SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame softball team concludes regular season play this weekend at Melissa Cook Stadium. The 20th-ranked Fighting Irish will host the Louisville Cardinals in a three-game series Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with first pitch times set for 5 p.m., 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively. Friday and Sunday’s matchups will be on the ACC Network. This weekend will be senior weekend as the Irish will be honoring Sarah Genz, Quinn Biggio, Shelby Grimm, Payton Tidd, Emma Clark, Alexis Holloway and Abby Sweet.
The Irish will be back in action for the first time since defeating Toledo 8-0 in five innings last Tuesday. After taking a weekend off of the diamond, the Irish and Cardinals will resume the series that Notre Dame leads 23-17. In South Bend, Notre Dame holds a slim advantage of 9-8, falling 5-3 in the last contest at home. The Irish are 36-9 in 2022 and 13-5 in league play. Notre Dame is currently seeded fourth for the conference tournament next week in Pittsburgh and could move up to third with a sweep of the Cardinals and would need NC State to take at least one game from the visiting Florida State Seminoles.
Fans attending the softball game on Saturday will park in the Innovation Park lot for no charge located on East Angela Boulevard across from Melissa Cook Stadium.
Notre Dame’s offense is led by sophomore first baseman Karina Gaskins. Gaskins leads the ACC with a .442 average, hitting 11 doubles, 11 home runs and driving in a conference-best 55 runs. Freshman Jane Kronenberger worked her way into the starting lineup and is hitting at a .400 average, playing in 32 games, making 22 starts. She’s third on the team with 27 RBI, hitting nine doubles and three home runs. The outfield trio of Abby Sweet, Emma Clark and Leea Hanks are all hitting .371 or above, and combined have 11 home runs, nine triples, 31 doubles, 42 stolen bases and have scored 140 runs.
The trio of Holloway, Tidd and Shannon Becker have thrown all the innings for the Irish this season. Becker owns the lowest ERA at 1.67, having thrown the least innings at 75.1. Tidd has worked as the series opener as of late and thrown in several big spots throughout the year. She owns a 2.58 ERA and a team-best 14 wins, eight complete games and 119.1 innings of work. Holloway has thrown two no-hitters on the year, while earning a 2.92 ERA and 13 wins. She’s started a team-high 18 games while throwing 103.0 innings. Combined the trio have held opponents to a .228 average against.
Louisville enters the weekend at 27-21 and 10-11 in ACC play. The Cardinals are slated as the seventh seed, but could move up to tie Virginia if they take three from the Irish this weekend. UL has won three of its last four, taking the series from Virginia and defeating UIC Wednesday.
The Cardinal offense is led by graduate student Carmyn Greenwood. The outfielder is hitting for a .417 average playing in all 48 games this season. She leads the Cardinals with 17 doubles, seven triples, 14 homers and driving in 52. Kendall Smith, Korbe Otis and Vanessa Miller are all hitting over the .300 line. Smith has hit nine home runs and driven in 39 on the season. Otis and Miller each have five home runs on the year. Otis with 30 RBI, Miller adds 16.
In the circle, redshirt senior Taylor Roby has been Louisville’s ace. The Mt. Washington, Kentucky product has started 26 games, appearing in 39 total. She’s thrown 157.1 innings, striking out 107 hitters and holds opponents to a .268 average against. Chardonnay Harris adds the majority of the rest of the starts at 14 and appearing in 23 games. She’s earned a 6-6 record and a 5.25 ERA in 57.1 innings. She’s struck out 38 hitters and opponents hit .282 against her. As a staff, the six Cardinals who have seen time in the circle allow opponents to hit at a .281 clip, and the staff ERA sits at 4.22.