Central Michigan 0 No. 6 seed

vs.

DePaul 5 No. 5 seed

Score by Innings		1	2	3		4	5	6		7		R	H	E
DePaul (39-20)		4	0	0		1	0	0		0		5	7	0
Central Michigan (33-13)		0	0	0		0	0	0		0		0	4	2

Boxscore and Play-By-Play

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Alumni Field)
Event: NCAA Regional 8 Softball Championship (Game 9)
Result: DePaul 5, Central Michigan 0
Records: DePaul (39-20); CMU (33-13)
Next DePaul Game: Sunday, May 21 -- vs. Michigan, 1 p.m.
Next CMU Game: CMU eliminated from regional with 2-2 record

DePaul Continues Streak, Advances to Title Game

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Paced by pitcher Lindsay Chouinard's performance on the mound and shortstop Liz Bouck's infield defensive plays, fifth-seeded DePaul continued its run in the NCAA Regional 8 Softball Championship as the Blue Demons eliminated Central Michigan 5-0 on Saturday (May 20) at Michigan's Alumni Field. With the victory, DePaul (39-20) extended to 20 innings its regional shutout streak. Blue Demon pitchers have surrendered just nine hits in three regional games.

Chouinard continued to set the pace in the circle as she shut down Central Michigan (33-13) to improve her scoreless innings streak to 13 innings. Chouinard was poised against the Chippewas, allowing just four hits and fanning seven. Bouck provided the infield heroics, recording a game-high six assists as she shut down two Central Michigan rallies. She also paced the way at the plate, scoring one run and driving in another.

DePaul got off to an early start by scoring four runs in the top of the first inning off Central Michigan starter Tina Kinney (24-8). After Bouck opened the game with a walk, Jenny Davis advanced her to second with a sacrifice bunt. Shavaughne Desecki then singled to rightfield to drive in Bouck. Desecki moved to second on the throw to the plate, then advanced to third on a groundout. Julie Luna walked and stole second, and a throwing error by CMU catcher Lindsay Horvath allowed Desecki to score and Luna to go to third. Tami Bouck stepped to the plate and roped a drive down the leftfield line, scoring Luna to give DePaul an early 3-0 advantage.

After Wendy Stephens entered in relief of Kinney in the circle, a Toni Campbell single to centerfield scored Tami Bouck for the 4-0 Blue Demon lead. The inning ended when DePaul attempted a double steal with runners on first and third, and first baseman Kinney threw out Dana Jukusz at home.

With the four-run cushion, Chouinard struck out the side in the bottom of the first and then had back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the second and third. The Blue Demons added another run in the top of the fourth when Campbell doubled and pinch runner Laura Vinson later scored on a single by Liz Bouck.

Central Michigan got its first hit of the game when Becky Manson drove a Chouinard pitch into centerfield in the fourth inning. A Nicole Weston double put Chippewa runners on second and third for their first scoring threat of the game, but Chouinard recovered to strike out Kinney and force a groundball out to end the inning and the threat.

In the fifth, CMU again put two on after a Hope Robertshaw walk and an Amy Morrison single to the shortstop. Chouinard shut down the rally, popping up Stephens and getting Manson to ground out to first. From there Chouinard continued to roll, stopping CMU in the sixth and the seventh to preserve the win (17-8) and her 10th shutout of the season.

DePaul, the only undefeated team left in the double-elimination regional, face second-seeded Michigan at 1 p.m. game Sunday (May 21). A DePaul win puts the Blue Demons into their second straight Women's College World Series while a win by Michigan would force a second championship game between the same two teams at 3:30 p.m.

Q U O T E S

DePaul Head Coach Eugene Lenti
On the win over CMU ... "I think the key to the game was the first inning since we were almost able to bat around. We got key hits. We had the experience since we had five kids play in the [Women's] College World Series last year. They have a ton of regional experience and Liz (Bouck) got us going and then Shavaughne (Desecki) got a hit. Dana (Jukusz), Tami (Bouck) and Toni (Campbell) all had hits. We need to rely on them if we are going to continue this kind of run. Today the seniors led the way, and the young kids picked us up when they needed to."

On his team's defensive effort ... "Any time you put four up on the board in the first inning, it's easier for everybody to relax, throw the ball and let them hit it. We still wanted to work the corners. In one inning after CMU hit the double, I went out (to the mound) and told Lindsay (Chouinard) to throw pitcher pitches, instead of hitter pitches. They hit some good balls, but hit them right at us so we made the plays. When you're scoring runs, playing good defense and shutting them down offensively, that is the name of the game this time of year."

On maturing on defense ... "I think our defense has been the key for us. We lost our starting catcher, two middle infielders, two All-America pitchers and a leftfielder from last year's squad. It was going to be new no matter who was there. We were making a ton of errors early against great teams, so it was frustrating for everybody. We stayed with them. They had to work it out on their own, sort of like a maturation project for the young kids."

On Sunday's matchup with Michigan ... "I think it will be the toughest game of the year. You are going to play the home team on their home field. There is nothing tougher than that. There is going to be a huge crowd and it's going to be a beautiful day. We have been in those situations before. I think our conference championship will be great preparation for us. We played our conference championship at Southern Mississippi in front of a crowd of about 1,000 people. We must ignore the crowd and focus on the job at hand."

CMU Head Coach Margo Jonker
On the DePaul loss ... "It was a tough game. I thought overall, our team did a good job at regionals. We came out and beat the No. 1 seed in Stanford. It took a lot of energy. The next day, we weren't quite as sharp and then we came back this morning again, and I thought we played well again this morning. Overall, we had a good tournament. I'm proud of my players. We had a good year."

On CMU's pitchers ... "Tina (Kinney) ran out of gas. I tried going with her one more time, seeing is she could come through. We talked about it and she thought she could come through. Wendy Stephens did a pretty good job in relief."

N O T E S

• DePaul will be making its fourth straight appearance in an NCAA regional final. The Blue Demons advanced to the 1999 College World Series after winning the regional at Illinois-Chicago last year.

• DePaul has yet to allow a run in regional play. The Blue Demons opened the championship with an 8-0, six-inning win over Michigan followed by a 1-0 victory over Notre Dame on Friday, and shut out Central Michigan 5-0 today. DePaul has only allowed nine hits over the three games.

• DePaul freshman pitcher Lindsay Chouinard has pitched 13 straight scoreless innings. She has given up just seven hits while striking out 11.

• Central Michigan pitcher Tina Kinney closed her career with 77 wins. The 77 wins rank first in CMU history and tied for first in Mid-American Conference history.

Last updated: Saturday, 20-May-2000 18:45:08 EDT