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May 10, 2009, Greencastle, Ind. — Second-seed and 15th-ranked DePauw forced a final elimination game in the NCAA Division III Women's Softball Championship first round with a 4-0 win over top-seed and fourth-ranked Ohio Northern.
The 32-8 Tigers and 38-4 Polar Bears will square off later this afternoon for the right to compete in the eight-team Division III finals at Montclair, N.J.
Megan Soultz allowed just a first inning single on the way to her third shutout of the tournament and her second one-hitter.
The Tigers got off to a quick start when Emma Minx singled with two outs in the first and moved to second on Rachel Gill's walk. Jen Kosinski singled to right scoring Minx.
In the fourth, Kelly Schwerzler led off with an infield single and moved to second when Carolyn Bartlett reached on a sacrifice bunt after the throw to second was late. Rachel MacBeth's sacrifice bunt advanced the runners to second and third and Brianne Weeks' single scored both.
Minx led off the seventh with a single, moved to second on Gill's sacrifice bunt and scored on Ashlee Anton's single through the right side.
Soultz improved to 29-8 and allowed just four Polar Bears to reach base. She was the first pitcher to shut out Division III's third-highest scoring offense this year.
Minx collected three of DePauw's 10 hits, while Kosinski added two. Liz Decima had the only hit for the Polar Bears.
For the second time in two days, an Ohio Northern grand slam decided the final outcome between the Polar Bears and DePauw and this time it was Jackie Mangola who provided the blast that gave Ohio Northern a 4-1 win over the Tigers in the NCAA Division III Softball Championship first round title game
/Athletics/SoftballSecond-seed and 15th-ranked DePauw scored three each in the fourth and fifth innings and blanked fifth-seed Defiance by a 7-0 score
/Athletics/SoftballFifth-seed Defiance scored three in the third and five in the fourth and advanced in the loser's bracket of the first round of the NCAA Division III Softball Championship following an 8-2 win over sixth-seed Thomas More
/Athletics/SoftballKim Blewett's first-inning grand slam provided the margin that top-seed and fourth-ranked Ohio Northern needed in a 5-3 win over second-seed and 15th-ranked DePauw in NCAA Division III Softball Championship first round play
/Athletics/SoftballIn a resumption of last evening's game which was halted after nine innings, due to darkness Thomas More's Jennifer Weis blasted a two-run homer in the top of the 10th lifting the Saints to a 13-11 win over Hiram in the first round of the NCAA Division III Softball Championship
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