Homers help clinch Big East title for Irish sluggers
By RACHAEL PROTZMAN
Sports Writer
Notre Dame softball amassed four wins this weekend to clinch its fifth-straight Big East regular season title.
The 19th-ranked Irish, now 43-12 overall and 12-2 in the conference, defeated both St. John's and Seton Hall twice as they earned the top seed for next week's Big East tournament.
"I thought we did a good job of working together. We had team goals instead of individual goals," said sophomore Michelle Moschel. "We learned from our losses to grow together towards our goals. We did a good job of fighting back and staying in it even with losses we shouldn't have lost. Plus, as a young team we worked hard not to let being a young team be an excuse for us."
Improving to 6-6 after a 3-13 Big East finish last season, St. John's showed the most improvement throughout the conference. But improvement wasn't enough to stop the Irish.
Junior Jennifer Sharron earned her 22nd win with eight strikeouts as Notre Dame won game one, 7-2.
"I think our pitching staff did an excellent job this weekend. Jenn Sharron and Michelle Moschel threw very well the entire weekend," head coach Liz Miller said.
With the game scoreless in the fourth, junior Jarrah Myers hit a homerun to drive in two runs while Danielle Klayman doubled before scoring on a single by freshman Alexis Madrid.
St. John's struck back in the bottom of the inning with a run.
Junior Melanie Alkire slammed her 10th homerun of the season in the seventh to match her career high as well as the school record. Myers and Klayman both singled to combine to drive in three runs to close the Irish scoring.
St. John's scored one run in the seventh.
But the Irish refused to let the Red Storm have the last word as they shutout St. John's 5-0 in game two and tied another school record with their 21st shutout of the year.
Moschel earned the Irish win as she allowed just three hits.
Freshman Andrea Loman doubled in the first to kick off the Irish scoring as she drove in a run while Jennifer Kriech doubled in the fifth to drive in another.
Notre Dame secured its win as it scored three more in the seventh. Alkire singled before scoring on a double by Lizzy Lemire while Myers also doubled to send in the final two runs.
"We hit the ball well, in particular Jarrah Myers who hit the ball hard everywhere," Miller said.
Notre Dame continued weekend play and secured the title with two wins over Seton Hall.
Myers led Notre Dame offensively with two homeruns in game one as the Irish won 6-2. Myers tied Alkire with 10 homeruns this year for the school record. Notre Dame also top its previous mark of 29 homers in a season as the Irish now stand at 31.
Sharron struck out 11 and allowed only three hits to earn her 23rd win. Loman singled to deep left in the first to drive in two runs before Myers blasted her first homerun of the game to put Notre Dame 4-0.
Myers hit her second homer in the fourth inning before the Pirates rallied to score two in the fifth. Madrid singled in the seventh before scoring the final Irish run on a double by Kriech.
Moschel struck out seven in game two with a perfect game going into the seventh before a Pirate homerun put a stop to her no-hitter.
The Irish are currently on an eight-game winning streak with wins over Pittsburgh, Illinois-Chicago, St. John's and Seton Hall.
Notre Dame will face Boston College May 5 in Chestnut Hill, Mass. in the first game of the Big East tournament.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, May 2, 2000
