After an impressive 4-0 start to their North Coast Athletic Conference play, Tigers softball suffered their first conference loss of the season against Hiram College this weekend. Winning the first game 6-4 after an impressive end-of-the-game rally by the Tigers, Hiram came back and beat them 8-7 in the second.
DePauw University is now 14-9 overall, and 5-1 in NCAC play. The Terriers are 4-12 overall, and are 1-1 in conference games.
Offense wasn’t the problem this weekend as the Tigers still managed to get hits and runs, shown off by two home runs junior Linsey Button had.
“Hiram's fields have one of the deepest outfields, so the fact that Linsey roped the ball out of the park really energized our team and switched the momentum of the game,” said senior Jennifer Ridge.
Button’s pair of homers tied the school record for homeruns in a single game.
“The first game we showed that our bats could make up for our defense that wasn't working as well that day,” first-year Morgan McCord said. “The second game we came out strong, and then just got too comfortable. Our bats started out strong and then didn't follow all the way through like the first game. It was a team loss just like the first game was a team win.”
Overall, the Tigers had 11 hits in the first game and 14 in the second. 11 different players had at least one hit, and multiple players had more than one.
“Our offense generated a lot of runs, but we didn't have a defense to stop Hiram's momentum,” Ridge said.
The biggest problem this week was the team’s biggest strength in their last NCAC doubleheader—pitching and defense.
“As a team we made the same mistakes the second game as we did the first game. The second game Hiram was able to capitalize on those errors and take the game. We lost because we didn't have our usual tough defense and pitching,” Ridge said.
Starting pitcher, senior Kahla Nolan took credit for the first game and the win, improving her personal record to 6-6 on the season. First-year Emma Baldwin was credited with the loss in the second game, with her personal record going down to 5-3.
“I think the big take away from the Hiram games was that we cannot be complacent,” Ridge said.
This is the first loss for the Tigers after a strong conference season start, and has brought them back to reality.
“We need to jump ahead, stay ahead and always have our strengths, defense and pitching, in top form,” Ridge said. “Every conference opponent is elated at the thought of beating DePauw, so we need to bring forth that same energy and excitement to the rest of our conference games.”
McCord agreed with Ridge, saying the loss was mainly a result of personal error.
“We just got a little too comfortable with a team that was not giving up and it came back to get us,” McCord said.
Looking forward to the next game, the Tigers know what they need to do.
“We will be working on getting back to being defensively perfect, as well as offensively getting ready for the type of pitching we will face next game,” first-year Lauren Godden.
The Tigers' next games will come in the form of a double-header on Wednesday when they travel to Ohio Wesleyan University.