Feb. 17, 2001
The 19th-ranked University of Notre Dame softball team (3-0) continued its impressive early-season play by knocking off fourth-ranked Washington 3-2, in the second day of competition in the Holiday Inn Invitational, hosted by the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla.
Jenny Kreich (Indianapolis, Ind.), who has been red-hot throughout the tournament, knocked in the winning run with a single up the middle in the bottom of the seventh inning. Andria Bledsoe (Higley, Ariz.) led off the inning with a single, beating out the throw from Huskie shortstop Jaime Clark. Bledsoe promptly stole second and was moved over to third with a perfect sacrifice bunt from Alexis Madrid (Temecula, Calif.) to set the table for Kreich. Kriech now leads the Irish with three RBI in three games this season.
Washington got on the board first in the game, taking advantage of some uncharacteristic sloppy defensive play from Notre Dame. In the first inning, Washington’s Kelly Hauxhurst singled to right field and advanced to second when the Irish did not get the ball to the infield quickly. Hauxhurst eventually came home on a RBI single by Jaime Clark.
The Huskie’s second run came in the top of third inning. With two outs, Washington’s Kim DePaul was struck by Notre Dame pitcher Jen Sharron (Agoura Hills, Calif.). On the next play, Sharron threw wildly to first base while fielding a bunt, allowing DePaul to come around and give her team a 2-0 lead.
That would be the last mistake that Sharron would make in the game. The senior All-American pitched a brilliant game, grudgingly giving up five hits and two runs. Her major test came in Washington’s half of the fifth inning. Huskie Rita Roach grounded harmlessly to Bledsoe at third base, but Andrea Loman (Riverside, Calif.) did not get her foot on the bag in time, allowing Roach to reach safely.
Madrid then bobbled a grounder, allowing Washington’s Amanda Oleson to reach base. Hauxhurst followed with an infield hit, giving the Huskies the bases loaded with no outs.
Sharron answered by striking out DePaul, inducing Clark to pop up and getting Christie Rosenblad to ground out to third base. Washington would not threaten again. Over the last two innings, Sharron would strike out three and only give up one hit to secure the victory for the Irish.
Notre Dame’s first run of the game came in the bottom of the fourth, a solo home run from Loman that just hugged the left field foul pole. It was Loman’s first round-tripper of the season.
The second Irish run came after Sharron led off the bottom of the sixth with a double (her second hit of the game). Freshman Nicole deFau (Southington, Conn.) pinch-ran for the Irish pitcher and advanced to third on a Huskie passed ball. Melanie Alkire (Union City, Calif.) stepped to the plate and lined a double to right field, allowing deFau to score her first collegiate run.
Notre Dame improves to 3-0 on the season, while the Huskies drop to 5-3 and pitcher Tia Bollinger suffers her first loss of the year. Notre Dame’s Sharron is now 2-0 with a 0.54 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 2001