April 28, 2001
Dominating, impressive, gutsy, and practically unhittable – all words that can accurately describe the University of Notre Dame softball team’s two starting pitchers. The Irish improved to 45-3 on the season and 14-0 in BIG EAST Conference competition with 4-2 and 5-0 victories over Boston College (25-23, 6-12) at Ivy Field Saturday afternoon, both wins coming on the strength of two great pitching performances.
On one of the most gorgeous days of the current Northern Indiana spring season, Notre Dame’s starting pitching duo of senior Jen Sharron (Agoura Hills, Calif.) and freshman Kristin Schmidt (Houston, Texas) showed the packed Ivy Field crowd why they are considered two of the top pitchers in the nation.
Sharron turned in one of her better efforts of the year, baffling the Boston College batters with change ups and breaking balls to tie her personal-best mark for strike outs with 14. The Eagles scored one of their runs off uncharacteristic back-to-back passed balls from Irish catcher Jarrah Myers (Carbondale, Kan.) and received a second run on a fielding error by third base Andria Bledsoe (Higley, Ariz.).
The Irish got on the scoreboard in the third inning after a lead off hit by one of the hottest hitters on the team, designated player Lisa Mattison (Granger, Ind.). Nicole deFau (Southington, Conn.) was inserted to pinch run for Mattison and moved to second on a perfect sacrifice bunt from Alexis Madrid (Temecula, Calif.). Jenny Kriech (Indianapolis, Ind.) followed with her first of three triples in the doubleheader, allowing deFau to score easily. Danielle Klayman (San Diego, Calif.) then ground out sharply to first base for a fielder’s choice as the Eagles threw out Kriech at home plate attempting to score.
Melanie Alkire (Union City, Calif.) followed up with a single up the middle, followed by a Myers one-base hit down the leftfield line that allowed Klayman to score the second run of the game.
Notre Dame added the winning run in the fifth when Kriech and Klayman posted back-to-back triples to give the Irish a 3-1 lead.
Boston College would get one run back in the sixth when Summer Jarratt drew a walk, Jacqui Goodchild singled and Jarratt eventually scored on a fielding error.
The Irish came right back to add an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth after Lizzy Lemire (Irvine, Calif.) drew lead off walk and scored on a Andrea Loman (Riverside, Calif.) double into the left-centerfield gap.
Schmidt took the mound in the second game fresh off her 15-strikeout no-hit performance on Wednesday against Toledo. The encore was almost as good as the previous offering. The Irish rookie would end up surrendering just a bunt-hit in the top of the sixth that avoided her from earning two consecutive no-hit games.
The Kriech/Klayman extra-base hit club struck again in the bottom of the first inning in the second game. Kriech once again tripled down the leftfield line and Klayman followed with a double into right-centerfield to put the Irish up 1-0.
That would be all the lead that Schmidt required, going the distance and striking out nine, including the side in the bottom of the seventh. Schmidt’s pitches were still sharp in that last inning, as she struck out two Eagle batters on two spectacular change ups.
Notre Dame added four runs to its lead in the fourth inning. Alkire walked and Myers reached on a fielders choice that Boston College threw into leftfield attempting to throw out deFau (who was inserted as a pinch runner for Alkire) at second base. Lemire then singled up the middle, scoring deFau, advancing to second on the throw home and pushing Myers all the way to third. Loman drilled a long singled to centerfield, posting two more RBI as Myers and Lemire scored easily on the play. After Loman successfully stole second base, Madrid brought her home with a laser beam single to centerfield.
The Irish return to action in less than 24 hours, taking on BIG EAST Conference foe Providence on Senior Appreciation Day at 11 a.m., on Sunday.