One way for Kirsten Verdun to tell she has made it at college softball's top level is that she cannot even get through meals lately without being interrupted.

It was not an autograph-seeking DePaul University fan that interrupted her at a restaurant recently. Instead it was a phone call with news she knew was "a possibility," but that she insists she was not expecting to receive.

"(Assistant director of communications) Bob (Sakamoto) from DePaul called me. I was out to eat with my friends," Verdun said. "My friends were all worried something was wrong at first, because I got pretty excited and was acting all jittery and everything."