Feb. 24, 2006
The University of Notre Dame softball team (3-3) won its first game at the Florida International Golden Panther Invitational with a 1-0 victory over Buffalo (1-1) on Friday afternoon. The Irish will face the host team at approximately 8:30 p.m. Friday evening to continue the tournament schedule. Notre Dame freshman pitcher Brittney Bargar earned the first shutout win of her short Irish career, allowing four hits and striking out eight.
Notre Dame hit the ball hard against Buffalo starting pitcher Margo Schramm, but ended up with just three hits in the contest. The Irish only struck out once in the ball game with eight ground ball outs and four fly balls. The lone run in the game came in the bottom of the third inning when the Irish loaded the bases with two outs on a single and two walks.
On the second walk issued by Schramm, the ball was briefly dropped. Notre Dame pinch runner Brittany Glynn (on third base at the time), feigned a break to home plate on play. Bulls catcher Lacy Schneider threw down to third base in an attempt to pick off Glynn, but the throw was wide of the bag. Glynn scored on the play, with baserunners Sara Schoonaert and Gessica Hufnagle moving to third and second base, respectively.
Freshman Erin Glasco was then hit by a pitch to bring up classmate Alexandra Kotcheff with the bases loaded, but the rookie’s high pop up behind shortstop was caught on a nifty over-the-shoulder catch by Buffalo’s Lauren Picciano to end the inning.
The single run would prove to be all the run support freshman Brittney Bargar needed. She picked up her first career complete-game shutout with a seven-inning, four-hit, eight-strikeout performance. Bargar allowed only one Buffalo runner to reach second base (Picciano on a double in the first inning) and ended four if seven innings pitched with a strikeout.