Feb. 19, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame will travel to Hattiesburg, Miss., Feb. 20-21 to take part in the Southern Miss Mizuno Classic. The Irish went 1-4 at last week’s Kajikawa Classic hosted by Arizona State, with the lone win coming in the season-opener against Creighton.
“We found out a lot about ourselves in Arizona, and we’re looking to fine-tune several parts of our game in preparation to face a solid field at Southern Miss,” Irish head coach Deanna Gumpf said.
Live stats for each game will be available at UND.com. For up-to-the-minute scores and highlights, fans can sign up for IRISH ALERT text-messaging services at UND.com.
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Mizuno Classic (Feb. 20-21)
Host: University of Southern Mississippi
Site: Southern Miss Softball Softball Complex
Live stats: und.com
Text alerts: und.com
Notre Dame Athletics Twitter: @und_com
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
(1-4 overall / 0-0 BIG EAST)
[und.com – bigeast.org]
Saturday, Feb. 20 – 3:00 p.m. (ET)
Louisiana Tech Techsters
(2-0 overall / 0-0 Western Athletic)
[latechsports.com – wacsports.com]
Series: Louisiana Tech, 1-0
Series streak: Louisiana Tech, W1
First / last meeting: March 3, 1995 – Louisiana Tech, 4-2
Saturday, Feb. 20 – 8:00 p.m. (ET)
Southern Miss Golden Eagles
(5-0 overall / 0-0 Conference-USA)
[southernmiss.com – conferenceusa.com]
Series: Notre Dame, 1-0
Series streak: Notre Dame, W1
First / last meeting: Feb. 22, 2002 – Notre Dame, 6-0
Sunday, Feb. 21 – 10:00 a.m. (ET)
Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks
(1-5 overall / 0-0 Southland)
[sfajacks.com – southland.org]
Series: Tied, 1-1
Series streak: Stephen F. Austin, W1
First meeting: March 8, 1997 – Notre Dame, 11-2
Last meeting: March 5, 2006 – Stephen F. Austin, 2-1
Sunday, Feb. 21 – 12:30 p.m. (ET)
Alcorn State Braves
(1-1 overall / 0-0 Southwestern Athletic)
[alcornsports.com – swac.org]
Series: First meeting
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One-Hitters …
– Notre Dame is now in its 22nd season of varsity competition with an all-time record of 845-403-3 … the program boasts 14 NCAA Championship appearances (11 consecutive) and six BIG EAST Conference Tournament titles, the latest coming in 2009.
– With an 11-3 win over Creighton (Feb. 12), head coach Deanna Gumpf is now 4-5 in season-openers at Notre Dame, while the Irish are 9-13 overall in their first game of a new campaign … the 11 runs marked the most ever in a season-opener for the Irish.
– Notre Dame is 0-4 against top-ranked teams after a Feb. 14 defeat to No. 1 Washington (also lost to No. 1 Arizona in 2002 and twice to No. 1 Alabama in 2009).
– Notre Dame is 73-66 in the month of February, and 66-51 on neutral turf … under Gumpf, Notre Dame is 109-81 at neutral sites.
– The Irish are a combined 2-2 all-time against this week’s Mizuno Classic field.
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See the Ball, Hit the Ball …
Amy Buntin (.417) and Katie Fleury (.353) were steady for the Irish at the dish throughout the Kajikawa Classic (Feb. 12-14) … Buntin had five hits – including one double – and three RBI to open her collegiate career … one of Fleury’s six hits were good for two bases as she led the Irish with three hits and three runs against Creighton (Feb. 12) … Christine Lux, Dani Miller and Heather Johnson each recorded home runs for Notre Dame over the four-game stretch … Lux’s three-run jack against Creighton brought her career total to 34, two shy of the program’s all-time record … 10 of the 14 Irish players with an official at-bat recorded at least one hit at the tournament.
A Valiant Valdivia …
Senior pitcher Jody Valdivia led the way in the season-opening victory over Creighton (Feb. 12) with a complete-game 10-strikeout performance against the Bluejays in the abbreviated six-inning contest, extending her winning streak from the circle to 18 straight games dating back to March 2009 … Valdivia brushed off a shaky after giving up a two-run homer in the first inning, proceeding to retire 14 of the next 15 batters over the next few frames as the Bluejays managed one more run on two hits in the top of the sixth … with the 10-strikeout performance Valdivia eclipsed the 300-strikeout plateau, becoming the ninth Irish pitcher to do so in a career … it was the fifth game of her career with double-digit strikeouts … Valdivia shouldered the loss one day later against Auburn (Feb. 13) to end the streak … Valdivia appeared in four games at the Kajikawa Classic (Feb. 12-14), pitching 20.0 innings with 26 strikeouts.
Conference Company …
Three of Notre Dame’s losses at the Kajikawa Classic (Feb. 12-14) were at the hands of Pacific-10 teams (Oregon, Oregon State and Washington).
–ND–