April 17, 2006

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Notre Dame at #17/17 Northwestern, Tuesday, April 18, 4:00 p.m. (CSTV)

Irish head to Evanston for a matchup with #17/17 Northwestern on CSTV –

The University of Notre Dame softball team (26-12) faces a key non-conference matchup on Tuesday, April 18, when the Irish head to Evanston, Ill., to face #17/17 Northwestern. The game, scheduled for a first pitch of 5:05 p.m. EDT (4:05 p.m. CDT), will be broadcast live on CSTV.

For those Irish fans signed up for Fighting Irish All-Access, the game can be viewed live on www.und.com as well. Visit the official Notre Dame athletic web site (www.und.com) and click on `multimedia’ for more information.

Irish ALERT continues on Tuesday –

A joint effort between Centennial Wireless, Notre Dame Sports Properties and the Notre Dame Sports Information Office has made up-to-the-minute text messaging a reality this season. Notre Dame announced the Irish ALERT system, which will cover baseball, softball, men’s lacrosse and women’s lacrosse this spring for a free trial.

Simply sign up for the service at www.und.com and your mobile device will receive score updates from each of the four sports throughout the 2006 season. The service also will provide periodical updates providing team schedules and special alerts when content is uploaded on www.und.com.

For softball, updates are sent when the weekly release is posted on www.und.com, when a schedule change pops up (delayed games, added games) and in the first, third, fifth and seventh innings of each Irish game.

Irish rule the month of April –

Since Deanna Gumpf took over the Irish softball program in 2002 – the team has been close to unbeatable in the month of April. Entering Thursdays’s doubleheader, the Irish are 83-13 (.865) in April over the last five years.

Here is a breakdown of Notre Dame’s record during April since 2002.

2002: 24-1

2003: 21-2

2004: 19-5

2005: 20-3

2006: 96-2

Notre Dame has won 15 of last 17 games –

After battling through a six-game stretch of one-run games with a 3-3 recrod from March 15-19 (at the Judi Garman Classic), Notre Dame has won 15 of its last 17 games.

During the run, the team is 10-1 at home and 5-1 on the road. The two losses were to Akron (4-2) and at Syracuse (2-1).

DePaul recap –

Notre Dame won its eighth and ninth BIG EAST Conference games of the season with a doubleheader sweep of DePaul (5-0 and 3-1) on Thursday, April 13 … the game was broadcast live on ESPNU … Notre Dame broke game one open in the fifth inning on two RBI doubles – one from senior Mallorie Lenn and one from freshman Linda Kohan … the Irish rallied for a game one victory after falling behind 1-0 in the first … senior Sara Schoonaert scored on an error and sophomore Katie Laing drove in a run in the fourth inning with an RBI single … Lenn then capped her solid day with a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to provide a key insurance run … senior Heather Booth won her 14th game of the season in game one, earning her sixth shutout of the year … freshman Brittney Bargar won game two by allowing four hits and striking out six.

Heather Booth named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week –

Senior RHP Heather Booth was named the BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week for the fifth time in her career on Monday, April 17 … she completed last week 2-0 with a perfect 0.00 ERA … she began the week with four innings of no-hit softbal against Ball State, striking out five … Booth followed with a complete-game performance against DePaul, scattering five hits and striking out six … she currently boasts a 0.39 ERA in BIG EAST play … teammate and junior Stephanie Brown was named to the BIG EAST honor roll this week after hitting .667 last week and finishing six for seven in the doubleheader against DePaul.

ND series history vs. Northwestern –

Notre Dame and Northwestern have enjoyed a highly competitive series … the all-time series is even at 6-6 … the Irish got the best of the early years in the series (1995-97), going 4-2 over a six-game stretch … the last six meetings have gone 4-2 in favor of Northwestern, who also has been ranked in all six of those meetings … last season, Notre Dame won the regular-season meeting 4-3, scoring four unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat the 15th-ranked Wildcats …. Northwestern also was the top seed in the NCAA Regional hosted by Notre Dame in May of 2005 … Notre Dame won the first matchup with the Wildcats in the regional 3-2 … Northwestern had the final say in the series last season, however, defeating the Irish 4-1 and 3-2 on the final day of the NCAA regional to advance to the NCAA Super Regional against DePaul … Notre Dame has never faced Northwestern at Drysdale Field … a scheduled meeting in 2004 was started, but then cancelled due to inclement weather.

Northwestern preview –

The Wildcats are 29-10 in 2006, 9-2 in Big Ten Conference play and 8-0 at home … the Northwestern offense is keyed by three players, 1B Garland Cooper (.393, 7 HR, 33 RBI), INF Tammy Williams (.388, 9 HR, 26 RBI) and OF Katie Logan (.384, 9 RBI, 6 SB) … the Wildcats also boast two strong starting pitchers with Eileen Canney (1.30 ERA, 14-5, 215 Ks) and Courtnay Foster (1.84 ERA, 15-5, 159 Ks) … Northwestern has smacked 36 home runs as a team this season and boasts a solid .282 team batting average … NU is currently ranked 17th in both the NFCA and USA Softball top 25 polls – and have been ranked in the top 25 for the entire 2006 season.

Irish pile up 21 hits in game two vs. Pittsburgh –

Notre Dame’s offense exploded for 21 hits in game two at Pittsburgh on Sunday, April 9, in a 14-4 victory over the Panthers. The performance matched the school record for hits in a single game. Notre Dame posted 21 hits against Rhode Island on March 14, 1992.

The Irish and Panthers also combined for a Notre Dame record 32 hits in game two – breaking the previous combined hits record of 29 (in the same game against Rhode Island, 1992 and vs. St. Joseph’s on April 17, 1990).

Ruthrauff breaks two long-standing Irish records in remarkable performance – Senior 3B Megan Ruthrauff will see her name atop two single-game record categories after game two at Pittsburgh on Sunday, April 9.

Ruthrauff posted a personal-best four hits in game two – three of which left the park for home runs. She hit a solo shot to leftfield in the top of the first, had an RBI single in the fourth, added a solo shot in the sixth and put an exclamation mark on her day with a grand slam in the seventh inning.

Ruthrauff used all three fields for her home runs (one to left, one to center and one to right) and set the Notre Dame record for home runs in a single game (three) and RBI (seven).

The RBI record was first set in 2000 by `01 graduate Melanie Alkire. Alkire drove in six agianst San Diego State on March 12, 2000. The record was tied twice, once by `02 graduate Jarrah Myers at CS Northridge on March 11, 2001 and again by `05 graduate Liz Hartmann against Oakland on April 30, 2002.

The single-game home run record was held by nine different players – who accomplished the feat a combined 14 times. The most recent was by Hartmann, who hit two home runs against Nebraska on Feb. 14, 2004.

Ruthrauff earned her fifth career BIG EAST Player of the Week award for her performance over the weekend. Over a four-game conference stretch against Syracuse and Pittsburgh, Ruthrauff was nine for 13 with six runs scored, five home runs and 10 RBI.

Irish pile up a record 46 hits in three games –

The Notre Dame offense hit a lull over a four-game stretch from April 2-8. The Irish finished 2-2 during the four-game run and combined for 19 hits as a team. Starting with game two at Syracuse, the Irish offense seems to be finding its stride again.

Over a three-game stretch last weekend, all victories, Notre Dame amassed 46 hits (12 vs. Syracuse, 13 vs. Pittsburgh, 21 vs. Pittsburgh) – a school record for hits over three consecutive games.

Notre Dame had previously notched 40 hits in three consecutive games three times:

• 1996 vs. Rutgers (19), Rutgers (12) and Rutgers (9) – from 3-30 to 3-31

•1998 vs. Loyola Chicago (13), vs. Loyola Chicago (14) and Rutgers (13) – from 3-26 to 3-28

• 2003 at Syracuse (11), Valparaiso (12) and Valparaiso (17) – from 4-19 to 4-23

The 2003 season also saw the Irish post the school record for consecutive games with 10 team hits – as Notre Dame won 10 games in a row from April 13 – April 23 and posted at least 10 hits in each game.

Notre Dame softball on the small screen –

The University of Notre Dame softball team will be featured two more times on cable television this season, with a possible sixth appearance in the BIG EAST Championship. Notre Dame’s first appearance was a single game against Ball State on Tuesday, April 11 shown by Comcast Local. The Irish defeated the Cardinals 5-0.

The first game of a doubleheader vs. DePaul on April 13 was shown live by ESPNU- a game which the Irish won 5-0.

ESPNU also will cover Notre Dame’s first visit to USF as a conference opponent, picking up the first game of that doubleheader on Saturday, April 29 (11:00 a.m.).

Notre Dame’s road game at Louisville will also be televised in the Louisville, Ky., area with ABC affiliate WHAS picking up the broadcast.

The Irish are set to visit Northwestern on Tuesday, April 18, and that game will be picked up by CSTV and shown live. The coverage can also be seen on www.und.com for those signed up for Fighting Irish All-Access.

Finally, CSTV will broadcast the BIG EAST Championship final game from the Belleville Softball Complex in South Bend, Ind., on May 13 at 6 p.m. The winner of that contest will receive the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.

One-run warriors –

Notre Dame has played 16 one-run games this year. The team has posted an even 8-8 record in those 16 games, meaning that eight of the team’s 12 losses this season have come by a single run.

Going back to March 3 (an extra-inning three-run loss to Nebraska), the Irish have lost just one game by more than one run (as 4-2 setback to Akron on April 5). During the team’s trip to Southern California for spring break, the Irish played six consecutive one-run games, going 3-3 during the stretch with a win over #10 Arizona State and losses to #4 Texas (6-5), #6 Alabama (4-3) and at CS Fullerton (3-2 in eight innings).

•Notre Dame’s one-run victories –

1-0 vs. Buffalo, 1-0 at Cal Poly SLO (G2), 3-2 vs. #10 Arizona State, 1-0 vs. Florida State, 2-1 at Western Michigan, 1-0 vs. Bowling Green, 1-0 vs. Eastern Michigan, 2-1 vs. Connecticut.

•Notre Dame’s one-run losses –

5-4 vs. Colorado State, 5-4 at Florida International, 2-1 at Tulsa, 2-1 vs. Stephen F. Austin (8), 3-2 at CS Fullerton (8), 6-5 vs. #4 Texas, 4-3 vs. #6 Alabama, 2-1 at Syracuse.

New BIG EAST Conference unveiled in 2006 –

The BIG EAST Conference expansion, which officially took place this fall, has garnered most of its attention in men’s basketball. The conference has quickly transformed into the top men’s basketball league in the country, but the effect that expansion will have on softball cannot be overlooked. The BIG EAST welcomes three traditional softball powers into the conference this season with the addition of DePaul, Louisville and South Florida. All three of the new teams will compete to end Notre Dame’s regular-season conference title streak which stands at 10 years entering the `06 campaign.

Combined with an already solid conference lineup, the BIG EAST is now arguably the top softball league east of the Mississippi River. With a new league alignment, the BIG EAST Championship – scheduled to be played in South Bend, Ind., beginning May 11 – will feature a new schedule. The top eight teams from the league standings will take part in a single-elimination, three-day tournament to determine the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA Championship. The final game of that tournament will be shown live on CSTV.

Notre Dame in BIG EAST regular-season play –

Notre Dame boasts an 9-1 record in BIG EAST Conference play this season, continuing its tradition of excellence during the league’s regular-season play. The Irish have lost four games in conference play only once since it joined the league in 1996 and boast an overall record of 173-20 (.896) entering this weekend’s competition. Notre Dame’s BIG EAST regular-season records: 1996 – 19-1, 1997 – 16-4, 1998 – 13-3, 1999 – 16-0, 2000 – 14-2, 2001 – 20-0, 2002 – 18-2, 2003 – 14-3, 2004 – 18-2, 2005 – 16-2, 2006 – 9-1.

The Irish have won 10 consecutive BIG EAST regular-season crowns since 1996.

Irish captains –

Notre Dame will feature four captains this season for just the second time in the program’s history. The senior class of Heather Booth, Mallorie Lenn, Meagan Ruthrauff and Sara Schoonaert will provide leadership both on and off the field for the team in 2006. The only other team to feature four captains was Notre Dame’s most successful team ever – the 2001 squad. Current Irish assistant coach Lizzy Lemire shared the captaincy that season with Melanie Alkire, Danielle Klayman and Jennifer Sharron. The Irish finished 54-7 in `01 and earned a number-one seed in the NCAA Championship.

Season schedule has been/will be a challenge –

The 2006 season will prove a challenge for the Irish, as the team will face several teams ranked in the top 25, or just out of the national rankings.

According to the latest rankings, the Irish will face (NFCA rankings first, followed by USA Softball) #17/17 Northwestern and #18/20 Louisville. Notre Dame has already faced #10/10 Arizona State (3-2 victory), #4/4 Texas (6-5 loss), #6/7 Alabama (4-3 loss), #14/12 Oregon State (5-0 loss) and #17/17 Nebraska (5-3, eight-inning loss). The Irish also have faced DePaul (5-0 and 3-1 victories) and BYU (8-3 victory), who have both been in and out of the national polls this season and .

Notre Dame knocked off four ranked teams durng the 2005 season. The Irish defeated #21 South Florida and #19 Florida on their first weekend of action (Feb. 12-13), then knocked off #5/6 Tennessee in its last game at the Palm Springs Classic. Notre Dame also defeated #15 Northwestern with a four-run rally in the bottom of the seventh on Tuesday, April 26, 2005.

Under head coach Deanna Gumpf, the Irish have knocked off at least three ranked teams in three of four seasons (#25 South Florida, #4 Nebraska, #15 Oregon State in `02; #8 Nebraska, #14 Nebraska, #18 Nebraska in `04). The Irish have defeated a total of 14 ranked teams during Gumpf’s tenure. The most ranked wins for the Irish came in 2001, when the team defeated eight teams ranked in the national top 25.

Deanna Gumpf nabs 200th win in record-setting style –

Notre Dame head coach Deanna Gumpf won her 200th game with the Irish in game two at Pittsburgh on Sunday, April 9 – and the Irish made sure the win would be remembered with a record-setting performance. As a team, Notre Dame pounded out 21 hits – matching the school record set back in 1992 against Rhode Island.

Two Irish players posted personal-best hit totals in the contest, with junior Stephanie Brown and senior Meagan Ruthrauff going four for five at the plate. Ruthrauff’s big game drew much of the attention, however, as she set two school records in the contest by hitting three home runs and driving in seven runs.

Gumpf is now 201-81 (.713) in her career with the Irish and has led the team to five consecutive NCAA appearances and five consecutive BIG EAST regular-season titles during her tenure.

New coaching staff, new Gumpf Family addition –

Notre Dame unveiled its new coaching staff in a unique way this season. Lizzy Lemire, a 2001 Notre Dame graduate, has joined the staff and Kris Ganeff (Notre Dame `99) moves up into the first assistant role. The change came about with the decision of former Irish assistant coach Charmelle Green to take a job in Notre Dame’s Student-Athlete Development Program.

The unusual twist to the story is that Irish head coach Deanna Gumpf missed Lemire’s official debut with the team. Gumpf and her husband John welcomed their second child, Tatum Elizabeth, on Wednesday, Feb. 22. Deanna has rejoined the team full time on the road for its Spring Break trip to Southern California.

To aid in the pitching staff’s development during Gumpf’s pregnancy, former Irish assistant coach and 1993 Penn State graduate Dawn Austin returned to the team as a volunteer assistant coach this season.

Ruthrauff reaches career walks record –

Senior 1B Meagan Ruthrauff, Notre Dame’s cleanup hitter the last three seasons, is not only a potent RBI producer (128 in three-plus years, tied for seventh on the all-time Notre Dame list), but she also has outstanding plate discipline.

Ruthrauff has drawn 100 walks during her career, surpassing matching Andrea Loman’s (2000-03) previous Notre Dame career record of 87.

Ruthrauff has already drawn 20 free passes this season and ranks one-two on the single-season walk list at Notre Dame. In 2004, she drew a record 36 base on balls and followed up with 31 walks in 2005.

Booth now Notre Dame’s most prolific pitcher –

While leading her team to a 7-0 victory over Pittsburgh in game one on Sunday, April 9, senior Heather Booth became Notre Dame’s all-time leader in innings pitched with 773.1 – surpassing Jen Sharron’s previous school mark of 772.1. Booth has been a front-line starter for the Irish since she arrived on campus four years ago and ranks in the top five for all of Notre Dame’s significant pitching records.

Currently, Booth is first all-time in innings pitched (784.1), second in appearances (142), tied for second in games started (117), second in wins (83), second in complete games (75), fourth in shutouts (27) and third in strikeouts (740). See page nine of this notes package for a complete listing of Booth on the all-time statistical charts.

Notre Dame takes some of the nation’s top teams to the brink –

Just a quick glance at the nation’s top 25 teams (as of April 12) will provide the true nature of Notre Dame’s 2006 schedule. The Irish have faced five teams ranked in the nation’s top 17 (according to the NFCA top 25) and will have two ranked games remaining – at #17 Northwestern on Tuesday, April 18 (CSTV) and a BIG EAST Conference doubleheader at #18 Louisville on Sunday, April 30.

While the Irish have just one win against its five ranked teams faced in 2006 – they have competed head-to-head with the nation’s top teams and represented themselves well. Current NFCA ranking listed –

•#10 Arizona State – (W, 3-2) Notre Dame earned its biggest victory of the year and ended a 10-game winning streak for the Sun Devils … the Irish took a 1-0 lead on a solo home run by Meagan Ruthrauff in the bottom of the second inning … ASU answered with a home run of its own, a two-run shot by Mindy Cowles in the third inning … ASU kept its one run lead until the bottom of the seventh when freshman Stephanie Mola reached on an error and scored on a walk-off two-run home run by Stephanie Brown.

•#2 Texas – (L, 6-5) Notre Dame led the Longhorns 5-1 entering the bottom of the fifth inning … the Irish built their lead on two-run home runs from Mallorie Lenn (in the top of the first) and Katie Laing (in the top of the fifth) … after allowing just one run over the first four innings, freshman Brittney Bargar allowed four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning … the Longhorns won the game on a solo home run by pinch hitter Rachel Cook in the bottom of the sixth inning.

•#3 Alabama – (L, 4-3) In the next game on the Irish schedule after the near miss vs. Texas, Notre Dame led Alabama 2-0 in the top of the fourth inning … Mallorie Lenn provided the big hit again with a two-run homer … Alabama answered with three unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth inning off Heather Booth … Bama’s Jordan Praytor then provided the big hit with a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth … that run proved to be the game-winner, as the Irish posted two runs in the top of the seventh on a home run from freshman Linda Kohan.

•#16 Nebraska – (L, 5-2 in eight) Taking on the Cornhuskers in Tulsa, Notre Dame rallied from a 1-0 deficit to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning on and RBI double by Stephanie Brown and RBI single from Mallorie Lenn … Nebraska answered with a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh inning to extend the game … the Cornhuskers eventually won the game in the bottom of the seventh, utilizing the international tiebreaker rule to score three unearned runs with two outs.

South Bend plays host to the 2005 BIG EAST Championship –

For the fourth time in the last five years, the BIG EAST Softball Championship will be held in a neutral/off-campus site in 2005.

After Salem, Va., served as the tournament’s site in 2002 and 2003, the City of South Bend, Ind., will welcome the 2005 BIG EAST Softball Championship to the Belleville Complex on the far west side of town.

The Belleville Complex is one of the best softball-only facilities in Indiana and served as host to over 3,000 fans when the U.S. Olympic Team played an exhibition doubleheader in July of 2005.

Directions to the BIG EAST Championship –

The Belleville Complex is located on the far west side of South Bend, Ind., on Mayflower Road.

From the east/west: Take I80/90 Toll Road to the South Bend West/Plymouth 31 South Exit. Go south on US 31 to the Mayflower Road (north) exit. The complex is on the right after the exit.

From the south: Take US 31 north from Indianapolis, follow the US 31 By Pass west once you reach the South Bend city limits. Take the Mayflower Road exit (north) off the US 31 bypass. The complex is on the right after the exit.

From downtown South Bend: Take State Road 933 (Main Street) through downtown South Bend to Sample Street. Take a right on Sample Street and travel 3.5 miles on Sample to Mayflower Road. Take a left on Mayflower Road, the complex will be on your left.

From the University of Notre Dame: Take Eddy (Juniper) Street south – it will take a turn to the west and become Sample Street. Follow Sample Street across Main Street and continue on Sample for 3.5 miles to Mayflower Road. Take a left on Mayflower Road, the complex will be on your left.