#9 Jody Valdivia 2009-10 Softball Roster

AS A SENIOR (2011): Concluded standout Notre Dame career with a 10-5 record, a 2.85 ERA and 111 strikeouts in 103 innings in the circle … ended career ranked fourth all-time on the Irish list in appearances (137), fifth in games started (110), winning percentage (.758, 75-24) and strikeouts per seven innings (7.47), sixth in shutouts (24), seventh in innings pitched (636.2), complete games (62), wins (75) and strikeouts (679), and eighth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.28) … tossed a complete game six-hitter, allowing one run in a win over Miami (Ohio) (Feb. 20) … picked up third straight victory to open the season with a two-hit shutout of the College of Charleston (Feb. 26), walking none and striking out 11 … punched out five of six hitters faced in a relief appearance to earn the save against Liberty (Feb. 27) … threw 137 pitches in an eight-inning complete game victory over North Carolina (March 5), striking out seven Tar Heel batters … allowed one run over seven innings at Cal Poly (March 13), walking two hitters with eight strikeouts … mowed down a season-high 14 batters against Butler (April 7), allowing two hits in a complete game shutout … surrendered one run on five hits in a run-rule win over Bowling Green (April 12), walking one Falcon hitter and striking out six … combined with teammate Shannon Kelly on a five-inning no-hitter on Senior Day against St. John[apos]s (May 1), striking out three Red Storm hitters over four innings of work … worked three innings of relief in final regular season appearance at Connecticut (May 8), allowing one run on two hits, punching out four Huskie hitters.

AS A JUNIOR (2010): Crushed a number of Irish records with one of the most dominating seasons by a Notre Dame pitcher … BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year … first team all-BIG EAST … NFCA all-region performer … finished the regular season with a school-record 35 wins while posting an overall slate of 38-7 … posted a 16-1 mark from the circle in BIG EAST play … the win total is the second-highest in league history … won 26 of her last 27 league decisions, the best two-season stretch in league history (regular season only), heading into the BIG EAST Tournament … her 14 complete BIG EAST games in 2010 tied her for fourth all-time in that category … led the BIG EAST with a 1.34 ERA and 93 strikeouts in league play … totaled 16 shutouts (ranked fourth nationally) and her 274 strikeouts marked the 29th-best total in the country … second on the school[apos]s single-season charts in games started (44), complete games (31) and innings (264.2) … notched the win in the Irish opener against Creighton (Feb. 12) with 10 strikeouts in 6.0 innings … held No. 1 Washington (Feb. 14) scoreless for the first 4.0 innings of a 5-0 loss … started each of Notre Dame[apos]s three games at the Southern Miss Mizuno Classic, earning two wins and even notching a save while being named the BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week (Feb. 22) … tossed 16.2 innings with 24 strikeouts while giving up eight hits as not a single run crossed the plate under her watch … limited Louisiana Tech (Feb. 20) to three hits and fanned 13 Techsters … it was the sixth game of her career with 10+ strikeouts … started against Southern Miss (Feb. 20) and received four runs in the first inning from the Irish offense … pulled after the first inning, and Notre Dame then gave up six runs to make it a 7-6 contest in the bottom of the sixth … reentered the game with the bases loaded and one out, taking care of the next five Golden Eagle batters to notch the save … then blanked Stephen F. Austin (Feb. 21) and squeezed out of another jam in the seventh … sitting on a 3-0 lead, gave up three singles in the bottom half of the final frame without an out, but retired the next three batters in order to secure the complete-game shutout … earned two wins over Virginia at the Cavalier Invite (Feb. 26-27), needing 12.0 innings of nine-hit ball with three earned runs and 10 strikeouts to extend her winning streak to four games … two-hitter at UC Riverside (March 7) and took a no-hitter into the seventh at CS Northridge (March 10) … the Matadors ended up with one hit in the game … one-hitter against Purdue (March 14) … went 26.0 scoreless innings from March 6-March 13 … won 17 straight games from Feb. 20-March 28, the second longest streak of her career … tossed nine complete games in March … struck out 10 or more batters in three contests in March … named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week twice throughout the second month of the season … tossed first collegiate no-hitter at Seton Hall (March 27), needing 5.0 innings and faced one over the minimum … hurled a pair of shutouts against Rutgers (April 1-3), the latter of which was good for her 10th complete-game shutout of the season, working around six hits and punching out five without a walk … notched her 13th shutout of the season with a one-hitter against USF (April 11), capping off a three-game sweep of the Bulls … took a perfect game into the fifth inning of that game as well … in her first complete-game effort of the weekend against the Bulls (April 10), gave up three hits in a 4-2 win on national television … finished the week with a 2-0 record, giving up a total of four hits in 14.0 innings and held batters to a mere .089 average at the dish … the efforts not only helped the Irish to a three-game sweep, but extended Notre Dame[apos]s winning streak over the Bulls to five games – the longest in the series history – following a two-game sweep in 2009 … won five games without allowing an earned run in 27.1 innings of work for the week of April 14-18 … blanked Georgetown (April 14) with 12 strikeouts and one walk … tossed a brilliant one-hitter at Louisville (April 17) and also notched the win over the Cardinals one day later (the only hit permitted in the opener against Louisville, a two-out bunt single in the fifth, was the first hit allowed by Valdivia in three appearances covering 9.1 innings) … went 35.0 innings without allowing a run until the seventh inning of an April 18 contest at Louisville (unearned) to become the third pitcher in league history (since round-robin play began in 1992) to record two or more double-digit win totals in regular-season play … named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week (April 19) … did not allow an earned run in 37.2 straight frames, a streak which was halted at DePaul (April 22) with her first BIG EAST loss in 20 decisions, dating back to 2008 … her 20-0 thrashing of league foes included 20 starts and 23 appearances with a 1.14 ERA in 135.2 innings with 144 strikeouts … furthermore, the streak featured one no-hitter, four one-hitters, seven shutouts, only 22 extra-base hits and five games with 10+ strikeouts while holding the opposition to a .175 batting average … twice blanked Villanova (April 24-25), including a five-inning one-hitter with five strikeouts … fanned nine during a two-hitter against Bowling Green (April 28), and in doing so became Notre Dame[apos]s single-season leader with 31 wins from the circle … blanked Providence (May 13) in 5.0 innings of work with four strikeouts at the BIG EAST Tournament.

AS A SOPHOMORE (2009): Showed remarkable improvement from the circle in all facets of her pitching … BIG EAST All-Tournament Team selection … second team all-BIG EAST … the only BIG EAST pitcher without a loss through the entire league slate … fourth among BIG EAST pitchers with 1.60 ERA in league play … second in opposing batting average (.193) … tied for sixth with 81 batters struck out (22 looking at strike three) … tied for third with Brittney Bargar with 10 wins … posted a 19-5 overall record with a 2.28 ERA in 159.1 innings … appeared in 32 games while starting 26 contests … 165 strikeouts … after starting the season with a 2-5 record (including four straight losses in her first four starts), was victorious in each of her last 17 decisions … last loss came against No. 12 Arizona (March 14) … struck out at least 10 batters on four occasions … earned her first win against UC Santa Barbara (March 7) after striking out seven and allowing two earned runs … one-hitter with eight strikeouts versus Western Michigan (March 25) … stepped in to toss 3.0 scoreless innings against Northern Illinois (April 1) for her lone save … fanned 14 batters while giving up one earned run against Pittsburgh (April 4) … posted a win over Seton Hall (April 5) while giving up one hit in 5.0 innings … limited DePaul (April 8) to four hits and one earned run with eight strikeouts … posted four consecutive complete-game wins while giving up just four earned runs and 12 hits, shelving victories against Wisconsin (April 14), Villanova (April 18), Rutgers (April 19) and North Dakota State (April 22) … named the BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week (May 4) after picking up three league wins over the respective stretch … struck out at least 10 batters in two of the Fighting Irish[apos]s four games over that week, notching 11 at Georgetown (May 1 – a game continued from its March 29 start date) and 10 at Providence (April 30) … in her 21.2 innings of work, allowed only six earned runs for a 1.94 ERA … collected 28 strikeouts on the week, including the only two batters she faced in relief of game one against Louisville (May 3) … she then earned the game-two win against the Cardinals after striking out five in 7.0 innings … picked up a win against St. John[apos]s (May 7) to open the BIG EAST Championship … allowed two hits without surrendering an earned run in 7.0 innings … teamed with Bargar to keep the Irish flawless in the earned run department throughout the three-game tournament … the duo also held opposing teams to a .143 batting average in the showdown … gave up one earned run in 4.2 innings of action during three appearances at the NCAA Tournament.

AS A FRESHMAN (2008): Logged 109.2 innings from the circle with 22 starts and 26 appearances … relived 129 batters on three strikes for a 1.18 K/inning ratio … sported an 8-7 record with a 3.15 ERA … sat down 14 batters against Eastern Michigan (April 9), the highest total of any Irish pitcher this season … made her debut against Western Kentucky (Feb. 16) and struck out nine Hilltoppers … also fanned nine in wins against UC Davis (March 1) and CS Fullerton (March 8) … also held the Titans to only two hits in the complete-game blanking … has recorded three solo shutouts and combined with Brittney Bargar for a fourth … held North Florida (Feb. 23) without a score in 7.0 frames of one-out ball … limited UCLA (March 7) to a pair of earned runs … picked up a win against Charleston Southern (March 14) without allowing an earned run and struck out seven … fanned seven batters in a losing effort against Towson (March 15) … named the BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week on March 31 after picking up her fifth win of the season by handing DePaul (March 30) a 2-0 defeat in her first career BIG EAST action to secure the honor … the occasion marked the third time in seven weeks that an Irish pitcher had won the award, as Bargar claimed the accolade twice earlier in the season … she needed only 10.2 innings of work to pick up two shutout wins over the course of the award-winning week … she dealt DePaul its first regular-season league loss since the 2006 campaign by keeping the Blue Demons at bay with a five-hit effort … it was also Notre Dame[apos]s first win at DePaul since the 2005 season … the win signified the first time that Notre Dame beat an opponent that carried a No. 17 ranking, and was the 16th time the Irish shut out a ranked foe … she also limited IUPUI (March 26) to only three hits without a walk while fanning seven in Notre Dame[apos]s home opener … struck out nine batters without allowing a single run over the course of those two outings … tallied eight strikeouts in 5.2 innings at St. John[apos]s (April 5).

PREP AND PERSONAL: California[apos]s Century League Pitcher of the Year in 2006 … led Orange County in strikeouts that season with 302 … Canyon (Calif.) team MVP in each of her last two campaigns … three-time first team all-Century League … three-time first team all-Orange County … all-state performer in 2005, 2006 and 2007 … chosen Orange County Register[apos]s Player of the Week during the 2007 campaign … named to the Michelle Carew all-tournament team in 2005 and 2006 … pitched in the North/South Senior All-Star game in 2007 … also took part in the Orange County All-State game and the Orange County/Riverside County All-Star game … played travel ball for the California Cruisers, who earned a third-place finish during the 2006 national tournament in the 18-under Gold division … previously played for Explosion, whom she led to a first-place finish at the 16-under Nationals … recipient of school[apos]s Top of the Tribe award with a 4.8 GPA … four-time scholar-athlete honoree … daughter of Joe and Sheila Valdivia … has one sister, Veronica, and a brother, Jesse … graduated from Notre Dame with a dual degree in psychology and sociology.