Kansas City
DePaul
'Roos Fall 5-2 to DePaul in Heart-Breaking Fashion to Start Season
2/9/2012 11:07:00 PM | Softball
(Honolulu, Hawaii) -- Thursday, the UMKC softball team (0-1) fell 5-2 to the DePaul Blue Demons (1-0) in heart-breaking fashion off a walk-off three-run homer by Mary Connolly.
The game started out well for the Kangaroos as senior Kaelene Curry singled to left field and then later scored in the first inning on an error committed by DePaul's catcher Ali Warren.
Later in the first with DePaul at the plate, junior pitcher Deanna Friese recorded her first strikeout of the season to cap off a 1-2-3 inning when Kirsten Verdun went down swinging.
Two innings later, with two out and nobody on, DePaul's Allie Braden hit a fly ball to right field, but junior outfielder Emily Ott was there for a diving catch to end the inning.
Through three innings, Friese and the 'Roos retired nine consecutive Blue Demon hitters to start the game.
Leading off the top of the fifth with UMKC still up one, junior first baseman Chelsea Hartwig homered to left field to give the Kangaroos a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth with two outs and one on, the Blue Demons cut the deficit to one when Verdun doubled to left center to bring home the runner.
In the seventh inning, the 'Roos failed to notch any more runs as DePaul's pitcher Bree Brown retired the side to keep the score 2-1 going into the bottom half of the inning.
Then after retiring the leadoff hitter, Friese gave up a solo homerun to Katelyn Braget to tie the game. DePaul continued its rally when the next two batters, Megan Coronado and Brittany Boesel, singled to put two runners on with one out.
The Blue Demons then called upon Mary Connolly to pinch hit for Allie Braden and as a result, she hit a walk-off three-run homerun to end the game.
After starting off hot in first three innings, Friese finished the day with eight hits given up, five earned runs, and four strikeouts.
From the plate, Curry finished the day 3-for-3 with three hits and one run scored.
"Obviously, we would have liked to have come away with a win over a very good DePaul team," said head coach Meredith Smith. "However, we just have to do a better job at closing games down the stretch if we want to reach our goals."
The Blue & Gold will again be in action on Friday as it faces its first doubleheader test when it takes on Seattle (5 p.m.) and Hawaii (10 p.m.).
