CLEMSON, S.C. – The University of Notre Dame softball team suffered a 2-1 loss at the hands of the 14th-ranked Clemson Tigers Saturday afternoon. The Fighting Irish outhit the Tigers 12-7, but couldn’t find the big hit it needed to go ahead in the contest. The 21st ranked Irish drop to 31-9 on the season and 10-5 in Atlantic Coast Conference action. Clemson improves to 33-11 and 11-7 in conference play.
Shannon Becker started in the circle, throwing 6.2 innings. She struck out three hitters without allowing a walk, throwing 83 strikes in 121 pitches. Payton Tidd came on to face the top of the order in the seventh, allowing a hit.
The Irish offense was led by a 3-for-4 performance from freshman Jane Kronenberger. Karina Gaskins and Emma Clark added two-hit efforts in the loss. Leea Hanks, Abby Sweet, Miranda Johnson, Joley Mitchell and Carlli Kloss each had a hit in the contest.
The Irish struck first in the top of the first inning. Clark got the rally going with a single just in front of home plate and stole second. After a groundout moved her up, a pitch that sailed over the catcher gave her the opportunity to take home and the Irish took the early 1-0 lead.
Clemson tied it up in their half of the second inning. Back-to-back singles led off the inning before back-to-back fly balls allowed the runner to move up and eventually score to knot the game.
Both teams threatened in the fourth. The Irish loaded the bases with one, but a ground ball to shortstop threw the runner out at home before a diving grab on the infield retired Notre Dame without a run. Clemson put its first two runners on before Mitchell made a leaping catch at the netting in foul territory and Becker picked up a strikeout to retire the threat.
Notre Dame put two on with one out in the top of the seventh inning, but a pop up on the infield led to the second out. Mitchell barreled up the first pitch of her at bat, but it went directly to the left fielder for the third out to retire the side.
In the bottom of the seventh, Aby Vieira led off with a sharp single to the left side. After a foul out and a ground out to the pitcher moved the runner into scoring position, the top of the Tiger order came up. With a 2-2 count, Cammy Pereira dropped a single down the left field line for the score and the win.
Up Next
The Irish will be back in action on Tuesday evening as they head to Bloomington for a matchup with the Indiana Hoosiers at 5 p.m.