Feb. 8, 2005
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2005 GRU Classic (Gainesville, Fla.)
Friday, Feb. 11
10 a.m. – #19 Florida vs. Notre Dame
12:30 p.m. – #19 Florida vs. Coastal Carolina
4 p.m. – Notre Dame vs. #21 South Florida
6:30 p.m. – #21 South Florida vs. Coastal Carolina
Saturday, Feb. 12
10 a.m. – Coastal Carolina vs. Notre Dame
12:30 p.m. – #19 Florida vs. #21 South Florida
4 p.m. – Seed 1 vs. Seed 4
6:30 p.m. – Seed 2 vs. Seed 3
Sunday, Feb. 13
10 a.m. – Bronze Medal Game
12:30 p.m. – Gold Medal Game
Notre Dame Softball Live Audio
For the first time in the program’s history, a select number of road games will be available to subscribers of www.und.com’s College Sports Pass. Facilities and phone line access have limited the number of preseason road games that can be covered, but the first two weeks of the year will feature 10 Irish road games (including five matchups with ranked teams). Here is the tentative schedule (rankings are USA Today/NFCA first, followed by ESPN.com/USA Softball):
Feb. 11 – Notre Dame at #NR/19 Florida, 10 a.m.
Feb. 11 – Notre Dame vs. #21/NR South Florida, 4 p.m.
Feb. 12 – Notre Dame vs. Coastal Carolina, 10 a.m.
Feb. 12 – Notre Dame in Bracket Play, TBA
Feb. 13 – Notre Dame in Medal Game Play, TBA
Feb. 18 – Notre Dame vs. Utah, 9 a.m.
Feb. 18 – Notre Dame vs. #19/18 Fresno State, 4 p.m.
Feb. 19 – Notre Dame vs. #2/3 UCLA, 4 p.m.
Feb. 19 – Notre Dame at San Diego State, 6 p.m.
Feb. 20 – Notre Dame vs. #20/21 Long Beach State, 9 a.m.
Play-by-play will be provided by Notre Dame softball sports information director Alan Wasielewski. For more information about the College Sports Pass, please visit the following website: http://und.collegesports.com/multimedia/nd-multimedia.html.
All Notre Dame home games in 2005 are tentatively scheduled to be offered via live audio as well. The www.und.com Gametracker, which features live statistics for all Irish home games, will return in 2005 as well.
Irish head to Florida for first action of 2005: The University of Notre Dame softball begins the 2005 season this weekend at the University of Florida’s GRU Classic. The first of five in-season tournaments for the Irish in `05, the GRU Classic will feature the host team, #NR/19 Florida (7-0), along with #21/NR South Florida (2-3) and Coastal Carolina (3-1). The tournament will be a round-robin format with each team playing the other once, then seed play followed by medal play. Notre Dame and Coastal Carolina will be meeting for the first-time ever, while the Irish and Gators will be playing against each other for just the second time and first since a 9-3 Florida victory in 1998.
Notre Dame and South Florida will be meeting for the eighth time, with the Bulls holding a 4-3 advantage in the series. The last meeting was a 5-4 victory by South Florida at home in 2003. The Irish will be seeing a lot more of the Bulls, as South Florida is one of three current Conference USA teams (DePaul, Louisville) who will join the BIG EAST and compete in softball next season.
Notre Dame quick hits: What you need to know about the Irish for this weekend’s action:
• Notre Dame will be seeing its first action of the `05 season, while Florida (7-0) will be playing its eighth of the year, USF will have five games under their belt before the tournament and Coastal Carolina will have played four games. In addition, Florida and Coastal Carolina are coming off tournament titles last weekend.
• The Irish strength should prove to be its veteran pitching staff, which features senior Steffany Stenglein, junior Heather Booth and senior Carrie Wisen.
•Head coach Deanna Gumpf, the two-time BIG EAST Coach of the Year, begins her fourth season with the Irish and has claimed 131 wins in just three seasons (43.6 average per year).
• Players to keep an eye on: Freshman shortstop Katie Laing (making her first collegiate career start), sophomore rightfielder Stephanie Brown (making a move from second base to rightfield), senior righthander Steffany Stenglein (looking to start her final year on the right foot) and junior leftfielder Kellie Middleton (returning to the lineup after missing 61 games due to an injury in `04).
Florida tournament first of six consecutive weekends on the road: Notre Dame is not the only school in the nation that travels for a large majority of its early-season schedule, but the Irish pride themselves in taking on some of the best teams in the nation during that stretch. This weekend’s tournament will mark the first of six consecutive weekends of travel for the team, which will take them from Gainesville, Fla. (Feb. 11-13), to San Diego, Calif. (Feb. 18-20), to Palm Springs, Calif. (Feb. 25-27), to the Los Angeles area (March 6-7), to Hawaii (March 9-12) and to Columbus, Ohio (March 19-20).
Ciolli looks to continue her climb up the career charts: Along with classmate Liz Hartmann, 2004 third-team All-American and BIG EAST Player of the Year Megan Ciolli has been a three-year starter since stepping on campus in 2001-02. Batting at the top of the lineup for a majority of her career (second freshman season, first sophomore season, third junior season), Ciolli has established herself as one of the top offensive players to ever don an Irish uniform.
Her current career rankings include second in batting average (.367), fourth in stolen bases (43), seventh in runs scored (119), ninth in hits (212), ninth in home runs (10) and 10th in triples (seven). She also is poised to break into the top 10 in games played and doubles this season. A complete list of current Notre Dame players threatening career records appear on page seven of this notes package.
Ciolli on USA Softball Player of the Year watchlist: The Amateur Softball Association (ASA), the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States, has announced its initial watch list for the fourth-annual USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award. Senior centerfielder Megan Ciolli (Terre Haute, Ind.) was among the 40 players named to the list, which will eventually be pared down to proclaim the collegiate player of the year in 2005.
Considered the Heisman Trophy of collegiate softball, past winners of the award include UCLA’s Stacey Nuveman, Texas pitcher Cat Osterman and Florida State’s Jessica Van der Linden.
Ciolli appears on the initial watch list for the second consecutive season in 2005. The catalyst for the Irish offense in 2004, Ciolli hit a team-high .397 with 81 hits, 23 RBI and 20 stolen bases. The ’04 BIG EAST Player of the Year, Ciolli compiled an outstanding offensive season, finishing third on the all-time single season list for hits and second for stolen bases. Her .367 career batting average currently ranks third all-time at Notre Dame.
Named team captain by a vote of her teammates earlier this semester, Ciolli will continue her climb up the career offensive charts in 2005. She currently ranks ninth all-time in career hits (212), ninth in home runs (10) and fourth in stolen bases (43).
A list of 25 candidates for the award will be released on April 5, with another list of 10 following on May 10. Three finalists will be announced on May 31 with the winner proclaimed at the 2005 NCAA Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
Irish boast a veteran group in 2005: In just one season, Notre Dame has moved from a somewhat inexperienced team (an entirely new infield took the fied in `04) to a veteran group that boasts 761 games started in the senior and junior classes. In those two classes, Liz Hartmann (178 GP, 176 GS), Megan Ciolli (181 GP, 180 GS), Mallorie Lenn (120 GP, 120 GS) and Meagan Ruthrauff (123 GP, 122 GS) have been every-day starters since they joined the team, while Sara Schoonaert (117 GP, 71 GS), Kellie Middleton (55 GP, 32 GS) and Nicole Wicks (67 GP, 60 GS) have all seen a signifcant amount of starts. Add in the 164 games started by senior pitchers Steffany Stenglein and Carrie Wisen, along with the 66 career starts by junior Heather Booth, and the Irish junior and senior classes have a whopping 991 combined career games started.
Snapshot of the Irish: The 2004 team returns largely intact this season, with Nicole deFau as the lone loss to graduation. The pitching staff should prove to be a strength, led by senior Steffany Stenglein (21-10, 1.39 ERA in `04) and junior Heather Booth (25-9, 1.45 ERA). Both starting pitchers have the ability to shut down any team in the nation, and they will be complemented well by relievers senior Carrie Wisen (3-1, 2.83 ERA) and sophomore Kenya Fuemmeler.
Behind the plate, sophomore Gessica Hufnagle has established herself as Notre Dame’s number one option. Junior Mallorie Lenn continues to have knee problems and will see her action this season at another position. Sophomore Carissa Jaquish will be in position to back up Hufnagle when needed.
The infield actually returns all five starters, but one has been shifted to rightfield. Sophomore Stephanie Brown (.301, 7 HR, 30 RBI) takes her speed and athleticism to the outfield while junior Sara Schoonaert (.200, 33 H, 16 RBI) moves from shortstop to second base. Freshman Katie Laing has been handed the shortstop duties and is expected to display great range in the left side hole.
On the corners, both senior Liz Hartmann (.268, 8 HR, 31 RBI) and junior Meagan Ruthrauff (.293, 54 RBI, 11 HR) return at third and first base, respectively.
The outfield features some old faces in new positions. After missing 61 games with an injury last season, junior Kellie Middleton (.391, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 5 SB) makes her return in leftfield (she started the first eight games of `04 in rightfield). The dependable team captain senior Megan Ciolli (.397, 81 H, 23 RBI, 20 SB) will patrol centerfield for the third-straight year while Brown will be to her left in rightfield. Senior Nicole Wicks (.229, 14 RBI, 12 SB) can back up all three outfield positions and is the team’s best baserunner. Freshmen Brittany Glynn and Sarah Smith also will serve as backups in the outfield.
Position changes will be a key for the 2005 team: Two big position switches will be developed by the Irish during the early-season tournament schedule. Junior Sara Schoonaert is planning a switch to second base, depending on the development of penciled-in starter freshman Katie Laing at shortstop.
Schoonaert’s shift to second will push sophomore Stephanie Brown to rightfield, giving the Irish another great athlete in the outfield to pair with the speedy Megan Ciolli (center) and Kellie Middleton (left).
South Bend plays host to the 2005 BIG EAST Championship: For the third time in the last four years, the BIG EAST Softball Championship will be held in a neutral/off-campus site in 2005.
After Salem, Va., served as the tournament’s site in 2002 and 2003, the City of South Bend, Ind., will welcome the 2005 BIG EAST Softball Championship to the Belleville Complex on the far west side of town.
The Belleville Complex is one of the best softball-only facilities in Indiana and served as host to over 3,000 fans when the U.S. Olympic Team played an exhibition doubleheader in July of 2005.
Irish picked to finish first in the BIG EAST: The University of Notre Dame softball team has been picked to win its 10th consecutive BIG EAST Conference regular-season crown by the league’s coaches, as announced by the conference on office on Tuesday, Jan. 11. The conference’s 10 head coaches rank every team except their own, with Notre Dame garnering all nine possible first place votes.
The Irish will return a veteran team in 2005, led by ’04 All-American senior CF Megan Ciolli and two of the top pitchers in the nation – senior Steffany Stenglein and junior Heather Booth. Ciolli was named the ’04 BIG EAST Player of the Year while Stenglein earned the league’s pitcher of the year award last season.
Head coach Deanna Gumpf’s team graduated just one player last season, first-team all-BIG EAST pick OF Nicole deFau. The Irish are expected to be back at full strength, however, with senior 3B Liz Hartmann, junior C Mallorie Lenn and junior OF Kellie Middleton all back to full strength after dealing with an assortment of injuries over the past off-season.
Seton Hall, who bested the Irish in four games late last season, was picked to finish second in the league, followed by Villanova, Boston College and Syracuse.
The league falls to 10 teams in 2005 with the movement of Virginia Tech to the ACC. The conference will bounce back in 2006, however, as it welcomes DePaul, Louisville and South Florida into the league – three of the top programs in the nation.
California girls: While three trips to the west coast gives the Irish an opportunity to face several of the top teams in the country this season, Notre Dame’s appearances in San Diego (Feb. 18-20), Palm Springs (Feb. 25-27) and the Los Angeles area (March 6-7) also will provide the seven California natives on the team will a chance to play in their home state.
Heather Booth (Riverside), Liz Hartmann (Novato), Carissa Jaquish (Highland), Mallorie Lenn (Garden Grove), Meagan Ruthrauff (La Mirada), Steffany Stenglein (Huntington Beach) and Carrie Wisen (Fullerton) are the seven California natives on the `05 Irish roster.
Incoming freshman class of 2006: University of Notre Dame head softball coach Deanna Gumpf has announced the signing of seven student-athletes to national letters of intent last week, landing one of the top recruiting classes in the nation.
Brittney Bargar (Corona, Calif.), Christine Farrell (La Habra, Calif.), Erin Glasco (Johnston City, Ill.), Linda Kohan (Westminster, Calif.), Alexandra Kotcheff (Beverly Hills, Calif.), Stephanie Mola (Naples, Fla.) and Beth Northway (Kentwood, Mich.) will make up the class of 2009.
“This is one of the best recruiting classes I have seen in my career and I feel it is the best in the country,” Gumpf says of the group.
“The quality and diversity of this class is second to none. The entire staff is excited to have this group of players join the Notre Dame family.”
The class hails from across the country with four California natives, plus players from Michigan, Illinois and Florida. The group also is made up of two pitchers (Bargar, Farrell), a catcher (Glasco), an infielder (Kohan), two outfielders (Kotcheff, Mola) and an infielder/outfielder (Northway) – giving the class excellent balance at all positions.
BIG EAST loses on team before gaining three in 2006: With the shift of Virginia Tech to the ACC for the `05 season, the BIG EAST drops down to 10 teams this season before expanding to 13 teams next year when DePaul, South Florida and Louisville join the league (Marquette and Cincinnati to do not compete in softball).
With the addition of three traditional powers, the BIG EAST Conference will quickly become one of the best softball conferences east of the Mississippi.
High school teammates: Sophomore Stephanie Brown and freshman Katie Laing are just the third combination of high school teammates to play for the Irish since the program began. Both Brown and Laing played for Corona del Sol in the Chandler, Ariz., area during their prep careers. Debbie Boulac and Stephanie Pinter, both from South Bend, Ind., and St. Joseph High School, played together from 1990-93. Jennifer Sharron and Jessica Sharron, the first set of sisters to play for the Irish, were on the Notre Dame roster together in 2000 and 2001.
Schedule adjustment: The Notre Dame – Loyola-Chicago game, scheduled for March 31, has been previously released as a home game for the Irish. The game will be played in Chicago on Loyola’s campus.
Notre Dame Nabs Top Spot In Directors’ Cup Standings: Notre Dame stands first in the final set of fall sports standings released in the 2004-05 United States Sports Academy Division I Directors’ Cup all-sports competition sponsored by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (formerly known as Sears Directors’ Cup). This marks the first time in the 12-year history of the all-sports program that Notre Dame has ranked number one, surpassing a second ranking in the 2004-05 second set of fall standings.
Fall NCAA competition earned the Irish 337 points based on their NCAA title in women’s soccer (100 points), their fourth-place finish in women’s cross country (80), 11th-place finish in men’s cross country (57) and second-round NCAA appearances in men’s soccer and volleyball (50 each).
Michigan (333 points) stands second, followed by Stanford (332), Duke (327) and UCLA (297).
The current standings include results from NCAA fall competition in volleyball, field hockey, men’s water polo, men’s and women’s cross country, and men’s and women’s soccer and football. In previous years in which the Directors’ Cup competition has been held, Notre Dame has finished 11th in ’93-’94, 30th in ’94-’95, 11th in ’95-’96, 14th in ’96-’97, 31st in ’97-’98, 25th in ’98-99, 21st in ’99-’00, 11th in ’00-’01, 13th in ’01-02 and ’02-’03 and 19th in ’03-’04.