BLUFFTON, Ohio -- Seniors #Jill Gigliotti# and #Stephanie Tartaglione# each knocked in six runs and the Falcon batting order cranked out nine extra-base hits, as Notre Dame swept Bluffton, 11-3 and 7-2, on Saturday. 

Gigliotti went 4-for-7 with three doubles and a home run in the two games. Tartaglione went 3-for-7 with a pair of home runs. Senior #Anna Ball# reached base four times (home run, single, two walks) on an afternoon when the Blue & White would collect 21 hits in 12 innings of play. 


Game 1
Notre Dame claimed an 11-3, run-rule victory by slugging four home runs (two by Tartaglione) in the opener, which set a new single-game team record.

NDC scored in each of the game's five innings with four in the first, two in the third, three in the fifth, and one each in the second and fourth.

Tartaglione had five of her RBI's in the first game on 3-for-3 hitting. Gigliotti drove in four runs of her own, also going 3-for-3 with two doubles and a home run.

Ball knocked in the other two runs on 2-for-3 hitting, which included a solo home run in the fourth inning.

Senior #Tara Meyer# pitched all five innings for the win. After giving up two runs in the second and one more in the third, Meyer settled down to retire six of the last seven batters she faced on the afternoon. Meyer (4-2) gave up six hits, and recorded one strikeout.


Game 2
Notre Dame's 7-2 win in the second game started out completely opposite of the beginning of the first game. NDC right-hander #Meredith Harbarger# and BU righty Kellie Kenney stymied opposing batters through three innings.

Bluffton grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the fourth on a run-scoring single. The Falcons came back in their half of the fifth, putting three runs of their own on the board on RBI hits from freshman #Mallory Harder# and Gigliotti.

NDC would add four more runs on four hits, aided by two BU errors, in the top of the seventh to seal the doubleheader sweep.

Senior #Lianna Holub# reached base four times with a double, two singles, and a walk.

For the game, Harbarger allowed just two unearned runs while scattering eight singles. The win improves Harbarger's record to 2-4.

With the pair of victories on the road, the Falcons (6-6) have now won four of their last five games.

Notre Dame will not play again until Mar. 25 when they make the short trip to John Carroll. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.


NOTES FROM THE NEST…

SUPERSTAR SHUT DOWN: Notre Dame can attribute its sweep of the Beavers to Meyer and Harbarger keeping reigning Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) MVP Lindsey Miller in check. Miller managed only two hits on the afternoon, and drove in only one run. Including Saturday's games, Miller is hitting .488 with 18 runs batted in, and she is BU's career leader with a .376 batting average and 13 home runs.

CLASS OF HER OWN: With her six RBI's, Jill Gigliotti became the first in program history to reach 150. The senior from Medina currently leads the team with 12 runs batted in this season. Gigliotti's 56 RBI's in 2008 tied the single season record set by Anna Ball in 2007.