Feb. 18, 2001
The 19th-ranked University of Notre Dame softball team set the mark for the best start in school history, completing an undefeated weekend at the Holiday Inn Invitational in Tampa, Fla., today. The Irish knocked off #18 South Carolina 1-0 on Sunday, giving them a 5-0 record and the Invitational tournament title. Senior Lizzy Lemire (Irvine, Calif.) and Jenny Kreich (Indianapolis, Ind.) split tournament MVP honors. Lemire collected six hits, including a double and a triple over the weekend while Kriech had eight hits with four RBI.
Against South Carolina, the Irish rode the arm of their pitching ace, Jen Sharron (Agoura Hills, Calif.). Sharron won her third game of the tournament and tossed her second consecutive complete game of the weekend against the Gamecocks, giving up just three hits and striking out nine. She is now 3-0 on the season with a 0.35 ERA and 26 strikeouts in three starts.
Both teams were scoreless until the top of the seventh, when Notre Dame’s Andrea Loman (Riverside, Calif.) blasted a double off the wall in left centerfield to lead off the inning. Danielle Klayman (San Diego, Calif.) followed with a bunt single, moving Loman to third base. South Carolina’s Megan Matthews, who would also throw a complete game with eight strikeouts, struck out Andria Bledsoe (Higley, Ariz.) next, leaving runners on the corners with one out.
Sophomore Alexis Madrid (Temecula, Calif.) then slapped a single past third base to drive in Loman for the winning run.
Notre Dame will return to action Friday, Feb. 23, in the Lady Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark.