March 13, 2008
Fresh off a three-game win streak to wrap up last week’s Long Beach State Invitational, the University of Notre Dame softball team now heads south to the Lowcountry Collegiate Softball Invitational hosted by Charleston Southern in Charleston, S.C.
Notre Dame will begin the tournament with a March 14 game against Towson at 8:30 a.m. (ET) then square off versus Charleston Southern at 12:30 p.m. Campbell awaits the Irish at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday (March 15), followed by the tournament’s championship game which will feature the two teams with the best record in the round-robin competition.
Sadie Pitzenberger and her .311 batting average along with 19 hits leads the Irish offensively. The freshman is also sporting an on-base percentage of .344, ranking just behind classmate Katie Fleury (.357) and Heather Johnson (.355). Notre Dame’s overall ERA of 1.65 is second in the league behind Pittsburgh (1.24), while pitcher Brittney Bargar’s 71 strikeouts leads all league tossers.
Campbell (17-8) has sent an astounding 30 homers out of the park thus far this season, nine of which have been launched by both Courtney Quinn and Amanda Littlejohn. The team suffered a loss earlier this season to the BIG EAST’s Providence, 5-3.
The Tigers of Towson (11-7) are led by Nina Navarro, who has put together a .456 average at the plate courtesy of 26 hits, and host Charleston Southern recently earned its 10th win of the season after suffering 17 losses.
Free live stats will be available at und.com throughout the tournament. Streaming video for each game can be purchased through the Big South Conference website (link available on Notre Dame Softball schedule page).
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
(10-8 overall, 0-0 BIG EAST)
Towson Tigers
(11-7 overall, 0-0 Colonial)
Charleston Southern Buccaneers
(10-17 overall, 0-0 Big South)
Campbell Fighting Camels
(17-8 overall, 0-0 Atlantic Sun)
Lowcountry College Softball Invitational
Charleston Southern Field • March 14-15
Charleston Southern • Charleston, S.C.
Live stats / video: und.com
California Love … The Irish enjoyed a 6-3 mark during its Sring Break trip to the West Coast … both Katie Fleury and Sadie Pitzenberger registered nine hits over the break to lead the team … Ashley Ellis totaled two homers to go along with four singles for a .571 slugging percentage … she also led the team with eight RBI in eight games … collectively, Notre Dame hit .261 while holding opponents to a .218 mark … the pitching corps posted a 1.07 ERA over 59.0 innings.
Twice the Fun … Two doubles by Katie Laing highlighted her 3-for-4 day at the plate and gave the senior the program’s all-time record by bringing her two-bagger total to 50 during Notre Dame’s win at UC Riverside (March 4) … her record-setting double in the fifth inning traveled to left-center to score Beth Northway … Laing also led the team with three RBI.
Longballs at Long Beach … There were 17 games played during the Long Beach Invitational … but only one home run left the park during the event … that smash came off the bat of Ashley Ellis, who sent her third homer of the season out of the park against No. 2 UCLA … most of the tournament’s contests were played at Lisa Fernandez Field at Mayfair Park in Lakewood (Calif.) … that field featured a fence that sat all of 275 feet from home plate.
Pound Town … Notre Dame racked UC Davis pitcher Jessica Hancock for 13 hits in its 6-5 win on March 1 … that season-high hit total signified the most knocks Notre Dame has recorded in a game since it registered 16 against Syracuse on April 1, 2007 … each Irish batter recorded at least one hit in the game … Sadie Pitzenberger, Sarah Smith, Beth Northway, and Ashley Ellis each punched in multi-hit efforts at the plate … Ellis – who screeched a homer over the leftfield fence that exited the park in a flash – also drove in a career-high four runs.
With Honors … Junior Brittney Bargar was named the BIG EAST Conference’s Pitcher of the Week (March 10) … the Corona, Calif., native made five appearances for the Irish from March 1-9, logging 25.1 innings of work while posting a 0.55 ERA over that stretch … during that time she fanned 21 batters, issued three walks, and gave up only two earned runs … Bargar tossed a one-hitter against Long Beach State (March 7) but did not get the run support needed to earn the win in Notre Dame’s 1-0 loss … one day later she out-dueled No. 24 Virginia Tech and its ace pitcher, Angela Tincher, by giving up only one run on six hits with four strikeouts in the winning effort … she also checked in for the Irish against No. 2 UCLA to turn in a shutout relief performance … Bargar leads the Irish pitching corps with an 8-5 record and a 1.00 ERA that ranks second among league tossers … she has pitched 77.1 innings and has held opponents to a .203 batting average … a mere eleven of the 23 runs scored by opposing teams while facing Bargar this season have been earned.
Pit of the Pitzenbergers … Sadie Pitzenberger went head-to-head with her sister, Amanda, when Notre Dame faced CS Northridge (March 9) … Amanda, who started at third for the Matadors, ended the game without a hit … Sadie, however, connected on a fifth-inning double that plated a pair of runs to propel Notre Dame to its 3-1 non-conference win … Sadie’s game-winning hit was her only knock of the game.
Fallen Ranks … Notre Dame earned its first win over ranked opponents this season when it topped No. 24 Virginia Tech, 2-1 … previous attempts to upend foes in the top-25 faltered during battles with No. 3 Texas A&M (L, 1-4), No. 7 Florida (L, 2-3 / 5-2), and No. 2 UCLA (L, 2-3).
–ND–