Irish Open 2015 Ranked 22nd In NFCA Top 25 Preseason Poll

Jan. 20, 2015

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Riding the momentum of a successful first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 2014, the University of Notre Dame softball team accomplished a feat on Tuesday that had been 12 years in the making. The Irish were ranked 22nd in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division I Preseason Top 25, the program’s first top 25 preseason ranking in the national coaches poll since 2003.

The 2015 NFCA preseason top 25 marked the sixth time Notre Dame has ever been ranked among the top 25 teams in the NFCA poll to open a season since 1995. The Irish were tabbed 19th in 1995, 21st in 1997, 19th in 2001, 14th in 2002 and 17th in 2003 in previous editions of the NFCA preseason top 25.

A total of 12 of Notre Dame’s 36 scheduled opponents for the 2015 season were either ranked in the NFCA preseason top 25 or were among teams receiving votes. The Irish will square off with No. 5 Florida State (March 14-15), No. 7 UCLA (Feb. 6), No. 12 Georgia (Feb. 21), No. 13 Tennessee (Feb. 19), No. 17 Missouri (Feb. 27), No. 19 LSU (Feb. 14-15), and No. 25 DePaul (April 21) during the upcoming season.

Notre Dame and Florida State were the only two ACC teams included in the top 25 of the preseason NFCA rankings, with North Carolina State (14 votes) and Louisville (two votes) each receiving votes.

Notre Dame made its 16th consecutive appearance, and earned its 19th overall bid in 26 seasons of varsity competition, in the NCAA Championship in 2014, finishing the season with a 41-13 record after competing in the NCAA Los Angeles Regional. The Irish placed second in the ACC regular-season standings with a 16-5 league mark in their inaugural campaign in the conference, ultimately reaching the final game of the ACC Championship tournament in College Park, Md. Notre Dame also surpassed the 40-win plateau for the 16th time in its history, a watermark the Irish have attained in 10 of the last 13 seasons since Deanna Gumpf became the program’s head coach in 2002.

Team records set by the 2014 Notre Dame team included the highest batting average (.357) and most doubles (107, 1.98 doubles per game) in a single season in program history, figures that also led all Division I teams in the NCAA. The Irish, who also had a team-best 533 hits and a .419 on-base percentage, also finished second nationally with a .552 slugging percentage and were seventh in scoring after tallying 6.69 runs per game. Notre Dame was ranked among the national top 25 teams over the final 14 weeks of 2014, tying a program record set by the 2001 Irish team (54-7) for consecutive weeks appearing in the national polls during a single season.

A total of three Notre Dame players received 2014 NFCA All-America citations, with Micaela Arizmendi and Karley Wester copping second team accolades and Emilee Koerner being named as a third team All-American. The three Notre Dame All-America selections were tied for the most among all NFCA Division I members with College World Series participant Oregon, NCAA Super Regional qualifier Washington and fellow NCAA Regional competitor Auburn.

Wester, who led the conference in batting average (.455), hits (81) and stolen bases (26) on her way to being named the ACC Freshman of the Year, was also one of three finalists for the inaugural NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year award. Wester, along with fellow first team choices Arizmendi, Koerner, Laura Winter and Cassidy Whidden, joined Katey Haus and Jenna Simon (second team) in representing a program record seven Notre Dame players who received NFCA all-region honors in 2014.

The Notre Dame coaching staff was also named the 2014 NFCA Mid-Atlantic Region Coaching Staff of the Year following the inaugural Irish campaign in the ACC. Gumpf and associate coach Kris Ganeff received regional staff of the year recognition for the third time during their tenures at Notre Dame, to go along with NFCA Mideast Region Coaching Staff of the Year honors in 2002 and 2004. Associate coach Lizzy Ristano, volunteer assistant coach Brittany O’Donnell and director of softball operations John Whitty were recognized as members of an NFCA regional staff of the year for the first time.

For the latest news and updates on all things Notre Dame softball, visit www.und.com/softball, follow the Irish @NDsoftball and @NDcoachGumpf on Twitter and at Instagram.com/notredamesoftball, and Like the team at Facebook.com/NDSoftball.

USA Today/NFCA Division I Softball Poll – Preseason — Jan. 20, 2015

Others Receiving Votes: James Madison (36), USC Upstate (21), Wisconsin (16), UCF (16), *Texas (16), *North Carolina State (14), *Northwestern (3), Stanford (3), South Carolina (3), *Hofstra (2), Louisville (2), *Cal State Fullerton (2).

*- 2015 Notre Dame scheduled opponent

— Tony Jones, Media Relations Assistant