Greencastle, Ind. - DePauw and Denison finished in a tie for the North Coast Athletic Conference regular season title after the Big Red swept the Tigers by scores of 3-0 and 2-1. The Tigers dropped to 21-13 overall and 12-2 in the NCAC, while the Big Red improved to 24-11 overall and 12-2 in conference play.
By virtue of its two wins over DePauw, Denison won the tiebreaker and will host the NCAC Tournament starting Thursday, May 8.
In the opener, Denison got on the board in the first as Annabelle Calderon singled with one out before Madilyn Moffitt reached on a fielder's choice and Jacqui Abogado walked. Brooke Surbaugh singled to right center, scoring Moffitt.
Alex Longstreth led off the Big Red second with a single before Carley Metlon reached on an error of her sacrifice bunt. Calderon was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Moffitt followed with an RBI single. Abogado's sacrifice fly scored Melton and gave Denison a 3-0 lead.
The Tigers' best scoring chance came in the sixth when
Katie Mathies led off with a double and Ella Kunester was hit by a pitch. Both moved up on
Paige Brady's grounder, but a ground out ended the inning.
Mathies had two of DePauw's five hits, while Surbaugh had two of Denison's seven. Surbaugh improved to 10-8 and Moffitt picked up her third save.
Peyton Rohr dropped to 1-3 with the loss.
In the nightcap, the teams battled through six scoreless innings. DePauw loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth, but the Big Red turned a double play on Kuenster's line out to short and ended the inning with a ground out. In the sixth,
Kelsey Schneider led off with a double and moved to third on
Libby Minobe's sacrifice bunt. Mathies then flew out to center and Brianna Gonzalez's throw to Calderon nabbed Schneider at the plate.
Denison broke through in the seventh as Leilah Ferrari led off with a single and pinch-hitter Emily Orsini moved her to third with a single. Liana Su entered as a pinch-hitter and grounded out with Orsini moving to second. Melton then delivered a two-out double down the right field line which scored both.
In the bottom of the seventh, DePauw pinch-hitter
Callie Rheinheimer led off by being hit by a pitch and Ella Kunester re-entered for her. Brady's single moved Kuenster to second and Reily Heim's sacrifice bunt advanced the runners to second and third.
Hanna Coffel was hit by a pitch to load the bases and pinch-hitter
Kendall Hynes drew a walk which scored Kunester. A popout ended the game.
Schneider had two of DePauw's five hits, while Ferrari had three of Denison's eight hits and Melton added two.
Alex Romero-Salas dropped to 7-4, while Sydney Silverstein improved to 12-3 and Moffitt picked up her fourth save.
