Although DePaul softball lost their home-opening series to Seton Hall last weekend, the Blue Demons bounced back after a team meeting to win on Saturday, splitting the final two games of the series.

The series kicked off on Friday, March 14, with the Blue Demons suffering a devastating 15-3 loss to the Pirates. It was clear early on that DePaul lacked the advantage. 

The Blue Demons went through three pitching changes in the first three innings; they started with junior Kelly Greene, then switched to first-year Ava Gusel, went back to Greene and finally ended the game with another first-year, Hannah Messer. 

Seton Hall was able to connect with the ball at-bat, and DePaul gave them more opportunities to get runners on base by walking nine of their players. The Pirates scored seven runs off in the first two innings. In the third, the Blue Demons gave up a grand slam. 

With Messer pitching, the Blue Demons held the Pirates to zero runs, allowing no walks, but the Blue Demons still struggled at the plate. 

All of DePaul’s runs came from one hit: a three-run home run by sophomore Lydia Ettema in the first inning. The Pirates kept DePaul off the board behind Kelsey Carr — a former Big East Pitcher of the Year and a 2024 All-Big East First Team member — who had five strikeouts. 

Although DePaul was able to hold Seton Hall scoreless in the last two innings, the Blue Demons were unable to score more runs, leading to the slaughter rule call at the end of the fifth inning. Though college softball typically goes seven innings, the game is called off after the fifth if a team is winning by 10 or more runs.

DePaul then faced the Pirates at a double-header on Saturday after a schedule change due to weather. 

Before the double-header, the Blue Demons held a meeting, discussing that they had only lost four games so far and still have the majority of the season ahead of them. Head coach Liz Bouck-Jagielski showed her team the spread chart of games, signifying to her team that they are not in a rut. 

“We lost four games — we have 20 left. That’s eighty percent of our season in conference play (that) is left,” Bouck-Jagielski said. “So, showing them the spread chart of how many games that we had left, it was like we’re not in some rut. We still have a great record. Let’s just come back and get the first one.’’ 

The Blue Demons lost the first double-header game 5-4. They found themselves down in the first inning when Seton Hall hit two home runs, putting them up 3-0. DePaul’s defense stepped up to keep the game close.

A double play gave them momentum to get out of the first inning. Unfortunately, this did not translate when three of the Blue Demons’ batters grounded out. 

Yet, their defense remained consistent, and their fielding kept the Pirates scoreless until the fifth. One factor in this was Morgan Rogers, who had five putouts for DePaul playing in center field. 

“I think just knowing that my defense has my back,” Rogers said. “Honestly … in every game, any scenario I’m just like every ball is mine. I just go for every ball, and if I don’t get it then I just know somebody is going to be there to help me out.”

As for her teammates, Rogers saw toughness in them. 

“I just saw grit. I didn’t at any point feel like there was somebody on the field who wasn’t ready for the ball,” Rogers said. Everybody was locked in every pitch, and that’s honestly the best defense I’ve seen so far.’’ 

Their offense found a rhythm in the second when they scored two runs off hits from Carly Alvers and Addison Talbot. But DePaul was only able to score two more runs in the game. In their last at-bat, and only down one, the Blue Demons struck out looking, singled, popped out and lined out, and the game ended.

Now, in the second game of the double-header, also the series’ final, the Blue Demons found success, defeating the Pirates 5-3. This game, like the one before, started out with Seton Hall asserting their dominance, scoring two runs in the first inning. 

DePaul was able to counter this with three runs in the bottom of the inning; they then held the Pirates scoreless in the second and scored another run, giving themselves a 4-2 lead.

“With what we talk about, succeeding at any game, is that you have to keep people off the bases, giving them free bases. So we gave up a lot of walks in that first game that we had played.” Bouck-Jagielski said. “Our pitchers came up huge today.’’

The Blue Demons’ pitchers had 10 walks between the two games — three in the first and seven in the second. They sealed the 5-3 victory by holding Seton Hall scoreless in the final four innings of the game, with Messer securing the final out with a strikeout. 

“This team has just so much fight,” Messer said. “We don’t want to give up until the last pitch, even when we’re down 15 to three like we were yesterday, and we fought to the last pitch, even then.’’ Messer said. 

The Blue Demons’ next game is away against the University of Illinois Chicago on Tuesday at 4 pm. 

Related stories:

• ‘Coach Liz’ is ready to help DePaul softball win
• Tracie Adix-Zins fired as DePaul Softball head coach after six seasons
• DePaul accepts postseason bid to College Basketball Crown tournament

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