NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Six Notre Dame Softball student-athletes earned a total of seven All-ACC honors Wednesday, as voted on by conference coaches. Senior OF Abby Sweet led the way, being named first-team All-ACC for the first time in her career.
In addition to Sweet’s first-team honor, junior OF Emma Clark and freshman DP Karina Gaskins were named to the second team, and graduate student 2B Katie Marino, junior P Payton Tidd and senior P Alexis Holloway earned selection to the third team. Gaskins was also selected to the conference’s All-Freshman team.
Tidd, Clark, Marino, Holloway and Sweet have all previously garnered All-ACC honors in past seasons (teams not awarded in 2020 due to the shortened season).
ABBY SWEET – FIRST TEAM ALL-ACC
Sweet becomes the 10th player in Irish history to earn All-ACC First Team honors (14th overall selection to the first team). The senior has led the ACC in batting average for eight-straight weeks, ending the regular season with a .466 average. She also leads the conference in doubles (16). Named a Top 25 Finalist for USA Softball Player of the Year, Sweet ranks in the NCAA’s Top 20 for batting (11th), doubles (ninth), HBP per game (eighth, 0.42/game) and OBP (18th, 0.557).
Sweet was named to the All-ACC second team in 2018, and has been named ACC Player of the Week three times this season.
KARINA GASKINS – SECOND TEAM ALL-ACC, ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
True freshman Gaskins leads the Irish with 10 home runs, which rank 10th in the ACC. Her .693 slugging percentage is ninth in the ACC, while she notes RBI at a clip of 0.95 per game, which ranks third in the conference. In the doubleheader at Georgia Tech, she hit four home runs on four-consecutive at-bats. Three of those home runs came in the same game, matching a program record and the NCAA Division I single-game high for 2021.
EMMA CLARK – SECOND TEAM ALL-ACC
Junior Clark consistently ranks in the Top 10 in the ACC in batting, currently sixth in avg. (.410) and seventh in total hits (55). She also ranks fifth in the ACC in stolen bases (23), and wrote her name in the history books against North Alabama, stealing four bases to match a single-game program record. She joined Ruth Kmak as the only two players in Irish history to steal four bases in a game. Kmak’s record came vs. Loyola-Chicago (April 16, 1990).
Clark was also named to the second team and the All-Freshman team in 2019.
KATIE MARINO – THIRD TEAM ALL-ACC
Graduate student Marino has perennially been recognized as one of the conference’s top second basemen. She leads ACC in sacrifice bunts per game and ranks third in sacrifice flies. Marino, one of the first two graduate students in program history, ranks in Top 10 in Irish records in walks (third, 102), assists (third, 429), home runs (ninth, 31) and runs scored (T-eighth, 158).
Marino was named to the conference’s second team in 2019.
PAYTON TIDD – THIRD TEAM ALL-ACC
Junior pitcher Tidd (15-5) ranks in Top 10 in the ACC in ERA (2.18, ninth) and leads the Irish in innings pitched with 122.0. She has pitched nine complete games on the season and been part of four shutouts, with one complete game shutout. Also adding a save, Tidd has joined with Irish pitchers Holloway and Morgan Ryan for two combined no-hitters in 2021. At bat, Tidd has totaled 12 hits, including eight extra-base hits (five doubles, three home runs) with 10 RBI.
As a freshman, Tidd was named All-ACC first team in 2019, and earned selection to the All-Freshman team that year.
ALEXIS HOLLOWAY – THIRD TEAM ALL-ACC
Senior pitcher Holloway (13-6) has continuously fooled batters in the circle all season, ranking eighth in the ACC in strikeouts (104) and ninth in hits allowed per seven innings (5.39). A candidate for the Senior CLASS Award, Holloway has pitched 11 complete games on the season with two individual shutouts and one combined shutout. Through her 114.1 innings pitched in 2021, she has held batters to a .212 average. Up to bat, Holloway has totaled 13 hits, with two doubles, three home runs and 10 RBI.
Holloway was named ACC Pitcher of the Week for her performance in the sweep of then No. 15/13 Virginia Tech. She was named All-ACC second team in 2018.