April 19, 2008
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Linda Kohan sent a two-run homer out of Ulmer Stadium in the eighth inning of the University of Notre Dame softball team’s 3-1 BIG EAST Conference win at Louisville to complete a come-from-behind victory for the Irish in game one of Saturday’s twinbill. Notre Dame wrapped up the sweep with a 12-4 win in game two, needing only five innings to improve the team’s overall record to 29-13 and 9-3 in league affairs.
To start the day off, Sarah Smith had a one-out single in the first that was trailed by a Kohan walk to leave two on base before Kristen Wadwell (12-10) took care of the next two batters. Waldwell walked two and struck out four in 8.0 innings of work, giving up five hits and three earned runs.
Louisville (23-18 overall, 9-5 BIG EAST) got on the board when Kassie Stanfill scored on a Chelsea Bemis single in the first. The Cardinals kept their lead until the fourth when Ashley Ellis singled through the left side and scored from first on Christine Lux’s double to right, evening the tally at 1-1.
The game stayed tied through regulation but went the way of the Irish in the top of the eighth with Kohan’s three-run slam to left-center, her third homer in the last two games. A UofL scoring threat in the bottom half of the inning was washed away when Colby Wherry lined a shot off the hip of Irish pitcher Brittney Bargar (22-8) that was scooped by Kohan and fired to first to end the game and strand a Cardinal runner on third. Bargar gave up five hits and fanned four without letting an earned run cross the plate.
Melissa Roth had two hits for the Cardinals while Kohan paced Notre Dame with one hit and two RBI.
Nine hits led to 12 runs in game two as Kohan posted four more RBI to secure the sweep. Ellis added four RBI and Lux had three, and Brianna Jorgensborg scored three times despite not registering a hit. The Irish scored at least one run in each of the five innings while holding Louisville to a pair of runs in both the first and third frames.
Ellis sent a Kassie Stanfill (9-6) offering deep to center field in the top of the first for a three-run homer, and Kohan doubled to right-center in the second inning to plate Katie Fleury and Jorgensborg.
A solo homer by Lux in the fourth was followed by a four-run fifth, highlighted by Kohan’s second double of the game to score a run and a two-RBI single up the middle by Lux.
Jody Valdivia (7-5) went 4.0 innings and gave up three earned runs and three Cardinal hits in the win. Bargar pitched the fifth inning and gave up only one hit before shutting out the side. Stanfill faced 11 batters and gave up three hits and five earned runs in 1.1 frames with three walks.
The Irish will play South Florida on Sunday (April 20) in a doubleheader set to start at noon (ET). The game will be televised regionally on Catch 47 Sports with live stats available at UND.com
–ND–