The Notre Dame softball team, now 21-12 on the season so far and 6-6 overall in conference play, was supposed to play two games this week that got canceled and postponed. Their game on Tuesday against IUPUI was canceled altogether, and their game on Wednesday against Michigan was postponed to a later date. The Irish are now looking ahead to play the Virginia Cavaliers, who are 24-10 overall and 7-5 in conference play.
The last time that these two teams played each other was two years ago, when they played a doubleheader on March 11 and another a game on March 13. Two of the three games did not end in favor of the Irish. Notre Dame lost the first game 7-5 and the second game 6-1 before managing to pull a close, 3-2 victory in the third game.
In the first game, Alexis Holloway took the loss in the first game in the circle. Holloway pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing eight hits, conceding seven earned runs and collecting five strikeouts.
Offensively, in the first game, Leea Hanks led the Irish, finishing 3-for-3 in the box pulling two doubles with a walk and a run scored. Alongside her, then-sophomore infielder Cassidy Grimm helped put some runs on the board, going 2-for-4 in the box with a double, a run batted in and another run scored.
In the second game, Payton Tidd started in the circle for the Irish, throwing six innings in which she allowed eight hits and six runs and struck out three.
In the second game, four Irish players earned hits. Tidd, then-junior outfielder Abby Sweet and Emma Clark all earned singles while then-sophomore infielder Karina Gaskins stroked her fifth home run of the season.
The final game against the Cavaliers went in favor of the Irish with a close 3-2 victory. Then-freshman right-hander Shannon Becker started in the circle for the Irish, throwing all seven innings as well as throwing a career high of 137 pitches. Becker allowed 10 hits, allowed one walk and struck out five batters.
On offense, the Irish had two notable hitters leading in the box — Hanks and Sweet — who both had a 2-for-4 effort. Sweet hit her fourth home run of the season and drove in two runs, Clark drove in the winning run in the top of the seventh inning, Gaskins added a hit with two walks and then-freshman infielder Jane Kronenberger scored the game-winning run thanks to the effort from Clark.
Looking ahead, the Irish prepare to face Virginia, who is coming off of five straight wins. The Cavaliers most recently pulled two wins over Villanova, winning the first game 5-2 and winning the second game 5-1 in eight innings.
Some of the offensive leaders for the Cavaliers include Jade Hylton, who has a batting average of .350 with seven home runs and 11 stolen bases. Alongside her, Bella Cabral has a high batting average of .306 for the season so far with a team-leading 22 runs batted in.
In the circle, the Irish want to watch out for Cavalier pitcher Eden Bigham. Bigham has a total of 123 strikeouts this season along with a total of 85.2 innings pitched for the Cavaliers. All four Virginia pitches who have worked more than 25 innings this season have an earned run average below 2.50.
Notre Dame softball is set to start its three-game series against the Virginia Cavaliers this Friday at 5 p.m. in Melissa Cook Stadium. Games will follow at 1 p.m. on Saturday and at noon on Sunday for the series finale.
