Feb. 22, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame softball junior Jody Valdivia was named the BIG EAST Conference Pitcher of the Week, as announced by the league on Monday. Valdivia led the Irish (4-4) to three wins last week at the Southern Miss Mizuno Classic.
The righty started each of Notre Dame’s three games, earning two wins and even notching a save. She tossed 16.2 innings with 24 strikeouts while giving up eight hits as not a single run crossed the plate under her watch.
Valdivia (3-2) limited Louisiana Tech (Feb. 20) to three hits and fanned 13 Techsters. It was the sixth game of her career with 10+ strikeouts. She got the starting nod against Southern Miss (Feb. 20) and received four runs in the first inning from the Irish offense, and was relieved after the opening stanza. Notre Dame then gave up six runs to make it a 7-6 contest in the bottom of the sixth as Valdivia reentered the game with the bases loaded and one out, taking care of the next five Golden Eagle batters to notch the save.
Valdivia then blanked Stephen F. Austin (Feb. 21) and squeezed out of another jam in the seventh. Sitting on a 3-0 lead, Valdivia gave up three singles in the bottom half of the final frame without an out, but retired the next three batters in order to secure the complete-game shutout.
–ND–