March 22, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame’s 21-game road trip ends this week as the Irish host Eastern Michigan (March 23) and Toledo (March 24) in a pair of non-conference softball doubleheaders at Melissa Cook Stadium. The team will travel to Seton Hall (March 27-28) for the weekend when it starts off BIG EAST Conference play.
Notre Dame (17-5), the last BIG EAST team with a single-digit loss total, is receiving votes in the latest NFCA Top 25 Poll. The Irish have won four straight heading into Tuesday’s game versus Eastern Michigan, coming off a six-inning 11-4 victory last week at Western Michigan.
All home games will be played at Melissa Cook Stadium, located on the southeast corner of the University of Notre Dame campus.
Live video, audio and stats will be available at UND.com for the doubleheaders against Eastern Michigan and Toledo.
For up-to-the-minute scores and results, sign up for IRISH ALERTS text-messaging services at UND.com. In-game updates can be accessed at twitter.com/NDSoftball.
—
Live video: und.com
Live audio: und.com
Live stats: und.com
Text alerts: und.com
Notre Dame Athletics Twitter: @und_com
In-game Twitter: @ndsoftball
Tickets: 574.631.7356
—
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
(17-5 overall / 0-0 BIG EAST)
[und.com – bigeast.org]
Tuesday, March 23 – 4:00 p.m. / 6:00 p.m. (ET)
Melissa Cook Stadium – Notre Dame, Ind.
Eastern Michigan Eagles
(6-11 overall / 0-0 Mid-American)
[emueagles.com – mac-sports.com]
Series: Notre Dame, 11-2
Series streak: Notre Dame, W2
First meeting: April 5, 1999 – Eastern Michigan, 5-4
Last meeting: April 9, 2008 – Notre Dame, 5-1
Wednesday, March 24 – 4:00 p.m. / 6:00 p.m. (ET)
Melissa Cook Stadium – Notre Dame, Ind.
Toledo Rockets
(6-19 overall / 0-0 Mid-American)
[utrockets.com – mac-sports.com)
Series: Notre Dame, 12-0
Series streak: Notre Dame, W12
First meeting: April 27, 1996 – Notre Dame, 7-2
Last meeting: April 5, 2009 – Notre Dame, 13-0
—
One-Hitters …
– Notre Dame is now in its 22nd season of varsity competition with an all-time record of 861-404-3 … the program boasts 14 NCAA Championship appearances (11 consecutive) and six BIG EAST Conference Tournament titles, the latest coming in 2009.
– Christine Lux tied the school record with her 36th career home run against Virginia (Feb. 27) and broke the mark one week later against East Tennessee State (March 6) at the UC Riverside Aten Construction Tournament … in the same game, she became Notre Dame’s all-time leader in putouts when she had an astounding 18 at first base.
– The Irish have won four straight and 16 of 17 contests heading into the home opener … their current 17-5 record matches one of the better starts in program history, as the 2000 team also went 17-5 through the first 22 games of that season, finishing 47-14 … the best start to a season occurred when the 2001 team jumped out to a 19-3 mark and wrapped up with a school-record 54-7 slate.
– Notre Dame is 19-2 all-time in home openers, winning its last 12 consecutive … the two losses came in 1992 and 1997 … with victories of 15-0 and 9-1 over Toledo in 2009, the Irish posted the most runs in a home opener (15) and the most runs in a doubleheader (24) since 2003 … it marked the first back-to-back five-inning wins since 2004, first five-inning home opener in program history and the first true home opener at Melissa Cook Stadium.
– Through the first six weeks of the non-conference season, Notre Dame leads the BIG EAST in: team batting average (.330), slugging percentage (.543), on-base percentage (.384), triples (10), home runs (24), opposing batting average (.186), hits allowed (96), runs allowed (48) and fielding percentage (.976) … Erin Marrone (.453) leads the league in individual batting average and is third with a .525 on-base percentage … Christine Lux (23) is third in RBI and tied with Heather Johnson for third with six home runs … Alexa Maldonado and Sadie Pitzenberger are tied for first with four triples apiece … Jody Valdivia leads the league in ERA (1.67), opposing batting average (.166), strikeouts (123), wins (13) and starts (16).
– Sadie Pitzenberger is currently riding a 17-game hitting streak … the school record (21) was set last season by then-freshman Dani Miller.
–ND–