GREENVILLE, N.C. – The University of Notre Dame softball team took down Buffalo for the second time this weekend, closing out the Purple-Gold Classic with a 4-1 victory Sunday morning. The Irish improve to 7-4 on the season after a 4-1 weekend in North Carolina.
Micaela Kastor continued her impressive start to the season, striking out seven Bulls in five innings. Kami Kamzik struck out a pair as well in relief, as the Irish duo held Buffalo to just a .120 batting average on the day.
Notre Dame got multi-hit games from Caroline O’Brien and Sydny Poeck. O’Brien also stole two bases and scored the first run of the game. The sophomore third baseman leads the team this season with 14 hits.
Caitlyn Early logged her first start of the season and came through huge, driving in the game-winning runs in the bottom of the fifth with a two-run double, her first hit of the season and first extra base hit of her career.
Notre Dame returns to the Sunshine State next weekend where the Irish will compete in the SpaceU Classic, hosted by UCF in Orlando.
How it happened
Kastor took the ball for the Irish, making her fourth start of the season. The senior tossed a 1-2-3 opening inning with a pair of strikeouts.
The Irish scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the third. Leading off the inning, Caroline O’Brien lined a single into right field before stealing second base to advance into scoring position with no outs. After advancing to third on an out, O’Brien scored on an Olivia Levitt RBI groundout to make it 1-0 Irish after three innings.
Kastor ran into her first jam in the top of the fourth. With two outs, Buffalo notched a single and walk to put two on. After a wild pitch, the Bulls had two in scoring position. But Kastor dug in, getting a groundout to third to keep Buffalo scoreless. She was up to six strikeouts through four innings.
Buffalo finally got on the board in the fifth. After a fielding error and a stolen base for the Bulls, a base hit up the middle on the 11th pitch of the at bat tied the game at one. Kastor would get a strikeout to limit the damage and keep it tied headed to the bottom of the fifth.
The tie didn’t last long. With two on and one out, Caitlyn Early roped a double into left, scoring Molly Conner and Kaia Cortes to regain the lead. It was the first hit of the season for Early. The Irish manufactured another run with heads up baserunning to take a 4-1 lead headed into the sixth.
Kami Kamzik relieved Kastor to start the sixth. Kastor finished with seven strikeouts in five innings, allowing just three hits and one unearned run. Kamzik tossed a 1-2-3 sixth inning.
Kamzik finished off the Bulls in the seventh in order, recording her first save of the season to give Notre Dame its seventh win of the year.