Granville, Ohio - DePauw scored three in the bottom of the 10th to defeat Denison, 6-5, and win its eighth North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament title. The Tigers moved to 24-13 and advance to the NCAA Division III Championship for the 15th time in program history. The Big Red dropped to 26-13.

The teams were scoreless until DePauw struck first in the fourth. Paige Brady, Alex Romero-Salas and Riley Heim singled with two outs to load the bases and pinch-hitter Callie Rheinheimer delivered a single that scored Brady.

Leilah Ferrari, Emily Orsini and Alex Longstreth each singled to start the Denison seventh and Ferrari was thrown out at the plate when Carley Melton reached on a fielder's choice. Indy Workman then gave Denison its first lead of the game with a two-run double. Annabelle Calderon followed with a double that scored Melton, but Workman and Calderon were thrown out at the plate and third, respectively, to end the inning with the Big Red leading, 3-1.

Libby Minobe walked with one out in the bottom of the seventh and stole second. The Tigers were down to their final out when Katie Mathies drove in Minobe with a single. Angelese Cruz entered as a pinch-runner and scored the game-tying run when Ella Kuenster doubled.

Both teams were scoreless in the eighth and ninth innings before Workman was hit by a pitch to start the Denison 10th and Calderon followed with a two-run homer to give the Big Red a 5-3 advantage.

Heim led off the bottom of the 10th by reaching on an error and moved to second on Madi Lockridge's single. Hanna Coffel advanced both runners with a bunt and Minobe singled home Heim.  Minobe moved up to second and Macey Cox hit a grounder that deflected off the first baseman's glove and allowed both runs to score and giving the Tigers the title.

Romero-Salas had three of DePauw's 15 hits with Kuenster, Brady, Heim and Lockrodge finishing with two hits each. Calderon and Longstreth each had two of Denison's 10 hits.

Romero-Salas improved to 8-4 after three innings in relief of Izzy Deveau. Sydney Silverstein dropped to 13-4 with the loss.

Romero-Salas was selected the tournament MVP and was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Heim, Kuenster, Lockridge, Coffel and Deveau. 

2025 NCAC Softball All-Tournament Team
Darian Kanno, Hiram
Hanna Ecker, Wittenberg
Riley Heim, DePauw
Annabelle Calderon, Denison
Ella Kuenster, DePauw
Indy Workman, Denison
Madi Lockridge, DePauw
Hanna Coffel, DePauw
P: Brooke Surbaugh, Denison
P: Izzy Deveau, DePauw
At-Large: Madison Moffit, Denison
MVP: Alex Romero Salas, DePauw