SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame softball team is set to begin Atlantic Coast Conference action this weekend as the team returns to Virginia to take on the University of Virginia Cavaliers. The Fighting Irish are coming off of a 4-1 weekend at the Liberty Softball Invitational last weekend.
The Irish defeated James Madison, George Washington, Lehigh and Rutgers while in Lynchburg. Notre Dame rallied in the sixth inning to knock off last season’s OKC Cinderella story, and soundly defeated George Washington and Lehigh. The Irish knocked off Rutgers in extra innings to complete the weekend. Notre Dame dropped the contest with Liberty, 6-3 for the lone loss of the weekend.
Scouting the Cavaliers
UVA enters the weekend 13-9 having played just one home game on the season. The Cavaliers have competed throughout the Carolinas and spent a weekend in Knoxville before opening up the home season against Maryland. The Irish are the first ACC opponent for UVA this season.
Sarah Coon and Leah Boggs lead the Cavalier offense. Coon has started 22 games, averaging a hit per contest, and leads her team with eight doubles and has three home runs. She’s also driven in 16 runs on the season, which is tied for the second-most on the season. She also leads the team with five stolen bases. Boggs sports a .311 average with three doubles, four home runs and 16 RBI. She’s also stolen five bases on the season as the Cavaliers have 32 stolen bases as a team.
Mikayla Houge is the top pitcher for the Cavaliers, starting nine games and appearing in 16. She owns a 3.26 ERA in 38.0 innings of work. She’s struck out 28 hitters and holds opponent to a .223 average against. Savannah Henley has appeared in 11 games with five starts. Her 29.1 innings in second-most on the team and she’s picked up 28 strikeouts.
Others who have logged innings for the Cavaliers are Aly Rayle, appearing in six games with four starts. Rayle is tied for the team-lead with 28 strikeouts in 23.2 innings of work and she owns a 2.66 ERA. Mackenzie Wooten primarily a reliever, appearing in nine games without a start. In 13 innings, she’s struck out eight hitters and earned a 2.69 ERA.
Lost Luggage
The Liberty Softball Invitational got off to a tough start for the Irish as they arrived in Roanoke, Virginia without their equipment Thursday evening. 17 bags were pulled off of the flight to Roanoke and Notre Dame was left with four helmets, five gloves and a limited amount of cleats for the weekend. The teams at the Liberty Softball Invitational shuffled the schedule around and all five teams played their originally scheduled teams, but on different times and days than planned originally.
Virginia Ventures
In 24 games with the Virginia Cavaliers, the Irish have dominated the series, going 21-3. The three losses came in 2017 when the Cavaliers swept the Irish in South Bend. Since that series sweep, the Irish have swept the next two series, a three-game set in Charlottesville in 2019, and a four-game series in South Bend in 2021. Since joining the ACC, Notre Dame is 13-3 in league play against UVA. The Irish have never lost a game in Charlottesville, going 9-0 with three game-series in 2014, 2016 and 2019.
Starting Hot
The Irish are 16-4 through the first 20 games this season. Its the best start for Notre Dame Softball since the 2016 season where the team was 17-3 through the first 20 games. The Irish went on to earn a 43-13 record and a third-place finish in the ACC during the regular season. The first ACC series of the 2016 season was in Charlottesville as the Iris took the three games by a combined score of 32-7.
ACC Action
This weekend begins Atlantic Coast Conference action for the ninth season in 2022. During that time, the Irish have accumulated a conference record of 112-59, finishing no lower than fifth in the league. 2014 was Notre Dame’s best finish in the league in the regular season, finishing second with a 16-5 mark.
Getting Out of the Blocks
Notre Dame has scored 27 runs in the first inning of games this season, and 67 runs in the first three innings this season. When scoring in the first inning, the Irish are 8-1 this season and when scoring the first run of the game Notre Dame is 12-1 on the season.
Top 25 wins
After falling in the first three games of the St. Pete Clearwater Elite Invitational, the Irish went on to take down a pair of Top 25 teams.
Against LSU, Notre Dame rallied from down two to tie it up in the fifth with a home run from Payton Tidd. Miranda Johnson drove in the game-winning runs with a single to right field. Tidd shut the door in the seventh with a strikeout to end the contest and earn the 8-6 win.
The next outing saw the Irish take down #9 Texas. Notre Dame used a 7-run fifth inning to take the lead 9-2 and eventually the game. The win was the first over a top 10-nationally ranked opponent since defeating No. 3 Florida State in Tallahassee March 16th, 2019.
Its the first weekend with wins over different top 25 teams since sweeping No. 13 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg in 2021.
Any Means Necessary
Lead-off hitter Abby Sweet picked up right where she left off after a record-setting on-base percentage in 2021 (.537). She leads the Irish with a .539 on-base percentage this season. She owns a .417 batting average, drawn seven walks and has been hit by nine pitches. The nine hit by pitches in 20 games ranks 4th-nationally in HBP per game. Her .750 slugging percentage is highest among the Notre Dame regulars.
An Extra Run
The Irish have scored 119 runs through 20 games this season, averaging 5.9 runs per game. That ranks 46th nationally, and seventh in the ACC. Its over a full run more per game than what the offense averaged in 2021 (4.9). Leea Hanks leads Notre Dame with 15 runs scored so far this season, followed by Abby Sweet (15) and Emma Clark (11). If the Irish would have scored 5 runs in every game in 2021, they would have earned at least eight more wins.
Mighty Mitchell
Joley Mitchell returned to the diamond after an injury kept her out of the lineup in 2021. She has played in 16 of 20 games this year, hitting for a .265 clip with two doubles, a triple, two home runs and eight RBI. Her second home run of the season was the go-ahead run to lead off the sixth inning in a 2-1 victory over Florida Gulf Coast. She also drove in the game-winning run in the top of the ninth against Rutgers.
Sister Sister
Notre Dame softball has a pair of sisters on its roster this season. Shelby and Cassidy Grimm are playing their second collegiate season together in 2022. Alexis and Anna Holloway are playing their first year of softball together this season. The extra year of eligibility for Alexis allowed for her to stay at Notre Dame long enough to play with her younger sister.
Fast First Weekend
The Irish offense scored 49 runs in the first five games of the 2022 season. Its the most runs on the first weekend of the year in Notre Dame softball history, and the most in a five-game stretch since the Irish scored 51 April 20 through April 28, 2019.