April 1, 2001
The University of Notre Dame softball team swept its fourth consecutive doubleheader at home with 6-3 and 10-2 victories over BIG EAST Conference foe Seton Hall on Sunday. The Irish are now 26-3 on the season and have won their first four BIG EAST conference games.
Notre Dame head coach Liz Miller coached her 500th game with the Irish in the first contest. She currently boasts a Notre Dame record of 349-152 (.697) and is just 10 wins away from 900 in her 25-year coaching career.
The Irish jumped out to an early lead in game one. After Jenny Kriech (Indianapolis, Ind.) was hit by a pitch, Alexis Madrid (Temecula, Calif.) moved her to second base with a sacrifice bunt. Returning BIG EAST Player of the Year Melanie Alkire (Union City, Calif.) knocked in Kriech with a single to put the first run of the game on the scoreboard.
Irish cleanup hitter Jarrah Myers (Carbondale, Kan.) drew a walk to push Alkire to second base and Lizzy Lemire (Irvine, Calif.) bounced into a fielders choice that Seton Hall shortstop McKenzie Richards bobbled at second base. All the runners reached safely on the play and Andrea Loman (Riverside, Calif.) launched a sacrifice fly into rightfield, allowing Alkire to cross the plate safely.
Seton Hall found themselves down three runs in the top of the fourth after Alkire led off with a walk, advanced to second on a groundout and scored on a Loman RBI single.
Just as the Irish began to grow comfortable with their three-run lead in the fourth inning, Seton Hall began to rally. Kerry Kirk led off the top of the fifth with a single to third base, then Richards drew a walk. Notre Dame starting pitcher Jen Sharron (Agoura Hills, Calif.) recovered briefly by striking out SHU leadoff hitter Mary Carroll Smith, but Amy Mellin bounced an infield hit and the Pirates suddenly had the bases loaded with just one out.
Sharron induced an infield groundball to second base out of Vickie Lamb and Madrid threw home to Myers to apparently post the second out of the inning. The home plate umpire called Myers for catcher’s interference on Lamb while she was leaving the batters box and advanced all the runners automatically, cutting the Irish lead to two runs.
Pirate cleanup hitter Marlena Kotynski, a thorn in Notre Dame’s side the entire day, followed by lining a single to leftfield that score two runs and tie the score at 3-3. Sharron escaped further damage in the inning by getting Rachel Kilbert to groundout and striking out Melissa Kern.
In keeping with the tradition the Irish have established this season, as soon as the opposing team scores Notre Dame will retaliate with their own scoring rally. Alkire led off the bottom of the fifth by reaching on a Pirate fielding error. Myers then laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt that hugged the first base line and Seton Hall was unable to make any defensive play. Lemire then stepped into the batters box and crushed a three-run home run over the leftfield fence to put her team back ahead by three runs.
Seton Hall refused to go quietly after Sharron worked a one-two-three inning in the sixth. Mary Carroll Smith led off the seventh inning with a single, followed by a fielding error from Sharron that allowed Lamb to reach first base.
Sharron would soon find herself in even more trouble after hitting Kotynski with a pitch to load the bases with just one out. The Irish All-American pitcher was not about to give away her 14th victory of the season, though. She rebounded to strike out Kilbert and Kern to end the game.
Any hope of Seton Hall salvaging the second game of the doubleheader was put to rest early in the contest. Irish starting pitcher Kristin Schmidt (Houston, Texas) struck out five of the first seven batters she faced, while the Irish offense posted four runs in the first inning and five runs in the fourth. Kriech and Alkire both posted two hits in the second contest, including an RBI single by Alkire in the bottom of the fifth that ended the game on the eight-run rule.
Schmidt earned her 12th victory of the season, striking out eight Pirates in just 4 1/3 innings of work.
The Irish will return to action Tuesday, April 3, with a doubleheader at Purdue.
DOUBLEHEADER NOTES: Melanie Alkire finished the doubleheader three-for-six with three RBI … Jenny Kriech rebounded from going hitless for just the third time this year in the first game with a three-for-three performance in the second game … the Irish pitching staff has given up just three earned runs in the last eight games … Lizzy Lemire’s home run in the first game was her first of the season and seventh of her career.