SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame softball team is back at Melissa Cook Stadium for a pair of games Tuesday and Wednesday evenings against Loyola-Chicago and Central Michigan, respectively. The Irish made the most of their one contest last weekend, defeating No. 7 Duke 8-1 Friday night. The win helped the Irish improve to 23-6 on the season.
The Irish had four of their five games scheduled last weekend either canceled or postponed. Tuesday’s game against UIC was postponed with a makeup date not scheduled. Wednesday’s game with DePaul was canceled before the Irish and Duke had to cancel two of the three meetings on the weekend.
Karina Gaskins picked up where she left off after winning ACC and NFCA National Player of the Week honors as she finished the Friday game 3-for-3 with four RBI, two runs scored and hit a home run. Abby Sweet added a pair of hits and a homer of her own as this 1-2 punch has been creating havoc for opposing pitchers this season.
Payton Tidd worked a complete game one hitter against Duke. The Blue Devils entered the series as the top hitting team in the ACC, hitting at a .338 team average. The one hit is the lowest total for an opposing team this season, and the lowest for Duke this season.
Scouting the Opponents
Loyola-Chicago enters Tuesday’s matchup with an 8-15 record after having dropped three-straight games at Southern Illinois last weekend. The Ramblers are 0-4 against Power Five competition this season, with losses to Florida State, Virginia, Iowa State and Arizona.
Amelia Thomas leads the Rambler offense with a .268 average. She’s hit five doubles and four triples while driving in six and stealing three bases. Haley Wallace adds a .254 average with a team-leading two home runs and nine RBI. The Rambler offense hits for a .202 team average with 32 extra-base hits and have stolen 20 bases in 31 attempts.
The Rambler pitching staff has earned a 5.02 ERA, led by Peyton Pepkowski’s 4.02 ERA in 71.2 innings. Pepkowski has started 10 games, going the distance in six of those with 65 strikeouts. Andie Broniewicz has started eight games with three complete games. She’s logged 44.2 innings and struck out 20.
The Central Michigan Chippewas are 13-12 this season, taking a doubleheader against Ball State Friday afternoon. Against Power Five opponents this season, the Chippewas are 1-4 with a win over Maryland in the second weekend of the season, and dropping contests to Indiana, Michigan State and two to Louisville.
The Chippewas hit for a .267 team average, led by Abbey Tolmie’s .373 clip. Tolmie has started all 25 games, hitting five doubles, scoring 16 runs and driving in seven. Michaleigh Vallimont hits for a .364 average in 23 games with 11 runs scored and a pair of homers. Shannon Stein and Caitlyn Britton provide the pop in the lineup, hitting a combined 14 home runs. Stein has driven in a team-best 23 runs and scored 21 times. Britton adds 19 RBI with five doubles.
Midweek Matchups
The Irish opened their midweek schedule last week, tying a school record with 18 runs scored in a five inning win over Detroit Mercy, and cruised to a 7-2 win over Western Michigan Wednesday night. Notre Dame is 9-2 over the last three seasons in midweek games, including a perfect 3-0 mark during the 2021 season.
Melissa Home Cooked
In the last four seasons, Notre Dame has gone a combined 30-2 at Melissa Cook Stadium, including a perfect 15-0 at home last season. In the Gumpf-era, the Irish are 289-63 when defending home turf and have won the last 22 home games.
Thou Shalt Not Steal
The catching combination of Shelby Grimm and Carlli Kloss have limited the opponents running game better than any tandem in the ACC. Kloss has thrown out four of eight attempted base stealers, and Grimm has tossed out six of 14 attempts. Combined, the Irish have thrown out 10 of 22 attempted base stealers and the .545 stolen base allowed percentage is the lowest in the conference. Grimm also picked off a runner this season.
National and ACC Player of the Week
Karina Gaskins had one of the most productive weeks in all of NCAA softball last week, leading the Irish to a 5-0 record and a three-game ACC sweep at Pitt. She finished the week 12-for-16 with a double, two home runs, eight runs scored and 11 RBI. She had at least one hit and one RBI in all five games, four of which were multi-hit and multi-RBI games.
Against Pitt, all of her hits drove in at least one run in the sweep. She had clutch at bats in the first and third games of the series. In game one, she hit a two-run home run in the top of the seventh to extend the Irish lead to 7-4. Pitt rallied to score a run and put the tying run on second before Irish pitching got the strikeout to win the game 7-5. In the finale, She hit a solo home run to right center to extend the Irish lead to 5-2 before Notre Dame added three more runs in the seventh.
Gaskins has come on strong over the last 10 games, hitting at a .704 average with five home runs, 17 RBI and scored 12 runs.
Record Setting Night
In the home opener against Detroit Mercy, the Fighting Irish scored 18 runs, tying a school record for runs scored and the largest margin of victory. The original record was set March 11, 1994 in an 18-0 victory over Robert Morris. Eight of nine starters had a hit and five players who didn’t start the contest registered one of the 18 hits. 15 different players scored a run in the victory.
Getting Out of the Blocks
Notre Dame has scored 36 runs in the first inning of games this season, and 100 runs in the first three innings this season. When scoring in the first inning, the Irish are 12-2 this season and when scoring the first run of the game Notre Dame is 19-2 on the season.
Any Means Necessary
Offensive stand out 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 .527 on-base percentage this season. She owns a .422 batting average, drawn nine walks and has been hit by 11 pitches. The 11 hit by pitches in 29 games ranks 10th nationally in HBP per game. Her .767 slugging percentage is second-highest among the Notre Dame regulars.
Starting Hot
The Irish were 16-4 through the first 20 games this season. Its 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. The first ACC series of the 2016 season was in Charlottesville as the Iris took the three games by a combined score of 32-7.
Lineup Shuffle
In the final game of the Liberty Invite, the Irish flipped the first and third hitters of the first 18 games of the season. Abby Sweet moved to the 3-spot in the order, and Leea Hanks moved to the lead-off role. Since the switch, Sweet is hitting for a .419 average with two doubles, two home runs and seven RBI and seven stolen bases. Hanks owns a .343 average, with 12 hits, three doubles, three triples, a homer, and scored 10 times. Sweet has crossed the plate 13 times. The player who has improved the most since shuffling Sweet and Hanks is the clean-up hitter, Karina Gaskins. Gaskins is hitting a scorching .667 in the 10 games with Hanks leading off, hitting three doubles, five home runs and driving in 17.
Working in TRANsistion
Emily Tran has appeared in 19 games this season, all of which have come as a pinch runner. In that role, she’s scored eight times, and is 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts. She’s the primary speedster off the bench for the Irish.
An Extra Run
After averaging five runs per game in 2021, the Irish offense has upped that number to 6.44 per game this season. Abby Sweet has scored 33 runs this season, ranking 23rd nationally in runs scored per game.
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 in LSU and Texas.
Against LSU, the Irish rallied late, using a fifth inning home run from Payton Tidd to tie it, and Miranda Johnson drove in the game-winning runs in the seventh. Tidd shut the door as the Irish earned the 8-6 win.
Notre Dame followed that with a 9-2 win over then No. 9-Texas. A 7-run fifth inning paved the way for the first win over a top 10-nationally ranked opponent since beating No. 3 Florida State in Tallahassee in 2019.
The Irish added a top 10 win after knocking off No. 7 Duke at home. Notre Dame used a 3-for-3, 4 RBI performance from Karina Gaskins and got a dominant start from Payton Tidd. Tidd worked 7.0 innings and allowed just one hit in the 8-1 victory.
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.