May 18, 2012

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Opening the 2012 Columbia Regional with a battle of two dominating aces, the DePaul Blue Demons advanced in the winner's bracket by pulling out a 3-0 victory over the Massachusetts Minutewomen on Friday afternoon.

UMass pitcher Sara Plourde, the nation's leader in strikeouts and wins, took a perfect game in to the fifth inning and a no hitter to the sixth, but would pick up the loss for her 10th of the year. DePaul's Kirsten Verdun earned the win to move to 27-13 on the season.

Neither team got anything going through the first five innings before the Blue Demons finally figured out Plourde. Plourde was perfect until the fifth, when she gave up a walk, and took a no hitter into the sixth until giving up a leadoff single to Brittany Boesel.

After Boesel's single, Allie Braden drew a walk on a 3-1 count to put two aboard.  A wild pitch advanced both runners into scoring position, and leadoff hitter Lynsey Ciezki broke the scoreless tie with a base hit to drive in Mener. A ground out by Samantha Dodd brought in Braden, and Verdun helped her own cause with an RBI single to center, extending the lead to 3-0.

Verdun finished the game with six strikeouts and no walks while allowing only two hits. Plourde finished the game with three runs allowed on three hits in six innings of work. She struck out seven and walked two in the loss.

DePaul advances to tomorrow's 3 p.m. game and will face the winner of Missouri and Illinois State. Massachusetts will take on the loser in an elimination game at 5:30 p.m. CT. Stay tuned to mutigers.com for more information.