Irish open at home vs. Broncos
LIA GARCIA MILHOAN
Sports Writer
The 12th-ranked Irish women's softball team looks to continue its strong start today when it faces Western Michigan in a 4 p.m. home opener at Ivy Field.
Over Spring Break the Irish (18-3) traveled to Southern California for the KIA Classic and came away with a 7-2 mark while defeating four ranked teams.
"It was an overall team effort," said senior Sarah Kirkman. "Everyone did their job well and that made us very effective."
Junior Jenny Kriech said of the Classic, "It helped the chemistry of the team. Spring Break can be a challenge to keep on the field and off the field separate. But we have such good chemistry that off the field can only help us on the field."
"On Spring Break we spend the whole week together and there are two ways to go," said senior captain Jen Sharron. "You can come back and love each other or hate each other. This was the best Spring Break I've had. We had a chance to grow as a group. We won and lost big games together but we proved we were able to compete with the elite teams."
Strong pitching and dangerous hitting has keyed the Irish success. Kirkman said, "Up and down the line we're dangerous. Whenever one person was not able to be successful, the next person was. Our whole lineup is dangerous."
Complementing the hitting has been impressive pitching most notable from Sharron and freshman Kristin Schmidt. On the year, Schmidt owns a 0.95 ERA and is 8-1 in six starts for the Irish. Sharron, one of the best pitchers in Notre Dame history, holds a 2.08 ERA and has pitched a team leading 73.2 innings.
Western Michigan holds a 5-8 overall record and is on a three game winning streak coming into Tuesday's game. Most recently, the Broncos swept a doubleheader against Oakland.
Kirkman feels that the keys for the game are for the Irish to come out strong and keep their focus. "If we play our game we should have no problem, but we have to remain focused," she said.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, March 27, 2001
