Over the weekend, the Notre Dame softball team faced Louisville in their ACC opener, losing two games and winning one.
Game One
Starting the first game, Louisville scored two runs to take the 2-0 lead after one. Heading into the second inning, Louisville added another run for themselves to extend the 3-0 lead. In the third inning, Notre Dame began to fight back as freshman infielder Kaia Cortes homered to right center to get the Irish on the board. Notre Dame continued their momentum in the fourth inning as junior outfielder Mickey Winchell hit a single, bringing senior outfielder Jane Kronenberger in to score, cutting the deficit to one. In the fifth inning, however, Louisville rattled off four runs to pull ahead 7-2. The Cardinals would finish out the game, adding on two more runs in the sixth en route to a final score of 9-2.
Junior pitcher Micaela Kastor started on the mound for the Irish and lasted two innings. Kastor finished with one strikeout though 10 batters. Freshman lefty Brianne Weiss came in relief to throw the next four innings, finishing the game with five strikeouts after facing 22 batters.
Game Two
In the second game, Louisville jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning. After neither team scored in the next two innings, the Cardinals struck again in the bottom of the fourth to go ahead 2-0. Notre Dame fought back in the fifth as an infield single from sophomore infielder Addison Amaral with the bases loaded brought fellow sophomore infielder Olivia Levitt home, making the score 2-1. Despite stranding runners in the inning, senior infielder Anna Holloway would homer to tie up the score in the sixth. Then, in the top half of the seventh inning, senior catcher Rachel Allen singled, advancing Amaral to third, where a single from Cortes allowed her to score. With their first lead of the series, the Irish would not look back, closing out the 3-2 victory.
Sophomore right-hander Kami Kamzik led the team on the mound pitching a full seven innings. The sophomore finished with nine strikeouts after facing 31 batters.
Game Three
In the deciding last game of the series, Louisville opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the second inning. Neither team scored in the third inning, but Allen homered to left field to tie up the score in the top of the fourth inning. In the bottom half of the frame, Louisville responded to pull ahead 2-1. Cortes' homer in the following inning tied the score at two. Neither team scored in the sixth or seventh inning, taking the game to extras. The Irish pulled ahead in the top of the eighth when freshman infielder Caroline O’Brien hit a single to drive in Kronenberger and take the 3-2 lead. Louisville would waste no time responding, though, tying to score at three to extend the game. After six more scoreless innings of free baseball, Louisville walked it off with an RBI single in the 14th inning, taking a hard-fought 4-3 win.
Kastor started on the mound for the Irish pitching three and a third. The junior faced 15 batters and notched two strikeouts. Senior righty Shannon Becker relieved Kastor to escape the fourth without allowing a run before pitching out of danger in the fifth. In her 1.2 innings, Becker faced six batters and finished with two strikeouts. Weiss would come in to take the Irish home in an outstanding outing, despite ultimately falling short. Weiss went 8.1 innings, tallying nine strikeouts through 32 batters before surrendering the game-winning run, only one of her two earned runs allowed.
Following the heartbreaking defeat, the Irish make a quick turnaround to face Ohio State in Columbus on March 11, with first pitch set for 4 p.m.
