Feb. 17, 2012
Game 1: Box Score | Box Score 
Game 2: Box Score | Box Score
SAN DIEGO – Senior All-American Dani Miller belted a pair of home runs Friday during the Campbell/Cartier Classic but Notre Dame dropped a pair of non-conference softball contests on the opening day of the 2012 campaign.
Miller hammered a bomb against both San Diego State (4-3) and San Diego (1-1). However, San Diego State handed Notre Dame an 8-3 loss as San Diego ended the day with a 4-2 win over the Irish (0-2).
Action resumes Saturday at 9:00 a.m. (PT) for Notre Dame with a game against Oregon State, followed by a 6:00 p.m. battle with Boise State. Live stats will be available at UND.com.
-Game 1-
Notre Dame fared well in its first trip to the dish as Katey Haus logged an RBI single to right which brought home Emilee Koerner. Both Koerner and Kasey O’Connor dropped one-out singles into shallow right to set up the score.
Hayley Miles bounced a ground-rule double on a Laura Winter (0-1) offering in the home half of the first but stayed put on the pond as the Irish held on to their 1-0 lead at the San Diego State Softball Stadium.
The Aztecs tied it in the second on Kristin May’s stand-up, RBI double to right-center. With runners on the corners, Felicia Reifschneider slapped a single which scored San Diego State’s second run.
One batter later, Hayley Miles made it 5-1 with a three-run moon shot to left.
Koerner turned her second at-bat into an infield grounder to leadoff the third and Miller waxed a two-run homer to left to cut the Aztec lead to 5-3.
San Diego State made Notre Dame pay for leaving a pair of runners on base in the third with Justeen Maeva’s solo home run to left. The fourth dinger of the afternoon went off the bat of Fiana Finau, who belted a 3-2 pitch from Winter to put the Aztecs ahead, 7-3.
Winter would give up one more earned run as the starter struck out three without a walk in 5.0 innings.
Jackie Bowe blanked the Aztecs in order in the top of the seventh.
Koerner and Haus each accounted for two of Notre Dame’s eight hits. San Diego State saw five players record multi-hit efforts.
Rebecca Arbino (1-0) held the Irish in check long enough for the win, fanning five while allowing eight hits and three earned runs in the complete-game performance.
-Game 2-
The Toreros used two hits to score two runs in the top of the first at the USD Softball Complex.
Notre Dame’s best early scoring opportunity came in the bottom of the third when Lauren Stuhr was walked and Alexa Maldonado smacked an infield grounder. Stuhr was then gunned down at the plate trying to score from second on Haus’ single to left.
Haus and Maldonado were each left in scoring position to end the inning as Miller was caught looking at a third strike.
Kylie Ordos added to San Diego’s lead with a solo home run to left in the top of the fifth. Jessica Tieszen singled home a fourth run with two outs.
Notre Dame cracked the scoring column in the sixth when Miller went yard for the second time in as many games. Singles by Amy Buntin and Cassidy Whidden followed a Katey Haus walk to load the bases, though Notre Dame failed to convert any scores.
Buntin went 3-for-4 and Jenna Simon, Maldonado and Miller each had two hits.
Miller doubled in the seventh to join Koerner in scoring position as Notre Dame scratched across a late score on a wild pitch.
The loss for Brittany O’Donnell (0-1) was her first regular-season defeat since a setback to DePaul on April 22, 2010.
Kaitlin Healy (1-0) gave up eight hits and one earned run to pick up the win.
The Irish out-hit the Toreros, 11-7, and left 10 runners on base.
–ND–