For the second straight outing, Notre Dame pitchers threw a one-hitter, as the Irish, winners of six straight, defeated lowly IPFW, 9-0, in five innings Wednesday evening at Melissa Cook Stadium.
On the heels of sophomore Rachel Nasland's one-hitter Sunday against Georgia Tech, a pair of Irish pitchers combined to achieve the same feat last night, with junior Allie Rhodes going four innings and freshman Katie Beriont finishing the final frame to down the Mastodons (0-24, 0-3 Summit).
The Irish (20-11, 4-5 ACC) tallied multiple runs in the each inning of the game, batting just four times yet scoring nine times on 12 hits. Sophomore left fielder Karley Wester and senior center fielder Emilee Koerner led off the home half of the first with a pair of singles and both scored on RBI groundouts – one by senior third baseman Katey Haus and the other by junior first baseman Micaela Arizmendi — to take a 2-0 lead through one inning of play.
Notre Dame’s bats stayed lively in the second frame as the Irish plated three runs to stretch their advantage to 5-0. Freshman shortstop Sara White led off the inning with her first career home run before senior second baseman Jenna Simon and sophomore designated player Dana Bouquet each notched infield singles, with Simon advancing to third on Bouquet’s hit. With runners on the corners, junior right fielder Megan Sorlie singled up the middle to score Simon and push the Irish lead to 4-0. When the lineup rolled back around to the top of the order, Mastodons sophomore Kaitlyn Biere hit Wester with a pitch, loading the bags for Koerner, who notched a sacrifice fly to score Bouquet and put Notre Dame up five.
For the third straight inning, Rhodes retired the Mastodon hitters one-two-three in the top half of the frame, and the Irish bats came alive in the latter half. Arizmendi singled to right to get the offense underway before senior catcher Cassidy Whidden belted a home run to left field to take Notre Dame’s lead to 7-0.
The Mastodons spoiled Rhodes’s perfect-game bid in the fourth inning when junior shortstop Emily Olszewski hit a one-out single through the left side of the Irish defense. Rhodes was unfazed, though, and sent the next two batters down to end the inning.
Notre Dame stretched its lead even further in the bottom of the fourth with a pair of RBI singles. With one out, Koerner doubled to get herself in scoring position before sophomore pinch hitter Kimmy Sullivan connected on a two-out RBI single to score Koerner and made the lead 8-0. The scoring was completed for the day when junior catcher Casey Africano plated Sullivan with a single through the left side.
Beriont came on in the top of the fifth and sent a trio of Mastodons down to complete the mercy-rule, five-inning victory.
