March 13, 2004
The University of Notre Dame softball team (14-8) improved to 2-1 at the FSU Invitational on Saturday afternoon, defeating Georgia State 3-2 in eight innings. The Irish will face Maryland later in the day, followed by a match up with a team yet-to-be-determined for the night cap.
Notre Dame jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, but Irish starting pitcher Steffany Stenglein found herself in trouble with walks again – giving up two runs to Georgia State in the top of the third. Carrie Wisen entered in relief and completely shut down GSU, going 5 1/3 innings with nine strike outs and no hits allowed.
The Irish, on the other hand, hit the ball well but could not get over the hump until the bottom of the eighth. With the international tiebreaker rule in effect, junior Megan Ciolli was place on second base to begin the inning. Senior Nicole deFau moved her to third with a sacrifice bunt. Sophomore Meagan Ruthrauff then earned a walk and junior Liz Hartmann came through with a sacrifice fly to score Ciolli and end the game.
Sophomore Mallorie Lenn was two for three with an RBI in the game, Ruthrauff was two for three with an RBI as well and Hartmann finished one for two with the game-winning RBI. Notre Dame posted eight hits in the game, while Georgia State managed just three.