha ripped a leadoff home run over the left field fence to expand the lead to 6-1 after three innings. The hot strike marked the fourth of the season for the graduate left fielder.
An eight-run fourth inning put the Blue Demons over the top for the run-rule victory despite a 50 minute weather delay in the midst of it all. Gutierrez sent a leadoff single to third base before stealing second and advancing to third on a Hilger infield single. Hilger stole second while Gutierrez came home to score on an errant throw from the St. John's catcher. Johnson drew a walk before advancing to second on a wild pitch which simultaneously scored Hilger. Anna Wohlers reached on a hit by pitch before Meyer drove in a pair of runs on a triple to center field. Riley Pool drew a walk to put runners on the corners before the rain started coming down and the contest went into a weather delay.
After the near hour pause, Cosgrove resumed her at bat with two outs and doubled to right field to push Meyer across and Pool to third. Gutierrez poured on more runs with a three-run home run to give DePaul a 14-0 advantage.
The two squads will close out the series on Saturday, April 16 with first pitch at 1:30 p.m. CT. Fans can tune into CBS Sports Network for all of the action.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hocker, Erin (5-7)
L: Carolina ZAMUDIO (4-12)
Base Running:
SB: Meisha MURRAY 1
Batting:
2B: Polucha, Kate 1 ; Cosgrove, Baylee 1
3B: Meyer, Tori 1
HR: Gutierrez, Maranda 1 ; Johnson, Brooke 1 ; Polucha, Kate 1
RBI: Gutierrez, Maranda 4 ; Hilger, Skylor 1 ; Johnson, Brooke 2 ; Polucha, Kate 1 ; Meyer, Tori 3 ; Cosgrove, Baylee 1
SF: Johnson, Brooke 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gutierrez, Maranda 2 ; Hilger, Skylor 1 ; Johnson, Brooke 1 ; Wohlers, Anna 1 ; Polucha, Kate 3 ; Meyer, Tori 2 ; Sullivan, Nicole 1 ; Pool, Riley 2 ; Cosgrove, Baylee 1
SB: Gutierrez, Maranda 1 ; Hilger, Skylor 1
HBP: Wohlers, Anna 1
