Gaskins Ties Program Record for Single-Game Home Runs With Three, Irish Split Day Two with Georgia Tech
ATLANTA, Ga. — Notre Dame split the doubleheader with Georgia Tech Saturday, dropping a narrow 8-7 loss prior to exploding in a 9-1 (5) victory over the Yellow Jackets.
Freshman Karina Gaskins was the player of the day for the Irish, as she compiled four home runs over the two games, including three in the 9-1 win in Game Two. All four home runs came on consecutive at-bats, starting with her last at-bat in Game One and extending to each of her three at-bats in Game Two.
Gaskins’ three home runs in the 9-1 win tied a program record for single-game home runs, as she joined Meagan Ruthrauff, who also hit three home runs vs. Pittsburgh (April 9, 2006). Entering this weekend, no NCAA Division I player had hit more home runs in a single game this season than three.
On the day, Gaskins totaled four home runs and 10 RBI with a 1.000 avg., while up to this point in the season, she had totaled three home runs and 10 RBI, doubling (or more) those season totals Saturday alone.
In all, the Irish homered five times in the 9-1 win, with senior Abby Sweet and sophomore Leea Hanks also contributing shots. The last time a Notre Dame team compiled five home runs was April 3, 2015 at Pittsburgh (5).
With six home runs over the two games Saturday, it marks the second doubleheader in a row in which the Irish have hit six home runs, achieving the feat last week in the doubleheader at North Carolina.
Junior Payton Tidd pitched the complete five innings for the Irish in the win, improving to a 6-4 record. Tidd allowed one run and issued two walks, striking out three.
In the first game, several Irish comebacks fell just short for an 8-7 loss. Senior Morgan Ryan (0-1) owned the loss in the circle for the first game (2.1 IP), as senior Alexis Holloway started the game and pitched 3.2 innings.
Game One
Sweet led off with a single, as junior Emma Clark singled (bunt) to follow. Graduate student Katie Marino drew a HBP to load the bases, and Gaskins was also issued a HBP to walk in a score. The Irish were unable to score more, and left two on base. In the home half of the first, Notre Dame held Georgia Tech scoreless with two left on base.
Both teams went without a run in the second, and in the third, the Irish added to their lead. Clark led off with a single, stealing second on Marino’s at-bat. Marino singled, and reached second on a chase down, while Clark went to third. Clark sped home on a passed ball, and Gaskins delivered a sac fly to also score Marino. Georgia Tech pieced together a run on an RBI single, and with one out and bases loaded, sophomore Brooke Marquez snagged a popup and Holloway earned a strikeout to limit the scoring.
With a 3-1 advantage, Notre Dame was unable to add more in the fourth. A series of Georgia Tech singles, combined with an Irish error, allowed the Yellow Jackets to keep the line moving and push four runs across to take a 5-3 lead.
Clark led off the Irish fifth with another single, and Marino followed with a double to score Clark. Gaskins walked, with junior Shelby Grimm entering to pinch run. Hanks followed with a bunt single, advancing to second on the throw, as Grimm got to third and Marino scored on a Georgia Tech throwing error to tie it up, 5-5.
In the bottom half, another Yellow Jacket RBI single took over the lead again, and the Irish did not answer in the sixth. Georgia Tech added two insurance runs in the sixth on a two-run homer.
Entering the seventh, Marino walked and took second on a wild pitch, before Gaskins sent her first home run of the day out of the part to decrease the Tech lead to one. The Irish were unable to add more, and fell to Georgia Tech, 8-7.
Game Two
The Irish came out hot, as after a Sweet popup, Clark singled to reach base, and later, Gaskins fired a home run on the first pitch she saw, scoring two. Holding Georgia Tech scoreless in the first, the Irish entered the second up 2-0.
Sophomore Miranda Johnson flew out to lead off the second, but graduate student Chelsea Purcell drew the walk and took second on a passed ball. She advanced to third on a Marquez groundout. Sweet came back up to bat and sent a two-run homer outside the walls to put the Irish up 4-0. It marked Sweet’s fourth homer of the season.
Clark drew a walk, and as Marino singled, Clark took third, while Marino advanced to second on the throw. For her third-straight at-bat, Gaskins went yard to put the Irish up 7-0, and the Yellow Jackets were again unable to respond in the second.
Notre Dame was unable to add to the lead in the third, but Georgia Tech delivered an RBI single to get on the board. It would ultimately be the only run Tidd allowed on the day.
Both teams went scoreless in the fourth, as Tidd sent the Jackets down in order, thanks to two groundouts and a strikeout.
Gaskins led off the fifth with her fourth-straight home run, her third of the game, to make it 8-1 Irish. After Tidd popped up, Hanks delivered a home run of her own for Notre Dame’s fifth of the game, upping the score to 9-1. It marked Hanks’ first home run of the season and second of her career.
In the bottom of the fifth, Georgia Tech doubled to reach base, but Tidd and the Irish made quick work and preserved the five-inning run-rule victory at 9-1.
Up Next
Both teams return to the field Sunday for a Noon ET game to decide the series. Notre Dame leads, 2-1. Broadcast coverage will be available on ACC Network Extra.