SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame softball team (25-27, 11-13 ACC) stormed back to knock off DePaul in walk-off fashion, 9-8, in the regular season finale at Melissa Cook Stadium on a chilly Wednesday evening. Olivia Levitt played hero for the Irish, lining a ball into left field with the bases loaded in the seventh to extend Notre Dame’s winning streak to six games.
The Irish came back after being down seven runs going into the bottom of the sixth. Notre Dame put up a six spot in the sixth inning before two runs with no outs in the bottom of the seventh secured the 25th win of the year. Notre Dame improves to 18-0 this season when scoring six or more runs in a game
Levitt, who entered the game as a defensive substitute in the top of the sixth, recorded her 24th and 25th RBI on the game-winning hit, a career-high and the third-most on the squad this year. The junior continues to swing a hot bat after hitting a pinch-hit home run Sunday against Boston College.
The sixth inning was the turning point tonight. After Kami Kamzik, who picked up the win, threw a scoreless inning, the bats came alive.
Down 8-1 in the inning, Lily Hagan led off the frame with a no-doubt home run to left field that landed on the top row of the bleachers, her ninth of the year. It’s now back-to-back homers for Hagan, who has been on a tear the past week, posting multi-hit games in four of her last five games.
Notre Dame manufactured five runs after that with walks, Blue Demons’ errors and base hits. The Irish went six batters straight without committing an out, as Christina Willemssen, Mickey Winchell, Ava Zachary and Hayden Kyne all produced run-scoring singles to put the Irish right back in the ballgame, 8-7 DePaul after six innings before winning the game in the seventh.
In her last game at Melissa Cook Stadium, Mickey Wichell reached base four times, two from singles and two from walks. The senior scored a pair of runs, drove in a run and stole a base, leaving a lasting legacy in center field the past four years for Notre Dame.
Micaela Kastor made the start in her final home game for the Irish, striking out two in 2.1 innings pitched. Fellow senior Paige Cowley pinch hit in the game, reaching second on an error in the middle of the six-run sixth inning. Ashley Marietta pinch ran late in the sixth inning to cap off her lone regular season with Notre Dame.
The Irish flip the page to the ACC Softball Championship, which begins Wednesday, May 6th in Charlottesville, Virginia.