NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Notre Dame (12-6) will return Saturday to the Research Triangle for the third time in four weeks, this time to face NC State in a three-game series, taking place with a doubleheader on Saturday and the final matchup on Sunday.
LAST WEEK
The Irish went 2-1 in the ACC-opening series with Duke, topping the Blue Devils 6-2 and 1-0. Payton Tidd finished the weekend with a 0.00 ERA (eight innings), six strikeouts and a complete game pitched Saturday, going 1-0.
NC State owns a 14-6 record (0-1 in ACC play), having lost its only ACC matchup to Duke. The Wolfpack won all three games last weekend as they hosted James Madison, Lehigh and North Carolina A&T. Tatyana Forbes leads the team with a .538 batting average, while Sydney Nester posted an 8-4 record through the first 20 games of the season (3.68 ERA).
SCHEDULE
Saturday, March 7 – 1 p.m. (Game One)
Saturday, March 7 – 3:30 p.m. (Game Two)
Sunday, March 8 – Noon (Game Three)
Location: Dail Softball Stadium (Raleigh, N.C.)
Live Stats: http://bit.ly/2VFPzGr
BY THE NUMBERS
1.46: Notre Dame pitchers boast the best collective ERA in the ACC (1.46), which ranks eighth in the NCAA for the season. Junior Alexis Holloway (7-4) leads the ACC with a 0.61 individual ERA, ranking 10th among NCAA pitchers.
750: Notre Dame head coach Deanna Gumpf posted her 750th career win on Feb. 28 in a 6-2 victory over Duke. Gumpf, who is in her 19th season at the helm of the Irish program, joins Notre Dame women’s basketball head coach Muffet McGraw as the only coaches in Notre Dame history to achieve the feat.
7: No ACC player has hit more doubles this season than junior OF Abby Sweet’s seven, and only one player in the ACC is tougher to strike out than the Irish junior captain. Sweet leads the Irish with a .393 batting average and 17 runs scored, as well as 20 RBI. She earned the ACC Player of the Week honor on Feb. 25 for her play at the Mary Nutter Classic. Sweet posted 10 hits, six runs, eight RBI, a home run and a .850 slugging percentage over that weekend.
1: Posting a 0.00 ERA last weekend, sophomore Payton Tidd (4-1) threw a complete game shutout vs. RV Duke in a 1-0 pitchers’ battle win. She fired five strikeouts, all swinging, surrendering just two hits through 97 pitches. Through the weekend, she pitched eight innings total.
3: Notre Dame came in at No. 3 in the preseason ACC Coaches poll, with senior infielder Katie Marino and sophomore pitcher Payton Tidd named to the preseason All-ACC team.
4: In January, head coach Deanna Gumpf announced the selection of four captains for the Notre Dame squad: Seniors Katie Marino and Ellie Richards and juniors Alexis Holloway and Abby Sweet.
UP NEXT
After traveling to Raleigh, the Irish will head to California, taking on UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday, March 10, and then participating in the Cal Poly ShareSLO Mustang Classic, taking on Cal Poly, Santa Clara and Saint Mary’s from March 12-15.