April 20, 2015
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — A dominant month at the plate by senior co-captain and two-time All-American Emilee Koerner has propelled the University of Notre Dame softball team into the upper echelon of the Atlantic Coast Conference. As Notre Dame’s current winning streak has continued to grow, so too has Koerner’s offensive output as an anchor of the Irish lineup.
The ACC took note of Koerner’s sterling performance over her past five games, selecting her as the ACC Player of the Week on Monday. Koerner is the second Notre Dame player to win the conference’s top weekly honor this season, joining classmate Katey Haus (Feb. 9, April 6), and has now been tabbed as either the ACC or BIG EAST Conference Player of the Week on five separate occasions during her career.Â
Koerner was Notre Dame’s leading offensive player during a 5-0 week that carried the team’s current winning streak to 23 games. She batted .688 (11-for-16) with three doubles, one home run, 11 RBI and eight runs scored in five starts against Bowling Green, Northwestern and Syracuse. She also slugged 1.062 and checked in with a .667 on-base percentage.
Koerner kicked the week into gear with a 2-for-4 day on Tuesday against Bowling Green, adding a double, two RBI and a run scored in a Notre Dame win. She contributed two hits, an RBI and one run to the Irish attack the following day in another nonconference win over Northwestern, clocking a game-winning walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Koerner turned up the jets during the weekend Strikeout Cancer series against Syracuse, going 2-for-2 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored in a game one win over the Orange. The Tustin, California native chipped in two hits to go along with a double, sacrifice fly RBI and two additional runs in the nightcap, scoring the winning Notre Dame run in the bottom of the sixth inning. It was a perfect batting effort for the Notre Dame senior co-captain on Sunday, as Koerner logged a 3-for-3 effort with a double, four RBI and two runs scored to help complete the sweep of Syracuse in five innings.
During Notre Dame’s current 23-game winning streak, Koerner is batting an impressive .559 with nine doubles, five home runs, 29 RBI and 32 runs scored while hitting second in the Irish order. She has added a team-high 14 multi-hit games over her last 23 starts.
Notre Dame is scheduled to host DePaul on Tuesday at 4 p.m. before welcoming Toledo on Wednesday at 5 p.m. (ET) for the final nonconference home games of the 2015 season at Melissa Cook Stadium.
For the latest news and updates on all things Notre Dame softball, visit www.und.com/softball, follow the Irish @NDsoftball and @NDcoachGumpf on Twitter and at Instagram.com/notredamesoftball, and Like the team at Facebook.com/NDSoftball.
2015 Notre Dame Softball Weekly Honorees
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Player of the Week
Emilee Koerner — April 20
Katey Haus — April 6 (Co)
Katey Haus — Feb. 9
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Pitcher of the Week
Rachel Nasland — March 30
Rachel Nasland — March 23
Rachel Nasland — March 16
Rachel Nasland — Feb. 24
–ND–