COLUMBUS, Ga.—Junior Katie Mathies (Shelbyville, Ind.) drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice bunt in the top of the eighth inning and finished with eight strikeouts in the circle to help DePauw University defeat Babson College, 3-2, on the opening night of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Leadoff Classic. 

Babson opens the year at 0-1, while DePauw is 1-1 on the season. 

Junior Sara Moore (Kennett Square, Pa.) went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI triple, while graduate student Kate Karamouzis (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) was 2-for-3 with a walk to lead the Beavers' offense. Junior Athena Hadjipanayis (Rye, N.Y.) added an RBI single and senior Moira' O'Reilly (Columbus, Ohio) went the distance in the circle, striking out seven while allowing just one earned run on five hits in the loss. 

Senior Emily Timberman (Fishers, Ind.) and junior Riley Heim (Indianapolis, Ind.) both had two hits in support for Mathies, who scattered eight hits and gave up just one earned run in a complete-game effort for the Tigers. 

Timberman gave DePauw a 1-0 lead with a two-out double to right center in the top of the first inning. The Green and White, which stranded three runners on base over the first four innings, pulled even in the last of the sixth as graduate student Jackie Hill (Franklin, N.H.) came through with a pinch hit double and then scored on Hadjipanayis' two-out single to left to make it 1-1. 

O'Reilly worked around an error in the top of the seventh but was not as fortunate in the eighth as Bernard scored from second on a fielding error for a 2-1 lead and sophomore Ella Ohrvall (Carmel, Ind.) raced home on a sacrifice bunt by Mathies for a 3-1 advantage. Moore cut the Beavers' deficit to one by bringing home first-year Charlotte Raymond (Wrentham, Mass.) with a one-out triple to right center in the bottom of the eighth, but Mathies got a ground out to third and a line out to left field to cut the rally short. 

Babson returns to action on Friday at 3:30 p.m. when it takes on No. 12 Belhaven. 

GAME NOTES
•    Thursday's matchup was the first all-time against DePauw. 
•    Moore now has a hit in her last 12 games going back to last season and has reached base safely in 15 straight contests. 
•    The Beavers are now 5-3 in extra-inning games dating back to the start of the 2022 campaign.