DePaul University
16-18, 5-6
Seton Hall
14-15, 4-7
DePaul Claims 8-7 Victory in Game Two Against Seton Hall
4/9/2022 3:56:00 PM | SOFTBALL
Brooke Johnson's four-RBI outing leads the Blue Demons to series victory
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. — DePaul and Seton Hall engaged in yet another back-and-forth battle on Saturday afternoon and for the second consecutive day the Blue Demons came away victorious, pulling out an 8-7 win at Mike Sheppard Sr. Field.
Brooke Johnson had the hot bat for the Blue Demons on Saturday with a four-RBI outing on a two-run home run and two-RBI double. Kate Polucha, Riley Pool and Baylee Cosgrove each drove in a run while Skylor Hilger had a multi-hit outing and crossed the plate on three occasions.
Erin Hocker picked up the win in the circle, going four innings and surrendering a pair of earned runs on five hits. Hocker moved to 4-7 on the season with the victory while Sarah Lehman picked up her first save on the campaign, retiring the final three batters in the seventh inning.
DePaul (16-18, 5-6 BIG EAST) got right to work as Johnson's eighth home run of the season gave the Blue Demons a 2-1 lead after the first inning.
Seton Hall (14-15, 4-7) responded with a run in the second inning after a leadoff single came around to score on a sacrifice fly to right field.
The Blue Demons unfurled for five runs in the third inning to take a 7-1 advantage. Gutierrez reached on a leadoff walk and was advanced to second on a Hilger single up the middle. Johnson cleared the bases on a double to left center before Polucha scored Johnson on a RBI-single to shallow left field. Tori Meyer took a base and Nicole Sullivan reached on an error to load the bases. Pool brought in a run with her nineteenth walk of the season to set the table for a Cosgrove sacrifice fly to give DePaul a six run advantage.
The Pirates rattled off four runs in the bottom half of the inning to come within two runs before DePaul pushed the lead back to three in the top of the fourth as Hilger's leadoff walk came around to score on a Pirates fielding error.
Heading into the seventh inning the Blue Demons held on to a one-run advantage after Seton Hall put a run on the board in the fourth and sixth innings, respectively. After DePaul was unable to add any insurance, Lehman entered the circle looking for the save and retired the Pirates batters in order to claim the win.
The series finale between the Blue Demons and Pirates is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT on Sunday. Action can be followed on FloSoftball with a subscription required for viewing.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hocker, Erin (4-7)
L: BABIK, Sydney (6-5)
S: Lehman, Sarah (1)
Batting:
2B: Johnson, Brooke 1 ; Cosgrove, Baylee 1
HR: Johnson, Brooke 1
RBI: Johnson, Brooke 4 ; Polucha, Kate 1 ; Pool, Riley 1 ; Cosgrove, Baylee 1
SF: Cosgrove, Baylee 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gutierrez, Maranda 1 ; Hilger, Skylor 3 ; Johnson, Brooke 2 ; Polucha, Kate 1 ; Meyer, Tori 1
SB: Hilger, Skylor 2
HBP: Meyer, Tori 1
Batting:
2B: HILL, Taylor 1 ; GILBERT, Olivia 2 ; WINGO, Abby 1
HR: HILL, Taylor 1
RBI: BLEVINS, Jenna 1 ; HILL, Taylor 1 ; GILBERT, Olivia 1 ; WINGO, Abby 2 ; COLONNETTA, Ashly 1
SH: BLEVINS, Jenna 1
SF: BLEVINS, Jenna 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ALLENDER, Baylee 1 ; HILL, Taylor 2 ; GILBERT, Olivia 1 ; WINGO, Abby 1 ; ARRUDA, Miranda 1 ; JOHNSON, Amber 1
SB: JOHNSON, Amber 1 ; COLONNETTA, Ashly 1
HBP: SMITH, Shelby 1 ; ALEXANDER, Hannah 1
