If this was supposed to be the last stand for the seniors on the DePaul softball team, they did their best job to show that they did not want any part of that. The five seniors combined to go 9-19 (.473 batting average) at the plate in a doubleheader sweep of Big East foe St. John’s by the scores of 12-2 and 7-2.In the first two victories for the Blue Demons (19-10, 4-1 Big East) at the newly renovated Cacciatore Stadium, a freshman had her presence loom large over both victories as well. Kirsten Verdun was on fire on the mound, striking out eight, walking only one and giving up one earned run as the winning pitcher in both games. She was also alive at the plate, picking up a pair of hits, three runs batted in and a run scored in the doubleheader.

“I just went out and did my job,” said Verdun, who improved her record to 11-3 on the season. “My teammates did a great job behind me today and obviously we all hit well.”

Verdun’s pitching performance is that much more important with sophomore Bree Brown and senior Lindsey Dean nursing nagging injuries.

“She’s a great player, we knew that when we recruited her and signed her,” head coach Eugene Lenti said when asked about Verdun’s performance. “Thing for Kirsten is being consistent, and today she was.”

DePaul’s overall performance was a stark contrast to Wednesday when they lost a pair of games at the hands of Louisville. All the breaks that went the Cardinals’ way during the week fell in favor of the Blue Demons Saturday. St. John’s committed five errors and walked six batters in the doubleheader.

The production at the plate came from everywhere, but the top of the lineup was most potent. In game one, the 1-4 hitters combines to go 9-14 with five RBI and five runs. Right fielder Sean Plese, one of the seniors, spread her impact out over both games as she combined to go 4-6 with a stolen base and four runs.

“That’s where your better hitters are,” Lenti said in response to the production of the top of the lineup. “Hitting is contagious, just like not hitting is contagious. The fact that they were able to keep it going made it easier for everyone else to swing the bats and swing them hard.”

The day got off to a particularly good start after junior Katelyn Braget deposited an Ashley Beza pitch over the right field for a two-run home run. That blast upped DePaul’s lead to 4-0 and they never looked back after that.

The performance of the seniors Saturday is not to be understated, especially after Lenti laid down an ultimatum for them to show up this weekend or risk being benched.

“I think they responded well, you could see it in their leadership,” Lenti acknowledged. “They really all stepped it up and I think that’s important because they’re all on a very short leash. We know how talented they are, it’s time to let the talent come through.”

With one more game against St. John’s coming up on Sunday, is it safe to say the Blue Demons have finally turned the corner? Not quite, according to Lenti, who partially joked, “I’ll let you know at the end of May.”

But in the meantime, DePaul did have a good day to start building some momentum.