No. 25 Notre Dame topped Bowling Green, 8-2, Tuesday evening at Melissa Cook Stadium, extending its win streak to 19, the program’s longest string of success since the 2005 season.
The Irish (33-11, 13-5 ACC) outhit Bowling Green (13-20, 4-6 MAC) 9-6 and jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom half of the first.
Irish junior All-American infielder Micaela Arizmendi drove in the first run for the Irish with an RBI fielder’s choice, which was followed up by an RBI sacrifice fly from senior catcher Cassidy Whidden.
The Irish rallied for four runs in the bottom of the third, with freshman infielder Morgan Reed driving in the first run of the inning on an RBI base hit.
In the next at-bat, Arizmendi scored from third on a wild pitch, accounting for the second run of the inning. Junior Casey Africano drove in a pair of runs with a single, giving the Irish a six-run advantage heading into the fourth.
Bowling Green plated two runs in the fourth, bringing the contest within four, but it failed to scratch across another in the final two innings
Irish junior pitcher Allie Rhodes earned the victory on the evening, her 13th of the season. While both Falcons runs came with Rhodes on the mound, neither were earned, giving Rhodes a final stat line of four innings pitched, three hits surrendered, five strikeouts and no walks.
Leading 6-2, the Irish added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, with senior outfielder Emilee Koerner knocking a base hit up the middle to plate a pair of Irish base runners.
Koerner and sophomore outfielder Karley Wester led the way for the Irish at the plate, both notching two hits on the evening.
Freshman Katie Beriont earned her first save of the season, pitching three innings in relief for Notre Dame. Beriont gave up no runs or walks and yielded just a trio of hits to the Falcons.
The victory marks the fourth time the Irish have won 19 straight games, with Notre Dame squads reaching that total in 1996, 1999 and 2005.
The program’s longest winning streak remains the 2001 team’s 33 straight victories.
Notre Dame will host Northwestern on Wednesday and then will take on ACC opponent Syracuse in a three-game home series over the weekend.
The first pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 6:00 pm at Melissa Cook Stadium.
