SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame softball team opens Atlantic Coast Conference action this weekend as the Fighting Irish head to Durham, North Carolina for a three-game series with the Duke Blue Devils. Duke enters the weekend ranked in the top 15 of all four national polls, and as high as eighth in Softball America’s latest poll. Notre Dame enters the weekend having won five-straight games and are 10-4 on the season.
This weekend’s action will take place Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday’s finale starting at noon all at Duke Softball Stadium. All games will be broadcasted on the ACC Network Extra, as well as live stats available. Links for these services are on the Notre Dame softball schedule page.
The Irish found a variety of ways to win over the weekend in Florida. After falling behind 7-1 to UT Martin in the first game of the weekend, the Irish scored seven unanswered to earn the 8-7 win. Notre Dame didn’t allow a run over 14 innings Saturday for a pair of wins. The weekend finished with another come-from-behind win, this time over FIU, and led from wire-to-wire for the weekend finale with Dartmouth.
Notre Dame’s offense hits for a .313 team average with a .456 slugging percentage. Freshman Mickey Winchell leads the team with a .394 average with 13 singles. Jane Kronenberger has a .367 average with four extra-base hits and has driven in nine. Graduate infielder Lexi Orozco leads the team with 12 RBI and three home runs, scoring nine runs in the process.
Payton Tidd leads the Irish in the circle. The graduate student worked a team-best 41.0 innings and owns a 2.22 ERA. She’s thrown in eight games with a complete game, striking out 39 hitters. Shannon Becker has seven starts, appearing in a team-high 11 games. She’s thrown in 36.1 innings, striking out 32 hitters. Micaela Kastor owns the team’s best ERA at 0.76. She’s appeared in eight games, throwing 18.1 innings striking out 16 hitters. She’s limited opponents to a .188 average against, earning a 2-0 record with a save.
Duke enters as one of the hottest teams in the country, winning 12-straight games. The Blue Devils have earned three ranked wins in that time, finishing the ESPN Clearwater Invitational with wins over No. 4 Arkansas (7-4), No. 20 UCF (4-3 10 innings) and No. 25 Michigan (6-3). Last time out, Duke took both games of a doubleheader with NC Central Wednesday evening.
The Blue Devil offense hits for a .324 average, with nine…