Notre Dame softball picked up their second win in a nine game homestand on Tuesday afternoon, defeating the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) Flames 2-1 at Melissa Cook Stadium. Irish pitching limited UIC to one unearned run across seven sparkling frames, while Emily Tran smacked a 2-run single in the second inning to account for the only offense of the day.
Junior right hander Micaela Kastor drew the start in the circle and pitched two scoreless innings, working out of a first-inning jam thanks to a 6-6-3 double play courtesy of Addie Amaral. Senior Shannon Becker surrendered the only run of the game, but allowed zero earned runs in 4 solid innings to claim the win and bring her season ERA down to 3.35. Freshman lefty Brianne Weiss struck out all three Flames she faced in the top of the 7th inning to preserve the 2-1 lead and earn her first career save. Four of Notre Dame’s 14 wins have now ended with a save, with Becker closing out the other three.
Junior Sydny Poeck extended her on-base streak to 13 games with a first inning single. She also drew a walk to help set up Tran’s big hit. Poeck now holds the longest on-base streak of the season for the Irish, passing Amaral’s 12-game mark from earlier in the campaign. Beyond her two RBIs, senior Emily Tran made two fine plays in center field and stole a base, her team-leading ninth of the year.
For UIC, catcher Larissa Ortiz went 1/3 with the only run scored. Emma Gumont drove her in, although she did not technically pick up the RBI due to an Irish error in the outfield. Redshirt senior Alyssa McIntosh took the hard-luck loss. She surrendered two unearned runs in four strong innings, retiring 12 of 19 batters faced. Jasmine Whorley threw the final two innings in the circle, allowing zero hits. Neither pitcher struck out anyone, as the Irish did not go down on strikes all evening. Grace Fleming recorded an outfield assist at home plate and made two putouts in center field in an impressive day on defense.
The Flames loaded the bases in the top of the sixth inning, but Becker got Brianna Motto to ground out to end the threat. The Irish failed to score in the bottom half of the inning as well after loading the bases due to a Sydny Poeck fly out. The teams combined to leave 15 runners on base.
Notre Dame improves to 14-19 on the season and 2-4 on their current nine game homestand, which extends to a streak of 14 home games out of the next 15. They welcome the No. 22 Virginia Cavaliers to Melissa Cook Stadium this weekend for an ACC weekend series which kicks off at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 28.
