Notre Dame softball emerged with a perfect weekend, toppling each of their opponents in a five-game stretch Friday through Sunday. They are now 12-3 overall and on a seven-game win streak.
The weekend started off with a doubleheader against North Florida and Iowa, in which graduate student Alexis Holloway and senior Payton Tidd dominated in the circle. Holloway had the ball for the first match against the Ospreys. She held North Florida to three hits, with the Ospreys’ one run coming early in the third. The Irish offense responded in kind, with junior Leea Hanks capitalizing on a misplayed ground ball to tie the game up following her own double. Another Osprey mistake led sophomore Cassidy Grimm to score, putting the Irish up by one to seal the victory.
Another pitchers’ duel followed against Iowa. Neither team managed to score in the first three innings. Tidd pitched a complete game, holding the Hawkeyes to two hits, and also broke the deadlock at the plate. Her two-run home run in the fourth brought sophomore Karina Gaskins home as well.
During their doubleheader the following day, the Irish started out strong with an 8-1 win against Princeton after the Tigers scored first in the opening frame. Freshman Shannon Becker pitched her first complete game, recording a career-high nine strikeouts. A single from graduate student Abby Sweet loaded the bases in the bottom of the first before senior Emma Clark drove in two with a double. Hanks would then score Sweet with a sacrifice fly.
After the Irish scored five more runs in the latter innings, Princeton loaded the bases before Becker struck them out and ended the Tigers’ chances at a comeback.
Against Florida Gulf Coast, Notre Dame did not score until the top of the fifth. A home run from junior Joley Mitchell put them ahead by one run in the sixth, which ultimately was the difference in 2-1 victory for the Irish.
The Irish recorded another win over the Eagles Sunday. Hanks and Sweet each scored twice on the day, while Clark and Genz also had multi-hit performances. The Irish were up by two in the first inning, with a score each from Sweet and Tidd starting off the day. This was followed by four additional runs in the second punctuated by a double from Sweet, a stolen base from Hanks and an eight-pitch at-bat by junior Brooke Marquez. The Irish would hold on to win 6-4 after the Eagles scored three at the bottom of the second and another in the sixth.
Notre Dame travels next to Lynchburg, Virginia, for another five-game weekend. First pitch Friday against George Washington is scheduled for 11:30 a.m., followed by a 2 p.m. showdown with Rutgers.
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