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Irish Head to Bloomington for Midweek Action

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame softball team is back in action tomorrow night as it is set to face the Indiana Hoosiers for the first time in 18 years. The 24th-ranked Irish will be making the trip to Bloomington for the first time since 2004. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. at Andy Mohr Field with live stats and a video stream available on Big Ten Network Plus.

The Fighting Irish enter their first midweek contest away from Melissa Cook Stadium, having dropped a series at No. 16 Clemson. The Irish led in the seventh inning of all three games before the Tigers rallied to win two of the three. In midweek games this season, the Irish are 5-0 and haven’t lost a midweek game since 2019.

The Irish offense is ranks ninth in the country and is second in the ACC with a .330 team average, led by first baseman Karina Gaskins. Gaskins is hitting at a .439 clip with a team-best 10 home runs and 47 RBI. Jane Kronenberger has taken a spot in the lineup late this season, making 17 starts. She’s hit for a .400 average in 65 at bats with seven doubles, two homers and driven in 22. Abby Sweet adds a .397 average with a team-high 10 doubles and 16 stolen bases. Sweet and Leea Hanks have each scored 42 runs this season.

In the circle, the Irish utilize three pitchers. Payton Tidd, Alexis Holloway and Shannon Becker have each logged significant time in the circle this season. Tidd leads the team with 103.0 innings of work, holding opponents to a .207 average against. She’s earned a 2.79 ERA and earned a 12-4 record. Alexis Holloway, fresh off a 7.0 inning no hitter over Clemson, owns a 2.81 ERA with 81 strikeouts in 92.1 innings. Becker sports the team’s best ERA at 1.64. She’s tallied an 8-3 record with three saves and has struck out 59 in 68.1 innings.

Indiana enters Tuesday’s contest at 23-12 and is 6-6 in league play. Most recently, the Hoosiers dropped two of three at Penn State in conference play. Over the last 10 games, IU is 6-4, dropping series to the Nittany Lions and Wisconsin, as well as sweeping Rutgers.

The Hoosiers hit for a .309 team average, one of the best in the Big 10. Cora Bassett owns a team-best .450 average with 109 at bats. She also leads IU with 16 doubles, 12 homers and 28 RBI while going 13-for-16 in stolen base attempts. Taylor Minnick adds a .404 average in 31 games with 17 starts. Minnick has hit seven doubles, four home runs and driven in 18. As a team, Indiana has stolen 81 bases on 105 attempts, led by Tatum Hayes’s 20 stolen bases.

Six pitchers have combined for innings in the circle this season, owning a 4.49 staff ERA. Macy Montgomery has started a team-best 17 games, appearing in 26. She’s logged the most innings on staff at 88.0, striking out 77 hitters and earning a 10-5 record. Heather Johnson adds 13 starts in 28 appearances. She owns a 4.35 ERA in 85.1 innings, picking up 61 strikeouts. Brianna Copeland adds a sub-5 ERA in 17 appearances. She’s worked 43.2 innings with 41 strikeouts and holds opponents to a .214 average against.

Hoosier Hustles

The Fighting Irish and the Hoosiers have met up 19 times in program history, with Indiana holding a slim 10-9 advantage. The last meeting between the two schools came in 2004, when the Irish earned a 4-0 win over the Hoosiers in Bloomington. Notre Dame has won four of the last five meetings, sweeping a doubleheader in 1998, and splitting the two-game set on the same date a year later.

Power Game

After hitting 42 home runs in all of 2021, Notre Dame softball has connected on 39 through 40 games. this season. The 0.97 homers per game ranks 60th nationally. The Irish power is led by its top hitter, Karina Gaskins. Gaskins is hitting for a .439 clip and matched her 2021 total of 10 home runs. Abby Sweet surpassed last year’s total with 6 in 2022 (5 in 2021). Notre Dame had 11 players hit home runs last year and have seen 12 go deep this season.

Thou Shalt Not Steal

The catching combination of Shelby Grimm and Carlli Kloss have limited the opponents running game better than any tandem in the ACC. Kloss has thrown out five of 12 attempted base stealers, and Grimm has tossed out eight of 22 attempts. Combined, the Irish have thrown out 13 of 34 attempted base stealers and the .618 stolen base allowed percentage is the lowest in the conference. Grimm also picked off a runner this season.

Getting Out of the Blocks

Notre Dame has scored 54 runs in the first inning of games this season, and 142 runs in the first three innings this season. When scoring in the first inning, the Irish are 17-4 this season and when scoring the first run of the game Notre Dame is 25-4 on the year. The Irish have hit seven of their 39 home runs in the first inning this season. The only other inning with as many home runs is the fourth inning.

Scoring in ACC Series

Notre Dame scored 36 runs in the three-game series with Georgia Tech. Its the most runs scored in a three-game ACC series in program history, outscoring the 35 that Notre Dame scored in a three-game series in Charlottesville in 2014.

The Irish scored 36 runs in a three-game series against Seton Hall as a member of the BIG EAST in 2010.  The 12 runs per game in the series is the highest average runs per game in a conference series in since 2000 when Notre Dame average 12.5 in a doubleheader with Providence in South Bend.

Pitcher of the Week Payton

Senior pitcher Payton Tidd was named ACC Pitcher of the Week, along with Boston College’s Susannah Anderson a week go. In two starts last Week, Tidd earned two wins, and threw a complete game in the 3-2 win over the sixth-ranked Northwestern Wildcats. In the series opener with Syracuse, Tidd threw 6.0 innings, striking out five and holding the Orange to two runs to earn her second win of the week. Tidd also hit a solo homer to lead off the fifth in the win.

National and ACC Player of the Week

Karina Gaskins had one of the most productive weeks in all of NCAA softball, leading the Irish to a 5-0 record and a three-game ACC sweep at Pitt. She finished the week 12-for-16 with a double, two home runs, eight runs scored and 11 RBI. She had at least one hit and one RBI in all five games, four of which were multi-hit and multi-RBI games.

Any Means Necessary

Offensive stand out Abby Sweet picked up right where she left off after a record-setting on-base percentage in 2021 (.537). She’s second on the team with a .500 OBP this season. (Gaskins – .565 OBP) Sweet owns a .397 batting average, drawn 11 walks and has been hit by 14 pitches. The 14 hit by pitches in 40 games ranks 15th nationally in HBP per game. Her .661 slugging percentage is second-highest among the Notre Dame regulars. (Gaskins – .804)

Bench Bombs

The Notre Dame bench has shined when its name has been called. The Irish are hitting .301 in pinch-hit appearances, going 22-for-73. Conversely, the Irish are holding opponents to a .143 average going 6-for-42. Joley Mitchell leads the bench squad, going 4-for-8 in pinch hit appearnaces. Rachel Allen, Sarah Genz, Mac Vasquez, and Jane Kronenberger each have three hits in pinch-hit appearances this season. Quinn Biggio leads the team with 12 pinch-hit at bats this season, earning a pair of hits. Bryn Boznanski, Allen,  Mitchell and Kronenberger have homered in pinch hit appearances this season.

Hammerin’ Hanks

After starting the season 14-4, Notre Dame made a move in the lineup switching Leea Hanks and Abby Sweet. Hanks took over in the lead off role and Sweet assumed Hanks’s role in the 3-spot. Since that move, the Irish are 16-3 and Hanks is hitting at a .368 clip. She’s hit five doubles, four triples, four home runs to go with 12 RBI. She’s stolen five bases and has been a standout defensively in left field.

Working in TRANsistion

Emily Tran has appeared in 29 games this season, primarily as the pinch runner. In that role, she’s scored 12 times, and is 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts. She’s the primary speedster off the bench for the Irish.

An Extra Run

After averaging five runs per game in 2021, the Irish offense has upped that number to 6.53 per game this season, ranking 15th nationally and second in the ACC. Abby Sweet and Leea Hanks have each scored 42 runs, tied for 26th nationally in runs per game.

Top 25 wins

Against Top 25 teams, Notre Dame has earned a 5-3 record this season, three of those five wins have come against teams ranked in the top 10,

Against #21 LSU, the Irish rallied late, using a fifth inning home run from Payton Tidd to tie it, and Miranda Johnson drove in the game-winning runs in the seventh. Tidd shut the door as the Irish earned the 8-6 win.

Notre Dame followed that with a 9-2 win over then No. 9-Texas. A 7-run fifth inning paved the way for the first win over a top 10-nationally ranked opponent since beating No. 3 Florida State in Tallahassee in 2019.

The Irish added a top 10 win after knocking off No. 7 Duke at home. Notre Dame used a 3-for-3, 4 RBI performance from Karina Gaskins and got a dominant start from Payton Tidd. Tidd worked 7.0 innings and allowed just one hit in the 8-1 victory.

In a midweek matchup with #6 Northwestern, Tidd again shined in the circle. throwing a complete game, allowing just five hits and two earned runs. The Irish offense got a run early with a Kronenberger double and rallied for two in the sixth. Hanks drove in the game-winning run with a double.

The Irish took one of the three-game series with Clemson as Alexis Holloway no-hit the Tigers in the second game of the series. Notre Dame led in all three games entering the bottom of the seventh, surrendering a one-run lead in both the first and last games.

Record Setting Night

In the home opener against Detroit Mercy, the Fighting Irish scored 18 runs, tying a school record for runs scored and the largest margin of victory. The original record was set March 11, 1994 in an 18-0 victory over Robert Morris. Eight of nine starters had a hit and five players who didn’t start the contest registered one of the 18 hits. 15 different players scored a run in the victory.

Sister Sister

Notre Dame softball has a pair of sisters on its roster this season. Shelby and Cassidy Grimm are playing their second collegiate season together in 2022. Alexis and Anna Holloway are playing their first year of softball together this season. The extra year of eligibility for Alexis allowed for her to stay at Notre Dame long enough to play with her younger sister.