Irish sweep weekend doubleheaders with Eagles, Friars
By PETER FRASSO
Sports Writer
This past weekend, while most of the campus' thoughts were on football, the Notre Dame women's softball team worked on their own season, sweeping two doubleheaders and extending their winning streak to 29 games, the longest in the nation.
On Saturday and Sunday, No. 9 Notre Dame beat Boston College and Providence, respectively. The Irish are now 47-3 on the year, and still undefeated and in first place in the Big East at 16-0.
"Our goal is to keep it going," said coach Liz Miller. "We still need to take every game one at a time. Our pitching has been great, and lately our bats have been strong."
In game 1 on Saturday, Notre Dame beat Boston College 4-2, the closest score of the weekend. Pitcher Jen Sharron threw a complete game, only allowing two hits, two walks and two unearned runs while striking out 14.
Jenny Kriech tripled twice. Kriech, Danielle Klayman, Jarrah Myers and Andrea Loman all had RBIs. While Notre Dame never trailed, Boston College kept the game close by scoring in both the fourth and sixth.
Game 2 was highlighted by the outstanding pitching of Kristin Schmidt, who only allowed one hit in the game. The Irish went on to win 5-0. Loman was 2-for-3 with two RBI and Kriech had another triple. Lizzy Lemire, Alexis Madrid and Klayman had RBIs.
In game 1 against Providence on Sunday, the Notre Dame bashed its way to victory with 10 runs on 12 hits in only four innings. The game was called on the eight run mercy rule. Melanie Alkire was 3-for-3. Both she and Myers had two RBIs. Sharron allowed only three Providence hits on the day.
Game 2 was a 5-0 win, giving the Irish an undefeated weekend. Schmidt pitched six shutout innings, lowering her ERA to 0.43. Myers and Lemire provided the bulk of the offense, both going 2-for-3.
Lately, the Irish have had important players stepping up.
"Lizzy Lemire, over the past week, has hit over .400 with nine RBIs. Jarrah Myers has hit .562. Alexis Madrid has hit .400 with three game-winning RBIs. Jenny Kriech has nine triples over the season," said Miller, noting how her team has grown offensively.
This upcoming week, the Irish face Bowling Green in a make up on Wednesday, and then finish their Big East schedule with road games against Villanova and Rutgers.
"Bowling Green is going to be a good game. Villanova is in second place in the Big East," said Miller, commenting on the upcoming schedule. "These are tough games."
Miller remains confident in her team though.
"If we play our game, we should win the Big East," she said.
All Sports Stories for Monday, April 30, 2001
