MOBILE, Ala. – Notre Dame softball split Friday’s opening day of the Mardi Gras Classic, defeating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 8-3 in the morning before dropping a back-and-forth contest with tournament host South Alabama 4-5. The Irish are now 6-6 on the season.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Recap
Kami Kamzik got the ball in the first game of the day. The sophomore right-hander struck out three Islanders swinging in the top of the first.
Notre Dame would put the first run of the game on the board in the bottom half of the first inning. After an infield single and stolen base by Mickey Winchell, Addison Amaral ripped a ball into the left field corner that short hopped the fence. Winchell crossed home and Amaral coasted into second as the Irish took a 1-0 lead.
After a walk and single to start the top of the second, Texas A&M-CC laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance both runners into scoring position with one out. Kamzik would strike out the next two hitters on pitches in the dirt, but Islanders batter CJ Castilla was able to beat the throw to first and reach on a wild pitch to load the bases with two outs. Kamzik wouldn’t falter, getting a weak ground ball to second to escape the jam.
The Irish would tack on another in the bottom half. After Jane Kronenberger reached on a double, Anna Holloway lined a single into left for her first RBI of the season, extending the Notre Dame lead to two.
Texas A&M-CC put traffic on in the top of the third, getting back-to-back base runners to force a pitching change. Shannon Becker came in, making her sixth appearance of the season. After an Irish error, the Islanders were able to put their first run on the board and cut into the lead. A sac fly by the following batter tied the game at two-all.
In the bottom half of the third, Notre Dame answered. With the bases loaded and two outs, Kronenberger drilled her second double of the game into left center to drive home a pair, putting the Irish back on top 4-2.
Becker would hold the Islanders scoreless for 3.2 straight innings until the 6th, when a line drive was just out of the outstretched glove of the leaping Amaral at short to score Texas A&M-CC’s third run of the game. A weak comebacker back to Becker would limit the damage in the inning.
Notre Dame loaded the bases to start the bottom of the sixth after walks by Avery Houlihan and Olivia Levitt sandwiched a base hit by pinch hitter Paige Cowley. Christina Willemssen would just miss a grand slam, hitting a…