Notre Dame has won eight of their last nine games and will try to carry that momentum through their home opener against IUPUI this evening.
Junior pitcher Brittany Bargar has been instrumental in the recent run. She was recently named Big East pitcher of the Week for the second week in a row. Bargar had a three-appearance stretch at the Charleston Southern University Lowcountry Softball Invitational in which she registered a 0.41 ERA, earned three victories, allowed only 13 hits in 17.1 innings, struck out 12 batters, and allowed only one earned run. Following that feat, she stepped into the circle against Western Michigan last Thursday to lead the Irish to their most recent victory.
In that outing, Bargar pitched the full seven innings, gave up only two hits, and struck out nine Broncos en route to a shutout that moved her record on the season to 12-5 and the team's record to 15-9.
Western Michigan's Kyla Sullivan walked in one run and gave up a solo home run to senior Katie Laing, and those two runs wound up being more than enough for Bargar.
In her 18 appearances this season, Bargar has held the opposition without an earned run an astounding twelve times, including the win over the Broncos.
In tonight's home opener, the Irish will face an IUPUI squad with a record of 1-8 to start the season. The Jaguars are coming off a split with Dayton in which they were able to notch their first win of the season.
Senior Meaghan Raynes pitched a complete game and allowed only four hits in getting the first win of her career. She helped her own cause by going 2-2 at the plate and scored one of the Jaguars' three runs.
Notre Dame has already played 24 games this season, but this will be the first time the Irish will get to play in front of a home crowd. For a team with plenty of contributing freshmen, it could give a fresh feel to a season that began over a month ago.
The first pitch is set to leave the circle at 6:00 p.m. at Ivy Field.
