DePaul 1 No. 5 seed

vs.

Notre Dame 0 No. 3 seed

Score by Innings		1	2	3		4	5	6		7		R	H	E
Notre Dame (47-13)		0	0	0		0	0	0		0		0	2	0
DePaul (38-20)		0	0	0		0	1	0		x		1	3	0

Boxscore and Play-By-Play

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Alumni Field)
Event: NCAA Regional 8 Softball Championship (Game 6)
Result: DePaul 1, #17 Notre Dame 0
Records: DePaul (38-20); Notre Dame (47-13)
Next DePaul Game: Saturday, May 20 -- vs. Notre Dame/CMU winner, 3 p.m.
Next Notre Dame Game: Saturday, May 20 -- vs. Central Michigan, 10 a.m.

DePaul Drops Irish in NCAA Regional Pitcher's Duel

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Paced by a two-hit shutout performance from junior pitcher Ashley Ivey, DePaul defeated Notre Dame 1-0 in NCAA Regional 8 Championship action on Friday (May 19) at Michigan's Alumni Field. Ivey (11-5) faced just one hitter over the minimum as the Blue Demons, who entered the regional as the tournament's fifth seed, closed the first two days of tournament play as the only unbeaten team.

The lone run of the contest came in the bottom of the fifth inning on a checked-swing bloop single off the bat of DePaul second baseman Toni Campbell, who dropped it just over the head of Notre Dame first baseman Lizzy Lemire. Campbell's single scored Molly Sircher from second after Sircher was inserted as a pinch runner for third baseman Julie Luna, who reached first base after working Notre Dame pitcher Jennifer Sharron for a leadoff walk. Sircher was advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt from first baseman Tami Bouck, but was still there with two outs following a Dana Jukusz lineout to leftfield. Campbell's single fell just inches inside the rightfield foul line to plate Sircher with the game-winning run.

Ivey gave up a leadoff single to Notre Dame rightfielder Jennifer Kriech in the top of the first, but Kriech was erased on a double play as Ivey mowed down the next 14 batters she faced. Her string was snapped in the top of the sixth when Notre Dame third baseman Andria Bledsoe led off the inning with a single to left-center. Bledsoe then became the only Fighting Irish runner of the game to reach second base, advancing on Danielle Klayman's groundout to second base. However, Ivey closed out the inning by inducing a foulout to rightfield and a groundout to first base, stranding Bledsoe at second.

Notre Dame's only other baserunner came in the seventh when Big East Player of the Year Melanie Alkire reached first on a throwing error from DePaul shortstop Liz Bouck. However, Alkire and the Fighting Irish's hopes of victory were quickly erased by a double-play ball off the bat of Notre Dame cleanup hitter Andrea Loman.

Notre Dame now plays Central Michigan, which also has one loss in the tournament, on Saturday (May 20) at 10 a.m., with each team facing elimination. The winner advances to meet DePaul later that same day at 3 p.m.

Q U O T E S

DePaul Head Coach Eugene Lenti
On the game ... "This was a great game. It was a pitcher's duel and a defensive battle all the way. Ashley (Ivey, DePaul pitcher) was definitely up to the task today -- they really didn't hit too many balls hard on her. I think the weather was in our favor as Ashley throws the ball hard. Our game plan was to throw it hard in and soft out, and she threw some hard curveballs away from them that kind of kept them off-balance. Tatum (Allen) did a great job behind the plate. Toni Campbell was the player of the game, making the defensive play of the game with the double play -- always the pitcher's best friend -- and had the key hit (game-winning single in the fifth)."

On Toni Campbell's checked-swing RBI single ... "We tell our team to never check their swing, but that was one good checked swing I have to give Toni credit for."

On luck ... "I have my three children here and they came up in the fourth inning and gave me these lucky pebbles and I put them in my pocket. So I have to give Toni (Campbell), Ashley (Ivey) and my children credit for today's win because these lucky pebbles will be with me the rest of this weekend. I don't know how much luck they have got left in them, but that was the name of the game today -- we had the lucky pebbles."

On making the most of opportunities ... "You often times win these things by being opportunistic. When you face a good pitcher like Jen Sharron, you may only have one or two opportunities to score, and if you don't take advantage when that happens, then those go by the wayside and you're in a 12 or 13 inning game until somebody else gets a break."

On Saturday's opponent ... "We don't care who we play. At this point you don't focus on your opponent; you focus on the things you do well -- throw strikes, don't let the ball leave the yard, don't give up any walks and be as opportunistic as you can offensively."

DePaul Second Baseman Toni Campbell
On her game-winning hit ... "I know I struck out looking the time before, and I was just trying to be aggressive and didn't want to look at a pitch. I just saw the ball at the end and didn't take a full swing. The pitch probably wasn't even a strike, but I didn't want to even make it a close call -- I just got lucky."

Notre Dame Head Coach Liz Miller
On the game ... "Our bats were cold; whether it was from the weather or whatever, our bats were definitely cold. Neither team was hitting the ball that hard, but I thought that DePaul beat us on the short game -- the bunts and the checked swing were pretty much the game. But I think the deciding factor was our bats. When we hit the ball early, it was right at people. Then after that, I thought we got taken out of our game. I thought we sort of pressed, we were uptight and we just did not get loose. As a result, our bats were just not as effective as they normally are and that was a major factor. I thought DePaul played a great game."

Last updated: Friday, 19-May-2000 21:09:22 EDT