April 13, 2015
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The longest homestand of the season for the University of Notre Dame softball team is set to begin this week, as the Irish open a 10-game slate at Melissa Cook Stadium to close the 2015 regular season. Notre Dame begins the home stretch with two midweek contests, welcoming Bowling Green on Tuesday at 6 p.m. (ET) and Northwestern on Wednesday at 6 p.m. to Melissa Cook Stadium.
Live stats will be available for both games via CBS Gametracker at UND.com. A live video feed will also be streaming for each contest through WatchND.
No. RV Notre Dame (32-11) returns home with an 18-game winning streak after sweeping Boston College 5-2, 8-5 and 10-2 last weekend in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play. The Irish winning surge is the longest for the program since winning 19 consecutive games during the 2005 season. Notre Dame has now won 13 straight games in conference play in the same calendar year for the first time since winning its first 16 games in BIG EAST Conference matchups in 2004.
In its first 11 games played at Melissa Cook Stadium this season, Notre Dame has batted at a combined .412 clip and outscored opponents 88-11. The Irish have played into the top of the seventh inning only five times during true home contests, winning nine games by five or more runs.
Seniors Katey Haus and Cassidy Whidden lead all Notre Dame players in home RBI, each driving in 16 runs over their first 11 starts in true home games. Whidden’s four home runs are the most among all Irish hitters, while Haus has added a pair of round-trippers in home starts. Senior co-captain Jenna Simon has the highest cumulative home batting average at .538 (14-for-26), while sophomore All-American and 2015 USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year Top 26 Finalist Karley Wester holds the team lead in hits (17), stolen bases (11) and runs scored (16) at Melissa Cook Stadium.
Notre Dame will attempt to extend its current 19-game home winning streak, which dates back to a 7-2 win over Valparaiso on April 24, 2014 at Melissa Cook Stadium. The Irish are also unbeaten in home nonconference games since April 2013 (11 straight wins).
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.
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No. RV Notre Dame vs. Bowling Green and No. RV Northwestern
April 14-15, 2015
Melissa Cook Stadium (1,250)
Notre Dame, Ind.
No. RV Notre Dame Fighting Irish
(32-11 in 2015)
Bowling Green Falcons
(13-19 in 2015)
No. RV Northwestern Wildcats
(20-14 in 2015)
Notre Dame Midweek Schedule
Tuesday, April 14
/WatchND
Wednesday, April 15
/WatchND
IRISH SLAP HITS
· Notre Dame improved to 32-11 this season with its 18th straight victory, a 10-2 win at Boston College on Sunday to complete an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) series sweep in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The Irish completed their fourth straight ACC sweep dating back to a trio of wins against Georgia Tech on March 21-22 at Melissa Cook Stadium.
· During its current 18-game winning streak, Notre Dame has outscored opponents by a combined margin of 153-27. The Irish have won eight of those 18 decisions by way of run-rule.
· Notre Dame’s 18-game winning streak is the longest by any Irish softball team since the 2005 Notre Dame squad won 19 straight games during that season. Only three Notre Dame teams (2003, 2005 and 2015) have won 18 or more games since the 2001 Irish won a program record 33 straight contests, the longest streak among all Division I squads during that campaign.
· All nine of Notre Dame’s regular starters are batting .275 or higher this season, including six players hitting .320 or better after 43 games in 2015. Last season, all members of the regular Notre Dame lineup logged .295 or higher batting averages to help carry the Irish to the NCAA batting title with a team .357 clip.
· Sophomore All-American Karley Wester was named one of the Top 26 Finalists for the 2015 USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year award on April 8. Wester is the second Irish player to be selected as a finalist for the USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year award, joining two-time All-American Emilee Koerner (2013).
· Irish softball is one of only two Notre Dame varsity athletic programs to have never posted a losing record. The softball team clinched its 27th straight season with a .500 record or above with an 8-0 win in six innings over Butler on April 8. Notre Dame’s three-time national champion women’s soccer program has also logged 27 straight winning seasons since its inception at the varsity level in the fall of 1988.
On This Date…
Notre Dame is a combined 24-5 (.828) all-time in games played on April 14 of a given season. The Irish have won eight of the last nine games they have played on the date since the 2008 season, including a seven-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat Rutgers 8-6 in their most recent game on the date in 2013.
Notre Dame has added a 7-4 (.636) mark on April 15, the planned date of Wednesday’s midweek matchup with Northwestern at Melissa Cook Stadium.
ND Win Streak Climbs To 18
Notre Dame scored 10 runs on 12 hits to down Boston College 10-2 and complete the league sweep on Sunday at Shea Field.
Notre Dame finished off the three-game sweep with a .323 team batting average, outscoring Boston College 23-9 during the series. Irish hitters added five doubles, two triples and two home runs to the team offensive total.
Wester A Top 26 Finalist For USA Softball POY
The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball named sophomore All-American Karley Wester one of the Top 26 Finalists for the 2015 USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year award on April 8.
Wester is the second Notre Dame softball player in the last three seasons to be selected as a finalist for the USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year award, joining two-time All-American Emilee Koerner (2013). Wester and Koerner, both sophomores at the time of their selection, are the only two Irish players in the history of the award to earn a finalist nod.
Freshmen Stepping Up To Power The Irish
Freshmen infielders Morgan Reed and Sara White played above their grade level last weekend for Notre Dame at Boston College, posting standout performances at the plate to help power the Irish offense to a series sweep. Reed batted .375 with a double, triple, four RBI and two runs scored over her three starts at shortstop, while White added five hits (including a double), two RBI and a run scored as the Notre Dame designated player.
Freshman pitcher Katie Beriont threw two solid relief outings in Saturday’s second game of a doubleheader and the series finale on Sunday against Boston College, earning the final two Notre Dame wins of the weekend. Beriont allowed one unearned run on seven hits in 10 full innings for the weekend, setting a career-high in both innings pitched (6) and strikeouts (5) Saturday versus the Eagles.
Big Fifth Inning Keeps The Streak Alive
Trailing Boston College 5-2 entering the top of the fifth inning in the nightcap of Saturday’s ACC doubleheader at Shea Field, Notre Dame had to dig deep to rally and keep its winning streak alive. A four-run inning put the Irish in front 6-5, a lead the team would not relinquish.
Singles by senior co-captain and two-time All-American Emilee Koerner and classmate Katey Haus set the table for junior All-American Micaela Arizmendi, who connected on a one-out, three-run home run to tie the game at 5-5. Freshman Morgan Reed later scored on a Boston College fielding error to complete the Notre Dame scoring in the inning.
Koerner Ascends The ND Record Book
Senior co-captain and two-time All-American Emilee Koerner has continued her march up the Notre Dame career record ladder throughout her final collegiate campaign. Already the program leader in both doubles (70) and slugging percentage (.680), Koerner toppled another pair of longstanding Irish marks this month.
With a solo home run at Pittsburgh on April 3, Koerner surpassed the all-time Notre Dame total bases mark of 409 that was previously established by fellow two-time All-American Jarrah Myers (`02). Koerner has since pushed her record to 431 career total bases.
Coming across to score on a walk-off single by classmate Katey Haus in a 10-2 win over Western Michigan on April 7, Koerner eclipsed 2006 All-American Stephanie Brown (`07) with her 167th career run scored. Koerner ultimately scored 10 runs during the week to increase the all-time runs record to 175.
Emi Drafted By NPF Champion USSSA Pride
Senior co-captain and two-time All-American outfielder Emilee Koerner became the latest professional draft choice in program history on April 1, as she was selected 17th overall in the 2015 National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) College Draft that was held at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. The Irish standout was the third pick of the draft’s fourth round by the 2014 NPF champion USSSA Pride.
Koerner is the second Notre Dame player to be drafted into the NPF in as many seasons, joining the 2014 seventh overall choice to the Akron Racers and former teammate Laura Winter (`14). In the modern NPF era, Koerner and Winter are two of three Notre Dame draft choices along with Stephanie Brown (`07), who was the 11th overall pick in the 2007 NPF Draft by the Chicago Bandits.
A Month To Remember For The Irish
Since the conclusion of its series at North Carolina State on March 8, Notre Dame has posted a 20-2 (.909) mark, which has included 13 consecutive ACC victories dating back to a 12-0 win in five innings over No. 9/10 Florida State on March 15. The Irish have outscored opponents 170-41 since downing Campbell 4-3 on March 10 to start the string, more than doubling the opposition in hits (225-100) and extra base-hits (71-30).
Irish Against The Opposition
Notre Dame is 13-6 (.684) all-time against Bowling Green entering Tuesday’s midweek matchup, winning eight straight meetings between the teams dating back to the 1999 season. Northwestern is 12-7 (.632) against the Irish in a series that dates back to the 1995 campaign.