DePauw Tiger Softball resumed play this week with a doubleheader against the Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops after a string of several tournament games over spring break. The Tigers split the games with Ohio Wesleyan in two thrilling match-ups.
The first game remained scoreless into extra innings, when tiebreaker rules came into play. At the top of the 10th inning, Ohio Wesleyan placed runner Dani Haley on second base, in accordance with extra innings rules. DePauw freshman pitcher Emily Dieckmann struck out the first two batters of the inning before surrendering a single into centerfield that scored Haley - the game winning run.
DePauw opened the inning with a runner on second base but was unable to score resulting in the Ohio Wesleyan 1-0 victory. Though credited with a loss - her first of the season - Dieckmann added another strong performance to her season. Accumulating 11 strikeouts over the course of 10 innings, she also recorded a complete game for the day. The DePauw batters failed to take advantage of scorers in position stranding 10 runners on base in the game.
The second match of the doubleheader saw the Tigers' revamp its offensive prowess. The first three innings saw several lead changes before DePauw seized the lead in bottom of the 3rd inning, 5-4.
The Tigers extended the lead, with help from a Jen Kosinski two-run homerun in the bottom of the 4th inning. Ohio Wesleyan scored single runs in both the 6th and 7th but was unable to match as the Tigers' went on to win 7-6. Junior Emily Bichler earned the win and improved to 4-2 on the season. Offensively, the Tigers had eight hits in the game with juniors Amy Hallett and Jamie Story and senior Cymone Allen all having two each.
DePauw's record now stands at 16-4 (2-2 conference) and the team is currently ranked No. 10 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top 25. Coach Bonnie Skrenta is pleased, but not satisfied with her teams play.
"We've played well, as shown by our current record," Skrenta said. "And we'll need to continue the effort into May. There are definitely some areas that we will need to polish but I know that the team will continue to do an excellent job in our remaining games."
With the season more than halfway completed the Tigers will look to continue their success into May, when the NCAC championship is held. The Tigers will continue play this Friday, April 6, at 3:30pm when they host Manchester for a doubleheader.