March 17, 2009
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Already six weeks into the season, the Notre Dame softball team will finally get the chance to play on its home turf as Toledo visits the Irish for a Wednesday doubleheader at Melissa Cook Stadium. Notre Dame (8-10) returns from a West Coast swing that saw the team split its 10 games at the UNLV Invitational, UCLA and at the prestigious Judi Garman Classic.
“It’s a great challenge playing on the road, especially against the caliber of competition we’ve faced in these first few weeks,” Irish head coach Deanna Gumpf said. “But now we’re ready to settle in and take care of business at home and throughout the BIG EAST Conference schedule.”
Toledo (1-10) recorded its lone win over Georgetown, a team that came back to down the Rockets in a later rematch. The Rockets have not played since March 11, as last week’s James Madison Invite was called off due to inclement weather.
Following the pair of games against Toledo, Notre Dame will welcome St. John’s on March 22 to start BIG EAST play.
Live stats, audio and video for the upcoming contests will be available at UND.com. For up-to-the-minute scores and highlights, sign up for IRISH ALERTS text-messaging services at UND.com.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
8-10 overall / 0-0 BIG EAST
[UND.com – BIGEAST.org]
Toledo Rockets
1-10 overall / 0-0 Mid-American
[UTRockets.com – Mac-Sports.com]
Melissa Cook Stadium
March 18 – 3:30 p.m. (ET)
University of Notre Dame · Notre Dame, Ind.
Live video / audio / stats: UND.com
One-Hitters …
· Notre Dame is 18-2 all-time in home openers, winning its last 11 consecutive … the two losses came in 1992 and 1997 … however, the Irish have never opened the home portion of their schedule at Melissa Cook Stadium … the first game played there was a midseason contest against Villanova on April 13 … that 2008 matchup ended in a 4-1 win for the visiting Wildcats.
· An 18-game road trip that included stops in four states (Alabama, California, North Carolina and Nevada) and featured six ranked opponents comes to an end against Toledo … since starting the season at No. 1 Alabama, Notre Dame has faced No. 5 Stanford, No. 5 UCLA, No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 12 Arizona and No. 6 Arizona State.
· UC Santa Barbara (March 8) had two runners on base in its half of the seventh when Tiffany Wright flew out to Alexa Maldonado in center field, who started the first leg of a triple play by throwing to Katie Fleury at second who relayed the favor to Christine Lux at first to end the game in not-so-routine fashion … it is the first known defensive triple play in Notre Dame history (research is ongoing).
· Seven unanswered runs helped Notre Dame dig itself out of an early 3-0 deficit to post a 7-3 victory over Pacific in the second day of the Judi Garman Classic … Christine Lux, Katie Fleury and Beth Northway each homered as Notre Dame recorded nine hits in the contest … Brittney Bargar got the complete-game win with five strikeouts while giving up six hits, and the Irish defense stood strong to help strand seven Tigers on base.
· Notre Dame downed No. 9 Oklahoma, 4-3, on the opening day of the Judi Garman Classic hosted by Cal State Fullerton … the Irish sat on a 3-1 lead but committed three errors in the top of the seventh, though Oklahoma saved its lone error for the bottom of the seventh to help give Notre Dame the win … the victory was Notre Dame’s first against a top-10 opponent since downing No. 5 Tennessee in 2005.
· Brianna Jorgensborg was named the BIG EAST Conference Softball Player of the Week on March 9 … Jorgensborg put together one of the most prolific slugging stretches in Notre Dame history at the UNLV Invitational and finished the four-game invite with a 1.889 slugging pct. which came courtesy of three triples and two home runs in nine at-bats … her .556 batting average led Notre Dame throughout the weekend … Jorgensborg tripled in three consecutive contests, becoming the first player to accomplish the feat in the 21-year history of the program … she also had two home runs.
–ND–