Junior Elliott Ross pitched a two-hit shutout and carried a no-hitter into the 8th inning, retiring the first 23 batters he faced, in the nightcap of a doubleheader against Oglethorpe University (14-12) this weekend.
"The pitching performance by Elliot was awesome," said Brendon Pashia, a freshman outfielder. "It really lifted us."
In the opener, Oglethorpe took an 11-0 lead with six runs in the first, four in the second and one in the third. The Tigers committed four errors in the first and two more in the second.
DePauw scored four in the bottom of the third as junior infielder Alex Wright and Pashia each hit two-run doubles. The Stormy Petrels quickly matched that with six in the top of the fourth to take a 17-4 advantage before the Tigers added two in the fifth and one in the sixth.
"We felt awful after the first game," Pashia said. "We knew we had to step up our defense."
In the nightcap, the Tigers totaled 12 hits in the win led by Wright and Sophomore Zach Galyean with three each. Juniors Rob McPike and Alex Berlyn each had two. With the win, Ross' record improved to 3-3, and the Tigers won 9-0.
Ross believes the team had a completely different mindset during the second game and was able to relax.
On Sunday, the Tigers improved to 10-15 overall and 2-4 in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference after a 10-3 win, the final game in their three-game series. The Stormy Petrels dropped to 14-12 and 4-4 in the SCAC.
DePauw totaled 14 hits led by freshman Robbie Stein's four, while Sophomore Jason Cohen had three. Senior Ben Gardner and Galyean each added a pair and Gardner extended his streak of reaching base to all 25 games this season.
The Tigers are now 4th in the SCAC and the crucial upcoming games against Birmingham-Southern College and Centre College are on their minds.
"We need to forget what we've done in the past and focus on the games ahead," Ross said.
DePauw will face Rose-Hulman on April 6th at 6 p.m. at Art Nehf Field.
