Coming off of a weekend series at Virginia Tech in which they were outscored 32-5, the Irish needed to get right on the softball diamond. Their chance to do so came Tuesday at Michigan State, where Notre Dame scored a 4-3 victory to win away from home for the first time in more than a month. The Irish now hold a 20-24-1 overall record heading into this weekend’s visit to No. 17 Duke.
Aiming to defeat the Spartans for the third consecutive year, junior right-hander Micaela Kastor and the Irish immediately fell behind on a first-inning leadoff home run by Hannah Hawley. Notre Dame would answer and chase Michigan State starter Carsyn Cassady with two runs in the third. The rally began with two outs and the bases empty, finishing with a double by sophomore shortstop Addison Amaral that drove in both runs.
In the bottom of the third, Michigan State tied the score right back up on another leadoff home run, this one off the bat of Payton Conroy. However, Notre Dame pulled back ahead with another pair of runs in the top of the fourth. Freshman catcher Rebecca Eckart singled to give the Irish a 3-2 lead and eventually came around to score herself on Michigan State’s second error of the inning.
Notre Dame turned to senior right-hander Shannon Becker for the bottom of the fourth inning, and Michigan State threatened to even the score yet again. Kendall Smiley singled to make it a 4-3 game, setting the Spartans up with runners on the corners and two outs. In stepped Conroy, who battled with Becker for eight pitches before popping out to second base.
Michigan State wouldn’t find a better opportunity to tie the game the rest of the way, as Becker worked a routine fifth inning before turning the ball over to sophomore right-hander Kami Kamzik. The sophomore neutralized a leadoff single in the sixth before retiring the Spartans in order in the seventh to seal a tight Irish win.
Now at 20-24-1 overall and 6-12 in ACC play, Notre Dame will return to Durham, North Carolina, where its season ended last year, for a Thursday-Friday-Saturday series at No. 17 Duke. The Irish haven’t beaten the Blue Devils in a three-game series since 2020.
Duke checks in at 32-13 overall and 12-6 within conference play, occupying fourth place in the ACC standings behind Virginia Tech, Florida State and Clemson. Since wearing a sweep loss against Florida State in late March, the Blue Devils have gone 11-1 with series sweeps against Louisville and North Carolina. They come off a 14-2 beatdown of Charlotte in five innings on Tuesday.
Given that Duke softball has reached three consecutive NCAA Super Regionals and qualified for the Women’s College World Series last year, you may be surprised to hear that the program hasn’t even been around at the Division I level for a decade. It’s a testament to the work done by Marissa Young, who remains the program’s first head coach after leading Duke’s inaugural season in 2018. She and the Blue Devils put forth a monster year in 2024, going 52-9 with ACC titles in the regular season and postseason.
Duke doesn’t have the same pitching depth it did last season, when it held a ridiculous team earned run average of 1.66. Cassidy Curd, last year’s individual ERA leader, is back but has taken a step back with a 3.29 ERA in a team-high 119 innings this season. Graduate student Dani Drogemuller, a former Pittsburgh Panther, has moved into a larger role, though, holding a 2.90 ERA in 106.1 innings. Drogemuller will elicit contact more often, whereas Curd leans more on the strikeout.
On offense, Duke returned about half of its top offensive producers from last year, most notably losing .436 hitter Claire Davidson and her 18 home runs. After an All-American 2024 season, junior infielder Aminah Vega has become the team’s premier bat, hitting .459 with 16 doubles, eight home runs and 41 runs batted in. Another key returner, senior infielder Ana Gold, leads the Blue Devils with 10 long balls and 44 RBI. UCLA graduate transfer Thessa Malau’ulu has poured fuel on the fire, hitting .364 with 25 RBI. Only one of Duke’s nine players in the everyday lineup owns an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) value below .800.
Notre Dame and Duke will square off at 6 p.m. on Thursday and Friday before closing out the set at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
