March 12, 2013
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame softball team resumes its spring break tournament schedule with stops at the Judi Garman Classic Wednesday and Thursday in Fullerton, Calif., and the Highlander Classic at UC Riverside Friday and Saturday in Riverside, Calif.
Notre Dame (14-6), winners of 10 of the last 11 games, begins play at the Judi Garman Classic Wednesday against Cal State Fullerton (11-13) at 5 p.m. (PT), before taking on No. 16 Arizona (18-5) at 1:30 p.m. (PT). The Irish close the weekend at UC Riverside with a pair of games against Northern Illinois (6-12) Friday at 9 a.m. (PT) and Saturday at 11:30 a.m. (PT), and Iona (4-9) Friday at 11:15 a.m. (PT) and Saturday at 9 a.m. (PT).
Fans can follow live stats for all games via CBS GameTracker by visiting UND.com.
For updates throughout the weekend, follow the Irish on Twitter @NDsoftball and @NDcoachGumpf.
Judi Garman Classic, hosted by Cal State Fullerton
March 13-14
Fullerton, Calif.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
(14-6 overall)
Cal State Fullerton Titans
(11-13 overall; CSF leads all-time series 7-4)
No. 16 Arizona Wildcats
(18-5 overall; AU leads all-time series 9-0)
Notre Dame Judi Garman Classic Schedule
Notre Dame vs. Cal State Fullerton – Wednesday, 5 p.m. (PT)
Notre Dame vs. No. 16 Arizona – Thursday, 1:30 p.m. (PT)
Highlander Classic, hosted by UC Riverside
March 14-15
Riverside, Calif.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
(14-6 overall)
Northern Illinois Huskies
(6-12 overall; ND leads all-time series 10-5)
Iona Gaels
(4-9 overall; first-ever meeting)
Notre Dame Highlander Classic Schedule
Notre Dame vs. Northern Illinois – Friday, 9 a.m. (PT)
Notre Dame vs. Iona – Friday, 11:15 a.m. (PT)
Notre Dame vs. Iona – Saturday, 9 a.m. (PT)
Notre Dame vs. Northern Illinois – Saturday, 11:30 a.m. (PT)
IRISH SLAP HITS
– Notre Dame opened its spring break West Coast road trip with a 2-1 record last weekend at the Arizona State Diamond Devil Invitational. The Irish earned a pair of victories over New Mexico State (2-1 and 5-0) during a two-day stay in Tempe, Ariz.
– Notre Dame has won 10 of its last 11 games, outscoring opponents by a 71-21 margin during that span. The Irish also have a higher batting average (.360-.200), more hits (103-52), extra base hits (43-15), RBI (68-16), total bases (184-81), and a higher slugging percentage (.643-.312) and on-base percentage (.436-.242) since the East Carolina Pirate Invitational began Feb. 23.
– Laura Winter earned BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week honors after a stellar weekend at the Diamond Devil Invitational, posting a 2-0 record and 0.47 ERA. The 6-1 right-hander allowed one run on four hits in a complete game win Saturday over New Mexico State, finishing one strikeout (13) shy of equaling a season-high. After working a scoreless inning of relief in Saturday’s second game against UC Davis, Winter tossed her first shutout of the season Sunday in a rematch with New Mexico State, striking out nine Aggie hitters.
– Along with extending her team-high on-base streak to an even 20 games, Emilee Koerner debuted in seventh place in individual batting average in the first NCAA national statistics rankings of the season. Koerner is currently hitting at a .492 clip, the second-highest average among BIG EAST batters, in her 20 starts.
– Notre Dame’s stops at the Judi Garman Classic and the Highlander Classic cap the tournament portion of the 2013 schedule. The Irish open BIG EAST play March 23-24 at Seton Hall.
– A total of 12 different players have combined for 36 multi-hit games during Notre Dame’s 14-6 start. Emilee Koerner has posted a team-high eight games with two or more hits (logging three hits on five occasions), while Jenna Simon has accomplished the feat seven times. Koerner, Lauren Stuhr and Amy Buntin have each recorded four multi-RBI contests.
She Who Scores First…
Notre Dame has made the most of its fast starts this season, going beyond its 18-1 run advantage during the first inning.
The Irish are 11-1 when they are the first team to push a run across in 2013, with the only defeat coming at the hands of Wisconsin Feb. 10 at the Charlotte Fast Pitch Classic. The squad is a perfect 7-0 when tallying runs in the opening inning.
Hang Another Backwards K
Opponents have been punched out looking on 44 of 155 total strikeouts against Notre Dame pitching through 137.0 innings. Conversely, Notre Dame hitters have only been rung up without a swing on 12 occasions.
Irish Slug Their Way To The Top
During Notre Dame’s 4-5 start to the 2013 season, the Irish only managed to hit four team home runs. The bats have more than woken up during the team’s last 11 games, as Notre Dame has erupted for 17 team jacks in its last three weekends alone.
Notre Dame’s 21 total home runs are the best among all teams in the BIG EAST.
Koerner And Winter, Back-To-Back
Hitting in the number three and four holes of the Notre Dame lineup for much of this season, Emilee Koerner and Laura Winter have crushed back-to-back home runs three different times thus far in 2013.
The Irish outfielder and pitcher/first baseman left the yard on consecutive at-bats against East Carolina (Feb. 23, second inning), Fairfield (Feb. 24, seventh inning – Winter’s was a walk-off game-winner) and UC Davis (March 9, sixth inning).
Micaela Making Her Mark
Freshman Micaela Arizmendi has emerged as a key weapon for the Irish offense during the team’s 10-1 run over the last three weekend tournaments.
The Notre Dame first baseman is batting .625 (5-for-8) with a double, four RBI and two runs scored in her last five games (two starts).
Arizmendi leads all Irish newcomers with a .292 batting average, one home run and eight RBI this season.
Milestone Tracker
Notre Dame is approaching a pair of key win totals that, at the team’s current pace, will be achieved during the 2013 season.
The Irish are a mere nine wins away from earning the 1,000th victory in program history. Notre Dame is 991-444-3 (.690) during its 25 years of existence.
Deanna Gumpf is also 21 wins away from becoming the first Irish softball head coach to record 500 career victories (479-198-1, .708).
Buntin For Senior CLASS
Captain Amy Buntin is one of 30 candidates for the 2013 Senior CLASS Award®.
Eligible student-athletes must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.
The award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. The 10 award finalists will be announced at the halfway mark of the regular season, at which time fans will have the opportunity to cast their vote to determine the winner.
Visit Amy’s candidate page at http://www.seniorclassaward.com/athletes/amy_buntin/.
–ND–