University of Connecticut Athletics
Softball Drops Doubleheader to No. 23 DePaul
4/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Game 1 box -
Game 2 box -
CHICAGO, Ill. (April 26, 2008) - The University of Connecticut softball team dropped its doubleheader to No. 23 DePaul on Saturday. The Huskies lost game one 4-1, then fell 2-0 in game two. UConn is now 25-19 overall and 11-5 in the BIG EAST. The Blue Demons are 38-14 and 11-5.
DePaul broke game one open early with three runs in the bottom of the first. From there starting pitcher Tricia Sullivan (New Bedford, Mass.) settled down, allowing only three more hits the rest of the way.
UConn scored their run in the top of the third inning. Justyne Roy (North Dighton, Mass.) reached base on an error by the DePaul third baseman. Meghan Tierney (Salem, Conn.) sacrificed her over to second base. Jillian Ortega (Aberdeen, N.J.) then doubled to score Roy and cut the deficit to 3-1. The Blue Demons closed out the scoring by adding one more run in the bottom of the third.
Ortega was 1-for-3 with one RBI and one walk. Sullivan pitched six innings, giving up six hits and four runs, but only one run was earned. She struck out five.
The Huskies and Blue Demons competed in the pitcher's duel in game two. Rachael Crossin (Fairless Hills, Pa.) and Lauren Frankiewicz matched each other with no-hitters through the first three innings. DePaul got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when Becca Heteniak hit a two-run home run to left field.
UConn had their best chance to score in the top of the sixth inning when with one out, Micah Truax (South Glen Falls, N.Y.) singled, which was followed by the next batter, Danielle Del Ponte (Tewksbury, Mass.) singling her over to third base. Del Ponte advanced to second when the Blue Demons threw the ball to third in an unsuccessful attempt to tag out Truax. Allie Gendron (Belchertown, Mass.) then walked to load the bases. From there DePaul brought in their top pitcher Heteniak, and she was able to strike out Sarah Neuschwander (Chugiak, Alaska) and force Julie Towers (Goodlettsville, Tenn.) to ground out to first to end the last Husky threat.
Four different Huskies led the team with one hit each. Crossin had a strong outing, giving up six hits and two earned runs in six innings pitched, while striking out five.
Connecticut returns to action tomorrow when they travel to Notre Dame for a doubleheader starting at 11:00 a.m. A free audio feed of both games will be available at the Notre Dame homepage, . The link for the feed is at the bottom of the page.
