March 17, 2001
The 14th-ranked University of Notre Dame softball team (17-2) improved to 3-1 in the 2001 Kia Klassic in Fullerton, Calif., on Saturday with a 4-1 victory over Hawaii. The Irish will face 10th-ranked Arizona State at 7 p.m. (Pacific time) for the right to move to the tournament semifinals on Sunday, March 18, at 11 a.m..
The heart of the Notre Dame lineup turned out to be the key to the Irish victory over the Rainbows. Junior catcher Jarrah Myers (Carbondale, Kan.), senior leftfielder Lizzy Lemire (Irvine, Calif.) and sophomore first base Andrea Loman (Riverside, Calif.) (the fourth, fifth and sixth batters in the Irish order) all posted two-for-three performances in the contest and accounted for three Irish RBI.
Notre Dame scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the second on a bases loaded wild pitch by Hawaii starting pitcher Desiree Duran. Loman came home on the play with a perfect slide, avoiding the tag from Rainbow catcher Jennifer Tandarich.
Hawaii came back to tie the game in the top of the third on a bases loaded sacrifice fly that allowed Natalie Gonzales to score. Danielle Klayman (San Diego, Calif.) threw a perfect strike to Loman on the cutoff and the Irish were able to throw out Hawaii’s April Crowell at second base to end the inning.
Loman would put her team ahead to stay in the contest with a lead off home run in the bottom of the second inning. The solo shot to deep right-centerfield was Loman’s second homer of the season.
The Irish would add two insurance runs in the fifth inning. Jenny Kriech (Indianapolis, Ind.) led off with a single and moved to second on a Klayman sacrifice bunt. After Melanie Alkire (Union City, Calif.) grounded out to second base, Myers ripped a triple into the gap in rightfield and Kriech came in to score Notre Dame’s third run of the game. Lemire followed with a single, allowing Myers to score the second run of the inning.
Staring pitcher Jen Sharron (Agoura Hills, Calif.) recovered from her rough outing on Friday against #5 Oklahoma (0.2 innings pitched, four runs allowed) to pitch her eighth complete game of the season, scattering six hits and allowing just one run across the plate.
Notre Dame will be pursuing its first-ever victory over Arizona State this evening, as the Irish have dropped the previous six meetings with the Sun Devils. It is also the sixth ranked opponent the Irish will have faced this season. Notre Dame is currently 5-1 against ranked foes this season (wins over #4 Washington, #18 South Carolina, and #7 Fresno State, a doubleheader sweep of #24 Cal State Northridge, and a loss to #5 Oklahoma).