Heteniak Throws Four-hitter in NCAA Loss

The 15th seeded DePaul Blue Demons took on Bradley in their first round of the NCAA tournament Friday afternoon in Columbia, Missouri.

Playing in the first game of the tournament, DePaul threw junior hurler Becca Heteniak against their downstate rivals and as usual, she did not disappoint. Heteniak ended with a four-hitter but suffered the loss, as the Demons couldn’t muster any offense against Bradley pitcher Ashley Birdsong, and dropped a 1-0 decision to the Braves.

Birdsong got all the support she needed in the second inning when the eight-hole hitter, Anne Creighton, hit an RBI single to center scoring Julie Sherman from second. Sherman reached on an infield single with two outs and stole second to put herself in scoring position. From there on, it was a pitchers duel, as neither team could muster any offense against the other.

The Demons’ best scoring chances came in the bottom of both the fourth and seventh innings. In the fourth, the Demons put both catcher Jackie Tarulli-Fisher and Heteniak on base with two outs. With Lauren Frankiewicz at the plate and two outs it looked promising, as Frankiewicz had, at the time, mustered the only DePaul hit of the game. Unfortunately she was not able to capitalize and struck out, leaving runners on second and third.

The seventh inning provided some drama as well. Heteniak led off the frame with a single up the middle, but was out when Shea Warren hit into a fielders choice. After a sacrifice sent Warren to second, she stole third with Annie Demas at the dish. But it wasn’t to be, as Demas struck out, leaving the game-tying run on third, and sending the Demons into the losers’ bracket of the Columbia (Mo.) Regional.

To win the regional and move on, the Demons will now have to win four games in two days, including tomorrow. The team will learn their next opponent tomorrow morning, as the Illinois/Missouri game was postponed due to inclement weather. Stay tuned to depaulbluedemons.com, mutigers.com, and ncaa.com for future updates.