It was only fitting.
In a game that took 100 minutes to complete, it was over after just one swing.
Senior right fielder Ashley Fleming drove the first ball she saw in the bottom of the ninth over the right-field wall, giving her No. 9 Missouri Tigers a 1-0 victory over DePaul and a berth in Sunday’s Columbia Regional title game.
The shot was a no-doubter from the second it left her bat, and the nearly full house at Audrey Walton Stadium jumped from their seats to watch Fleming’s 16th blast of her final campaign in black and gold.
“I was sitting changeup, and I had gotten a few earlier in my at-bat, and like (coach Ehren Earleywine said), (DePaul pitcher Kirsten Verdun) was throwing a lot of them,” Fleming said. “I figured that she would probably come with a changeup, but I didn’t know when in the at-bat, and it was just at the perfect spot to hit. “
With her number painted on the center field grass, Fleming led the Tiger offense, going 2-for-4 and scoring the only run of the game. Junior catcher Jenna Marston and freshman left fielder Kayla Kingsley also contributed two hits apiece.
Redshirt junior ace Chelsea Thomas (25-7) was again dominant in the circle for Missouri, striking out 10 and allowing only five DePaul hits over nine innings. Thomas got stronger as the game progressed, sitting down the last nine batters she faced.
“We were mixing pitches well,” Thomas said. “(Pitching coach Pete D’Amour) was calling a great game and the changeup was working well today. I kept my pitch count low, so that’s what I wanted to do today.”
Despite pitching a full nine innings, Thomas only threw 100 pitches on the day. Saturday’s victory was her second win of the weekend after she blanked Illinois State over six innings Friday evening.
In stark contrast from Friday’s game, the Tigers scattered seven hits over nine innings but couldn’t plate any runs until the last frame.
“We went from one of the best offensive performances that we’ve had as a team this season, to not the worst, but definitely in that category,” Earleywine said. “In the post season, you can get beat by anybody at any time in any way shape or form, so to come out of this with a win is a really nice thing.”
In the bottom of the fourth, Marston sneaked a grounder through the DePaul infield, but was held rounding third when Fleming followed with a hard line drive up the middle that Blue Demon center fielder Samantha Dodd couldn’t handle cleanly.
Neither freshman first baseman Kelsea Roth nor junior third baseman Nicole Hudson could then convert with runners in scoring position. Roth popped harmlessly to shallow left field and Hudson struck out to end the Missouri threat.
Missouri managed to keep DePaul at bay with a combination of Thomas’s pitching and some impressive glove work in the field. In the sixth, freshman second baseman Ashtin Stephens fielded a sharp grounder and flipped it to freshman shortstop Corrin Genovese for the force at second, and Genovese threw a bullet to Roth to complete the 4-6-3 double play, halting DePaul’s chance before it got started.
Fleming’s home run netted her third RBI of the regional and her 51st of the season. She went 2-3 with two RBI and a run scored in Friday’s 6-0 victory against Illinois State.
“It’s unbelievable,” Earleywine said. “She’s on fire.”
Missouri will now play Illinois State on Sunday at 2 p.m. for the regional title, only needing to win its first game Sunday to advance to the super regional round. If the Tigers lose, they will play later in the day at 4 p.m. with the winner of that game advancing to play the winner of the College Station Regional in Texas.
