The softball team took their game to Gambier, Ohio this past weekend to sweep the Ladies of Kenyon College.
In the final games before the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament, the Tigers rallied for a 7-4 win at Kenyon College in the first game of a doubleheader and shut out the Ladies, 4-0, in game two.
Sophomore Sidney Holler, NCAC Player of the Week, helped the Tigers jump out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning of the opener by doubling home a pair and hitting in first-year Alyssa Nowak in the fifth inning.
Kenyon fought back in the sixth inning by closing the lead to 3-1 before Grace Pilz clubbed a three-run homer to give the Ladies a 4-3 lead.
Junior Bekka Roberts started the seventh inning with a pinch-hit walk before first-year Mina Shaw re-entered and advanced to second base on first-year Julia Bork’s sacrifice bunt. Junior Lauren Godden shot a run-scoring single to even the score at 4-4. Holler came in with another timely hit and hammered a two-run homer to put the Tigers on top. DePauw kept the rally going when first-year Abey Bass doubled and plated junior Liz Getz’s single.
Bork earned the win after relieving sophomore Brooke Bandy in the circle. The team was happy to ride some wins into the conference tournament.
“It felt great to end off the regular season on a strong note,” Bork said.
Holler kept her power-hitting going as she hammered a solo homer in the second game to give the Tigers all they would need after first-year Devin Pieper and junior Emma Baldwin combined for a two-hit shutout.
The Tigers continued to put runs on the board after Holler reached on a fielder’s choice in the sixth that allowed Shaw to score. Junior Megan Montgomery wrapped up the scoring in the seventh with a two-run single.
“Our offensive lineup has been solid the entire season,” Shaw said. “But it never gets old to see the lineup produce many runs utilizing many different ways to get on base.”
Head Coach Erica Hanrahan thought the team got valuable experience out of this series that would help them improve for the tournament.
“In the last double header, we really worked on intensity and executing certain situations in order to prepare ourselves for the conference tournament,” Hanrahan said.
Holler finished the weekend with a total of five hits and led the way with five RBI’s, while Godden and Getz each had two hits in the first game. Montgomery led DePauw with two of its seven hits in the second game.
The wins improve the team’s record to 20-18 and 13-3 in the NCAC. They look to keep their momentum rolling against third-seed Denison University in Friday’s 10 a.m. game at Wittenberg University after earning the number-two seed in the Tournament.