A week removed from a rough, 0-3 series at home against then-ranked No. 22 Stanford, Notre Dame softball had better things in store for No. 22 Virginia this weekend. The Irish took two out of three games from the Cavaliers at Melissa Cook Stadium, winning on Friday and Saturday before coming up short in extra innings on Sunday. They now stand at 16-20 overall and 4-8 within Atlantic Coast Conference play.
Friday: Virginia 3, Notre Dame 4
While 13 home runs flew out of the ballpark next door at Frank Eck Stadium, the Irish and Cavaliers played a much more offensively capped game to open the series. Virginia got the scoring started with a run in the second, then two in the third on a Bella Cabral single and Mary Eaton double. On the latter hit, sophomore shortstop Addison Amaral made a strong relay throw home to cut down a potential fourth Virginia run at home plate. The extra-base hit still chased freshman left-hander Brianne Weiss from the Irish starter’s circle and brought an end to Virginia’s offensive production for the night, even though it finished with 11 hits.
After junior right-hander Micaela Kastor stranded two runners on base to end the top of the third, Notre Dame went to work against Virginia starter Julia Cuozzo, tying the game before the fourth inning arrived. Junior designated hitter Paige Cowley knocked a single up the middle, bringing in two runs to put the Irish on the board. Senior catcher Rachel Allen followed with a double to the right-center gap, scoring Cowley to level the score in a flash.
The Irish then nosed in front in the fourth as Virginia turned to Eden Bigham out of the bullpen. A walk and bunt single set up sophomore left fielder Sydny Poeck to drive in what would stand as the game-winning run on a sacrifice fly. Notre Dame left the bases loaded in the fourth and stranded two more runners in scoring position in the fifth, but it didn't matter due to Kastor’s performance. Despite conceding five hits and walking two, the junior held Virginia scoreless in 3.1 innings, wiggling out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out spot in the fifth.
After striking out four, Kastor handed the ball off to sophomore right-hander Kami Kamzik for the seventh. Virginia threatened her immediately, using a single, walk and steal to put the tying run at third and the go-ahead run on second with nobody out. Kamzik punched out Eaton and moved on to face Virginia designated hitter Sarah Coon, who had already recorded three hits in the game. She made contact again, the ball going right to third baseman Caroline O’Brien. The freshman tagged Kelly Ayer leaning off the bag and threw a dart to first that ended the game on a replay-confirmed double play.
Saturday: Virginia 2, Notre Dame 7
Given Sunday’s forecast for severe weather, Virginia and Notre Dame were supposed to play a Saturday doubleheader in the afternoon. However, they only got one game in due to continuous rainfall and had to push game three back to its original Sunday spot.
Regardless, the Irish clinched their series victory on a soggy Saturday in South Bend, scoring all seven of their runs in the game’s first four innings. Virginia did strike first against senior right-hander Shannon Becker, as Eaton ripped an RBI single in the first inning. Notre Dame answered right back with three runs in the second against Savanah Henley, as O’Brien delivered an encore to her double play by driving in two on a triple.
Though Virginia plated another run in the top of the third, Notre Dame kept rolling on offense to expand its lead from 3-2 to 7-2. Cowley singled to bring Amaral home in the third, preceding a three-run fourth inning. Allen delivered the big hit of that frame, singling to send in two runners and bring the game to its final score.
Kastor was dominant in the circle yet again for the Irish, relieving Becker after her three frames as the starter. Notre Dame’s No. 7 matched the number on her jersey with seven strikeouts and four hitless innings, carrying Notre Dame to another ranked win.
Sunday: Virginia 6, Notre Dame 4 (10 innings)
Notre Dame’s pitching success carried into Sunday’s 11 a.m. contest, with Kamzik dealing five innings of one-run softball to start the game. However, the Irish couldn’t muster much after Allen took Virginia starter Ava Hodges deep in the second, as Bigham came on in relief and wound up pitching the game’s final 8.1 innings on 126 pitches. With Coon singling to bring home a two-out run in the sixth, the game entered the seventh in a 1-1 tie.
The Cavaliers had a chance to take the lead in that seventh inning, getting a runner to second with one down. However, Kastor struck out Reece Holbrook and got a lineout from Ayer, ultimately sending the game to extra innings.
With Kastor still in the circle, Virginia took the lead on an Eaton solo shot to center in the top of the eighth. However, Amaral immediately answered as the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the inning, pushing a tying long ball over the right-field fence. The Irish then put the potential winning run on third with only one out, but neither Allen nor senior second baseman Anna Holloway could bring freshman infielder Avery Houlihan home to secure the sweep.
Virginia made the Irish pay for the missed opportunity in the top of the ninth, scoring twice to claim a 4-2 lead. Ayer and Eaton provided the run-producing hits, putting the Irish in an even tougher spot entering the bottom of the ninth. However, Notre Dame still found a way to extend the game, as freshman first baseman Kaia Cortes smacked a game-tying single with two outs and the bases juiced. Although home plate umpire Charles McManus initially called Notre Dame’s tying runner out a home plate to end the game in a Virginia win, a review reversed the call and kept the game going.
In the 10th, Virginia finally stuck the Irish in a deficit they could not overcome, scoring two more runs on a Jade Hylton home run. Notre Dame went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning, ending the game nearly three and a half hours after it started.
With Strikeout Cancer Weekend on the horizon for the first weekend of April, the Irish will head to Northwestern for a midweek game at 5 p.m. on Tuesday in Evanston, Illinois. The Wildcats are 18-11 overall with a 7-0 record inside of Big Ten play, and they come off a road sweep of Minnesota. Bridget Donahey (six home runs), Kelsey Nader (.481 on-base percentage) and Kaylie Avvisato (.404 batting average, 20 RBIs, 13 stolen bases) lead the Northwestern offense, while Lauren Boyd (2.78 ERA in 58 innings) has been the team’s most effective hurler.
