LYNCHBURG, Va. – The University of Notre Dame softball team won two very different ball games Sunday at the Liberty Softball Stadium. The Irish began the day with a 9-0 victory over Lehigh in five innings before needing an extra two innings to defeat Rutgers, 4-3. The Fighting Irish improve to 16-4 on the season with the doubleheader sweep.
Shannon Becker recorded her fifth win of the season, throwing five shutout innings in game one with Lehigh. She struck out a pair and scattered four hits in the victory.
Leea Hanks led the offense against the Mountain Hawks. Hitting as the lead-off hitter for the first time this season, she finished 3-for-3 with two triples and a double, scoring twice and driving in a pair. Karina Gaskins added a 2-for-3 effort with four RBI and a home run. Emma Clark, Abby Sweet, Sarah Genz, Carlli Kloss and Joley Mitchell each had a hit in the win over the Lehigh.
Payton Tidd and Alexis Holloway combined for the win in the second game. Tidd worked 3.2 innings, allowing three earned runs with three strikeouts in a no-decision. Holloway threw 5.1 innings in relief, allowing just one hit and striking out three to earn her sixth win of the season.
The Notre Dame offense was led by a 2-for-4 effort from Genz. Clark, Sweet, Gaskins and Cassidy Grimm each recorded a hit in the win. Gaskins hit her second home run of the day in the top of the fourth inning.
The Irish wasted no time getting on the board, scoring three in the first inning against Lehigh. Hanks led off and hit a triple off the 220’ marker on the center field wall. The throw to get her at third went out of play and she was awarded home and the Irish led 1-0 after two pitches. After a pop up, Sweet drew a walk and scored when Gaskins lifted her third home run of the season over the center field wall to extend the lead to 3-0.
Notre Dame scratched another run home in the bottom of the second. A lead-off single from Kloss started the inning and she moved up on a ground out. Hanks delivered again, driving a double the opposite way to bring in Kloss and extend the lead to 4-0.
Notre Dame scored a pair of runs in the third and put the game away with three in the fourth. Gaskins had an RBI in the third. The fourth inning saw Mitchell connect on a pinch-hit double and scored on Hanks’s third hit, second triple of the game and she scored on a Clark single. The final run was driven in by Gaskins as she took the seventh-pitch of her at bat to center field to extend the lead to 9-0.
In game two, the Irish rallied after two outs in the first inning. Sweet got it going as she was hit by a pitch and kept the pressure on and stole second. Genz drove a double down the left field line to bring her in and take the early 1-0 lead.
The Scarlet Knights tied the game up in the second inning as a lead-off single came around to score on a single to right.
Notre Dame scored single runs in the third and fourth to regain and extend the lead. Clark drove a triple to left center and then scored when the Rutgers catcher attempted to pick her off at third, but the throw hit the Irish batter and ricocheted away, allowing Clark to cross the plate. Gaskins led of the fourth inning with a solo home run to extend the lead to 3-1.
Rutgers responded in the bottom of the fourth with a pair of runs. A double and a hit batter put two on for the first baseman who doubled to center field to score two at tie it at three each.
After the teams exchanged zeros over the next four innings, the Irish scored the game-winning run in the top of the ninth. With the international tie-breaker in effect, Holloway started at second base and moved up when Miranda Johnson dropped down a sacrifice bunt. Mitchell pinch hit and drove a fly ball to left field that was deep enough to score Holloway and give the Irish the 4-3 advantage.
In the ninth inning, Holloway worked through the runner on second, getting a strikeout, a lineout and ended the game with her third strikeout of the day.
Up Next
The Irish will return to Virginia next weekend as they are set to open Atlantic Coast Conference action against the Virginia Cavaliers in Charlottesville.