LEESBURG, Fla. – The University of Notre Dame softball team continued to stack wins in the sunshine state Saturday afternoon. The Irish took on Princeton and Florida Gulf Coast in a split doubleheader, winning 8-1 and 2-1, respectively. Irish pitching continued its strong showings this weekend as Shannon Becker and Alexis Holloway each threw complete games. The Irish improve to 11-3 on the season, while Princeton falls to 1-4 and FGCU, 7-7.
Shannon Becker started in the circle against the Tigers, throwing her first 7.0 inning complete game. She set a new career-best with nine strikeouts as she scattered eight hits. After giving up a run in the first inning, Becker retired 15 of the next 16 hitters she faced as the Irish offense continued to tack on insurance runs.
Abby Sweet led the offense in game one, finishing 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Cassidy Grimm and Carlli Kloss each added a pair of hits. Emma Clark led the team with three RBI with a double and a run scored.
Alexis Holloway started in the circle against Florida Gulf Coast. The graduate student worked the complete game, striking out a season-best eight hitters to improve to 4-1.
At the plate, the Irish knocked out eight hits led by a 2-for-3 effort from Karina Gaskins. Sweet, Clark, Leea Hanks, Joley Mitchell, Sarah Genz and Anna Holloway all recorded a hit in the contest. Mitchell connected on her second home run of the season that put the Irish up 2-1 in the sixth.
In game one, Princeton got on the board in their first at bat. A lead-off single and an error put runners on for the designated player who singled to right to bring in a run and take the early 1-0 lead.
The Irish answered the next half inning, scoring three runs. Grimm led off with a single to left, followed with a Kloss single. Sweet loaded the bases dropping another single to left before Clark did the damage. She drove a double to right to score two, and Hanks brought in the third run with a sacrifice fly to center field.
Notre Dame tacked on insurance runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Sweet led off the fourth with a triple and scored on a Clark ground ball to the right side. The fifth saw Quinn Biggio draw a walk where she was pinch ran for by Emily Tran. Tran swiped second, moved up on a grounder and scored on a pinch-hit single from Genz to extend the lead to 5-1.
The Irish broke the game open in the top of the sixth, scoring three runs on three hits to take the 8-1 lead.
Princeton attempted a two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases with three-straight singles, but Becker picked up her eighth strikeout of the afternoon to get out of the jam.
In the nightcap, it was the Eagles that got on the board first. In their first turn at the dish, FGCU got a lead-off infield single and a stolen base moved her into scoring position. A single to center put runners on the corners and a ground out to the right side brought in the first run of the game.
After three innings of scoreless play, Notre Dame got on the board in the top of the fifth. With two outs, Hanks drove a pitch to right field where it was mishandled by the running outfielder, allowing her to take third. Gaskins dropped in a single down the right field line to tie the game at one.
The Irish took the lead in the top of the sixth as Mitchell led off and hit a home run to put Notre Dame up 2-1.
FGCU threatened in their final at bat, putting the tying run on second base, but Holloway locked down the rally with a strikeout and a ground ball to secure the Notre Dame victory.
Up Next
The Irish are back in action tomorrow morning as they close out THE Spring games with a matchup with Florida Gulf Coast at 9:30 a.m.