NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Notre Dame Softball (12-8, 6-6 ACC) will open the 2021 home slate this week, taking on Valparaiso on March 24 at 5:30 p.m. ET before hosting NC State for a four-game series March 26-28. Wednesday’s game vs. Valparaiso will mark Notre Dame’s first home game at Melissa Cook Stadium since May 5, 2019 (689 days), due to the 2020 season being cancelled prior to the Irish playing at home that year.
Notre Dame comes home fresh off a 3-1 series win at Georgia Tech, in which freshman Karina Gaskins was selected as an NFCA top performance of the week, thanks to her four home runs on four-consecutive at-bats, bringing 10 RBI, and hitting three home runs in a single game, tying a program record and matching the single-game high across Division I this season.
The Irish boast three of the ACC’s Top 5 batting averages, with senior Abby Sweet leading all conference players, batting .529. Gaskins follows in second with a .463 avg., and junior Emma Clark ranks fifth in the conference (.422). No other ACC team has three players in the Top 10.
THE DETAILS
Location: Melissa Cook Stadium (Notre Dame, IN)
Games:
- Wednesday, March 24: 5:30 p.m. ET
- Friday, March 26: 5 p.m. ET
- Saturday, March 27 (DH1): 1 p.m. ET
- Saturday, March 27 (DH2): 3 p.m. ET
- Sunday, March 28: Noon ET
Live Stats: und.com/mediastats
BY THE NUMBERS
1: OF Abby Sweet leads the ACC in batting avg. (.529), total hits (36), hits per game (1.80), total bases (65), bases per game (3.25) and on-base percentage (.556). She is among the top players in the country in hits (eighth), toughest to strike out (12th), batting average (16th) and total bases (19th).
3: The Irish boast three players who rank in the ACC’s Top 5 in batting avg. OF Abby Sweet (.529) and IF Karina Gaskins (.463) own the two best batting averages in the ACC. OF Emma Clark ranks fifth in the conference with a .422. No other ACC team has three players in the Top 10.
3: Notre Dame came in at No. 3 in the preseason ACC Coaches poll, with IF Katie Marino on the preseason All-ACC team. Of the top six teams in the ACC, Notre Dame is one, and will face the other five in the regular season.
3: Deanna Gumpf announced the selection of three captains for the 2021 season: Seniors IF Sarah Genz, P Alexis Holloway and OF Abby Sweet. Holloway and Sweet are the eighth and ninth two-time team captains in program history.
4: IF Karina Gaskins put on a show in the Saturday doubleheader at Georgia Tech, hitting four home runs on four-consecutive at-bats. Three of those home runs came in the same game, matching a program record and the NCAA Division I single-game high for 2021. Just six other players have totaled three home runs in a single game across DI softball, and she is one of just two ACC players to achieve the feat. On those homers, she brought in 10 RBI.
5: The Irish rank in the Top 5 of the conference in both batting average and pitching ERA. Notre Dame ranks second in the ACC in team batting average, boasting collective .304, while the Irish rank fourth in the conferrence in collective ERA (2.04).
6: As the schedule stands for 2021, Notre Dame has faced or will face six teams that were ranked or receiving votes in the initial USA TODAY/NFCA poll: No. 8 Alabama, RV Liberty, No. 25 Duke, RV Clemson, No. 12 Florida State and No. 15 Virginia Tech (initial rankings).
7: The Irish totaled seven stolen bases in the 13-0 combined no-hitter at Alabama State, the most in program records since at least 2012. Prior, the last time Notre Dame posted four or more steals was in 2019 vs. Seattle (Feb. 21, Mary Nutter Classic).
16: The Irish return 16 veterans in 2021, including every starter from the 2019-20 season. They are joined by six freshmen.
38: OF Abby Sweet has compiled a 38-game on-base streak, which began on Feb. 9, 2020 and has extended into this season. IF Karina Gaskins has also reached a milestone, piecing together a 15-game on-base streak, which includes every game in which she has played in 2021, while IF Katie Marino joins the two, adding a 14-game on-base streak from Feb. 21, 2021 to present.
34: When Notre Dame hosts its first home game of 2021 on March 24 vs. Valparaiso, it will mark 689 days since the last home game at Melissa Cook Stadium, which took place May 5, 2019, vs. Georgia Tech (W, 6-4). The Irish were unable to play at home in 2020 due to the season being cancelled prior to the first home game.