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Box Score 2
SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- Notre Dame pulled off a come-from-behind victory in game one and finished the day with a split against Walsh on Thursday.
The Falcons scored one run in the sixth inning, three in the seventh and a game-winning run in the eighth after trailing, 4-0, in game one. Walsh countered with 7-2 victory in game two.
NDC (15-17) has now gone 10-2 in a dozen games this month. They are 8-2 this week, a week that has them scheduled to play five doubleheaders. The Falcons' loss in game two snapped a five-game winning streak.
Walsh (32-16) came into the Thursday matinee twin bill having won three in a row of seven of its last nine. Over that nine-game stretch, the Cavaliers offense had been rolling, averaging 7.3 runs per game.
Game One
Allysa Lancaster started the opener for the Falcons. Lancaster was dinged for solo runs in both the first and second innings, Walsh would hold that 2-0 lead until the sixth when the Cavaliers plated a pair of runs on a two-run home run off the bat of the No. 8 batter, Calee Ruppel.
Kelsey Coleman then hit her second home run of the season in the bottom half of the sixth. That round-tripper -- a shot to left-center -- cut the Cavalier lead to 4-1.
The Falcons then came up with three runs in the bottom of the seventh, tying the game and sending the opener into extra innings. NDC put that three-spot together with two singles and a pair of walks. Coleman singled in the tying run with two outs.
Notre Dame plated the game-winner -- an unearned run -- when
Felisha Jones reached on Walsh's fourth error of the game in leading off the Falcon eighth. Jones advanced to second on a ground out and then came around to score two batters later when
Megan Turner slapped a single through the right side of the infield.
Ashley Harbarger pitched the final two frames for Notre Dame, relieving Lancaster who allowed four runs on eight hits. Harbarger pitched two scoreless innings in earning her fourth victory of the season.
Erin Ebert started for Walsh; she went the first six innings and allowed four runs on five hits and four walks. Ebert struck out six. Hanna Dodson relieved her and was saddled with the loss after giving up the one unearned run on three hits.
Game Two
Harbarger started the second game for NDC and yielded on a first-inning run on a pair of singles. Her circle foe in the nightcap was Kelsey Ford, and Ford made that one run hold up until the NDC sixth. And by that point the game was well in hand for the Cavaliers
Ford hung zeroes over the first five frames, allowing just two base hits in the process. She induced 12 groundball outs for the game and shut down the NDC offense until Coleman singled home a run in the sixth. Ford went the route in the contest, yielding two runs on seven hits and a walk.
Notre Dame's defense unraveled in the fifth, as the Falcons committed two errors that loomed large in Walsh scoring five runs to go up, 6-0.
Harbarger was relieved after 4-2/3 innings. She yielded six runs (four earned) on seven base hits. Lancaster pitched the balance of the game, giving up a Cavalier run in the seventh. She allowed four hits.
Notre Dame plated a lone run in the seventh when a
Jessica Bequette double led to a score.
Walsh outhit Notre Dame, 12-7, in the game.
Bequette, Coleman and
Nicole Spehar each had three hits on the day to lead the Falcon offense.
NOTES FROM THE NEST …
A GAME OF 500: With its Thursday split against Walsh, Notre Dame came up short of running its winning percentage to .500 for the first time since March 2, when the Falcons split their first two games of the 2012 season. Since 2005, NDC has finished over .500 six times in seven years. Over that span, the program's record is 215-124 (.634). … The Falcons are now 8-2 at home this season and 87-20 (.813) on College Road since 2006.
SERIES BUSINESS: NDC is now 12-27 (.308) all-time against Walsh. The Falcons are 7-3 against the Cavaliers since 2009.
ON DECK: Notre Dame is slated to play a doubleheader at Urban on Saturday. First pitch in game one is scheduled for 1 p.m.
