Softball Drops Two To #16 DePaul In Conference USA Series
March 27, 2002
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - DePaul scored five runs in the fifth to come back from a 3-0 deficit and went on defeat the Charlotte 49ers softball team 6-3 to win the series finale Wednesday afternoon at the Phillips sports complex. Earlier in the afternoon, the Blue Demons won the second game of yesterday's doubleheader, which was stopped for lightning, 10-1.
Already ahead 5-0 when the game was stopped on Tuesday, DePaul (17-6, 5-1 C-USA) scored five more runs on Wednesday to pick up the win in five innings. Three of those runs came in the fourth, when Shavaughne Desecki sent a grand slam home run over the right field fence. It was ruled a single and she was called out, however, when she passed Gina Ramacci on the basepaths. The three runners on base, Liz Bouck, Sarah Martz and Ramacci, all scored. The Blue Demons scored two more in the fifth, before Charlotte (15-17, 1-7) plated its first run of the series to provide the final margin. Lynne LaPorte scored the run and was driven in on Nora Petrie's double to left. Martz earned the win and improved to 5-2. Amy Morse took the loss and fell to 5-7.
The 49ers got on the board early in the series finale, scoring three runs in the first. Leah Heston started things with a single to right that drove in Petrie. Kristin White earned an RBI the hard way later in the inning, when she was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, to score Stephanie Dunlap. Heston gave the Niners their third run, when she came home on a Lindsay Chouinard wild pitch. Charlotte held on to the lead until the the fifth, when they gave up five runs, all unearned. Sarah Douglas accounted for two of them and gave the Blue Demons the lead with a home run to right that also drove in Jenny Doezie. Doezie entered the game as a pinch runner for Desecki, who reached on a double. Bouck, Martz and Laura Visin also scored in the fifth. April Valdez scored the sixth and final run for DePaul in the seventh on an error by catcher Melanie Thevenote, who tried to throw Katy Kukman out stealing second. Chouinard overcame a shaky start to earn the win and improve to 8-2. Betsy Thompson took the loss and fell to 8-6.
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The 49ers will take the weekend off for Easter and will return to action next Wednesday, when they host UNC Greensboro in a doubleheader. The first game will begin at 2:30 at the Phillips Sports Complex. Admission is free.
