USF Softball Takes on DePaul in the First Round of the Big East Tournament

The Bulls take the field for an early contest in the first round of the Big East tournament.   The ladies finished the regular season with a mark of 45-10 (17-5) and are ranked 16th in the nation and enter the BE tournament as the 4 seed.   They will face DePaul this morning at 10AM in the first game of the tournament in South Bend, Indiana.

DePaul enters the game at 39-14 (14-8) on the year.  The two teams have not faced each other this season, but will do battle for the right to face the winner of the Louisville v. UCONN game on Friday at 4PM.

DePaul is led by sophomore 1B/LHP Kirsten Verdun (5-9).  Verdun is batting .381 on the year with 12 doubles, 11 home runs, and has 40 RBIs (also their star pitcher).  Junior outfielder Samantha Dodd (5-4) is batting .346 with 7 doubles, 1 home run, and has 19 RBIs on the season.  Freshman 1B/Pitcher Mary Connolly (5-10) is batting .305 with 5 home runs and has 29 RBIs on the season. Sophomore 1B Allie Braden (5-3) is batting .301 with 1 home run, 12 RBIs, and has 8 steals to lead the team.  Senior outfielder Kaetlyn Braget (5-6) is batting .241 with 7 home runs and has 27 RBIs on the year.  The Blue Demons have a powerful lineup that has a lot of strong bats, led by Verdun.  Nevins, who only pitched on Saturday against Syracuse, will need to be at her best in this game and make sure she keeps their bats silent.

Verdun is also their best pitcher.  She is 25-12 (1.69 ERA) while working 236 innings, allowing 176 hits, 64 walks, and has struck out 237 batters while holding opponents  to a .207 batting average. Junior RHP Bree Brown (5-4) is 5-4 on the year with a .280 ERA. She has worked 55 innings, allowing 49 hits, 8 walks, and has struck out 46 batters, holding them to a .234 batting average.  Verdun is their ace, so look for her to take the circle the Bulls, who were no-hit on Sunday, in this game.  The Bulls need to use their speed at the top of the order with Kafalas and Richardson and let Salvarola and Medina drive them in.

The Bulls have a very talented team and have won a lot of big games, but this is one of the biggest thus far.  They want to make a run in the tournament to make their resume even stronger as they look to head into the postseason.