The tenth ranked DePauw Softball team returned to the field this weekend with a pair of doubleheaders against Manchester College (North Manchester, Ind.) and Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, Ill.) The Tigers opened the weekend at Manchester on April 6.
Junior Amy Hallett led the team - contributing 5 RBIs - to a six-run victory in the first game of the matchup with a final score of 9-3. Freshman pitcher Emily Dieckmann notched the win and improved her record on the season to 8-1.
The second of the two games against Manchester brought with it a more offensively potent Spartan team. Manchester battled for a 5-4 lead in the top of the third before surrendering the lead to DePauw after a sequence of exceptional base running by Hallet and senior Jennifer Kosinski.
The Tigers ended the Spartans' offensive resurgence in the top of the sixth inning - taking the lead after Manchester had re-tied the game in the bottom of the fifth.
A combination of lackluster Spartan pitching - DePauw was walked 11 times in the game - and quality mental play by the Tigers, DePauw ended the doubleheader by sweeping Manchester with a 9-7 victory. Dieckmann was awarded with another win - improving to 9-1 - after concluding the game with three innings of scoreless-relief.
Dieckmann proved to be a reliable part of the Tiger's lineup, even as a freshman, and is pleased with both the team's effort and level of play.
"I think that we just need to keep doing what we're doing," Diekmann explained. "We have a lot of heart and we just need to continue working hard."
DePauw returned home from Manchester on April 7 to play Illinois Wesleyan in the second doubleheader of the weekend. DePauw struggled to produce runs in its opening game, only scoring off of two solo home runs from Hallett and senior Haley Buchanan.
Junior Emily Bichler was credited with the loss for the game after surrendering five runs through two and one-third innings pitched. DePauw was again unable to keep up with the Titans in the second game of the doubleheader, eventually losing 8-4. Dieckmann completed the long weekend outing with a loss after giving up 8 runs in 5.1 innings pitched, dropping to 9-2.
DePauw lacked run-production for the majority of the day but the team was able to collect 8 hits in the game, led by Kosinski and Buchanan, who both had two each.
The Tigers now stand at 18-6 and are 2-2 in conference play. The team has seven doubleheaders remaining in the season, five of which will be North Coast Athletic Conference matchups.
DePauw will be back on the road on Saturday, April 14 at Wooster College (Wooster, Ohio) in another NCAC doubleheader matchup.