Sept. 15, 2015
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame softball team will play host to six exhibition contests over the next month at Melissa Cook Stadium as part of the program’s 2015 fall schedule. Notre Dame officially opened its fall slate on Sept. 13 against UIC at Flames Field in Chicago, the only away games on the 2015 Irish autumn schedule.
Notre Dame returns 13 monogram winners from last season’s squad that made its 17th consecutive appearance (20th all-time) in the NCAA Championship, hosting an NCAA Regional for just the second time in program history (2005). The Irish capped 2015 with a 42-15 (.737) mark, establishing single-season program records for hits (543), runs (395) and on-base percentage (.419), while batting above a .350 clip (.351) for the second straight season.
Notre Dame also earned eight victories over fellow national top 25 foes, and enjoyed a 24-game winning streak from March through the end of April that was the second longest in the nation during the year. The Irish tied their 2014 team total of seven NFCA Mid-Atlantic all-region honorees, with Micaela Arizmendi and Karley Wester returning as first team performers and Morgan Reed as a third team representative from last season.
The Irish open the home portion of fall play on Sept. 20 at 1 p.m. (ET) against Wisconsin at Melissa Cook Stadium. The second game of the doubleheader between Notre Dame and Wisconsin is tentatively scheduled for a 3 p.m. first pitch.
Notre Dame begins the month of October with games against Western Michigan and Valparaiso on Oct. 4. The Irish and Western Michigan are expected to take the diamond at 2:15 p.m., with Notre Dame and Valparaiso to follow at 4:30 p.m.
Notre Dame closes its 2015 fall schedule on Oct. 11 with a pair of home games against Loyola (noon) and Butler (2:15 p.m.). The Irish then embark on their 10-day foreign tour of Amsterdam, Germany and France later in the month.
For the latest news and updates on all things Notre Dame softball, visit www.und.com/softball, follow the Irish @NDsoftball and @NDcoachGumpf on Twitter and at Instagram.com/notredamesoftball, and Like the team at Facebook.com/NDSoftball.
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— Tony Jones, Athletics Communications Assistant