Feb. 20, 2007
Complete Softball Release of Weekly Notes
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A Recap of the Tiger Invitational:
Notre Dame opened its 2007 season at the Tiger Invitational hosted by Auburn from Feb. 16-18. Notre Dame started the tournament with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over host school Auburn. Sophomore Erin Glasco came through with a single down the right field line to drive in freshman Ashley Ellis from third for the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Irish then fell to UAB 8-0 in a five inning run-shortened game. Another memorable Irish victory would follow, as once again Notre Dame came from behind in the bottom of the seventh inning. Freshman Heather Johnson would be that game’s hero with a two-run home run that propelled Notre Dame to a 6-5 victory over Tennessee Tech. Softball would complete its weekend by dropping its final two games to Tulsa (4-2) and Virginia Tech (2-0). Johnson for her great play would be awarded a spot on the Tiger Invitational All-Tournament team after hitting .500 (8-for-16) in the five games.
Nice Start by the Rookie:
Heather Johnson made an immediate impact in her first week in the Irish lineup. Not only did the Los Alamitos, Calif. native start all five games at third base, she also had the most hits of any player in the Tiger Invitational Tournament, with eight, on her way to hitting .500 with a home run and four RBI. Johnson tallied multi-hit performances in three of the five games.
A Solid First Week:
Brittney Bargar also had a solid first week for Notre Dame in the circle. She won both of Notre Dame’s games while pitching three complete games. For week, Bargar was 2-1 with 24 strikeouts in 20.1 innings pitched. The sophomore also showed impeccable control with only two walks (one intentional) on the week.
A Few Early Trends:
• Notre Dame continues to fight to the last out having won a pair of games in the bottom of the seventh inning.
• The Irish are 0-2 against left-handed starting pitching this season.
• Notre Dame is 1-0 when it hits multiple home runs and 1-3 when it does not.
A Pair Honored on the BIG EAST Honor Roll:
Notre Dame had a pair of players honored on the BIG EAST honor roll following the first two weekends of action around the conference, in sophomore pitcher Brittney Bargar and freshman third baseman Heather Johnson.
Conference Leaders:
After the first week of action freshman Heather Johnson leads the conference in three offensive categories with her .500 batting average, .750 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage. Johnson is tied for the fourth in the league in total bases (12) and fifth in total hits (8) and RBI (4). Sophomore Erin Glasco is currently fourth in the league in walks (4).
Sophomore hurler Brittney Bargar is tied for second in the conference in strikeouts (24) and third in league in innings pitched (20.1) and wins (2).
On Tap This Week:
Notre Dame will continue to travel again this week with the first of its two trips to California. The Irish will participate in the Palm Springs Classic for the third time. The tournament will be played at the Field of Dreams Complex in Cathedral City, Calif. on one of five fields (Wrigley Field, Yankee Field, Fenway Field, Des Moines Field, and Pawtucket Field). Twenty-four teams are invited to the tournament with Notre Dame scheduled to play games against No. 12/10 Oklahoma (Feb. 23), No. 11/17 California (Feb. 23), UNLV (Feb. 24), Cal State Fullerton (Feb. 24) and Ole Miss (Feb. 25). Since the games will not be played on a campus site none of the games will have the ability to have GameTracker run for them.
Keeping up with the Irish:
Notre Dame’s softball family and friend can keep up with the Irish one of six ways this season. First, the Notre Dame hotline (1-574-631-3000) will be updated as soon as possible following each game. Two, a game recap will be posted on Notre Dame website (www.und.com) following each contest. Three, a text alert will be send out to those fans that wish to sign-up for the Irish text alerts on the Notre Dame website. Four, live audio broadcasts will be available for Irish home games. Fifth, Notre Dame will run GameTracker for selected road games (depending on the host institution) and all homes games at Ivy Field through its athletic website. And sixth, Notre Dame softball will have a weekly notes package that will be put out by Wednesday’s of most weeks.
Overview of the Irish:
The Irish returns six position starters, three pitchers and 13 monogram winners from a season ago. Notre Dame has also added three newcomers to the mix in a quest for their ninth consecutive NCAA bid.
Sophomore Brittney Bargar, after a solid freshman season, will be counted upon heavily this season to lead the pitchers. Bargar won 15 games as a freshman, while averaging better than seven strikeouts per game. Also in the rotation this season is senior Kenya Fuemmeler (1-0, 1.64 ERA), who making the transition from the bullpen. Sophomore Christine Farrell, after missing all of last season with injuries, is making her debut in the circle for the Irish this season. Farrell will take on the role of a later inning specialist.
The infield will be have senior Carissa Jaquish (.219, 61 H, 30 RBI) and freshman Christine Lux vying for playing time at first base. Linda Kohan (.275, 49 H, 29 RBI) will move over to second base after spending time at third and first as a freshman. All-BIG EAST second team selection Katie Laing (.294, 110 H, 57 RBI) moves from second to her natural position of shortstop. Newcomer Heather Johnson will be the opening day third baseman.
The lone returning starter in the outfield is centerfielder Stephanie Brown (.343, 210 H, 42 SB). Brown was a unanimous all-BIG EAST first team selection and a second team NFCA All-American selection as a junior. Five other players will be in consideration for playing time to each side of Brown. Juniors Brittany Glynn (.200, 14 R) and Sarah Smith (.250, 32 R, 6 SB), sophomores Stephanie Mola (15 H, 3 RBI) and Beth Northway (.667, 4 SB) are joined by freshman Ashley Ellis and will all be pushing each other this year.
Senior Gessica Hufnagle (31 R, 40 H, 30 RBI) and sophomore Erin Glasco (30 H, 6 2B, 14 RBI) will split time at both catcher and as the designated player.
Notre Dame in early season tournaments:
Notre Dame began what is now the collegiate softball tradition of early-season tournament action in 1990 when it took part in a Chicago, Ill., tournament. Since that trip, Notre Dame has visited 32 different areas of the country and participated in several elite tournaments. Notre Dame’s all-time record in early-season tournament action is 183-132 (.580) and its most frequent sites visited have been South Florida (seven times), Columbus, Ga. (six times) and Cal State Fullerton (five times). This season, Notre Dame will visit Auburn, Ala. (first time), Palm Springs, Calif. (third time), Jacksonville, Fla. (first time), Long Beach, Calif. (first time) and Cal State Fullerton once again.
Scouting Oklahoma:
The No. 12/10 Sooners (10-0) are off to a fast start outscoring their opponents 92-16, and have won two preseason tournament titles already this season. OU has tallied 13 home runs this season. Senior Norrelle Dickson has been the catalyst at the top of the lineup with 15 runs, 13 hits, eight walks and seven RBI. Freshman Amber Flores is the team leader with 13 RBI. Junior Lauren Eckermann has won her first six games this season. Oklahoma will take on Tulsa on Tuesday, Feb. 20 before heading to the Palm Springs Tournament.
Series vs. Oklahoma:
This is the sixth meeting between these two schools with Oklahoma holding a slight 3-2 edge. In the last meeting between the schools the Sooners, who were ranked No.4, defeated the Irish 3-2 in the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga. in 2002.
Scouting California:
The No. 11/17 Golden Bears (6-4), after dropping three in a row to start the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic, won their last two games over Utah State and Florida International on the final day. Cal is led by slugging third baseman Katie Vickers. Vickers leads the team in most offensive categories including hits (10), RBI (10), batting average (.385) and slugging percentage (.462). The Golden Bears have already had three different pitchers start games for them this season. Leading the group is junior Lauren Frankiewicz with her 25 strikeouts and 1.69 ERA.
Series vs. California:
The Golden Bears lead the all-time series 3-0. Cal, then ranked No. 2, just nipped Notre Dame in the last meeting between the schools, 2-1, at the Palm Spring Classic (Palm Springs, Calif.) in 2004. Cal has been ranked among the top-14 in every match up against Notre Dame.
Scouting UNLV:
The Running Rebels (9-3) hosted the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic over the weekend. UNLV went 4-3 in tournament play with all three losses coming at the hands of ranked opponents. Sophomore Kendall Fearn has led the Rebels offense. Fearn is the team leader in hits (13), home runs (3), total bases (25) and RBI (10). UNLV also has used multiple starting pitchers. Sophomore Christi Robinson has a team-high four wins and an ERA of 2.70 this season.
Series vs. UNLV:
Notre Dame leads the all-time series 2-1 and won last year’s game against the Rebels 6-4 in the UNLV Desert Classic (Las Vegas, Nev.)
Scouting Cal State Fullerton:
The Titans (5-5) won three games over the weekend at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic. Junior Jessica Doucette was named the Big West Conference’s Player of the Week after .562 with a hit in all seven games of the tournament. Kiki Munoz is the current team leader with 15 hits. Senior Candice Barker is the staff ace with three wins, five complete games and 53 strikeouts in 36 innings from the circle.
Series vs. Cal State Fullerton:
The Titans hold a 4-2 edge over the Irish. These two teams locked up last season in the first game of the Judi Garman Classic with Cal State Fullerton escaping with a 3-2 win.
Scouting Ole Miss:
The Rebels (3-7) played in the Ragin’ Cajun Invitational last weekend and went 2-3 with all three losses coming to teams ranked in the top 25. Ole Miss depends heavily on the hitting and pitching of lefty Mary Jane Callahan. Callahan leads the team in batting average (.320) and is among the team leaders in hits (8), doubles (2) and RBI (5). The senior has also been the team best pitcher with three complete games, an ERA of 1.06 and 21 strikeouts.
Series vs. Ole Miss:
This is the first time these two schools have played against each other.
Preseason Choice for Third in the BIG EAST:
The Irish were selected to finish third in the BIG EAST Conference for the 2007 season, in a vote by the leagues coaches, The Irish received a first-place vote and totaled 104 points to finish behind front-runner Louisville and South Florida. Notre Dame along with Louisville and USF were all selected for the 2006 NCAA Softball Championships.
Irish Captains:
Notre Dame will feature three captains this season for only the third time. The Irish captains will be seniors Stephanie Brown and Kenya Fuemmeler and junior Katie Laing. The only other Notre Dame teams to have a trio of captains are the 2003 squad (Alexis Madrid, Andria Bledsoe and Andrea Loman) and the 2002 team (Kas Hoag, Jenny Kriech and Jarrah Myers).
Season Schedule will be a Challenge:
The 2007 season will prove to be a challenge for the Irish, as the team will face several teams ranked in the top 25, or just out of the national rankings.
According to the preseason rankings, the Irish will face (NFCA rankings first, followed by USA Softball) No. 3/3 UCLA, No. 4/4 Northwestern, No.5/5 Northwestern, No. 10/10 California, No. 11/13 Michigan, No. 16/16 Oklahoma, N. 19/17 Louisiana-Lafayette, No. 20/21 Louisville, No. 21/20 Fresno State, No. 22/23 South Florida, No. 24/RV Auburn, In addition, Notre Dame will face Call State Fullerton, DePaul and Virginia Tech- all teams who received at least one vote in the preseason national rankings.
The Irish defeated two ranked teams during the 2006 season (No. 10 Arizona State and No. 18 Louisville) and have totaled 15 ranked team victories during Gumpf’s tenure.
Coaches Return:
Notre Dame will bring back its entire coaching staff from the 2006 season in head coach Deanna Gumpf, assistant coaches Kris Ganeff and Lizzy Lemire and volunteer assistant coach Dawn Austin.
Gumpf In Her Sixth Season:
Notre Dame head coach Deanna Gumpf is in her sixth season at the helm of the Notre Dame softball program. The Irish coach is 221-93 in her first five seasons and has taken the Irish to five consecutive NCAA postseason berths.
Gumpf won her 200th career game in Notre Dame’s 14-4 victory over Pittsburgh on April 9 of the 2006 season.
At the start of the season, Gumpf career’s record of 219-90 (.708) was a single percentage better than former Irish head coach Liz Miller 377-156 (.707). She is also ahead of the first ever softball coach at Notre Dame, Brian Boulac 135-90-2 (.597).
A Generous Donation:
Notre Dame softball’s bid for a new facility took a huge step forward this offseason thanks to the generous donation by Linda and Paul Demo. The Demo’s pledged three million dollars for the building of the Melissa Cook Stadium. Cook, a former Irish softball player, was one of four people that were killed in March 2002 when a massive section of scaffolding fell from the John Hancock Center onto her car in downtown Chicago. The families of those who died and were injured reached a settlement in early 2006 with the skyscrapers owners and other companies named in the lawsuit. The Demo’s, the mother and stepfather of Melissa Cook, devoted much of their portion of the settlement to Notre Dame for the upcoming $4.8 million facility. The stadium will be built on the southeast corner of the Notre Dame campus near Eck Baseball Stadium and will hold 1,500 Irish softball fans.
Milestones on the Horizon:
• Senior Stephanie Brown, after the first week of the 2007 season, is tied for seventh (129) in runs scored all-time at Notre Dame with Melanie Alkire. Brown is also 10th on the all-time hits list with 214, only four behind Jenn Giampaolo for ninth. Further, Brown is eighth on the all-time home runs list (18) only three behind Mallorie Lenn for seventh. Brown is also among the all-time leaders in walks (59-seventh) and stolen bases (43-tied for sixth).
• Junior Katie Laing is only four behind the top-10 with her 34 career doubles.
Up Next-Florida Here We Come:
The Irish continue their avoidance of the Midwest winters and make a trip to the Jacksonville Tournament in Jacksonville, Fla. to play against three different squads. Notre Dame will take on Virginia (March 2), Jacksonville (March 2 & 3) and No. 14/13 Michigan (March 3 & 4).