SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Alexis Holloway carried a perfect game into the top of the fourth inning Wednesday night as the Fighting Irish earned a 7-2 win over the visiting Western Michigan Broncos. The University of Notre Dame scored six runs over the final three innings to put the game out of reach and improve to 19-6 on the season.
Holloway worked 5.0 innings, allowing just one hit and two unearned runs. She struck out five and allowed four base runners in the contest. Shannon Becker finished off the final 2.0 innings. Becker allowed two hits and struck out three without allowing a run to solidify the win.
Karina Gaskins led the Irish offense. The sophomore went 4-for-4 with two RBI and scored a run. Sarah Genz followed with a 2-for-4 performance with one RBI. Emma Clark, Abby Sweet, Joley Mitchell and Carlli Kloss all added a hit in the win. Clark and Sweet each scored twice as Sweet, Emily Tran, Genz and Jane Kronenberger registered stolen bases.
Notre Dame struck first in the bottom of the second inning. Gaskins led off with a single and was pinch ran for by Tran. Tran stole second and moved up on a ground out. Mitchell drove a 2-2 pitch to the wall in right center to drive in the run and give the Irish the early 1-0 lead.
The Irish added a couple more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Back-to-back singles started the inning before Genz and Kronenberger each hit shots to the shortstop that weren’t handled by the Bronco defense, allowing two to score.
Western Michigan battled back for two of their own the next half inning. A walk and an error put two on as a sacrifice bunt moved them into scoring position. A single brought in one and a sacrifice fly scored another to cut the lead to 3-2.
The Irish got a run back in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single from Genz, and went on to add three more runs in the sixth. Kloss drove a single to right to start the rally, Clark followed and reached on an error and Sweet was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Kloss scored on a wild pitch and Gaskins drove in two with a single off the top of the wall in left.
Up Next
The Irish will hit the road for an Atlantic Coast Conference series with the Pittsburgh Panthers. First pitch of the series is set for Friday night at 6 p.m. in Pittsburgh.