ND Softball
Irish sweep series 5-0 at Green and Gold Classic
Mannion McGinley | Monday, February 14, 2022
This weekend ND softball swept the Green and Gold Classic 5-0 at Charlotte University. The Irish took on the Bucknell Bison and Boston Terriers twice and the Charlotte 49ers once. Coach Deanna Gumpf said in an email she’s feeling confident about the team after this weekend.
“I love the way we came out this first weekend and set a tone for how we want to play this year,” she said.
On Friday, the Irish opened the weekend against the Bison at 10 a.m. The game only lasted five innings after the Irish opened with a 4 run first inning. The Irish would go on to score in the rest of the first four innings, not making it to bat in the fifth.
Graduate student pitcher Alexis Holloway pitched for the first four innings, logging six strikeouts. Holloway saw two hits and only one Bucknell run of the game from Chase Knapp. Freshman pitcher Shannon Becker came in, grabbing one strikeout of her own. The final score of the opener was 9-1.
The closest game Notre Dame had on the weekend was their first matchup against Boston on Friday afternoon. The Irish won 4-3 off runs from graduate student centerfielder Abby Sweet, freshman shortstop Anna Holloway and freshman pinch-runner Emily Tran. Senior pitcher Payton Tidd snagged 3 strikeouts, but also opened up three runs before Becker closed again, grabbing another strikeout and a clean sheet on hits, runs and errors.
Tidd, Becker and Holloway carried the Irish into the next three games. Early Saturday, Holloway and Tidd pitched, allowing only three combined hits in Notre Dame’s second win over Boston. Holloway had four strikeouts in the 8-0 win.
The Irish squad saw six different players score in the game, including five runs from the outfield trio, Sweet, senior right fielder Emma Clark and junior left fielder Leea Hanks. Senior second base player Quinn Biggio, Anna Holloway and senior catcher and pinch-runner Shelby Grimm scored the other three runs.
Gumpf said it’s the pitchers who shape the way for that kind of scoring.
“The pitchers set the tone for our game,” Gumpf said of her bullpen. “All three did that this weekend. I love the leadership that Holloway and Tidd displayed on the mound. Becker has a huge future for us and I couldn’t be more proud of the way she handled her first start and contributed in three wins.”
Becker got the chance to lead her own game claiming six strikeouts with five hits, no runs and no errors. This was Saturday afternoon as the Irish took on the Bison for the second time. Winning 12-0, the Irish saw eight different scorers.
To close the weekend on Sunday, the Irish faced Charlotte for the first time and came to play. Winning 16-1 in only five innings, the Irish were led by Tidd who scored three runs. While pitching, she allowed only one while snagging three strikeouts with one error. The Irish scored nine runs in the first inning followed by five and two in the second and third.
Six of those runs came from the outfield trio whose performance thrilled Gumpf at the end of the weekend. She celebrated the skill she’s seen from them on offense and defense.
“The leadership in the outfield is tremendous,” she said. “They’re playmakers on both sides and they should continue to do what they’ve been doing.”
Sweet, Clark and Hanks had eight, seven and seven runs respectively.
Though she thought the team shined this weekend, Gumpf knows they’ve only just begun and the work’s not done.
“There are always things to improve on,” she said. “And we’ll continue to work every day on those improvements throughout the year.”
