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ROSEMONT, Ill. – Second-seeded DePaul exploded for a four-run seventh inning to ensure a win over top-seeded St. John’s 8-3 to win the 2017 BIG EAST Softball Championship presented by Jeep. The Blue Demons were led by the hot bat of Dylan Christensen, whose .600 batting average over two postseason games sparked her to Most Outstanding Player honors.
The tournament title is the third in program history for DePaul and first since 2014, as the Blue Demons earn the BIG EAST’s automatic bid into the NCAA Championship. The NCAA Selection Show will are live Sunday on ESPN2 at 10 p.m. ET.
The game opened as a pitching duel when DePaul’s Missy Zoch and St. John’s Tori Free relinquished only a single hit each through the first two innings.
After the game went scoreless for the first two frames, the Blue Demons got on the board with an RBI single up the middle from Nicole Pihl in the top of the third.
The Red Storm would respond in the bottom of the fourth with two runs to grab the lead. The first run came from a sacrifice fly by Gretchen Bowie, who drove in Savannah Warren. Brittany Garcia followed with a triple down the right field line to score Krystal Puga.
Trailing 2-1, DePaul’s Haydn Christensen came through with a two-out, two-run single to highlight a three-run fifth inning as the Blue Demons pulled ahead, 4-2.
Keeping it close, St. John’s pulled within a run in the bottom of the sixth when Christina Melendez bounced a double off the right field wall to score Hannah Anderson.
Fighting to keep its lead in the top of the seventh, DePaul found a hero in Alysia Rodriguez, who delivered a two-run triple down the right-field line, extending the Blue Demons’ lead to 6-3 and forcing a St. John’s pitching change.
The Red Storm would bring Madison Morris into the circle, but DePaul would tack on two more runs behind a single from Sabrina Kuchta before St. John’s collected three outs.
Down to bottom of the seventh with two outs, the Red Storm loaded the bases for one last attempt, but a groundout to the left would give the game and the conference title to DePaul. Zoch was credited with the win for the Blue Demons, her second consecutive complete-game victory, improving to 14-7 on the season.
DePaul improved to 14-9 (.609) all-time in the BIG EAST Championship, including 3-1 in the final. The Blue Demons move on with an overall 29-21 record while St. John’s finishes the season 32-16.
BIG EAST Championship Most Outstanding Player
Dylan Christensen, DePaul
All-Tournament Team
Kaitlin Doud, Butler
Brittany Husk, Villanova
Kaitlin Mattera, St. John’s
Grace Kramer, St. John’s
Gretchen Bowie, St. John’s
Dylan Christensen, DePaul
Hayden Christensen, DePaul
Nicole Pihl, DePaul
Missy Zoch, DePaul