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Softball Hosts Georgia Tech During Strikeout Cancer Weekend

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame softball team returns to the diamond tomorrow evening as they host the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets in a three-game series at Melissa Cook Stadium. The weekend is also the program’s annual Strikeout Cancer event as the Fighting Irish will be hosting a variety of events throughout the weekend.

Along with wearing orange trimmed uniforms this weekend, the Irish will be hosting a trivia night Saturday night at the South Bend Cubs facility. Registration for the trivia night can be found here. Following the series on Sunday, the team is hosting a home run derby at Melissa Cook Stadium. Fans can pre-pay or pay day of game and register for their chance to participate in the event here.

The Irish enter the weekend’s series winners of the their last nine games. In that nine-game winning streak, Notre Dame is outscoring opponents 76-13. Over the past four games, the Irish have allowed just four runs. In her last outing Alexis Holloway no-hit Loyola Chicago. Payton Tidd threw a 7.0 innings one-hit game against Duke before coming in to retire all 12 hitters she faced Wednesday night. At home this season, the Irish have earned a 5-0 mark, defeating Detroit Mercy, Western Michigan, Duke, Loyola Chicago and Central Michigan.

Georgia Tech enters with a 24-9 record, having won their last eight games. The Yellowjackets took the final two games from Louisville, swept a midweek doubleheader with Dartmouth and a three-game ACC series with Syracuse. Georgia Tech won its midweek game with Kennesaw State at home, 5-2. Georgia Tech was picked to finish seventh in the preseason poll and had two players on the Preseason All-ACC team in Tricia Awald and Emma Kauf.

Awald leads the Georgia Tech offense with a .398 batting average in 33 games. She leads the team in slugging percentage with 10 doubles a triple and five home runs while driving in 26. Kauf is hitting at a .327 average with a team-best 37 hits and 11 doubles. Also hitting over .300 is Aubrun Dupree, at .306 in 21 starts. All 15 hits have been singles, scoring 13 runs and stealing a team-best 11 bases.

The Yellowjacket pitching staff has a 2.51 ERA, led by Blake Neleman. Neleman has started a team-best 17 games and appeared in a team-best 24 games. She’s earned a 1.09 ERA in 109.1 innings with 131 strikeouts. Chandler Dennis has a 2.62 ERA in 13 starts. She’s logged the second-most innings at 77.1, striking out 68 hitters. Sophia Voyles owns the best ERA on the team at 1.37 in 15.1 innings of work in six appearances.

Tussles with Tech

In 20 matchups with the Yellowjackets, Notre Dame owns a 16-4 record. In Atlantic Coast Conference play, the Irish are 12-4 and are 6-0 at Melissa Cook Stadium. The Irish have won seven of the last eight games and took two of three last season in Atlanta.

Melissa Home Cooked

In the last four seasons, Notre Dame has gone a combined 31-2 at Melissa Cook Stadium, including a perfect 15-0 at home last season. In the Gumpf-era, the Irish are 290-63 when defending home turf and have won the last 23 home games.

Pitching Prowess

In the past three games, the Irish have allowed just two runs. Last time out, Alexis Holloway threw her second career solo no-hitter, and its the fourth no-hitters she’s thrown in at Notre Dame. Payton Tidd held the then-ACC’s top offense to just one hit as the Irish defeated No. 7 Duke 8-1 last Friday night. Shannon Becker worked 7.0 innings of shutout softball in the series with Pitt, before allowing a run to go with three strikeouts Wednesday against Central Michigan.

Thou Shalt Not Steal

The catching combination of Shelby Grimm and Carlli Kloss have limited the opponents running game better than any tandem in the ACC. Kloss has thrown out four of eight attempted base stealers, and Grimm has tossed out six of 14 attempts. Combined, the Irish have thrown out 10 of 24 attempted base stealers and the .583 stolen base allowed percentage is the lowest in the conference. Grimm also picked off a runner this season.

Getting Out of the Blocks

Notre Dame has scored 40 runs in the first inning of games this season, and 109 runs in the first three innings this season. When scoring in the first inning, the Irish are 13-2 this season and when scoring the first run of the game Notre Dame is 21-2 on the season. The Irish have hit six of their 27 home runs in the first inning this season, the most of any inning.

National and ACC Player of the Week

Karina Gaskins had one of the most productive weeks in all of NCAA softball two weeks ago, leading the Irish to a 5-0 record and a three-game ACC sweep at Pitt. She finished the week 12-for-16 with a double, two home runs, eight runs scored and 11 RBI. She had at least one hit and one RBI in all five games, four of which were multi-hit and multi-RBI games.

Over the last 10 games, she’s hitting at a .760 average with four home runs, 18 RBI and scored 13 runs.

Record Setting Night

In the home opener against Detroit Mercy, the Fighting Irish scored 18 runs, tying a school record for runs scored and the largest margin of victory. The original record was set March 11, 1994 in an 18-0 victory over Robert Morris. Eight of nine starters had a hit and five players who didn’t start the contest registered one of the 18 hits. 15 different players scored a run in the victory.

Any Means Necessary

Offensive stand out Abby Sweet picked up right where she left off after a record-setting on-base percentage in 2021 (.537). She’s second on the team with a .518 on-base percentage this season. (Gaskins – .557 OBP) She owns a .415 batting average, drawn nine walks and has been hit by 11 pitches. The 11 hit by pitches in 31 games ranks 10th nationally in HBP per game. Her .745 slugging percentage is second-highest among the Notre Dame regulars. (Gaskins – .817)

Bench Bombs

In a pair of midweek games, the Irish have had a couple career firsts. Against Detroit Mercy, Bryn Boznanski hit her first career home run in a pinch hit role in the fourth. Rachel Allen did the same in her pinch hit appearance against Loyola Chicago. Notre Dame pinch hitters are 17-for-58 (.293) this season.

Lineup Shuffle

After starting the season 14-4, Notre Dame made a move in the lineup switching Leea Hanks and Abby Sweet. Hanks took over in the lead off role and Sweet assumed Hanks’s role in the 3-spot. Since that move, the Irish are 11-2, Sweet is hitting for a .421 average with three doubles and three home runs. Hanks has four doubles, three triples and hit her ifrst home run as the lead off hitter. The biggest difference in the lineup has come from cleanup hitter Karina Gaskins. Since the move, Gaskins is hitting .697 with 23 RBI, six home runs, seen an 11:3 BB:K ratio and has scored 15 runs.

Working in TRANsistion

Emily Tran has appeared in 21 games this season, all of which have come as a pinch runner. In that role, she’s scored nine times, and is 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts. She’s the primary speedster off the bench for the Irish.

An Extra Run

After averaging five runs per game in 2021, the Irish offense has upped that number to 6.48 per game this season, ranking 17th in the country and second in the ACC. Abby Sweet has scored 34 runs this season, ranking 22nd nationally in runs scored per game.

Top 25 wins

After falling in the first three games of the St. Pete Clearwater Elite Invitational, the Irish went on to take down a pair of Top 25 teams in LSU and Texas.

Against LSU, the Irish rallied late, using a fifth inning home run from Payton Tidd to tie it, and Miranda Johnson drove in the game-winning runs in the seventh. Tidd shut the door as the Irish earned the 8-6 win.

Notre Dame followed that with a 9-2 win over then No. 9-Texas. A 7-run fifth inning paved the way for the first win over a top 10-nationally ranked opponent since beating No. 3 Florida State in Tallahassee in 2019.

The Irish added a top 10 win after knocking off No. 7 Duke at home. Notre Dame used a 3-for-3, 4 RBI performance from Karina Gaskins and got a dominant start from Payton Tidd. Tidd worked 7.0 innings and allowed just one hit in the 8-1 victory.

Sister Sister

Notre Dame softball has a pair of sisters on its roster this season. Shelby and Cassidy Grimm are playing their second collegiate season together in 2022. Alexis and Anna Holloway are playing their first year of softball together this season. The extra year of eligibility for Alexis allowed for her to stay at Notre Dame long enough to play with her younger sister.