Edwardsville, Ill. - DePauw opened the 2023 with a pair of eight-inning wins on Saturday over Hope (11-9) and Central (5-4) before falling to Franklin today by a 4-2 score.

Against Hope, the Tigers took a 7-0 lead with one each in the second and third and five in the fourth. The Flying Dutch trimmed the gap to 7-3 with one in the fourth and two in the fifth. 

DePauw extended the lead to 9-3 with a pair in the sixth, but Hope evened the game with six in the bottom of the frame.

In the eighth after Kelsey Bernhard was placed on second to start the inning, Ella Kuenster was hit by a pitch with one out and Goose Moore delivered a two-out triple. DePauw held Hope scoreless in the bottom of the inning for the win.

Kuenster and Macey Cox each had two of DePauw's11 hits, while Grace Henry and Haley Bennett each had three of Hope's 14 hits. Megan Asher collected the win with 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief and Samantha Vermeesch took the loss.

An eighth-inning wild pitch allowed Riley Heim to score the game-winning run against Central. 

The Dutch scored in the top of the first, but DePauw added three in the bottom of the first. Central cut the deficit to 3-2 with one in the second before the Tigers added on ein the fourth. Central's two in the fifth evened the score at 4-4.

Heim ran for Konrad and was placed on second to start the bottom of the eighth. Brooke Bruin was intentionally walked and Hanna Coffel entered as a pinch-runner. Cox's sacrifice bunt advanced the runners and Emily Minett was intentionally walked before a two-out wild pitch allowed Heim to score.

Four Tigers had one hit each, while Megan Stuhr had three of Central's six hits. Asher moved to 2-0 and Morgan Schaben took the loss.

Franklin jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first with each team adding single runs in the fifth. The Tigers added an unearned run in the seventh.

Eight different DePauw players had one hit each, while three Grizzlies each had two of Franklin's 10. Alex Romero-Salas slipped to 0-1 with Franklin's Stephanni Kelber taking the win.

DePauw competes in the Grand Slam Triangle Classic in Raleigh, N.C., March 3-4.