Irish Defeat Michigan State in Midweek Contest

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Notre Dame softball team defeated Michigan State 4-3 Tuesday evening to get back in the win column. The Irish are now 20-24-1 on the year.

How it happened

After a 1-2-3 top of the first, the Spartans took the lead early with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first.

Addison Amaral got Notre Dame on the board in the top of the third. After back-to-back singles by Caroline O’Brien and Emily Tran ahead of her, Amaral ripped a double that hit the base of the wall in center field, scoring both runs for the Irish as they took the lead 2-1. 

Michigan State would hit another solo home run in the bottom half of the third to tie the game 2-2 after three innings.

It didn’t take long for the Irish to get that run back. After Rachel Allen walked, Micaela Kastor pinch ran for her, advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jane Kronenberger. Coming off her first career multi-hit game Sunday at Virginia Tech, Rebecca Eckart stepped up to the plate and ripped a single back up the middle to score Kastor. The ball got past the center fielder, allowing Eckart to advance all the way to third. She later scored on another Spartan error to make it 4-2 Irish after the top of the fourth. 

Shannon Becker took over to start the bottom of the fourth. Kastor, making her 18th start of the season, finished with four strikeouts over three innings, allowing just two hits and two runs. The Spartans scratched a third run off Becker to make it 4-3 Notre Dame after four.

Becker settled down in the fifth, throwing a 1-2-3 inning. The senior induced weak contact on all three batters to keep the Irish up a run.

Kami Kamzik relieved Becker in the bottom of the sixth, making her 25th appearance of the season. She tossed a scoreless sixth inning and secured the win with a 1-2-3 seventh inning.

Notes

Rachel Allen extended her on-base streak to 12 after a leadoff walk in the fourth. It’s the second-longest streak on the team (Sydny Poeck – 17 games).

Micaela Kastor made her 18th start of the season, going three innings and striking out four. She has now struckout 91 batters this season.

Addison Amaral drove in a pair with a double in the third inning. The Irish shortstop now has 10 doubles and 38 RBI on the season. She finished 2/3 on the evening.

Notre Dame will head to Durham, North Carolina for a three-game series at 17th-ranked Duke from Thursday-Saturday due to Easter Sunday this week.