Feb. 16, 2001
The 19th-ranked University of Notre Dame softball team improved to 2-0 on the season with a 5-3 victory over South Florida (3-8) to finish the first day of competition in the Holiday Inn Invitational in Tampa, Fla.
The Irish will face back-to-back games tomorrow against #4 Washington and regional rival Hofstra.
A couple of career events transpired for the Irish in their game against the South Florida Bulls. Freshman pitcher Kristin Schmidt (Houston, Texas) won her first career start, pitching a complete game, striking out eight and surrendering three runs on five hits.
Sophomore Andria Bledsoe (Higley, Ariz.) launched her first career home run in the top of the second, a solo shot to left field into a steady breeze. Bledsoe would finish one-for-three in the game.
South Florida did not touch Schmidt for a hit until the fifth inning and did not muster a scoring threat until the sixth. The Bulls were able to string together a single and a walk, followed by a two-out double to score three runs in the bottom of the inning. Schmidt settled down to strike out pinch-hitter Rachel Williams to end the South Florida threat.
The Irish got on the scoreboard early in the game, taking advantage of two early South Florida errors. Jenny Kriech (Indianapolis, Ind.), who would wrap up the day five-for-eight at the plate (Kreich went two-for-four in the Irish victory earlier in the day over Maryland, 4-1), led off the game with the first of her three hits. After Kas Hoag (Wallingford, Conn.) flied out and Melanie Alkire (Union City, Calif.) grounded out, Jarrah Myers (Carbondale, Kan.) tripled to right centerfield, scoring Kriech. Myers eventually came home on a fielding error by the Bulls.
Notre Dame also tacked on insurance runs in the fifth (Alkire RBI single) and seventh (Hoag RBI single) innings to ensure the victory.