Oct. 6, 2004
The University of Notre Dame softball team has completed its 2004 fall exhibition schedule, compiling a 6-0 record in two weekends of action. The Irish outscored their opponents 21-2 in the six contests and Notre Dame’s two starting pitchers, senior Steffany Stenglein and junior Heather Booth, did not surrender a single run in all six games.
“The team is learning to play a different way,” Irish head coach Deanna Gumpf says.
“They are learning to play together and are looking out for each other. They worked very hard this fall and have really been competing in each game.
“While the positive results in the fall are a small indication of how successful we can be in the spring, you cannot read too much into these games. The statistics don’t count, the records do not count and most of the teams we faced had limited practice time.
“All in all, it was a solid performance for our team and it provided us with some things we will need to work on during the winter workouts.”
Here is quick game-by-game recap of Notre Dame’s results this fall:
Notre Dame 1, DePaul 0 at Chicagoland Tournament
– Irish and Blue Demons battle until the seventh inning, when senior Liz Hartmann comes through with an RBI single for the winning run. Steffany Stenglein pitches five innings, giving up two hits and striking out five.
Notre Dame 3, Illinois 2 at Chicagoland Tournament
– The only game in which the Irish surrendered runs during the fall season. With the Irish down 2-1 in the sixth, junior Meagan Ruthrauff posted an RBI single to tie the game. Freshman Katie Laing scored the winning run on a pinch hit single by Carrie Wisen in the bottom of the seventh. Heather Booth pitched five shutout innings, striking out three and giving up two hits. Sophomore Kenya Fuemmeler picked up the win in relief.
Notre Dame 2, Northern Iowa 0 at Chicagoland Tournament
– Steffany Stenglein had a dominating performance, striking out eight in five innings while giving up three hits. Meagan Ruthrauff had an RBI triple and Katie Laing an RBI single in the contest.
Notre Dame 7, Northern Illinois 0 at Chicagoland Tournament
– Another great pitching performance by the Irish, this one from Booth. The junior struck out eight, giving up three hits in five innings. Sophomore Stephanie Brown was one for two, junior Kellie Middleton was two for three with a single and double and senior Megan Ciolli was one for two in the game.
Notre Dame 8, Wayne State 0 (6 innings) at Ivy Field
– Booth left this game after four perfect innings, striking out six batters. Ciolli was two for three with two RBI while Laing also was two for three. Wisen added a two-RBI pinch hit single.
Notre Dame 1, Western Michigan 0 at Ivy Field
– Yet another great pitching performance from Stenglein, who was perfect through five innings while striking out nine. Fuemmeler finished it off with two solid innings, striking out two while allowing just one hit. Middleton had an RBI double for Notre Dame’s lone run in the contest.
The Irish do have one workout left this season, the annual Alumni Game on Friday, Oct. 8, after the Notre Dame – Stanford Football Pep Rally.