May 9, 2018
ND Notes 
| CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
Notre Dame at 2018 ACC Championship
May 10-12, 2018
Mewborn Field
Atlanta, Georgia
No. 5 Seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish
(31-20, 13-10 ACC in 2018)
Notre Dame ACC Championship Schedule
Thursday, May 10
No. 5 Notre Dame vs. No. 4 Boston College – 1:30 p.m. (ET)/RSN–ACCNE
Friday, May 11
ACC Championship Semifinal #1 – 1 p.m. (ET)/RSN–ACCNE
Saturday, May 12
ACC Championship Game – Noon (ET)/ESPN
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame softball team begins its journey toward an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship title on Thursday, when the Irish collide with Boston College in the quarterfinal round of the ACC tournament at Mewborn Field in Atlanta. The 1:30 p.m. (ET) game will air live on Regional Sports Network (RSN) affiliates and ACC Network Extra (subject to blackout).
Notre Dame (31-20, 13-10 ACC) claimed the fifth seed in the ACC Championship for the second straight season, earning a date with fourth-seeded Boston College (30-22, 13-10 ACC) in the opening round of the tournament once more. The Irish scored seven unanswered runs to defeat the Eagles 9-5 on May 11, 2017, at North Carolina’s Anderson Stadium.
The winner of Thursday’s opening game will take on the winner of No. 1 Florida State and No. 8 Louisville/No. 9 Syracuse on Friday at 1 p.m. on RSN. Louisville and Syracuse were scheduled to square off in a first-round game on Wednesday at Georgia Tech’s Mewborn Field.
Irish Upset No. 8/6 FSU On Senior Day
In the final regular-season home game for the Notre Dame senior class of Sara White, Morgan Reed and Katie Beriont, it was the Irish who emerged the victors. Notre Dame scored two runs in the second and one in the sixth inning to defeat No. 8/6 Florida State 3-1 on a beautiful Sunday afternoon on April 29 at Melissa Cook Stadium.
Notre Dame picked up its fourth win against a top-25 opponent this season with the victory over Florida State, which was just the third league loss for the ACC’s top seed this season. Notre Dame has now earned 42 wins against opponents ranked in the top-15 nationally since 1992, and the Florida State win was the 29th time the Irish have defeated a top-10 foe in their history. The Irish have earned at least one top-10 win in each season since 2014.
Same Seed, Same Opponent, Same Result In 2018?
For the second straight season, Notre Dame enters the ACC Championship as the tournament’s fifth seed and will take on fourth-seeded Boston College in its first game of the tournament. Following a series full of fireworks that saw the Irish emerge with two games over the Eagles in the final week of the 2017 regular season, there was plenty of drama to follow in the 2017 ACC Championship opener between the teams.
With Boston College ahead 5-3 heading to the top of the seventh inning on May 11 last year, Cait Brooks crushed a 1-0 pitch deep and gone to straightaway center with one out, tying the game at 5-5 and sending the contest to extra innings. Four runs for Notre Dame in the top of the eighth frame ultimately gave the Irish a 9-5 win over the Eagles.
Three Irish Players Named All-ACC
Three Notre Dame players were recognized on Tuesday for stellar play throughout the 2018 ACC league season. Junior infielder Melissa Rochford was named to the All-ACC Second Team, while freshman outfielder Abby Sweet and freshman pitcher Alexis Holloway were each named to the All-ACC Second Team and the ACC All-Freshman Team.
The three Notre Dame All-ACC selections pushed the total number of Irish players honored by the conference to 22 since joining the league in 2014. Rochford earned All-ACC Second-Team accolades for the second straight season, while Sweet and Holloway are the first freshmen pair of All-ACC choices for Notre Dame in the same season.
Irish History At The ACC Championship
Notre Dame makes its fifth start in the ACC Championship this week at Georgia Tech’s Mewborn Field. The Irish are 5-4 during their previous four trips to the ACC tournament, reaching the conference championship game in both 2014 and 2016.
Irish Against The Opposition
Notre Dame enters the ACC Championship with a 167-70 combined record against its nine potential opponents also entered in the tournament field. The Irish have a winning record all-time against seven of those nine foes, and have won 20 or more games against five different ACC tournament entrants. Notre Dame owns a 29-9 all-time series edge over Boston College, including a 2-0 mark in ACC Championship play.