SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame softball team took both games of a doubleheader against the Louisville Cardinals Saturday afternoon at Melissa Cook Stadium. The Fighting Irish blanked Louisville 5-0 in game one and responded with a similar 5-1 victory to earn the sweep. The Irish improve to 38-9 on the season and are 15-5 in Atlantic Coast Conference action.
Payton Tidd got the start in the circle in game one. The senior threw her ninth complete game of the season, tossing all 7.0 innings, allowing four hits and striking out three in the shutout.
Leea Hanks and Miranda Johnson led the offense in game one as both recorded two hits. Johnson drove in two with a single, as Jane Kronenberger and Karina Gaskins each drove in a run. Kronenberger finished 1-for-2 with a sacrifice fly, and a run scored. Gaskins hit her 12th homer of the season to lead off the fifth.
Alexis Holloway got the start in the circle in game two. The graduate student worked her seventh complete game of the season, and 49th of her career in the victory. She struck out four allowing just two hits as she earned her 14th win of the year.
Johnson again paced the Irish offense, going 2-for-2 with an RBI, two runs scored and her first career triple. Kronenberger added a two-hit effort, scoring once. Abby Sweet and Sarah Genz each had an RBI single in the win. Sweet’s single was the 250th of her career, tying her for ninth all-time in career hits in Irish history.
It took until the third inning until either team cracked the scoreboard in game one. After a couple runners reached an error loaded the bases with two outs. Johnson drove a 2-1 pitch back to center field to score two and take the 2-0 lead.
Clark kept the pressure on in the fourth. After reaching on a fielder’s choice, the senior stole second and moved to third when the ball skipped away from the Louisville shortstop. A passed ball with Hanks at the plate allowed Clark to score and add to the lead.
Gaskins added another solo run in the bottom of the fifth as she led off with a no-doubt solo home run just to the right of the scoreboard in left center field to put Notre Dame up 4-0.
Notre Dame tacked on an insurance run in the sixth with a sacrifice fly from Kronenberger.
Tidd closed the door in the seventh inning, retiring the Cardinals in order to end game one.
Louisville got the scoring started in the nightcap. In the first inning, a walk and an infield single left runners on the corners. A ground ball brought in the run and Louisville took an early 1-0 lead.
The Irish tied the game up in the bottom of the second. Mitchell worked a tough at bat and earned a walk and scored from first when Johnson tripled to right center.
Notre Dame took the lead in the bottom of the fifth. A single to right from Johnson started the inning and a bunt hit from Kloss put two on. Holloway dropped down a sacrifice bunt, and the throw to get her at first was off target allowing a run to score and put the Irish up 2-1.
The Irish put the game out of reach in the sixth, scoring three runs to extend the lead to 5-1. Genz drove in a run with a pinch hit single, an error allowed another run to score and Sweet drove a single to right for the fifth run of the day.
Up Next
The Irish close the regular season tomorrow on senior day as they host the Cardinals in the fnal game of the season at Melissa Cook Stadium at 2 p.m.