DePauw University's softball field.
SAM CARAVANA / THE DEPAUW
The DePauw University Softball team opened its season with a four games down in Memphis, Tenn. this past weekend.
Saturday the women defeated Washington University with a 5-1 victory and finished the day with a second win over hosts Rhodes College, 4-3. They continued to remain undefeated as they played two more games Sunday against the Rhodes, 13 – 7, and Maryville College 2-0.
Going into the weekend the women were excited to get out on the field and put into play what they have been working on in practice, junior Morgan Pigusch said.
“We hit really well,” Pigusch said. “If anyone made an error we bounced back and picked each other up.”
The team’s offense was also on its game junior Sammi Bell said.
“We had run production throughout the entire lineup, which is the only way you beat teams like Rhodes and WashU,” Bell said. “You can't just rely on the beginning and middle of your lineup and we never had to. We also smoothed out a lot of kinks in our defense.”
This year the team is young with nine first-years on a roster of 23. During the games the ladies were being moved into new positions to find what works best for the team.
According to Bell, the upperclassmen stepped up into leadership roles to help lead the team to its success.
“This weekend our defense, led by our amazing upperclassmen leaders, really rose to the occasion and our defense blended seamlessly,” Bell said.
In the women’s opening game against Washington University senior Jennifer Ridge had two of DePauw’s six hits while senior Taylor Golden and junior Grace Hendrickson also drove into two. Senior pitcher Kahla Nolan allowed only one unearned run during the game.
Against the Lynx, Bell led off the second inning with a double and scored after bunts from first-year Lauren Godden and Golden. As the game progressed the teams were tied in the top of the fifth until Hendrickson singled with one out and moved to second when first-year Morgan McCord reached an error. Hendrickson scored on sophomore Julia Waggoner’s single to left field to bring the final score to 4-3.
First-year Emma Baldwin pitched the entire game, allowing only three hits, while striking out 10 and walking four.
Going into the weekend the team had 12 game goals that they tried to meet and Pigusch said the team met at least six of them in each game. Some of these goals are hitting a home run, stealing a base, picking a runner off base and a seven strike out as a pitching staff.
After the wins on Saturday the team did not get cocky and went into Sunday with the same mentality as they had on the first day of play.
“Play fearless, play hard, learn from our mistakes and pick each other up,” Bell said. “We really wanted to come out of this weekend 4-0, but we couldn’t keep thinking about winning four games throughout the weekend. We had to take it one pitch at a time.”
Facing Maryville at 9 a.m. Sunday morning the Tigers scored its only runs in the third inning when Waggoner hit a single and stole second, moved to third on sophomore Beth Chelmowski’s sacrifice bunt and scored on McCord’s RBI single. McCord stole second and third to score on a wild throw by the Maryville catcher.
Baldwin improved to 2-0 after pitching a four-hit shutout while striking out 11 and walking one.
Facing Rhodes for a second time each team came ready to play. In the first both the Tigers and Lynx scored three runs, but DePauw crossed the plate seven times in the second to lead 10-3. The Tigers totaled 21 hits and Nolan improved to 2-0, after pitching five innings and allowing three runs.
“It’s definitely good to go out and sweep at Rhodes,” Pigusch said. “It got everyone hyped and ready to go in for this next month in the long haul before we play again. This sets the precedent for what we want our season to look like.”
Ridge added that the team was able to work as a unit and demonstrated their potential for the rest of the season.
“Every win was a team win,” Ridge said. “The rough talent and team chemistry we have this year is something that will set us apart from our main competitors. I think these past games were just a sneak peek into our potential for the rest of the season.”
The Tigers will have a month to practice before they return to the playing field when they are scheduled to face Washington University–St. Louis and Agnes Scott College on Mar. 7.