SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame softball team is back at home Tuesday and Wednesday evening as the Fighting Irish will host the UIC Flames and DePaul Blue Demons each at 5 p.m., respectively. The Irish enter the midweek games having won six-straight games, including a three-game sweep at Pittsburgh last weekend.
Last week, Notre Dame finished 5-0, taking midweek games from Detroit Mercy and Western Michigan before heading to Pittsburgh. In the Tuesday matchup with the Titan, Notre Dame tied a program record 18 runs, and the largest margin of victory in program history. The Irish cruised to a 7-2 win Wednesday before hitting the road.
Notre Dame survived game one of the doubleheader with Pitt Friday night. After getting a two-run home run from Karina Gaskins in the top of the seventh inning, Pitt loaded the bases and scored a run in the bottom of the seventh. Payton Tidd got the strikeout to end the game, striking out Cami Compson who had homered in her last at bat. The Irish rode that momentum to an 11-0 five inning victory to conclude the doubleheader. The finale of the series saw Notre Dame cruise to an 8-2 victory, scoring four runs in the final two innings to put the game away.
Scouting the Opponents
UIC
UIC enters Tuesday’s game after finishing a three-game series with Youngstown State Monday afternoon. The Flames dropped the rubber match on Monday, falling 7-5. This season, UIC is 4-16, notching wins over YSU, Army, Middle Tennessee State and Cal Poly. During the 2022 season, the Flames are 0-8 on the road this season.
The Flames offense is led by Tara McElligott, hitting at a .370 average prior to Monday’s game. She also leads UIC with four doubles, three home runs and nine RBI. She has a stolen base on the season, tied with five others as UIC has six stolen bases on the year. McElligott has scored four runs while drawing seven walks and striking out seven times.
Three of the four pitchers on the roster have started at least four games. Christina Toniolo leads the team with eight starts, 13 appearances and four complete games. She’s logged 58.0 innings, limiting opponents to a .227 average. Alyssa McIntosh has appeared in six games, with four starts. She’s thrown 19.1 innings, allowing 12 earned runs. Carlee Jo Clark has made five starts with nine appearances. She’s worked 31.0 innings, striking out nine hitters on the year.
DePaul
DePaul enters the midweek having dropped the series with the Butler Bulldogs. The Blue Demons fell in the rubber match, 4-3 in eight innings. Prior to opening BIG EAST play, DePaul took three of four at the Montana Classic, defeating the host Grizzlies in two games and splitting a pair with Seattle University.
The Blue Demon offense is led by a pair of regulars sporting an average above .300. Brooke Johnson leads the team with a .364 average, hitting six doubles, a triple and leads the team with six home runs. She’s also driven in 22 runs and scored a team-best 21 runs. Miranda Gutierrez has started 25 games, hitting at a .351 average with four doubles, two triples and a home run. She adds a pair of stolen bases to go with a .436 on-base percentage.
DePaul utilizes three pitchers. Natalie Halvorson and Erin Hocker have each started nine games, and Halvorson leads the team with 58.2 innings pitched. The graduate student has appeared in 17 games, striking out 48 hitters as she has earned a 5-5 record. Hocker has thrown in 48.1 innings with 10 appearances. She’s struck out just 12 hitters and thrown four complete games. Sarah Lehman has worked in 14 games, starting seven in the circle. She’s thrown 53.2 innings, striking out 36 on the season.
Record Setting Night
Tuesday night in the home opener against Detroit Mercy, the Fighting Irish scored 18 runs, tying a school record for runs scored and the largest margin of victory. The original record was set March 11, 1994 in an 18-0 victory over Robert Morris. Eight of nine starters had a hit and five players who didn’t start the contest registered one of the 18 hits. 15 different players scored a run in the victory.
Midweek Matchups
The Irish opened their midweek schedule last week, tying a school record with 18 runs scored in a five inning win over Detroit Mercy, and cruised to a 7-2 win over Western Michigan Wednesday night. Notre Dame is 9-2 over the last three seasons in midweek games, including a perfect 3-0 mark during the 2021 season.
Melissa Home Cooked
In the last four seasons, Notre Dame has gone a combined 29-2 at Melissa Cook Stadium, including a perfect 15-0 at home last season. In the Gumpf-era, the Irish are 288-63 when defending home turf and have won the last 21 home games.
Thou Shalt Not Steal
The catching combination of Shelby Grimm and Carlli Kloss have limited the opponents running game better than any tandem in the ACC. Kloss has thrown out four of eight attempted base stealers, and Grimm has tossed out six of 14 attempts. Combined, the Irish have thrown out 10 of 22 attempted base stealers and the .545 stolen base allowed percentage is the lowest in the conference. Grimm also picked off a runner this season.
Getting Out of the Blocks
Notre Dame has scored 34 runs in the first inning of games this season, and 94 runs in the first three innings this season. When scoring in the first inning, the Irish are 11-2 this season and when scoring the first run of the game Notre Dame is 18-2 on the season.
Any Means Necessary
Offensive stand out Abby Sweet picked up right where she left off after a record-setting on-base percentage in 2021 (.537). She leads the Irish with a .519 on-base percentage this season. She owns a .414 batting average, drawn eight walks and has been hit by 11 pitches. The 11 hit by pitches in 28 games ranks 10th nationally in HBP per game. Her .724 slugging percentage is second-highest among the Notre Dame regulars.
Starting Hot
The Irish were 16-4 through the first 20 games this season. Its the best start for Notre Dame Softball since the 2016 season where the team was 17-3 through the first 20 games. The Irish went on to earn a 43-13 record and a third-place finish in the ACC during the regular season. The first ACC series of the 2016 season was in Charlottesville as the Iris took the three games by a combined score of 32-7.
All Gas(kins)
Karina Gaskins has come on strong over the last 10 games, hitting at a .667 average with five home runs, 17 RBI and scored 11 runs. Against Pitt, every hit she had drove in a run as she helped the Irish sweep the Panthers. She’s proven to know the strikezone, walking nine times and striking out just three times in the last 10 games.
Lineup Shuffle
In the final game of the Liberty Softball Invitational, the Irish shuffled the top three of the order for the first time this year. Abby Sweet, who had served as the primary lead-off hitter for the first 18 games of the season, moved to the 3-spot of the lineup, and Leea Hanks moved up to the top of the lineup card. Since that switch, Sweet is hitting for a .419 average with two doubles, two home runs and seven RBI and seven stolen bases. Hanks owns a .343 average from the top of the lineup, with 12 hits, three doubles, three triples, hit her first home run, scored 10 times, with Sweet crossing the plate 13 times. The player who has improved the most since shuffling Sweet and Hanks is the clean-up hitter, Karina Gaskins. Gaskins is hitting a scorching .667 in the 10 games with Hanks leading off, hitting three doubles, five home runs and driving in 17.
Working in TRANsistion
Emily Tran has appeared in 19 games this season, all of which have come as a pinch runner. In that role, she’s scored eight times, and is 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts. She’s the primary speedster off the bench for the Irish.
An Extra Run
After averaging five runs per game in 2021, the Irish offense has upped that number to 6.12 per game this season. Abby Sweet has scored 31 runs this season, ranking 23rd nationally in runs scored per game.
Top 25 wins
After falling in the first three games of the St. Pete Clearwater Elite Invitational, the Irish went on to take down a pair of Top 25 teams.
Against LSU, Notre Dame rallied from down two to tie it up in the fifth with a home run from Payton Tidd. Miranda Johnson drove in the game-winning runs with a single to right field. Tidd shut the door in the seventh with a strikeout to end the contest and earn the 8-6 win.
The next outing saw the Irish take down #9 Texas. Notre Dame used a 7-run fifth inning to take the lead 9-2 and eventually the game. The win was the first over a top 10-nationally ranked opponent since defeating No. 3 Florida State in Tallahassee March 16th, 2019.
It’s the first weekend with wins over different top 25 teams since sweeping No. 13 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg in 2021.
Fast First Weekend
The Irish offense scored 49 runs in the first five games of the 2022 season. Its the most runs on the first weekend of the year in Notre Dame softball history, and the most in a five-game stretch since the Irish scored 51 April 20 through April 28, 2019.
Sister Sister
Notre Dame softball has a pair of sisters on its roster this season. Shelby and Cassidy Grimm are playing their second collegiate season together in 2022. Alexis and Anna Holloway are playing their first year of softball together this season. The extra year of eligibility for Alexis allowed for her to stay at Notre Dame long enough to play with her younger sister.