March 28, 2011
Gameday Program – Western Michigan
| Purdue
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame looks to improve upon its 21-game home winning streak this week with a pair of midweek contests at Melissa Cook Stadium. The upcoming slate features Western Michigan (March 29) and Purdue (March 31).
Complete coverage of each game – including live audio, blog and stats – will be available at UND.com.
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Notre Dame Fighting Irish
(17-6 overall, 0-0 BIG EAST)
[und.com – bigeast.org]
Western Michigan Broncos
(4-18 overall, 0-0 Mid-American)
[wmubroncos.com – mac-sports.com]
Tuesday, March 29 – 6:00 p.m. (ET)
Melissa Cook Stadium – Notre Dame, Ind.
Series: Notre Dame leads, 23-5
Series streak: Notre Dame, W10
First meeting: April 8, 1992 – Western Michigan, 7-2
Last meeting: March 18, 2010 – Notre Dame, 13-4 (6)
Purdue Boilermakers
(19-7 overall, 0-0 Big Ten)
[purduesports.com – bigten.org]
Thursday, March 31 – 5:00 p.m. (ET)
Melissa Cook Stadium – Notre Dame, Ind.
Series: Notre Dame leads, 13-9
Series streak: Notre Dame, W2
First meeting: April 3, 1992 – Purdue, 4-2
Last meeting: March 14, 2010 – Notre Dame, 3-0
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Live audio / chat / stats: UND.com
IRISH ALERT (text message updates): UND.com
Twitter: @und_com / @ndsoftball / @ndcoachgumpf
Facebook: facebook.com/unddotcom
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One-Hitters …
– Already the program’s winningest coach, Deanna Gumpf (396-171-1) is four wins away from No. 400.
– Last time out: Northern Illinois posted its lone run on three hits in the first inning of last Friday’s non-conference softball matchup with Notre Dame … however, Notre Dame scored four straight – including a pair in the fifth inning – en route to a 4-1 win … Notre Dame posted five hits in the contest from four different batters, led by two off the bat of Heather Johnson … the Irish improved to 21-2 all-time in home openers (and 9-1 under Gumpf).
– The home-opening defeat of Northern Illinois extended Notre Dame’s active home winning streak to 21 games, the fifth-best streak in the nation … the Irish won their last home game of the 2009 season and went 19-0 in 2010.
– Last meeting with Western Michigan: Notre Dame scored seven runs in the fourth inning of the 2010 matchup with the Broncos to cruise to a 13-4 victory at Fran Ebert Field … the Irish recorded 17 hits in the six-inning affair, including a grand slam by Christine Lux … Lux had a game-high five RBI and Kristina Wright led all players with a 4-for-4 day at the dish, also adding two runs and three RBI … five Notre Dame players (Sadie Pitzenberger, Heather Johnson, Alexa Maldonado, Lux and Wright) … Western Michigan trailed 11-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth but prevented the shutout loss with one run in the inning … the Broncos added three
more in the fifth and received two RBI from both Gracie Barstad and Kayla Houston.
– Katie Fleury is seventh on the career list for runs scored (143) and fourth in walks (83) … Johnson and Miller are tied for eighth with 25 home runs apiece … Johnson (164) needs 10 more RBI to tie Christine Lux on top of that listing.
– Amy Buntin and Miller each posted 11-game hitting streaks earlier this season … Brianna Jorgensborg and Johnson are currently riding four-game streaks.
– The first round of NCAA stat rankings released last Wednesday revealed that Laura Winter is eighth nationally in walks allowed / 7.0 IP (0.98) … Shannon Kelly is t-23rd with two saves.
– Notre Dame is in its 23rd season of varsity competition with an all-time record of 908-417-3 (.685) … the program boasts 15 NCAA Championship appearances (12 consecutive) and six BIG EAST Conference Tournament titles, the latest coming in 2009.
–ND–