SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Currently riding a three-game winning streak, the Notre Dame softball team will have four consecutive days of games starting tomorrow, closing out ACC play this weekend against North Carolina in a pivotal matchup that will help decide both team’s seeding in next month’s ACC Championships. The Irish will also host 5th-ranked Oregon on Monday, April 28. Saturday’s game against North Carolina will be Senior Day as they Irish honor Rachel Allen, Shannon Becker, Anna Holloway, Jane Kronenberger, Alexis Laudenslager and Emily Tran
Notre Dame is 2-0 this week, beating Central Michigan 8-4 on Tuesday before a 1-0 win over Valparaiso yesterday. The Irish are 9-6 at Melissa Cook Stadium this season. 18 of their wins have come when they score first.
Avery Houlihan hit her first career home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to guide Notre Dame past Valpo yesterday. The Irish have six players who have hit their first career home run this season (Kaia Cortes, Paige Cowley, Rebecca Eckart, Houlihan, Olivia Levitt, Sydny Poeck and Christina Willemssen).
In the circle, Notre Dame continues to rack up strikeouts at an impressive rate. The 292 punch outs by the staff are the second most among ACC teams, while the 122 strikeouts in conference games lead the conference. Micaela Kastor paces the team with 101 on the season and surpassed 250 career strikeouts in the win over Central Michigan.
Notre Dame leads the all-time series over North Carolina 21-12 and 7-4 in South Bend. The Irish beat the Tar Heels 7-4 in last year’s opening round of the 2024 ACC Championship.
No. 5 Oregon will be making its first trip out to South Bend ever. This will be the first game on either program’s campus after nine neutral site matchups between the two schools.
Schedule:
Friday, April 25: 6:00 p.m. vs. North Carolina
Saturday, April 26: 1:00 p.m. vs North Carolina (Senior Day)
Sunday, April 27: 12:00 p.m. vs. North Carolina (Bark in the Park)
Monday, April 28: 5:00 p.m. vs. No. 5 Oregon
All four games can be streamed on ACC Network Extra.