LEESBURG, Fla. – The University of Notre Dame softball team used a pair of dominating starts from Alexis Holloway and Payton Tidd to go 2-0 to open THE Spring Games in Leesburg, Fla. The Irish earned a 2-1 victory over North Florida before shutting out Iowa in the nightcap, 2-0.
Alexis Holloway was dominant in the first game of the day, limiting the Osprey’s to just three hits. She worked the full 7.0 innings to improve to 3-1 on the season.
The offense found what it needed in against North Florida. Leea Hanks and Cassidy Grimm each tallied two hits, including Grimm’s first double of the season.
The nightcap was the Payton Tidd show as the senior pitcher threw a complete game, her third in as many starts. She held the Hawkeyes to two hits, and struck out a pair She also led the offense, going 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBI, and a run scored.
In game one, North Florida got on the board first, scoring a solo run in the top of the third. A lead-off walk led to a couple fielder’s choices before a single to right brought in the first run of the afternoon.
The Irish answered back with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame. Hanks led off with a sharp double down the left field line and came around to score when Johnson hit a ground ball to the right side that was misplayed, bringing Hanks in to tie the game at one.
Notre Dame scratched another unearned run home in the bottom of the fourth. Grimm roped a double to left center and moved up when Carlli Kloss nearly reached on an infield hit to the left side. After a walk put runners on the corners, Emma Clark tapped a ground ball to first base where it was misplayed, allowing Grimm to score and the Irish to take a 2-1 lead.
The two teams exchanged zeroes the rest of the way. North Florida threatened with a runner in the seventh, but Holloway extinguished the threat with a fly out and a ground ball.
In the matchup with Iowa, the Irish offense competed with a talented Iowa pitching staff as neither team could crack the scoreboard through three innings. Karina Gaskins got something going in the fourth, drawing a one-out walk. Tidd worked a 2-0 count and didn’t waste the get-over pitch, hitting it over the fence in left field to give the Irish the 2-0 lead.
It was zeros the rest of the way. Iowa got a couple runners on in the seventh with a walk and a double put the tying run on second base. Tidd got a ground ball to Gaskins who took care of it at first to secure the Irish victory.
Up Next
The Irish have another doubleheader tomorrow when they will take on Princeton and Florida Gulf Coast beginning at 1:30 p.m.