NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Notre Dame (31-13, 20-10 ACC) will open the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the Lexington Regional, the program’s 22nd-straight selection to the tournament, and will join No. 14 overall Kentucky, Miami (OH) and Northwestern from May 21-23 at John Cropp Stadium.
Notre Dame owns 36 all-time wins during the NCAA Championship tournament, and is one of just eight teams nationally to hear its name called for the tournament each season since 1999. Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Michigan, Oklahoma, UCLA and Washington were the only other teams a part of this exclusive list entering the 2020-21 season.
Entering this season, in the history of the NCAA Championship (dating back to the inaugural tournament in 1982), Notre Dame was one of just 25 teams nationally to appear in 20 or more NCAA tournaments. The Irish have reached a regional final 10 times under Gumpf since she assumed the helm of the Notre Dame program in 2002.
THE DETAILS
Location: John Cropp Stadium (Lexington, Kentucky)
Games:
- Friday, May 21, 2:30 p.m. ET: vs. Miami (OH)
- Following games TBD
Live stats: https://www.statbroadcast.com/ncaa/
BY THE NUMBERS
1: OF Abby Sweet is one of the nation’s best at the plate, ranking among the top not only in the ACC, but across Division I softball. Sweet’s .463 avg. leads the ACC and ranks 12th in the nation, while her 62 total hits are tied for second in the ACC. Sweet boasts 16 doubles on the season, which leads the conference and ranks T-14th in the nation. She leads the conference in on-base percentage (0.556 – 15th nationally), is the second-toughest player to strike out in the ACC (16.8 at-bats per strikeout) and ranks third in slugging percentage (0.739), T-fifth in total bases (99) and second in runs-per-game (0.93).
1/8: Notre Dame has reached the NCAA Championship in each of the past 22 seasons in which the tournament has been contested, one of just eight teams nationally to hear its name called each season since 1999. Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Michigan, Oklahoma, UCLA and Washington are the only other teams a part of this exclusive list.
2: Notre Dame pitchers have totaled two combined no-hitters so far this season. In both the games against Alabama State (Feb. 14) and Valparaiso (March 24), Ps Alexis Holloway, Morgan Ryan and Payton Tidd all pitched to keep both teams hitless and scoreless.
2: The Irish boast two of the ACC’s Top 5 individual batters. OF Abby Sweet (.463) ranks first, and OF Emma Clark is fifth (.406).
2: For the first time in program history, the Irish have two graduate students on the roster. IF Katie Marino and IF Chelsea Purcell each took advantage of the NCAA’s extra year afforded to student-athletes in 2020.
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. All three captains also announced their decisions to return for a fifth year as graduate students, thanks to the NCAA’s extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19.
4: The Irish swept four (of eight) ACC series this season, winning all games against NC State, Virginia, No. 15/13 Virginia Tech and Boston College.
4: OF Abby Sweet was hit by four pitches in the second game of the doubleheader vs. NC State, totaling six HBP on the day (two from the first game). The four HBP tied for the most in a single game taken by any Division I player in NCAA history, and are the single-most this season. She ranks second in the ACC and 11th in the nation in HBP per game (0.41).
5: Notre Dame ranks in the ACC’s Top 5 in team batting average and pitching. The Irish lead the conference with a collective .305 batting avg., while they rank fifth in the conference with a 2.28 ERA.
6-8: Notre Dame is 6-8 this season against teams who are currently ranked. All of those games have been played at away or neutral locations. The Irish were the first team to hand Duke a loss in 2021 (Feb. 20), the only loss on Duke’s record until March 27, and then took a game from Liberty at Liberty’s home field. The Irish swept then-No. 15/13 Virginia Tech in four games at Virginia Tech’s home park. Through this point in the season, Notre Dame has faced five teams that are now ranked (Alabama, Duke, Liberty, Florida State and Virginia Tech).
7: Notre Dame student-athletes earned seven total All-ACC selections, as OF Abby Sweet made the first team, OF Emma Clark and DP Karina Gaskins were selected to the second team and 2B Katie Marino, P Alexis Holloway and P Payton Tidd were voted to the third team. Gaskins was also named to the All-Freshman team.
9: The ACC’s top batter, OF Abby Sweet has led the conference in batting average since March 13, 2021 (nine-straight weeks).
10: The Irish have reached a regional final 10 times under head coach Deanna Gumpf since she assumed the helm of the Notre Dame program in 2002.
11: The Irish own 11 wins over the RPI Top 75 this season, including victories over Duke, Liberty, Virginia Tech, Villanova and Charlotte. Of those 11 wins, nine of them were on the road, including four in a four-game sweep at Virginia Tech.
13: Irish pitchers are dangerous in the batter’s box, totaling 13 extra-base hits on the season. P Payton Tidd has hit eight extra-base balls this season, with five doubles and three home runs, accumulating 10 RBI on 12 total hits. She was named Honorable Mention for the Nation’s Best Hitting Pitchers by Justin’s World of Softball. P Alexis Holloway has also made a significant mark at the plate, hitting two doubles and three home runs, totaling 13 hits and 10 RBI on the season.
14: Notre Dame owned an 14-game win streak to end the regular season, following three-consecutive series sweeps of Virginia, No. 15/13 Virginia Tech and Boston College.
17-11: Notre Dame was 9-9 against the NCAA RPI Top 25 as of May 9, which included a win against No. 16 Duke (Feb. 20) and a four-game sweep of No. 21 Virginia Tech (April 23-25). Notre Dame added an 8-2 mark against the RPI Top 51-100 to fashion a 17-11 mark against the current RPI Top-100 as of May 13. That mark bested the winning percentages of No. 6 LSU, No. 12 Missouri, No. 15 Oregon, No. 17 Kentucky, No. 18 Liberty and No. 19 Georgia.
19: The Irish went undefeated at home in 2021 (15-0), continuing a 19-game home win streak that began with a four-game win streak to end the 2019 home slate, as the Irish did not play a home game in 2020. The streak began with an April 13, 2019 win over NC State and extends to the present. 10 of those 14 wins came as part of three ACC series sweeps: vs. NC State (March 24-26), vs. Virginia (April 16-18) and vs. Boston College (May 7-8).
25: On April 23, OF Abby Sweet was named one of 25 finalists for USA Softball’s Collegiate Player of the Year Award, which is considered the most prestigious honor in Division I women’s collegiate softball. Sweet is the third player in Irish history to be selected as a Top 25 Finalist for the award, joining Emilee Koerner (2013) and Karley Wester (2015 & 2016).
88: IF Chelsea Purcell, currently in her fifth season (graduate student), leads the team in defensive assists with 88. Seeing action at shortstop and third base, she has made a significant impact in the infield, including a showstopping defensive performance at No. 15/13 Virginia Tech.