In a game against Centre College on Saturday, the bottom of the fourth inning started with the Tigers (23-7-1) down 7-3. It was up to the offense to carry the weight and secure the win on their home field.
Coming to bat for DePauw was the top of the lineup, a group of veteran hitters who have the ability to work together and to put runs on the scoreboard. Head coach Bonnie Skrenta fashions her lineup strategically to score at least one run in every inning. The first five batters for the Tigers are positioned to fulfill a specific role in scoring one or more runs.
In the game against Centre, leadoff hitter Rachel MacBeth, a junior, worked the count to draw a walk and get on base, starting the fine-tuned machine that is the DePauw offense.
MacBeth fulfilled her role as the leadoff hitter whose primary goal is to get on base. The junior leads the team in batting average (.462), on base percentage (.476) and is tied for the team lead in runs scored with 31.
"You want to always start an inning with a runner on, and that's Rachel," Skrenta said. "Her execution of what she wants to do in situations is phenomenal."
Although the offense often begins with MacBeth, she stresses that it is through the success of the entire lineup, not just the first five hitters, that the Tigers find themselves with wins.
"I try to get myself on base as much as possible so they have a chance to get runs in," MacBeth said. "Even if we don't, it's not a big deal because with our entire offense, we can score runs."
Batting after MacBeth, senior Brianne Weeks stepped up to play another role in Skrenta's offense. Skrenta signaled Weeks to bunt in order to move MacBeth to second base and into scoring position. After two failed attempts, Weeks swung and hit a groundball in the infield. The shortstop, with Weeks sprinting to first, overthrew first base, allowing MacBeth to advance to third and Weeks to stand safely at first.
Her primary job, according to Skrenta, is to put the ball in play and allow MacBeth and other runners on base to advance.
"But why she's such a threat is at times she can put herself on base," Skrenta said. "If she can get on using her speed, instead of one run, we're setting the table for maybe two or three runs."
Weeks is batting .393 with a .411 on-base percentage and is tied with MacBeth for the team lead in runs. If MacBeth fails to get on base, Weeks can use her ability to slap or bunt the ball and let her speed beat out a throw to first base.
"I've always been taught to slap and bunt because of my speed," Weeks said. "There's nothing better to me than just laying a bunt down and running it out."
With runners on first and third with no outs, the next Tiger hitter to step up was one who loves to swing the bat and drive in runs.
Junior Jen Kosinski, after fouling off a pitch, sent a pop fly to deep center field. Tagging up on the play, MacBeth ran home to bring the Tigers within three.
"[Kosinski] will fight to the death to get a run scored," Skrenta said. "In our philosophy of scoring one run every inning, that's where Jen comes in."
As a sophomore, Kosinski led the team in runs batted in and is second this year with 35. Kosinski's aggressive nature at the plate is what makes her a constant threat in the middle of the lineup.
"I've been taught to swing the bat," Kosinski said. "I hate to walk. My dad always told me to hit the ball. I like to jump on the first pitch and swing at every strike I see."
With one run scored, Skrenta's offense succeeded in what it is built to do. But with one out and their offensive leader coming to the plate, the inning was far from over.
Senior Emma Minx stepped up and drove a pitch over the fence in center field for her second homerun of the game and eighth of the season, cutting Centre's lead to just one.
"A lot of times, that fourth person is the offensive coach," Skrenta said. "They're the spark and the leader and the ones who can get it done. It's the player you hand your offensive plan to, and then they get it done."
Minx, hitting in the important cleanup spot, leads the team in RBIs (46) and is second to MacBeth in batting average (.432).
"Having such a powerful offense takes pressure off," Minx said of the entire lineup. "The one thing that helps with Jen is they will throw good pitches to her because they don't want to get to me. Then if I don't get a hit, I have people behind me with just as much capability to score an RBI too."
Junior Haley Buchanan gives Minx protection and puts pressure on the opposing pitchers to throw strikes to Minx to avoid Buchanan's big bat. The designated hitter/catcher leads the team in homeruns with nine and is third in RBIs with 28.
"Anywhere in the lineup, you are responsible to do a job," Buchanan said. "I'm definitely a situational hitter, where I'm going up either to hit the ball as hard as I can, or if Emma is on base, then I'm going to bunt."
Although Buchanan has excellent power, Skrenta has her team focused on using every at-bat to create a better chance for the next batter to drive in a run.
"With that one-run mentality, it leads to big innings," Skrenta said. " [But] if Haley comes to the plate with runners on first and second and I tell her to swing away, there's a chance of a double play."
Useless outs are what Skrenta tries to avoid and why she favors calling for bunts. The Tiger lineup is dangerous through the nine-hole hitter, which is not an advantage every team possesses. Skrenta, doesn't focus on getting back to the top of the lineup, but getting everyone more at-bats because anyone is capable of getting an RBI.
With no one on base, the offense started again when Buchanan was hit by a pitch and the 6-9 hitters worked counts and capitalized on errors to bring MacBeth, Weeks and Kosinski to the plate once again.
The bottom half hitters are still as threatening to opposing pitchers as the top of the lineup. Sophomores Amy Hallett, Jamie Story and Alison Towery are apt to getting on base and driving in runs, and juniors Cymone Allen and Holly Paris anchor the back end of the lineup to not only set up the front end, but play an equally important role in driving in runners.
The Tigers scored a total of seven runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, and eventually accomplished a 16-8 win over the Colonels.
The overall depth of the Tiger lineup has produced 7.3 runs per game and a 6.14 earned run average for opposing pitchers.
"If I was coaching against me...everybody knows that's what we do," Skrenta said. "I'm waiting for that team to put pressure on me to change it."
The Tigers will face the winner of the game between Millsaps College (16-22) and Centre College (15-21) on DePauw's Tiger Field today at 4 p.m.
Until the strategy does not work, the lineup and game plan will not change, according to Skrenta.
And as Buchanan summed up the lethal Tiger lineup:
"We're gonna score runs…so here we come."