After sweeping the series against Centre College at home this weekend, DePauw's baseball team earned the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference No. 2 seed in the East Division.
"We really hadn't been playing well early in the season," said junior Rob McPike. "There was a chance for us to not make it, but every time we needed to win, we won."
In the first game, the Tigers built up a 5-0 lead after two innings of play. They extended their lead to 9-0 in the fifth inning and were able to earn two more runs in the sixth inning on their way to the 11-0 win. Senior Ben Gardner finished the game with three hits, two RBI's and two runs in three at bats. McPike had three hits, one RBI and two runs in three at bats.
The second game of the double-header was delayed in the bottom of the fifth inning due to rain while DePauw was ahead 9-4. They made it an 11-4 game in the sixth inning, following two more runs.
"We hit the ball all weekend and our pitching shut them out," McPike said.
In the third and final game of the series, DePauw scored two in the first as Gardner led off with a single, sophomore Zach Galyean walked and both McPike and infielder Jason Cohen, also a sophomore, reached after being hit by pitches allowing Gardner to score. Junior Alex Wright followed with a sacrifice fly, giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead.
In-fielder Aaron Henry, a junior, led off the second with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt hit by outfielder Alex Berlyn, a junior. Gardner was hit by a pitch and Galyean hit into a fielder's choice. After Galyean stole second, McPike hit a two-run single, which pushed the lead to 4-0.
Centre got on the board in the third as John Clark led off with a walk before Aaron Ammann and Danny Freudiger followed with bunt singles to load the bases. Steven Proctor grounded out to first, which allowed Clark to score and Cameron Fishman followed with a single which scored Ammann.
The Tigers added two more in the third as Cohen led off with a single and scored on Wright's triple to right. Freshman Robbie Stein followed with a single, which plated Wright and gave DePauw a 6-2 advantage. DePauw extended the lead to 7-2 in the fourth as Gardner reached after being hit by a pitch and moved to third on Galyean's double. McPike drove Gardner in with a sacrifice fly to center. Junior pitcher Andy Manson improved to 4-1 with the complete game win.
After a season of tumultuous ups and downs, the chance to extend their season to conference play has given the team something to be excited about.
"I knew we were better than we were playing," said sophomore pitcher Derek Mounsey. "I didn't know when we'd get it together. I figured we'd do it in time to make it to conference, we just weren't playing together for some reason."
"I think we need to just keep playing how we played this weekend," he added. "It'll make the tournament really interesting."
The Tigers will face Millsaps College in Millington, Tenn. Thursday at 3:30 p.m.