After coming off a Spring break where the Tigers went 8-2-1, DePauw (12-2-1) will finally play their first home games on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Hope College (12-5-1).
"They're in our region and we need to jump on these games," said sophomore catcher Amy Hallett. "They're going to be a good team and they're going to push us but we'll have supporting fans behind us. So we're really excited for these home games."
One of the biggest advantages that the Tigers will draw upon is fan support which Coach Bonnie Skrenta believes altered some of the calls in last week's games against Emory College.
"We were talking on the road about how Emory's fans were a big part of why they hung in the game," Skrenta said. "There were a couple of calls that we feel like the fans were a factor in going their way."
Aside from getting fan support, DePauw will also be eager to take the field after the second doubleheader against Sewanee: The University of the South (2-4, 0-2 SCAC), was postponed on Saturday and then canceled on Sunday, both due to rainy weather.
After the home games on Saturday, the Tigers will travel to Noblesville High School just north of Indianapolis to take on Trine University (13-2) on Sunday. In order to save on travel on travel times and expenses, DePauw and Trine, which is located in Angola, Ind. north of Fort Wayne, agreed to meet in the middle of the two universities.
"Some of us will consider the games against Trine to be home games because it'll be in Indianapolis where some of the players are from," Skrenta said. "But this weekend should be tough as Trine will come out ready."
The primary strength of Trine is their ace pitcher Andi Gasco. The sophomore has started just nine games as she splits time with sophomore Rachel Wiseman, but she has compiled an 8-1 record with a 0.98 ERA. Gasco has notched 70 strikeouts and has only given up eight earned runs.
Trine's tough pitching will matchup with a Tiger offense which can be considered as one of the top offenses in the nation sitting at No. 16 in the nation in scoring with 8.53 runs per game. Junior Rachel MacBeth has been particularly hot at the plate for DePauw, taking home the SCAC offensive player of the week award for her .519 batting average (14-for-27) during spring break.
MacBeth leads the Tigers in multiple hit games with ten and has reached base in every game this season. Being on base so much, MacBeth has come around to score a team leading 20 runs. She also sits at sixth in Div. III in batting average at .526.