2003 NCAA Softball Regional 7 -- Game 7 Story
5/16/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
2003 NCAA Softball
Championship Regional 7
Alumni Field, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, May 16 -- 12:30 p.m. -- Game 7
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Alumni Field)
Event: NCAA Softball Championship Regional 7 (Game 7)
Result: DePaul 4, Notre Dame 1
Records: DePaul (48-5-1), Notre Dame (37-16)
Next DePaul Game: Saturday, May 17 -- vs. California/Michigan winner, 2:30 p.m.
Next Notre Dame Game: Friday, May 16 -- vs. Oakland, 8 p.m.
Chouinard Leads Top-Seeded DePaul Past Fighting Irish
Boxscore
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The top-seeded DePaul Blue Demons advanced in the 2003 NCAA Softball Region 7 Championship with a 4-1 victory over No. 4 seed Notre Dame on Friday (May 16) at Michigan's Alumni Field. DePaul (48-5-1) received a strong pitching and hitting performance from Lindsay Chouinard, who went 2-for-3 at the plate and allowed one run on six hits to the Irish. DePaul first baseman Saskia Roberson hit her team-leading 16th home run of the season, added a single in the fifth inning and walked in another plate appearance.
After both teams stranded two runners in the first inning, the Blue Demons gained a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a two-run single by rightfielder Christina Douglas. Katy Kukman led off the inning with a walk and was replaced by Laura Visin as a pinch runner. Gina Ramacci reached on a fielding error by third baseman Andrea Loman, and leftfielder Dana Kenney advanced the runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt. Douglas proceeded to knock in both Visin and Ramacci with a single to right-center. Notre Dame pitcher Heather Booth got a pair of grounders back to her that ended the inning.
DePaul added one run in the third inning to take a 3-0 lead and threatened for additional runs but a Notre Dame double play ended the Blue Demons' scoring chance. Roberson led off with a line-drive home run to left-centerfield. Chouinard followed with a single up the box and was replaced by Jamie Lachenberg as a pinch runner. Designated player Sarah Douglas sacrificed Lachenberg to second on a grounder to third base. Kukman walked and Ramacci singled through the left side to load the base with one out. Leftfielder Dana Kenney flied out to right-centerfield and Notre Dame's rightfielder Nicole deFrau made the catch and threw a strike to home plate where catcher Mallorie Lenn applied the tag on Lachenberg to end the inning.
Notre Dame (37-16) had base runners in each of the seven innings but was unable to advance a runner past second base until the fifth inning. The Irish gained their only run of the game in the fifth inning on an RBI single from first baseman Lisa Mattison. Loman walked with two outs in the inning and shortstop Andria Bledsoe reached on a fielding error by DePaul's Roberson. With runners on first and second, Mattison battled with Chouinard and came through with the run-scoring single on the 12th pitch of the at-bat to plate Loman. Chouinard pitched out of the inning and preserved the 3-1 advantage.
DePaul answered with a run in its half of the fifth inning. Roberson singled through the left side of the infield to start the inning. Notre Dame replaced Booth with Carrie Wisen in the circle. Ashley Parker pinch ran for Roberson and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Wisen. Chouinard singled to rightfield, advancing Parker to third base. Chouinard stole second base and Sarah Douglas walked to load the bases. Kukman hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield that scored Parker and advanced Chouinard to third base. Ramacci lined into an inning-ending double play as Notre Dame shortstop Andria Bledsoe made a play on the sharply hit ball and threw to third base to double up Chouinard.
Both teams were unable to generate any offense in the sixth inning and the Irish managed only one hit in the seventh inning as the Blue Demons closed out the victory.
DePaul advances to face the winner of the Michigan vs. California game tomorrow (May 17) at 2:30 p.m. Notre Dame plays Oakland University in an elimination game tonight at 8 p.m.
Q U O T E S
DePaul Head Coach Eugene Lenti
On the game ... "It was not the prettiest of games, but we are definitely happy with the end result. The defense was a little sloppy today and we look for it to be a little stronger in our next couple of games. Lindsay (Chouinard) battled when she had to when they had runners on and they really did not hurt us too much. Once again the offense came early in the game and that always makes everybody feel more comfortable. We continued to score throughout the game. We always talk about winning the inning and we won a couple more innings than they did today. That is why we ended up on top."
On the success of Chouinard's changeup ... "To me it is the hardest pitch to hit in baseball or softball. If you think about hitting as timing then pitching is about upsetting timing and that is what the changeup is going to do. Lindsay has one of the best changeups in the country. It is a great pitch for her. Our only trepidation about playing Notre Dame is that we have played them recently. We are happy for Lindsay to finally play somebody that hasn't seen her, at least recently. We are tired of playing teams that have seen her on a consistent manner because they know her and they have seen her pitches. We are looking forward to whoever we play next because we have played neither team in a couple of years."
Notre Dame Head Coach Deanna Gumpf
On the game ... "I think we had plenty of opportunities and we did not take advantage of them at times. When you play a team like DePaul that is hot you have to play strong on everything and we just didn't."
On hitting the changeup ... "I think the girls did a much better job the last couple of innings. We shortened up our swings and squared up to see it. We did a much better job when we did that. We did not make adjustments for the most part until the sixth inning and we needed to go up there from inning one and know what she was bringing and make the adjustments right away."
N O T E S
DePaul is now 3-0 against Notre Dame this season.
Saskia Roberson hit her 16th home run of the season, improving her season record at DePaul.
