Blue Hens Defeated By No. 25 DePaul, 12-0, and Florida International, 14-1, on Second Day of FIU Invitational
March 10, 2012
• Delaware-DePaul Boxscore
• Delaware-FIU Boxscore
MIAMI, Fla. – The University of Delaware softball squad dropped a pair of five-inning contests to No. 25 DePaul, 12-0, and host Florida International, 14-1, Saturday at the FIU Softball Complex as the Blue Hens wrapped up play at the FIU Invitational.
In Delaware’s opener, the Blue Demons (14-4) jumped on top by scoring six runs during the bottom of the first inning. Kirsten Verdun opened the scoring with a two-run homer to centerfield, and after Ali Warren delivered a two-run single to right, Bree Brown capped the rally with a two-run longball to leftfield.
Mary Connolly worked a bases loaded walk in the second to make it a 7-0 game, before DePaul added five more runs in the third. Samantha Dodd had a two-run single during the frame, while Verdun followed with a three-run blast to center to close the scoring.
Brown tossed a one-hit shutout while walking just one and striking out 10, improving to 4-0 in the circle for the Blue Demons. UD junior Chenxi Jiao dropped to 0-7 after allowing six runs, three earned, in an inning of a third, while Kathleen Conway struck out two in 1.2 frames of scoreless relief.
Lara Andrews had the Blue Hens’ lone hit, a single to center in the fourth, while Gina Knutson worked a walk in the second.
In UD’s second game of the day, the Panthers (11-12) took the lead during the bottom of the first when a groundball hit by Alex Casals was misplayed by Blue Hen shortstop Marisa Newman, allowing Kayla Burri to score the first run of the game.
Burri then legged out a single with the bases loaded in the second to make it a 2-0 game, while Shelby Graves scored on an illegal pitch by UD starter Brianna Jennings later in the frame to put the Panthers up three.
FIU then put the game away by scoring nine runs during the bottom of the third inning. Graves and Megan Horne opened the rally with RBI singles, while Burri and Casals each knocked home two more with a pair of singles. Brie Rojas and Rachel Slowik capped the frame as each ripped RBI doubles, extending the Panthers advantage to 12-0.
The Blue Hens (3-17) got on the scoreboard during the top of the fourth when Michelle McKinnon led off with a single up the middle, advanced to third on a double to left by Andrews, and scored on a groundout to shortstop by Alicea Coy.
The Panthers tacked on two more runs during the bottom of the fourth on run-scoring singles by Lindsey Menezes and Jessy Alfonso.
Jennings allowed three runs, two earned, in an inning and a third to fall to 0-7 for the Blue Hens, while FIU starter Mari Dawson improved to 9-4 as she fired three hitless innings for the Panthers.
The Blue Hens play their home opener on Wednesday with a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader against Temple at the Delaware Softball Stadium.
Back To Softball Home Softball Story Archive
