March 16, 2012
FULLERTON, Calif. – No. 3 Washington hit two homers in the fourth inning to help propel the Huskies to a 7-2 win over Notre Dame on day three of the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif., on Friday.
Already up 1-0, the Huskies (26-1) hit a pair of homers, a solo shot and a two-run dinger, in the fourth to push the lead to 4-0. They later added to their lead in the fifth with a two-run double and a groundout RBI, making the score 7-0.
Notre Dame managed only four hits off starting pitcher Kasey Stancheck (7-0), who allowed two unearned runs while striking out 10. Her counterpart Laura Winter (6-6) suffered the loss, allowing four runs on five hits while striking out seven. Junior Brittany O’Donnell relieved Winter for the final two innings and gave up three runs on three hits.
The Irish did piece together a pair of runs in the sixth inning. Junior Amy Buntin got on base with the only Irish extra-base hit of the day, a double down the left field line. Senior Dani Miller followed that up with a single to left field that should have put runners at the corners with one out. However, the left fielder made her second error in two minutes, this one on a throw that allowed Buntin to score and Miller to reach third. An illegal pitch by Stancheck later in the inning sent Miller across the plate to give the game its final margin.
Picking up hits for the Irish were Buntin and Miller and freshmen Katey Haus and Jenna Simon.
Notre Dame (11-10) closes out their spring break trip on Saturday with a 9 a.m. (PT) battle with No. 5 Arizona State. A link for live results is available on UND.com.
–ND–