Feb. 12, 2005
What a difference a day can make. The University of Notre Dame softball team, just 24 hours after losing to #21 South Florida 5-0, rebounded on Saturday to defeat the Bulls 5-1 and qualify for the GRU Classic Championship Game on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. The Irish will face #19 Florida, who is 4-0 in the tournament and defeated Notre Dame 3-2 on Friday afternoon.
Notre Dame caps the day with a 2-0 record, evening their season record at 2-2 (the Irish also defeated Coastal Carolina 2-0 in the first game on Saturday). The team’s offense woke up in a big way against South Florida, piling up seven hits after managing just one against the Bulls on Friday evening.
In addition to the Irish offense, senior Steffany Stenglein rebounded from her day-one loss to dominate the Bulls on Saturday. She pitched a complete-game three-hitter, striking out 10 and allowing just a single run in the third inning. Stenglein has posted 17 strikeouts in 13.1 innings pitched this season. The Irish chased away USF starting pitcher Danielle Urbanik in the fifth inning, after Urbanik had held the Irish bats down on Friday.
The offensive star for the Irish on Saturday was junior leftfielder Kellie Middleton. She crushed the first home run of the season for Notre Dame, drilling a two-run shot over the leftfield wall to push the Irish to a 4-1 lead. She also played a part in the first Irish run of the game, as she singled with two outs in the third inning, stole second and scored on a USF fielding error.
Senior Liz Hartmann finished two for four in the game with a single and her first career triple while sophomore catcher Carissa Jaquish, in a pinch-hit role, drove in Hartmann with an RBI double in the fourth inning.
Notre Dame was also highly aggressive on the base paths. The team posted six stolen bases in the game, just one off the school record. Senior captain Megan Ciolli had three steals, while Katie Laing added two and Middleton one.
The back-to-back victories for Notre Dame on Saturday sets up another rematch for the Irish on Sunday. Notre Dame will face #19 Florida at 12:30 p.m. in an effort to claim the tournament title after starting the weekend with an 0-2 record. Florida defeated Notre Dame 3-2 on Friday, as the Gators scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh.