Syracuse snaps Irish win streak
By AARON RONSHEIM
Sports Writer
For the Notre Dame softball team, the weekend opened with a bang but closed with a whimper.
On Sunday afternoon, the Irish (22-9, 9-1) saw numerous streaks snapped by Syracuse and Orangewoman pitcher Tara DiMaggio in the second game of a doubleheader. The 3-0 loss ended Notre Dame's 14-game win streak, its 26-game Ivy Field win streak and its Big East conference regular-season win streak at 36.
"The one thing we have to do is bring some energy to the field," Irish coach Deanna Gumpf said. "I think we were a little flat. We're here playing and we have to give it our all and we didn't."
The Orangewomen jumped on the scoreboard early in the second game with a run in the first inning on an RBI double by Syracuse first baseman Cheryl Julicher that scored catcher Katie Kaempfer.
In the third inning, Kaempfer would give DiMaggio another run to work with as she sent a 2-2 pitch from Irish pitcher Steffany Stenglein over the left-field fence for a 2-0 lead.
The Irish bats, which had been on fire since the beginning of Big East play, cooled off as the Irish only squeezed out eight hits on Sunday.
"We didn't play well all day," Gumpf said. "We were able to fight a little bit harder in the first game and found a way to get it done. We didn't hit the ball all day."
The Orangewomen added an unearned run in the seventh as they improved their record to 17-11 and 5-1 in the Big East.
In the first game of the doubleheader, the Irish were able to get to Syracuse pitcher Heather Brown in the fourth inning.
"We started swinging at strikes," said Gumpf. "We started laying off the rise ball and she had to bring it down."
Bledsoe set the first pitch of the fourth inning down the left-field line to tie the score at one. After Talyor Peterson relieved Brown, Irish center fielder Jenny Kriech hit a bloop double down the right-field line to score first baseman Lisa Mattison and designated hitter Carrie Wisen.
The three runs would hold up, as Stenglein would shut down the Orangewomen the rest of the way for the 3-1 victory.
On Friday against the Huskies the Irish relied on the arm of Stenglein (14-9) as she picked up her 12th and 13th victories of the year. Stenglein had been battling a groin injury over the past week.
"I felt really good," Stenglein said. "I was happy to be back on the mound throwing again."
In the first game against the Huskies, Stenglein and Connecticut pitcher Barbara Cook squared off in a pitchers' duel as they matched zeros through the first seven innings.
"She [Cook] is a good little pitcher," Gumpf said. "We hit her decent. We got seven hits off her, but we just didn't get the runs we needed."
After being frustrated all day by Cook, the Irish were finally able to push a run across the plate in the eighth inning. With two outs, right fielder Megan Ciolli started the rally with a double just inside the right-field line to put a runner in scoring position. Third baseman Andrea Loman lined Cook's 2-0 pitch into center field to score Ciolli from second and give the Irish 1-0 victory.
"I was definitely looking for a fastball all the way, she just happened to throw it right in there and I was looking to hit it hard somewhere," Loman said.
In the second game of the doubleheader, both teams started the same starting pitchers, hoping for a repeat performance. The Irish were the ones who received a repeat pitching performance as they defeated the Huskies 8-0.
Unfortunately for the Huskies, Cook was forced to leave the game in second inning when she was struck in the face by a Mattison line drive. On the play, Bledsoe scored to give the Irish a 1-0 lead.
The Irish scored three more runs, one of them unearned, in the fourth to take a commanding 4-0 lead.
In the sixth, the Irish would score four runs on only two hits. After consecutive walks to Bledsoe, Mattison and leftfielder Liz Hartmann, designated hitter Nicole deFau singled through the left side of the infield to score Bledsoe. After a wild pitch allowed Mattison to score, pitch hitter Annie Dell'Aria knocked in Hartmann and deFua as she doubled down the left field line.
Stenglein and Wisen's pitching silenced the Husky bats Friday. The two combined to give up only eight hits and no runs in 14 innings.
"Steffany did a great job," Gumpf said. "She did exactly what I needed her to do; set the tone and keep them off balance a bit. Then Carrie comes in with her changeup and shuts the door."
The Irish will have a chance to start a new winning streak Wednesday as they take a break from Big East play and square off against Indiana State. The Irish will then play Bowling Green on Thursday and then resume Big East play on Saturday against Virginia Tech.
All Sports Stories for Monday, April 15, 2002
