Meadville, Pa. - Heather Larsen's two-out, solo homer in the top of the eighth lifted Denison to a 1-0 win over DePauw in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament championship game.

DePauw dropped to 29-12 with the loss, while the Big Red improved to 27-17. Denison earned the conference's automatic qualification into the NCAA Division III Championship, while the Tigers will await word of a possible at-large bid. The tournament field will be announce on NCAA.com at 10 a.m. on Monday.

The Tigers were unable to advance a runner beyond second base as they managed just three hits off of Denison's Kelsey Hager. DePauw had runners on first and second with one out in the second and third innings, but couldn't score. Jamie Story led off the DePauw eighth with a double, but was stranded there after a strikeout and two pop ups to end the game.

Denison totaled nine hits in the game but couldn't only get two runners to third in the first seven innings.

Story, Rachel MacBeth and Cymone Allen each had one hit for DePauw. Kait Fiore had three hits for Denison, with Rachel Laughlin and Larsen each adding a pair.

Kahla Nolan (pictured) dropped to 9-2 on the season with three strikeouts and one walk in her longest collegiate outing. Hager improved to 12-9 on the season.

Amy Hallett, Jen Kosinski and Haley Buchanan each earned spots on the all-tournament team.