SOUTH BEND, Ind. – After a pair of midweek games could not be played due to inclement weather, the University of Notre Dame softball team is set to host the seventh-ranked Duke Blue Devils in a three-game series at Melissa Cook Stadium. The Irish have won their last six games, and are coming off of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series sweep of Pittsburgh.
Neither team competed during the week leading up to this weekend’s series. The Irish had two games scheduled, but inclement weather in the area led to the postponement of the game with UIC and the cancelation of the matchup with DePaul. Last time out, the Irish closed out an ACC sweep of the Pittsburgh Panthers in Pittsburgh. In the last two ACC series, the Irish have scheduled a doubleheader for Friday with a single game later during the weekend. In both doubleheaders, the team that won the first game, swept the twinbill with the Irish coming up on the short-end at Virginia.
Karina Gaskins leads the Irish offense as she was named NFCA National Player of the Week and ACC Player of the Week. She hit for a .750 average in five games, driving in at least one run and tallying at least in a hit in all five games. She recorded four multi-hit and four multi-RBI games in the perfect week.
Prior to the season, Duke was picked to finish fourth in the preseason poll, one spot ahead of the Irish and had a pair of Preseason All-ACC selections in Deja Davis and Jameson Kavel. Duke has come out strong, earning a 23-4 overall record and are 8-1 in ACC play this season. The Blue Devils have swept ACC series against Georgia Tech and NC State, and took two of three from the Clemson Tigers at home last weekend.
Offensively, the Blue Devils are the only team in the ACC who have a better team average than the Irish, hitting at .338. Eight Blue Devil regulars hit over the .320-mark, led by Kavel’s .407. The graduate outfielder leads the team with 19 extra-base hits, to go with eight home runs and 26 RBI. Kelly Torres is hitting double the Mendoza line at .404. She’s tallied four doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI in 25 games this season. Another Blue Devil who has come on strong is Kristina Foreman. The senior is tied with Kavel for the team-lead with eight home runs, while driving in 19. Ana Gold, a freshman infielder is hitting at a .354 average and leads the team with eight stolen bases.
In the circle, Peyton St. George has been among the nation’s best in 2022. In 18 appearances, she’s earned a 13-1 record with a 1.52 ERA. St. George has started 12 games, gone the distance eight times and picked up two saves. She’s thrown a team-best 78.1 innings, striking out 110 hitters and limits opponents to a .163 average against. Jala Wright has thrown in 12 games with eight starts, logging 42.0 innings. Wright has earned a 1.50 ERA, striking out 48 hitters and has allowed just five extra-base hits. As a staff, Duke has a 1.80 ERA as three other pitchers have combined for 46.1 innings all with a sub-three ERA. The trio of Shelby Walters, Claire Davidson and Lillie Walker have struck out 43 and held opponents to a .240 average against.
Dates with Duke
Notre Dame and Duke have met every season since the Blue Devils’ first softball season in 2018. In the 11 overall meetings, the Irish trail the series 5-6. In games at Melissa Cook Stadium, the Irish are 1-2, dropping the 2018 series. After falling in the first two games, the Irish took the series finale 9-5. 2019 saw a split of a two-game set at neutral sites, including an Irish win in the 2019 ACC Tournament. Notre Dame took the 2020 series in Durham, and dropped two of three games in Bull City a year ago.
Melissa Home Cooked
In the last four seasons, Notre Dame has gone a combined 29-2 at Melissa Cook Stadium, including a perfect 15-0 at home last season. In the Gumpf-era, the Irish are 288-63 when defending home turf and have won the last 21 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 .667 average with five home runs, 17 RBI and scored 11 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 34 runs in the first inning of games this season, and 94 runs in the first three innings this season. When scoring in the first inning, the Irish are 11-2 this season and when scoring the first run of the game Notre Dame is 18-2 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 .519 on-base percentage this season. She owns a .414 batting average, drawn eight walks and has been hit by 11 pitches. The 11 hit by pitches in 28 games ranks 10th nationally in HBP per game. Her .724 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 6.12 per game this season. Abby Sweet has scored 31 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.
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.