Dec. 13, 2006
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NOTRE DAME, Ind.- A 22-game home slate, three trips to California and appearances in Alabama and Florida highlight a very challenging 2007 Notre Dame softball schedule.
The Irish schedule features 15 teams that made the 2006 NCAA Division I Softball Championship (UCLA, South Florida, Michigan, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Tennessee Tech, Cal State Fullerton, Fresno State, Tulsa, Northwestern, Arizona State, California, Louisiana-Lafayette and Auburn), including six teams that advanced to the round of 16.
Notre Dame opens up 2007 play at the Tiger Invitational (Feb. 16-18) against host school Auburn on Feb. 16. The Tigers ended the 2006 season ranked No. 21 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s poll. The Irish also will play a second game that afternoon against Alabama-Birmingham. Notre Dame will face Tennessee Tech (Feb. 17) and Tulsa (Feb. 17) on day two of the tournament, before squaring off against Virginia Tech (Feb. 18) on the last day.
The first trip to California (Palm Springs Tournament) follows the next weekend, Feb. 23-25, highlighted by games against Oklahoma (Feb. 23), California (Feb. 23), UNLV (Feb. 24), Cal State Fullerton (Feb. 24) and Ole Miss (Feb. 25).
Notre Dame travels to Florida for the Jacksonville Tournament (March 2-4) to take on Virginia (March 2), Jacksonville (March 2 & 3) and Michigan (March 3 & 4).
The next two weekends are the final two California trips, as the Irish participate in the Long Beach Invitational and the Judi Garman Classic. Among the teams on the docket are Eastern Kentucky (March 11), UCLA (March 11), Arizona State (March 15), Fresno State (March 16) and Louisiana-Lafayette (March 16).
Notre Dame will open the home portion of its schedule with a conference doubleheader against St. John’s on March 24 at Ivy Field. Fellow BIG EAST rival Seton Hall comes in the following day, March 25, for a pair of games. The home schedule continues with a game against Toledo on March 28 and a conference doubleheader against Pittsburgh on March 31.
The Irish play 21 games in April, including 15 home games. Among the teams coming for a visit are BIG EAST rivals Syracuse (April 1), Louisville (April 21) and South Florida (April 22). Notre Dame also has three conference road doubleheaders during the month against DePaul (April 5), Providence (April 14) and Connecticut (April 15). The Irish finish the month with a single game against NCAA College World Series participant Northwestern (April 24) and UIC (April 25).
Notre Dame closes out the regular season with three road doubleheaders, including two conference matchups. The Irish travel to Loyola Chicago on May 1, before taking on BIG EAST rivals Rutgers (May 5) and Villanova (May 6).
The BIG EAST Softball Championship, hosted by Notre Dame, begins on May 10 with the winner receiving the conference’s automatic bid into the 2007 NCAA Softball Championship. The first round of the NCAA Regional starts on May 18.
“I wanted to the start the year off as challenging as possible,” head softball coach Deanna Gumpf explains. “I’m a big believer in playing against the best competition and looking at this year’s schedule, I think we are certainly reaching that goal. Nine of our first 18 games are being played against teams that were ranked in the top-25. We are going to get a good idea of what type of team we have very quickly. Our team welcomes the type of challenge this schedule presents. We know to be there at the end of the NCAA Softball Championships, we need to take these steps in the process and learn how to beat these types of teams.”
The Fighting Irish are coming off a season in which the team finished 42-21 and had a 17-5 record in BIG EAST regular season play. The team took home the BIG EAST Tournament title for the fifth time and made an NCAA Regional appearance for the eighth consecutive season and 11th time overall. The two top returners for Notre Dame this season are senior outfielder Stephanie Brown (Chandler, Ariz./Corona del Sol) and junior infielder Katie Laing (Chandler, Ariz./Corona del Sol). Brown, after setting a BIG EAST record for hits in a single season with 38, was a unanimous all-BIG EAST first team selection, while Laing was a second team choice.