MOBILE, Ala. – Notre Dame Softball got the bats rolling during Sunday’s 15-4 victory over the Lipscomb Bisons. The Irish put up seven runs in the fourth innings, propelling them to their eighth win of the season. It was the first ever matchup between the two schools.
The Irish scored a season-high 15 runs on 19 hits and were 9/20 (.450 avg.) with runners in scoring position. 12 different Irish tallied hits and eight different base runners touched home.
Mickey Winchell started things off for the Irish, lining a double into the left center field gap with one out in the top of the first. An Addison Amaral single to center right after put runners on the corners. Rachel Allen drew a walk with two outs to load the bases, but a hard line out to left by Olivia Levitt ended the frame for the Bisons.
Micaela Kastor headed to the circle for the Irish on the finale of the weekend to make her team-high seventh start of the season. The junior struck out two in a clean first inning.
Back-to-back one-out singles from Sydny Poeck and Anna Holloway at the bottom of the lineup got things rolling for the Irish in the top of the second. But Lipscomb starter Ryleigh Sapp would work out of danger for a second straight inning, getting help from a diving catch down the left field line to keep Notre Dame off the scoreboard.
The Irish finally broke through in the top of the third. With two in scoring position, Allen ripped a ball back up the middle, past the diving second basemen and into center field. She would advance to third on a throwing error. Freshmen Avery Houlihan and Caitlyn Early, both who came in as pinch runners, scored for the first runs of the game.
Levitt came up and smacked a fly ball into left field, deep enough to score Allen from third for Notre Dame’s third run. It was the fourth RBI of the weekend for the sophomore third baseman.
It didn’t take long for the Irish to strike again. Five pitches after the sac fly, Jane Kronenberger launched a homer over the party porch in left for her second big fly of the season and 12th of her career. Notre Dame led 4-0 after three.
The Irish would pile it on in the fourth. Four consecutive singles from Emily Tran, Winchell, Houlihan and Early scored a run and loaded the bases with no outs. Levitt came up with the bags packed and continued to swing a hot bat, hitting a grounder back up the middle to score two more as the Irish extended the lead to 7-0.
Notre Dame put four more on the board in the inning courtesy of two-run singles from both Poeck and Christina Willemssen to make it 11-0.
Shannon Becker took over for Kastor in the bottom of the fourth. Kastor went three innings, giving up three hits but striking out three in her first stint before reentering in the bottom of the sixth. Her 35 strikeouts through 15 games is a team-best.
Lipscomb got on the board in the bottom of the fifth with a grand slam to extend the game. The Irish answered with four of their own in the top of the seventh to make it 15-4.
Notre Dame heads West to play in the Judi Garman Classic at Cal State Fullerton starting on Thursday. The Irish open with 4th-ranked UCLA before playing tournament host Cal State Fullerton in prime time.