Feb. 24, 2015
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – A weekend full of career firsts in the circle for University of Notre Dame softball sophomore pitcher Rachel Nasland was capped by the Irish right-hander claiming her first Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Pitcher of the Week citation, the conference announced on Tuesday.
Nasland was the fifth different Irish player to be honored with a weekly award since Notre Dame joined the ACC in 2014, and the second this season after senior Katey Haus was chosen as the league’s top player on Feb. 9. Nasland was also the second Irish pitcher to be named as the conference’s top weekly performer, after then senior Laura Winter (’14) earned the nod as the ACC’s Pitcher of the Week on March 10, April 28 and May 5 of last season.
Nasland saw action in the circle during all five Notre Dame games at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic last weekend, posting a 2-1 record with a 1.69 ERA and one save over 20.2 innings pitched (three starts). Opposing hitters batted at a .178 clip against the sophomore right-hander during the weekend, while only one runner scored over Nasland’s final 15.2 innings that included outings against No. RV/25 Texas and No. 7/8 Georgia.
Nasland threw the first five innings of the opening tournament game against No. 13/10 Tennessee last Thursday, striking out a career-high 10 batters while walking only one Volunteer hitter. The San Diego, California native later threw the final 0.2 innings of an 8-6 victory over Maryland in the nightcap of Notre Dame’s first day at the Mary Nutter Classic.
The Notre Dame hurler clicked on all cylinders yet again versus UNLV on Friday, tossing her first career shutout by allowing three hits and one walk with three strikeouts in an 8-0 Notre Dame win in six innings.
Nasland won her second straight start in the first Irish Saturday contest against No. RV/25 Texas, yielding two hits and one earned run to the Longhorn order while adding four punch-outs over seven innings in a 5-1 complete game win. She later tossed the final two innings in relief against the top half of the potent No. 7/8 Georgia lineup Saturday night, blanking the Bulldogs on two hits with one strikeout to claim her first save of the season.
Nasland leads all Notre Dame pitchers in ERA (2.10), appearances (11), starts (7), complete games (3), strikeouts (43) and opposing batting average (.197) thus far in 2015.
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2015 Notre Dame Softball Weekly Honorees
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Player of the Week
Katey Haus – Feb. 9
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Pitcher of the Week
Rachel Nasland – Feb. 24
–ND–
— Tony Jones, Media Relations Assistant