SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame softball team heads to Fayetteville, Arkansas to take part in the program’s 27th NCAA Regional, and the 24th consecutive NCAA postseason. The Fighting Irish will head to the home of the Arkansas Razorbacks for the first time in postseason history, and just the first time since the 2001 season, head coach Deanna Gumpf’s last season as an assistant coach at Notre Dame. The format is a four-team double elimination tournament, with the winner advancing to face the winner of the NCAA Stillwater Regional.
Along with the Irish, the Oregon Ducks and the Harvard Crimson will also be participating in the NCAA Fayetteville Regional. Against these opponents, Notre Dame is a combined 5-8, splitting six games with Arkansas, and going 2-5 against the Ducks. Notre Dame and Harvard have not met on the softball diamond.
First up, the Irish will take on Oregon at 5 p.m. (ET) Friday evening on ESPN 2. Against the Ducks, the Irish are 2-5, with all seven games being held on a neutral site. It’ll be the fourth time in the Gumpf-era that the Irish matchup with Oregon, with the last being in February of 2020 at the Mary Nutter Classic in Cathedral City, Calif.
Unlike the series with Oregon, Notre Dame and Arkansas have only met on each other’s home fields. The Irish played in Fayetteville twice in 2000, and twice more in 2001. The last meetings came in a doubleheader at Melissa Cook Stadium in 2017, with the teams splitting the two-game set.
The Irish are led by a quintet of All-ACC honorees. First team selections include first baseman Karina Gaskins and third baseman Joley Mitchell. Lexi Orozco earned second team honors, Carlli Kloss picked up third team and Defensive Player of the Year honors with Mickey Winchell earning ACC All-Freshman accolades.
Mitchell leads the team with a .383 average, hitting 10 home runs, driving in 40 and stealing a team-best 15 bases. Kloss adds a .352 average with a team-high 41 runs scored and 20 extra-base hits. She adds 14 doubles, three triples and three home runs to go with 23 RBI. Orozco and Gaskins are equal with 14 home runs on the season. Orozco has 44 RBI, followed by Gaskins at 40. Gaskins has drawn an equal number of walks during the 2023 season, tying her own record for second-most in a single season in program history.
Payton Tidd anchors the pitching staff, throwing in 147.2 of 304 innings this season. The graduate student is 15-10 in 29 appearances with 24 starts. She’s logged 10 complete games with 102 strikeouts. Micaela Kastor owns a 2.60 ERA in 27 appearances. Of her 11 starts, she’s thrown two complete games and adds a team-best three saves. She’s struck out 72 hitters in 75.1 innings of work and holds opponents to a .230 average. Shannon Becker adds a 4.25 ERA in 28 appearances. In her 12 starts, she’s logged two complete games with two saves. She’s struck out 61 hitters in 79.0 innings of work.
Oregon enters postseason play at 35-15 overall, having gone 14-10 in Pac-12 play. The Ducks tested their mettle early on, going 4-1 at the Mary Nutter Classic, defeating three ranked teams. Like the Irish, Oregon enters the postseason having lost four-consecutive games including a series sweep against Utah at home, and a loss to Stanford in the Pac-12 Tournament.
As a team, the Ducks hit for a .308 average, led by Allee Bunker. Bunker owns a .396 average while leading the team in doubles (12) and RBI (52). She adds 10 home runs to go with 13 walks and just seven strikeouts. Terra McGowan leads the team with 12 home runs, driving in 49 and owning a .327 batting average. Ariel Carlson and KK Humphreys each add seven home runs while hitting at a .315 and .285 clip, respectively.
Five pitchers have seen time in the circle this season, led by Stevie Hansen. Hansen leads the staff with a 2.39 ERA in 35 appearances, making 21 starts. She’s logged five complete games en route to earning an 18-6 record. She’s recorded 106 strikeouts in 132 innings while limiting opponents to a .210 average against. Morgan Scott adds a 2.56 ERA in 115.0 innings. The UNC Greensboro transfer owns a 12-6 record with a team-best six saves this season. She adds 79 strikeouts and opponents hit .260 against. Raegan Breedlove has logged quality innings as well. Breedlove owns a 2.56 ERA in 28 appearances. She’s thrown 63.1 innings, striking out 27 hitters in the process.
Arkansas earned the No. 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament this season after going 38-17 overall and 14-10 in the Southeastern Conference. Arkansas has picked up 12 ranked wins this season, including series wins over Arizona, Alabama, Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee. This is the third-consecutive season that Arkansas has hosted the regional round of the tournament and twice have gone on to host a Super Regional round.
This postseason, Arkansas enters with a .276 team average and are perfect on 24 stolen base attempts. Reagan Johnson leads the team with a .374 average. A burner on the bases, Johnson owns three doubles, four triples and is a perfect 17-for-17 in stolen base attempts. She also leads the team with 43 runs scored. Rylin Hedgecock provides the power, hitting 20 home runs, driving in 58. She hits at a .325 average as the Razorback’s designated player.
Five pitchers have logged 13 or more innings for Arkansas, led by Chenise Delce. Delce owns a 1.86 ERA, appearing in a team-best 36 games, making 21 starts with 16 complete games. She’s thrown in 166.0 innings of the team’s 359.1 total frames. Delce has struck out 183 hitters and holds opponents to a .194 average against. Roby Herron adds 23 appearances with 13 starts. She owns a 2.02 ERA, going 8-4 in 72.2 innings of work. She’s struck out 107 hitters while holding opponents to a .169 average against. Hanna Camenzind, Nikki McGaffin and Callie Turner have a 2.32, 2.62 and a 3.17 ERA, respectively. With Camenzind and Turner throwing more than 50 innings on the season.
The Crimson enter the tournament as the champions of the Ivy League, defeating Princeton in the championship round of the tournament 3-2 to earn their way into the NCAA postseason. Overall, Harvard is 29-15-1 and were 16-5 in Ivy League action. Key wins for Harvard this season include series wins over Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Yale and Columbia.
The Harvard offense is one of the best in the Ivy League, hitting at a .313 clip. Madi Mays leads the team with a .353 average, starting 42 of 45 games this season. Mays adds seven doubles and leads the team with 29 RBI. Megan Welsh and Teagan Shaw have the team lead in home runs, hitting three apiece.
Six pitches have toed the rubber for Harvard, but none more than Rylie Flynn. Flynn owns a 2.66 ERA in 94.2 innings of work. She holds opponents to a .177 average against, while going 8-1 this season. She’s appeared in a team-best 28 games, making 12 starts and throwing four complete games in that time. She also owns the team-lead with six saves this season. Anna Reed adds a 2.55 ERA in 24 appearances, making 14 starts. She’s thrown three complete games and holds opponents to a .237 average against in 90.2 innings of work. Katie Arrambide leads the team with 15 starts, appearing in 18 games total. In her 65.2 innings of work, she’s struck out 36 and holds opponents to a .264 average against.