The Irish swept Virginia's Cavalier Invitational this weekend with 51 hits in the two-day, four-game series. Notre Dame faced George Washington and Virginia Saturday and Sunday, coming out victorious in all four games.
The Irish (8-4) hit 10 home runs over the course of the weekend and posted a .472 team batting average over the four games to put them at 8-4 for the season and on a seven-game win streak.
Friday saw Notre Dame start off strong with 19 runs on 27 hits, including four players who hit home runs. Freshman utility player Amy Buntin hit her career first homer against George Washington in the first game. Sophomore catcher Kristina Wright also hit her first career home run, as she led the Irish with four RBI over the two games.
Against George Washington, freshman pitcher Brittany O'Donnell struck out nine batters and allowed only one hit in four innings in the 8-0 win. Freshman pitcher Jackie Bowe came in for one inning to give O'Donnell a break and struck out another batter. Notre Dame scored three runs off five hits in the first inning and continued at a steady pace for the rest of the game. Nine players combined for the Irish to have 13 hits to start off their day.
In Friday's second game, against Virginia, the Irish continued their hot hitting to win 11-3. After trailing 1-0 in the top of the first inning, they came back to score four runs off of five hits. Notre Dame came out of the game with 14 hits to Virginia's four.
Junior pitcher Jody Valdivia struck out six and gave up three earned runs on four hits in five innings. Junior infielder Katie Fleury had a leadoff home run in the bottom of the fourth to put Notre Dame up by six. Senior infielder Christine Lux ended the game with a bases-loaded single to right field that brought in two Irish runs in the fifth of the only Irish hit of the inning.
Success continued Saturday for Notre Dame as the Irish closed out the Invitational with another two-win day. Christine Lux and her sister, freshman infielder Kathryn Lux, each homered on the day. It was the senior's 36th career homer, which tied a school record, and the freshman's first career hit for the Irish. Their efforts led Notre Dame to win 12-0 over George Washington in five innings and 9-0 over Virginia.
In Saturday's second game, Valdivia gave up five hits while striking out four, getting out of bases-loaded dilemmas twice in the seven innings. Fleury led the Irish with three hits, including two doubles and a homer, and senior infielder Heather Johnson had a pair of home runs.
