DPU ties for fifth at NCAA softball championship

SALEM, Va. - DePauw's postseason run came to an end at the hands of Linfield College, but the Tigers finished the season tied for fifth in the NCAA Division III Softball Championship.

The Tigers lost by an 8-0 count in five innings and finished the season with a 36-16 mark. The Wildcats improved to 39-14 and face Tufts tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.

Linfield pitcher Montana McNealy tossed a no-hitter against the Tigers as DePauw managed just three base runners.

The Wildcats scored three in the first as Erin Tauscher drove in two with a single and McKenna Spieth plated one with a sacrifice fly. Danielle Duman's solo homer in the third made it 4-0.

Grace Middelstadt's fifth-inning triple drove in a pair and Middelstadt came home on Erin Carson's single. The game ended when Alissa Buss came home as part of a double steal.

The Tigers' best chance came in the second when Taylor Golden drew a two-out walk and Jennifer Ridge reached on an error, but the inning ended on a strikeout.

Carson had three of Linfield's eight hits, while Middelstadt added two.

DePauw starter Kahla Nolan dropped to 19-9, while McNealy improved to 30-7.

Following the game, Tigers' head coach Erica Hanrahan reflected on the three seniors (Nolan, Golden and Ridge).

"Collectively, they're the move competitve group of athletes I've ever coached," Hanrahan said.

"They want to be better and they do it within themselves and that's how they motivated their team with how hard of workers they were."

NOTES: The fifth-place finish is the fourth for the Tigers with the others coming in 2007, 2010 and 2011 ... DePauw's 36 wins mark the fourth-highest single-season total in school history ... the seniors finished with a 114-65 record including two NCAA appearances, three North Coast Athletic Conference regular season titles and two tournament championships ... Jennifer Ridge finished as the Tigers' all-time leader with 53 career stolen bases, while Kahla Nolan was second 61 pitching wins and finished her career with a 61-30 record ... Emma Baldwin's six saves this season broke the DePauw single-season and career records ... Elizabeth Getz's 27 stolen bases is a single-season record ... DePauw's 134 stolen bases and 160 attempts were school records and led Division III.