Oct. 7, 2007
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 2007 fall season for the University of Notre Dame softball team came to a close on Sunday with a 6-1 win over Loyola-Chicago. The victory came one week after the host Irish split four contests in the Worth Fall Classic at Ivy Field.
Pitchers Brittany Barger (Corona, Calif./Cornoa) and Christine Farrell (La Habra, Calif./Sonora) combined to limit the Ramblers to one run on four hits in the winning effort, while the Irish used four hits to manufacture their six scores. Freshman Katie Fleury (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitt) registered a trio of scores while senior Katie Laing (Chandler, Ariz./Corona del Sol) used her speed to swipe a pair of stolen bases.
“The fall is always a great time to get out and see what you have,” said head coach Deanna Gumpf. “I was excited to see the team do some things very well, and it was good to see them escape out of some pressure situations. They responded well do everything that was thrown their way, and they’re excited about getting things started in the spring.”
Last Friday, Notre Dame fell to Michigan, 7-2, before bouncing back one day later to topple Western Michigan by a count of 6-5. Sophomore Christine Lux (Glendale Heights, Ill./Glenbard West) went 2-for-4 against WMU to lead an Irish offense that rattled off eight hits.
A 3-0 loss to Nebraska was followed by a win over Illionis-Chicago. Freshman Sadie Pitzenberger (Tomball, Texas/Tomball) had a steady day at the dish with three hits while sophomore Heather Johnson (Los Alamitos, Calif./Mater Dei) and Laing contributed two knocks each. Notre Dame led 4-0 after the opening frame, and then closed the contest with a four-run fourth inning to go ahead by a final margin of 14-4.
Gumpf’s squad will now trek through Italy from Oct. 19-28, including stops in Rome, Florence and Venice. Upon leaving Venice, the team will travel to the town of Forli (near San Marino) where they will compete against a compilation of players from Italy’s professional softball league and members of the Italian national team.
The team opens the 2008 season against defending national champion Arizona on Feb. 15 at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz.
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