LEXINGTON, Kty. — Notre Dame (33-15) saw its season come to a close Sunday with 7-0 and 4-0 losses to regional No. 1 Kentucky in the NCAA Regional final. Junior Payton Tidd (15-6) shouldered the first loss, while senior Morgan Ryan (4-2) pitched a career-high 6.0 innings in the second game, also taking the loss.
Ryan was the standout of the weekend for the Irish, having earned the win in the 12-3 run-rule victory over Kentucky on Saturday, which was Kentucky’s largest postseason loss in program history and only run-rule loss of the season, as well as Kentucky’s first loss in the regional round since 2016. She went the distance in Sunday’s second game, throwing six innings, the most of her career, striking out one and allowing just two earned runs.
Notre Dame turned two double plays, one in each game, and totaled six hits on the day coming from six different batters.
Sunday marked the final games in an Irish uniform for graduate students Katie Marino and Chelsea Purcell and senior Ryan.
HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME ONE
Tidd started in the circle for the Irish, and Kentucky got ahead early. The leadoff batter walked, reaching second on a sacrifice bunt. A single brought the runner home, and a double scored another run. A home run brought in two more, and Kentucky ended the top of the inning up 4-0. The Irish went three up, three down in the bottom of the inning.
In the second, senior Alexis Holloway entered to pitch for the Irish. After a leadoff strikeout, Kentucky singled, and a double brought the runner home. Another single scored a second run, and Holloway and the Irish took care of two more outs to limit the Kentucky lead to 6-0. The Irish were again retired in order in the second.
Both teams went three up, three down in the third as the Irish turned a double play from Marino to Purcell to senior Sarah Genz, and while Notre Dame earned its first two hits in the fourth from senior Abby Sweet and junior Emma Clark, they were unable to score.
Both teams were scoreless in the fifth, and Kentucky added a solo homer in the sixth. The Irish were unable to score, and Kentucky sealed the 7-0 win.
GAME TWO
Both teams were kept off the board in the first inning, and in the bottom of the second, Kentucky delivered a solo homer to start off the scoring. Notre Dame held Kentucky to a 1-0 lead until the fourth inning, when Kentucky led off with a single and an error allowed another runner to reach. A sac bunt advanced both runners, and a fielder’s choice ball loaded the bases. A single brought in two runs, and a walk re-loaded the bases. A sac fly brought in a third run, and Kentucky took a 4-0 lead through the fourth.
Hanks led off the fifth with a triple, but the Irish were unable to bring her home. The Irish turned another double play in the bottom of the inning, as Purcell grabbed a lineout and flipped to Marino at second.
Neither team scored through the sixth, and although the Irish placed runners on first and third in the seventh, they were unable to bring any home, and Kentucky advanced to the Super Regionals with a 4-0 win.