NORTH CANTON, Ohio -- Notre Dame welcomed in the Easter holiday with a doubleheader sweep of Walsh, 6-2 and 11-0 (5 inn.), on Saturday. NDC (16-8) now owns a seven-game win streak, and are an impressive 9-1 in American Mideast Conference (AMC) play.
Senior catcher #Jill Gigliotti# paced the Falcon hitters, going 5-for-7 with two doubles and a home run. Senior third baseman #Anna Ball# went 4-for-7 with three doubles and three RBI.
Senior right-hander #Tara Meyer# and sophomore righty #Meredith Harbarger# each pitched complete games to give the Blue & White their fifth doubleheader sweep of the season.
Game 1
NDC jumped out to an early 3-0 lead with an unearned run in the first, and two more in the second on a Ball two RBI double.
The Falcons would pick up single runs in the third, fourth, and sixth innings. In the third, senior shortstop #Stephanie Tartaglione# pushed across a run on her RBI groundout. In the next inning, freshman center fielder #Candace Shofar# knocked in her fifth RBI of the season. The final run for the Blue & White was courtesy of Gigliotti's second home run of the season.
Walsh picked up both of their runs and all four of their hits in their half of the third inning.
Meyer (8-3) struck out a season-high 12 batters while keeping the Cavaliers hitless in every inning except the third.
Game 2
In the nightcap, the Falcons put the game out of reach early with five runs in the top of the first, and then five more runs in the second.
Notre Dame's five runs in the first came off the bats of freshmen #Mallory Harder# and #Michelle Dykes#. Harder's two-run shot was her team-leading seventh of the season. Dykes' second of the season was good for three runs.
In the second, NDC picked up three runs on back-to-back-to-back RBI doubles by Harder, Gigliotti, and Tartaglione. The Falcons' other two runs in the inning were both unearned, as was their final run of the game in the fifth inning.
Harder finished the game going 2-for-4 with three RBI. Dykes was 1-for-4 with three RBI also.
Harbarger (7-4) scattered three hits while striking out nine Cavalier hitters, which was also her season-high.
Notre Dame will return to the diamond this Tuesday, April 14, as they'll make the short trip to Ursuline for doubleheader AMC action. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.
NOTES FROM THE NEST…
PROGRAM BEST: The Falcons' 9-1 start to conference play ties the previous program-record for best conference record after ten games. NDC also opened their 2006 AMC schedule going 9-1. In the past two years after ten conference games, the Falcons records were 6-4 (2008) and 8-2 (2007).
STREAKS ALIVE: Notre Dame's current seven conference game winning streak is their longest since winning eight straight AMC games to close out the 2007 season (April 24-May 3). NDC has outscored their opponents, 54-25, during the streak.
