CLEARWATER, Fla. – Down 3-2 late in the seventh inning, Jane Kronenberger stepped up to the plate as the winning run. A senior from Cincinnati, Ohio, Kronenberger had already driven in a run earlier in the game and was in a 1-1 count when the senior drilled a ball high and deep into the night, sailing over the left field fence to give Notre Dame the 4-3 win over No. 15 Missouri. Notre Dame secured its first win of the season and first for Head Coach Kris Ganeff in her first season as head coach of the Fighting Irish.
Micaela Kastor was brilliant in the circle for Notre Dame. The junior right hander threw a complete game three-hitter for the Irish. She struck out seven on the night and provided the team with a much needed lift Saturday night.
Ganeff earns her first win at the helm for the Irish. After 23 years as an assistant for her alma mater Notre Dame, her first win comes against a top-15 SEC opponent.
Missouri Recap
After a scoreless start for Kastor in the circle, Notre Dame put traffic on early in the bottom of the first after a Caroline O’Brien walk and an Addison Amaral infield single. After O’Brien stole third, Kaia Cortes hit a ground ball that snuck through the right side for her first career hit, scoring the first run of the game.
Missouri would tie the game on a solo homer in the fourth.
In the fifth, the Tigers earned two walks and had runners on the corners with 2 outs. Missouri manufactured its second run of the game on the basepaths, sending the runner on first to bait a throw to second, allowing the leading run to cross home uncontested.
Syndy Poeck led off the bottom half of the fifth with a lead-off ground-rule double over the left center field fence. After Poeck advanced to third on a fly out, Kronenberger lined a ball down the right field line to tie the game at two apiece.
Missouri continued to counter Notre Dame. A catcher’s interference and a walk put traffic on for the Tigers. With two outs, Stefania Abruscato ripped a ball into left, scoring the runner from second to put Missouri back on top going into the bottom of the sixth.
In a game full of back and forth action, the bottom of the sixth was no different. Back-to-back singles got the Irish in business. Continuing the trend they had set the whole game, Notre Dame attempted a double steal that went unsuccessful, getting the Tigers out of the jam.
Kastor trotted back out for the top of the seventh and continued to deal. Getting back-to-back strikeouts to…