April 17, 1999
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame softball team handed defending BIG EAST champion Boston College its first losses ever at Ivy Field as the Irish won 7-0 in the first game and 8-1 in the second to move to 30-16 overall and a perfect 8-0 in the BIG EAST. Boston College, who came into Saturday’s games with a perfect 5-0 mark at Notre Dame, fell to 14-16 and 3-3 in the BIG EAST.
Game one of the doubleheader pitted Notre Dame’s Jennifer Sharron, the 1998 BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year, against Eagles’ pitcher Mary Dietz, the 1999 BIG EAST Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Sharron shutout Boston College in the top of the first, however, Dietz wasn’t so lucky as the Irish scored three runs in the bottom half of the inning on a RBI-single by freshman Jarrah Myers and a two RBI-double by Sharron, which hit just off the top of the fence in right-center field. The Irish then added single runs in the bottom of the second and third and three innings later scored two more runs to take a 7-0 lead. Freshman pitcher Michelle Moschel, who relieved Sharron in the sixth, walked the first batter to open the seventh, but retired the next three in order to preserve the 7-0 win.
Sharron picked up her 12th win of the season to move to 12-6, while Dietz, who was relieved by Brooke Shull in the middle of the third, took the loss to drop to 4-6. The Irish ended the game with a season-high 15 hits, while freshman Jennifer Kriech (4-for-4, three runs) and sophomore Melanie Alkire (3-for-3, two runs) were both perfect at the plate.
After a scoreless first inning in game two, the Eagles scored their first run of the doubleheader in the second after Chris Vicari walked and came around to score an unearned run. Notre Dame, however, took the lead in the bottom of the second when senior Kris McCleary and sophomore Lizzy Lemire both singled to open the inning and later came around to score on a single by freshman Kas Hoag and a sacrifice fly by pinch hitter Sarah Kirkman. With the score still 2-1 Irish going into the bottom of the fifth, Notre Dame put across five runs on five hits highlighted by RBI-doubles from Alkire and McCleary and RBI-singles by senior Amy Laboe and Myers. The Irish wrapped up the game’s scoring with another run in the sixth to eventually claim a 8-1 victory.
The two eight-run losses were Boston College’s worst in the BIG EAST since Providence beat them 10-2 in April 1996.
The Irish play host to 22nd-ranked DePaul on Sunday at 2 p.m., before a Tuesday doubleheader against visiting Loyola (Chicago) at 4 p.m.