April 21, 1998
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Notre Dame’s softball players Lisa Tully (Garden Grove, Calif./Mater Dei) and Melanie Alkire (Union City, Calif./James Logan) have been named BIG EAST player of the week and rookie of the week after helping the Irish to an 8-0 record last week. Notre Dame, riding a 10-game winning streak with a 27-18 record, stands in first place in the BIG EAST South Division with a 10-3 record and plays host to second-place Villanova in a three-game series this weekend to determine the South Division Champion. The BIG EAST Championship will be held at Notre Dame from May 2-3.
Tully earned player-of-the-week honors as the sophomore hit .458 (11-24) in Notre Dame’s eight wins last week with three runs, three doubles and two RBI triples. Both of her triples came in the 3-1 win over St. John’s, tying a Notre Dame and BIG EAST record for triples in a game. She led the team with a .750 slugging percentage. In Notre Dame’s four BIG EAST wins, she led the Irish with a 7-12 (.583) performance at the plate with a 1.000 slugging percentage. She was also perfect in the field at the hot corner against Connecticut and St. John’s with six putouts, including a number of sharp line drives, and 11 assists with a 1.000 fielding percentage. She raised her batting average 48 points this week. Tully is second on the team with her .371 BIG EAST batting average and is hitting .271 overall.
Alkire was named rookie of the week as the freshman led the Irish with a .476 (10-21) batting average with two doubles, a home run, five RBI and a .714 slugging percentage. She was also 2-0 on the mound for the Irish with a 1.40 ERA. Alkire hit .455 (5-11) with two runs and a double in Notre Dame’s four BIG EAST wins over St. John’s and Connecticut. She was particularly effective for the Irish in the second game against Connecticut, a 7-2 Irish win. Alkire picked up the win on the mound, holding the Huskies to four hits, and went 2-3 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored. She is third on the team with a .326 batting average and has a 5-1 record on the mound.