March 30, 1999
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame softball team won its sixth and seventh straight games by beating visiting Butler University, 2-1 and 2-0, in doubleheader action Tuesday at Ivy Field. With the two wins, the Irish moved to 19-11 overall and a perfect 6-0 mark at home, while the Bulldogs fell to 4-29.
In the first game of the doubleheader, both sides were held scoreless until the top of the sixth inning when Butler’s Carolyn Stoddard hit a solo home run over the left field fence to give her team the 1-0 lead. In the bottom half of the sixth, Irish senior Amy Laboe (Monroe, Mich.) reached base on a walk and then scored on a home run by fellow senior Kris McCleary (Westerville, Ohio) with two outs. McCleary’s home run was her third of the season and came on her first day back after missing six games last week because of illness.
The Bulldogs had a chance to at least tie the game in their last at-bat in the top of the seventh with runners at second and third and two outs, but Irish pitcher Angela Bessolo (Lakewood, Calif.) got Shelli Elliott to pop up to third baseman Jarrah Myers (Carbondale, Kan.) after falling behind in the count 3-0.
In the second game, the Irish got on the board earlier when lead-off hitter Jenny Kriech (Indianapolis, Ind.) singled to right field and came around to score on shortstop Melanie Alkire’s (Union City, Calif.) RBI-single. Notre Dame tacked on another run in the bottom of the third after McCleary singled, advanced to third on a double by sophomore Lizzy Lemire (Irvine, Calif.), and then scored on a wild pitch. Butler, which had five hits in the second game, was unable to score a run in the second, as the Irish won 2-0. Michelle Moschel (Naples, Fla.) picked up her fourth win of the season (4-0) and her first complete-game victory, while Katie Finley (1-12) took the loss for Butler.
Notre Dame travels to play 15th-ranked Illinois-Chicago this Thursday, April 1 before hosting Pittsburgh Saturday in the BIG EAST opener. Both games are doubleheaders.