Box Score
SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- Notre Dame saw its season come to a disappointing end on Friday afternoon, as the top-seeded Falcons dropped two games in the Ohio Independent Championships.

Playing at home at Campus Field, Notre Dame (17-20) lost to Urbana and Walsh in failing to advance and challenge for the title in the OIC.   The Falcons scored just two runs on nine hits over the two games -- a 6-2 loss to Urbana and a 7-0 loss to Walsh.

NDC's bats went hitless on the day in 12 opportunities with runners in scoring position.

Game One: Urbana 6, Notre Dame 2
In NDC's first game, an 11 a.m. contest against Urbana, both Lancaster and the Blue Knights' Haley Kolmerten hung zeroes on the scoreboard through the first three innings of play.

Urbana broke through for a lone unearned run in the top of the fourth.  An error on Lancaster led to the score.  In the fifth frame, the Blue Knights extended their lead to 3-0 with three singles and a walk, all coming after the first two batters had been retired.

Kolmerten did not allow a hit over the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.  Notre Dame did manage to score a solo run in the sixth, however, with the Blue Knights committing a pair of two-base errors.

Urbana took a 3-1 lead into the seventh.  In that final frame, the Blue Knights broke things wide open, plating three runs on two triples, a walk and a wild pitch.  The three-baggers -- by Brooke Shultz and Megan Risner -- chased Lancaster, whose final line included six runs allowed (five earned) over 6-1/3 innings. She walked three and struck out five in being saddled with just her second loss of the season.

NDC scored one run in the bottom of the seventh to close out the game with Urbana claiming a 6-2 victory.  Kolmerten went the route for Urbana, allowing six hits, and the Falcons went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

Game Two: Walsh 7, Notre Dame 0
In Notre Dame's game against Walsh, the Cavaliers blitzed NDC with four runs in the first inning, two in the second and one in the third to take a 7-0 lead.  Sophomore hurler Christine Camp started for the Falcons and lasted just 1-2/3 innings.  Camp allowed six runs (four earned) on three hits and three walks.

Staked to the big early lead, Walsh's Erin Ebert cruised, allowing just three base hits in a complete-game shutout.  Ebert struck out five in the game and only allowed one hit over the final four innings.  As they did in game one, the Falcons went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

Reliever Ashley Hall went the final 5-1/3 for NDC, allowing just one run on three hits, but Walsh had scored all the runs it would need by the time its cleanup hitter had batted in the first inning.


NOTES FROM THE NEST …

RUN-STOPPER:  Allysa Lancaster finished the season with an ERA of 2.20.  That figure marks the fifth-lowest ERA in the history of the program for a pitcher logging 50 or more innings in a season.  Lancaster set a Falcon single-season record by walking just 1.0 batters per seven innings.  For the season, the Magnolia, Ohio, native started eight games and appeared in eight more in relief.  She went 7-2 with one save and held opposing nines to a .223 batting average.

BUNTING HER WAY TO THE TOP: Candace Shofar closed out her Notre Dame career with a program-record 70 sacrifice hits.  Shofar leaves College Road as the holder of the top four single-season sacrifice bunt records.  Her top mark recorded was 24 sacrifice hits in 2010.  In 165 career games, Shofar batted .276 (131-for-475) and scored 107 runs.

LATE-SEASON MISCUES: Notre Dame committed three errors in Friday's opener and two more in game two.  The struggles on Friday were part of a trend -- the Falcons committed 21 errors over their last eight games.  For the season, NDC committed 63 errors in posting a .939 fielding percentage, the program's lowest since 2005. … Notre Dame's slugging percentage -- .375 -- was also the program's lowest since 2005.  The figure was 44 points lower than last year's .419 mark.