Box Score PRESS CONFERENCE
Greencastle, Ind., May 8, 2015 – No. 2 seed DePauw University built a 5-0 lead after three innings and held on for a 9-5 win over No. 3 seed Washington University in St. Louis in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Division III Softball Championship Friday afternoon in Greencastle, Ind.
DePauw improved to 31-13 with the win, while WashU fell to 33-12. The 22nd-ranked Bears take on top-seeded and No. 6-ranked Trine University Saturday at 1:30 p.m. (ET) in an elimination game. Trine suffered a 3-2 upset loss to No. 4 seed Thomas More in the opening game.
"Hats off to DePauw as they were ready to play," said 10th-year head coach Leticia Pineda-Boutté. "We had some butterflies that paralyzed us initially. I thought once DePauw scored, we came right back and worked through those butterflies and made it close. I thought the long ball played a huge difference in this game."
Junior pitcher Annie Pitkin (20-7) took the loss allowing six hits and five earned runs in the 2 1/3 innings pitched. Freshman Maggie Clapp allowed seven hits and four earned runs in 3 1/3 innings in relief, while freshman Mackenzie Gauden allowed one hit and got the final out in the sixth.
"They were all over my rise ball and that took a huge part away from my game," said Pitkin. "They were taking big hacks and putting into the ground for line drives which I have not seen many teams do."
Pitkin retired the first two batters of the game with a strikeout and a pop-up, but Linsey Button connected a two-out solo homerun to give DePauw the early 1-0 advantage. The homerun was her ninth of the season. The Tigers continued to have success against Pitkin at the plate, and increased the lead to 2-0 after a two-out RBI single by Gabby Smart in the second.
Pitkin got in trouble again in the third inning after a leadoff single by Sammi Bell and a walk to Button. Lauren Godden doubled to right field to drive in a run, and then Allie Dennie ripped a two-RBI double down the left field line to make it 5-0. Pitkin gave way to Clapp after the double by Dennie.
The Bears got on the scoreboard in the third inning to trim the lead to 5-1. Sophomore Hannah Mehrle led off with a walk and sophomore Janet Taylor followed with a single to right. Junior Brooke Hofer sacrificed the runners to second and third with a bunt, and then Mehrle scored on an RBI groundout by freshman Hera Tang.
WashU mounted its comeback in the top of the fifth scoring three runs on two hits and took advantage of three errors by DePauw. Senior Alyssa Wilson led off with a single to left, and then moved to second after a one-out infield single by sophomore Kenzie James. With two outs, the Tigers committed three-straight errors to allow three runs to score as WashU trimmed the lead to 5-4. The bases were loaded after the third error, but Taylor was called out for leaving third base with the ball in the circle.
"We did not give up and it shows there is a lot of heart on this team," Mehrle said.
DePauw added a run in the fifth on a suicide squeeze, and then Gooden jacked a two-run HR in the sixth to highlight a three-run inning to make it 9-4. Mehrle drove in the final run of the game with an RBI double with two outs in the seven.
DePauw put together an impressive day at the plate registering 14 hits, including eight extra-base hits. Nolan (16-8) got the win allowing two hits and an earned run in four innings. WashU was limited to six hits and took advantage of four DePauw errors. Mehrle was the lone bright spot on offense going 1-for-3 with two runs scored, a walk and an RBI.
BEAR NOTEBOOK: WashU is 24-25 all-time in 13 NCAA appearances, including 7-6 in NCAA First Round games … Senior Paige Biles had a single in the seventh to extend her reached base streak to 38-consecutive games … Biles also upped her single-season run total to 46 and hit total to 70, both two shy of the school record … Biles appeared in her 167th game in school history, tied for eighth most all-time, while White appeared in her 166th games, ninth most.
