It’s the bottom of the ninth, teams are tied 2-2 and Kenyon hits the run to win the game 3-2 and DePauw faces defeat, but the DePauw Tigers fight back letting the second game belong to them. Stringing together hit after hit, run after run, the Tigers won the nightcap 7-1 to mark their last conference game of the season.
This final win in the regular season puts the Tigers to 19-15 overall and 13-3 in conference standings.
The team took the two games against Kenyon to work on certain skills. They focused on the bunt and their short game to help prepare them for the NCAC tournament this coming weekend keeping it a low scoring game.
“We wanted to make sure we’re ready to go for the tournament,” head coach Hanrahan said. “We implemented a lot of bunts so we didn’t have as many runs [in the first game].”
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead against the Kenyon Ladies in the first as Samantha Szyka, senior, landed on base. Szyka made it home on freshman Linsey Button’s double to left. DePauw’s final run came in the sixth when Kate Hendrickson, senior, drove Button into home.
All three pitchers put in a great effort to keep Kenyon off the bases striking out nine in the game while defense played strong to keep the runs to a minimum despite the 11 Ladies on base during the game. However, Kenyon threw the Tigers off guard in the final inning.
“They came out much stronger, hit well and put it together for the win,” Hanrahan said.
The Tigers turned it around in the nightcap where they dominated the infield and outfield only letting Kenyon get one run in the seventh.
“We shaped up and started playing like the team we know we are,” Freres said.
DePauw ended the second inning with four runs up on the scoreboard and went in for three more, two in the fifth and the final run scored in the sixth.
Senior Amy Hallet added a homerun to her career record, now at 43, in the fifth. Senior Gwen Anderson hit a sacrifice-bunt allowing freshman Hailey Freres into position to score off of freshman Amanda Chastang’s single bringing the final score to 7-1.
The Tigers totaled 10 hits throughout the second game and senior pitcher Emily Bichler improved to 7-5 with four innings of play.
“Everyone in the line up contributed,” Hanrahan. “They waited for the pitch that was there. It wasn’t one person. It was everyone.”