With the Kris Ganeff era off to a 5-5 start, Notre Dame softball will compete at the Mardi Gras Classic in Mobile, Alabama, this weekend. Notre Dame will take on Texas A&M Corpus Christi at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, South Alabama at 8 p.m. on Friday and 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Maine at 3 p.m. on Saturday and Lipscomb at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
The Irish have followed a similar formula in splitting each of their first two weekends. At the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Florida, they started 0-3 before senior utility player Jane Kronenberger kicked off a three-game win streak with her walk-off home run. Last weekend in the Battle at the Beach, they went 0-2 with a walk-off loss to Coastal Carolina before shutting out Towson and Kent State. They’ll look to rise above .500 for the first time this season at some point across the next three days.
Despite the two shutouts last weekend in Conway, Notre Dame’s pitching is not yet a finished product. Junior right-hander Micaela Kastor (2.55 ERA in 22 innings) and sophomore right-hander Kami Kamzik (3.85 ERA in 20 innings) have been outstanding, but the Irish could use more from senior right-hander Shannon Becker (5.79 ERA in 9 ⅔ innings) and graduate right-hander Alexis Laudenslager (11.45 ERA in 7 ⅓ innings). Becker looked much better against Kent State on Saturday, finishing the game with 3 strikeouts in 2 scoreless innings.
It’s no surprise that sophomore infielder Addison Amaral has spearheaded the Irish offense. A starter in all 10 games, she leads the team with 12 RBI on 2 doubles, a home run, an .864 on-base plus slugging (OPS) and a .321 batting average. Freshman Kaia Cortes has been a pleasant surprise on the infield, slashing .308/.471/.500 with 6 RBI in 10 starts. Senior catcher Rachel Allen and sophomore utility player have swung the bat well, Allen leading the team in average (.400) and OPS (1.009) with Poeck a .364 hitter.
Texas A&M Corpus Christi headed down the Gulf Coast
The Islanders enter the weekend with more rest than they anticipated having, as their Thursday afternoon game at Southern was canceled. As a result, they carry in a 4-6 record with appearances at the Bearkat Classic and the Troy Cox Classic. They lost their only game against a Power 4 opponent by a 20-1 score to Nebraska and most recently lost back-to-back games at New Mexico State by a combined 23-5 margin.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi has centered its offense around a collection of junior utility players to start 2025. Skylar Heger has been the most productive Islander bat, slashing .320/.414/.520 with 2 doubles, a home run and 5 RBI. Crystal Davila has similar stars with a team-high 4 doubles, while Ripley Welker is hitting .281 and on an 8-game on-base streak. Senior first baseman Monee Montilla, the team’s lone representative on the Southland Conference Preseason First Team, is hitting a modest .207 with a long ball. She led the Islanders in batting average (.340), doubles (11), walks (18) and OPS (.958) last season.
The Islanders have not yet found a top arm to replace Primrose Aholelei, who graduated last year after posting a 2.17 ERA in 167 ⅔ innings. Junior Malia Williams leads the team in innings pitched to start this season but has a 7.67 ERA.
When the Irish take the field on Friday to start the Mardi Gras Classic, it’ll be their first time facing the Islanders.
South Alabama coming off Regional final appearance
The hosting Jaguars qualified for their sixth NCAA Tournament last year, going 34-20-1 with a 16-8 mark within Sun Belt play. In the big dance, they lost to Florida in the Gainesville Regional final, concluding their 18th season, all under Becky Clark.
This spring, South Alabama owns a 5-6 record. After hosting the South Alabama Invitational two weeks ago, the Jaguars ventured to Tucson, Arizona, for the Bear Down Fiesta last weekend. There, they took two losses to No. 10 Arizona, playing within a run of the Wildcats in game one. They enter the weekend on the heels of a 13-2 home loss to Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday.
Last year, the Jaguars did almost no power hitting outside of 15-home run-crusher Gabby Stagner. Mackenzie Brasher did end up on the All-Sun Belt First Team with a .309 batting average, though. The real strength of South Alabama was in the circle, where the Jaguars posted a 2.75 ERA, led by the phenomenal Olivia Lackie. A four-time All-Sun Belt First Team hurler, Lackie handled 246 of South Alabama's 389 ⅓ innings last year, delivering a 1.54 ERA.
But she’s gone, and so is the staggeringly low team earned run average. The Jaguars have leaned on Ryley Harrison for 37 innings to start this season, and although she’s no Lackie, she’s fared well with a 3.78 ERA. On offense, Stagner, now a senior first baseman, is leading the way with 5 home runs and 12 RBI on a .286/.400/.857 slash line. Freshman outfielder Presley Lively has come in and swung the bat well, too, with a .915 OPS, but she is just 1 for her last 14.
The Irish are 1-1 against the Jaguars after South Alabama defeated them on Opening Day at the NFCA Leadoff Classic last year.
Maine seeking its first win of 2025
The Black Bears, who went 5-41 last year with a 1-20 record in America East play, are off to an 0-4 start this season. To start Kimberly Stiles’ head coaching tenure, Maine competed at the Pinnacle PC Invitational last weekend, taking two losses apiece to East Tennessee State and Presbyterian College.
Coach Stiles has to be thrilled about the offensive success of senior outfielders Gabby Papushka and Kyrah Haba-Dailey last weekend. The two combined to start 55 games last year, but neither of them posted an OPS north of .500. At the Pinnacle, Papushka was 4 for 13 with a double and a home run, while Haba-Dailey was 4 for 10. Senior catcher Nora Campo, a former Georgetown Hoya, hit the other Maine long ball and took a team-high 4 walks.
The Black Bears, who totaled an ugly team ERA of 7.53 last season, have it at 4.20 through one weekend of play this year. Freshman Madison Simmerman was good in her debut series, allowing just 1 earned run in 10 innings, while junior Alysen Rieth threw two complete games at a 4.67 ERA.
Notre Dame has not lost to Maine in two all-time games, last facing the Black Bears in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 2001.
Lipscomb off to brutal offensive start
Given their offensive output nine games in, the Bison might be lucky to have a 3-6 record. They’ve averaged less than 2 runs per game, slashing .169/.255/.235 for a sub-.500 OPS. As a result, they’ve required near-perfect pitching to win games (they’ve allowed 1 total run in their three victories).
Though it’s still early, the offensive struggles are surprising given the return of All-ASUN bats redshirt junior Josey Polk and sophomore Alyssa Hastings. An All-Freshman Team performer last year, Hastings has lived up to her billing, leading the team in batting average (.269) and OPS (.845). Polk, however, has not yet, following her All-ASUN Third Team campaign with a .185/.214/.259 slash line in nine starts. Sophomore Courtney Sauer has been the team’s leader in the circle, tossing to a 3.00 ERA in 23 ⅓ innings.
Lipscomb opened its season at the Texas State Tournament, shutting out Bradley before losing 23-0 to its only Power 4 opponent thus far, No. 14 Arkansas. Last weekend, the Bison went 2-2 with wins against Furman at the Georgia Southern Tournament.
The Irish and Bison have never opposed one another on the softball diamond.
