SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame softball team opens its home schedule this week as the Fighting Irish will host the Detroit Mercy Titans and the Western Michigan Broncos, Tuesday and Wednesday evening, respectively. The Irish are coming off of a weekend in Virginia, going 1-2 against the Cavaliers to open Atlantic Coast Conference action.
Midweek Specials
These games against Detroit Mercy and Western Michigan are the first two midweek games of the season. Last season, the Irish were 3-0 in midweek games, and in 2019, the last full season with midweek competition, Notre Dame finished 4-2.
Melissa Home Cooking
In the last three seasons, Notre Dame has gone a combined 27-2 at Melissa Cook Stadium, including a perfect 15-0 at home last season. In the Gumpf-era, the Irish are 286-63 when defending home turf.
Scouting the Competition
Detroit Mercy enters the midweek contest with the Irish with an 0-12 record. The team opened Horizon League play this past weekend, narrowly falling in all three games to Youngstown State.
The Titans are hitting for a .188 average in the 12 games this season. Renee Trotman. Trotman is hitting for a .250 average with one of two Titan home runs and has driven in two. Leena Mortensen is another leading the offense, hitting for a .242 average. She has driven in three runs and her one extra base hit was a double.
In the circle, The Titans use three pitchers. Liz Murphy has started seven games, throwing five complete games and earning a 6.52 ERA in a team-best 38.2 innings. Olivia Warrington has started five games with a 6.82 ERA. In 25.2 innings, she’s struck out 25 hitters and opponents are hitting .339 against her.
The Broncos enter the weekend with an 8-13 mark, finishing a spring break trip with a record of 4-4 at the Madeira Spring Games.
Cassidy Brendtke and Reily Galloway lead the Bronco offense as they will enter the weekend each hitting .333 with at least 57 at bats. Brendtke is tied for the team-lead with 10 runs scored and leads the team with seven doubles. She’s driven in eight runs on the season and owns a .408 on-base percentage. Galloway has hit two home runs and three doubles this season, scoring seven times. She’s second on the team with 10 RBI. Alyssa Kramer leads the team with four home runs and has driven in 14.
In the circle, the Broncos are led by Galloway who owns a 1.82 ERA. She started 11 games, throwing nine complete in 65.1 innings of work. She’s held opponents to a .163 average against and has struck out 87 hitters. Jordan Kavanagh is the primary reliever, making six appearances, five out of the bullpen. Mikayla Barnard has four relief appearances. The two have combined for 26.2 innings with 13 strikeouts.
Starting Hot
The Irish were 16-4 through the first 20 games this season. It was the best start for Notre Dame Softball since the 2016 season where the team was 17-3 through the first 20 games. The Irish went on to earn a 43-13 record and a third-place finish in the ACC during the regular season.
Getting Out of the Blocks
Notre Dame has scored 30 runs in the first inning of games this season, and 70 runs in the first three innings this season. When scoring in the first inning, the Irish are 9-2 this season and when scoring the first run of the game Notre Dame is 13-2 on the season.
Top 25 wins
After falling in the first three games of the St. Pete Clearwater Elite Invitational, the Irish went on to take down a pair of Top 25 teams.
Against LSU, Notre Dame rallied from down two to tie it up in the fifth with a home run from Payton Tidd. Miranda Johnson drove in the game-winning runs with a single to right field. Tidd shut the door in the seventh with a strikeout to end the contest and earn the 8-6 win.
The next outing saw the Irish take down #9 Texas. Notre Dame used a 7-run fifth inning to take the lead 9-2 and eventually the game. The win was the first over a top 10-nationally ranked opponent since defeating No. 3 Florida State in Tallahassee March 16th, 2019.
It’s the first weekend with wins over different top 25 teams since sweeping No. 13 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg in 2021.
Any Means Necessary
Lead-off hitter Abby Sweet picked up right where she left off after a record-setting on-base percentage in 2021 (.537). She leads the Irish with a .517 on-base percentage this season. She owns a .400 batting average, drawn seven walks and has been hit by 10 pitches. The 10 hit by pitches in 23 games ranks 4th-nationally in HBP per game. Her .750 slugging percentage is highest among the Notre Dame regulars.
Lost Luggage
The Liberty Softball Invitational got off to a tough start for the Irish as they arrived in Roanoke, Virginia without their equipment Thursday evening. 17 bags were pulled off of the flight to Roanoke and Notre Dame was left with four helmets, five gloves and a limited amount of cleats for the weekend. The teams at the Liberty Softball Invitational shuffled the schedule around and all five teams played their originally scheduled teams, but on different times and days than planned originally.
Mighty Mitchell
Joley Mitchell returned to the diamond after an injury kept her out of the lineup in 2021. She has played in 16 of 20 games this year, hitting for a .265 clip with two doubles, a triple, two home runs and eight RBI. Her second home run of the season was the go-ahead run to lead off the sixth inning in a 2-1 victory over Florida Gulf Coast. She also drove in the game-winning run in the top of the ninth against Rutgers.
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.
Fast First Weekend
The Irish offense scored 49 runs in the first five games of the 2022 season. Its the most runs on the first weekend of the year in Notre Dame softball history, and the most in a five-game stretch since the Irish scored 51 April 20 through April 28, 2019.
All Gas(kins)
Karina Gaskins has come on strong over the last 10 games, hitting at a .360 average. Not only has her averaged jumped up, but the power stroke has come along as well as she’s hit three home runs and sports a team-best .840 slugging percentage in the last 10 games.
Hot Hanks
Leea Hanks moved up to the lead-off spot in the lineup on the Sunday of the Liberty Invitational, Since taking the top spot in the lineup, Hanks is hitting for a .444 average with three doubles, two triples and a stolen base.