This Week: Notre Dame College softball is back from the spring break trip. The Falcons will travel to take on Mercyhurst University, on March 16, at 3 and 5 p.m. They open up the home portion of the schedule by taking on West Liberty University, on March 20, at 2 and 4 p.m., before battling Wheeling University, on March 21, at 1 and 3 p.m.
 
Schedule Change: The games against West Liberty and Wheeling were originally scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, but rescheduled due to inclement weather.

Records: Notre Dame has a record of 7-7, its best start through 14 games in six years. Mercyhurst has started the year 5-7. West Liberty has gone 4-16 and Wheeling is 2-16.

Coaches Corner: Kelsey Stopp is now in her fourth season as head coach of the Falcons. She has a record of 68-100 (37-57 MEC). Leanne Baker is now in her 10th season in the dugout at Mercyhurst and Herb Minch has been coaching at West Liberty for 25 seasons. Sara Pelegreen has come back to Wheeling. From 2017-19, she had put together a record of 62-87 (40-44 MEC) with the Cardinals, before becoming an assistant at Robert Morris for three seasons.

Rankings: None of these teams are ranked in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II top 25 poll.

Series History: Against Mercyhurst, the Falcons are 4-0 all-time, but have not seen the Lakers since 2019. NDC has gone 18-14 against West Liberty, since 2014, and 13-22 versus Wheeling, since 2013.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame has gotten off to a solid start, going 2-2 at the Blue Bridge Battle, in Evansville, Ind. and then went 5-5 during its spring break trip in Florida. On March 5, NDC defeated No. 10 ranked Seton Hill, 5-2. That was the program's first win over a nationally ranked opponent since April 1, 2017, a double-header sweep of No. 12 West Virginia Wesleyan. Also in 2017, the Falcons defeated No. 7 Grand Valley State.
 
So far this season, NDC already has shutout three opponents. The Falcons' pitching staff has a team earned run average of 3.17 and a WHIP (walks/hits per innings pitched) of 1.32. Allison Weilnau and Grace Fisher have cemented themselves as the starters in the rotation. Weilnau leads the team with a 2.25 ERA through 31 1/3 innings pitched, with 39 strikeouts, two complete game shutouts and a .210 opponent batting average. Fisher is not far behind with an ERA of 2.40 and a WHIP of 1.09. In seven starts, she has posted five complete games and 36 strikeouts.
 
On the offensive side, Emma Gumont leads the team with a .326 batting average, a slugging percentage of .500, nine runs scored, 15 hits, five extra base hits (three doubles, a triple, a home run), 23 total bases and just three strikeouts. Danielle Fick is hitting .313, with 15 hits and team-high four doubles. Ella Collinsworth is just below .300, hitting .297, with 11 hits.
 
Noting the Lakers: Mercyhurst has played four games this season against Mountain East Conference opponents. The Lakers rolled past West Liberty in two games, winning 8-0 and 10-0. They went to Glenville, W.Va. to play Glenville State, losing 8-0, and Frostburg State, 5-4. Last Saturday, Mercyhurst was shutout by Glenville State as GSU's pitcher Holly Brehm gave up one hit in six innings and struck out seven. The Lakers' comeback fell just short against FSU, as MU put up all of its runs between the fifth and seventh inning to tie the game at four. Frostburg won on a walk-off double in the bottom of the seventh.
 
Four players had multi-hit games against Frostburg State. Anna O'Geen and Brianne Egelston each had three hits, while Francesca Latino and Kacie Irwin each had two hits. Allison Dejidas leads the team, and is 34^th in NCAA D2 with a batting average of .475. She also has an OPS of 1.213, 19 hits and eight RBI. Anna O'Geen is sitting at .371 for the season, with 13 hits and Madison Fry is hitting .333, with 14 hits in 42 at bats. As a team, they are hitting .313.
 
The pitching staff has a combined ERA of 4.82 and three pitchers have started four games. Alexa North leads the team with a 3.00 ERA, but has only pitched 18 2/3 innings. Mikaela Schramski has two shutouts this season and leads the team with 20 strikeouts, but also has a 4.92 ERA.

Noting the Hilltoppers: Last week, West Liberty played two double-headers at home. They lost both games to Shepherd University (8-1, 3-2), and then swept Salem University (8-6, 5-4). In the Hilltoppers' first winning streak of the season, taking down Salem, Riley Conkle led the way with four hits and seven RBI in the series. She did not start in the first game, but came on as a pinch-hitter, and went 3-for-3, including a two-run double in the fifth to give WLU the lead and then hit a walk-off homer in the seventh. Against SU, Brooke Perri pitched in both games, going 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run and picking up a win and a save.
 
Although the West Liberty offense is hitting just .219, the Hilltoppers have players who have been putting up some impressive numbers. Anna Welsh only has 28 at bats on the season, but has totaled 13 hits, a .464 batting average, a 1.230 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, two home runs and six RBI. Sidney Little has totaled 13 hits in 39 at bats, with a triple and home run. Riley Conkle is hitting .319 with a .949 OPS, leading the team with 15 hits, five doubles and 14 RBI.
 
WLU is still trying to iron out its pitching rotation, as the team has an ERA of 5.59. Six pitchers have already started at least one game. Ashlyn Tapman leads the team with eight starts, 35 1/3 innings pitched and 25 strikeouts, but has a record of 0-7 on the year and an ERA of 5.35.
 
Noting the Cardinals: Like Notre Dame, Wheeling was down in Florida from March 6 to March 10. The Cardinals defeated Holy Family University, 9-4, in the first game of the spring break trip but then lost the next seven games. Wheeling has been shutout six times and held to one run in two other games, while they have allowed at least eight runs in nine games.
 
On March 15, WU hosted Ohio Dominican for a doubleheader. In game one, the Cardinals were shutout in a 1-0 loss. Wheeling pitchers Randi Holder (three innings), Maria Clark (two innings) and Abby Bumbico (two innings) combined to pitch the seven innings, and allowed one run on six hits. ODU's Braxton Downs was credited with a steal of home plate, in the fourth, to get the Panthers' only run. The second game was much different, as Wheeling won, 10-9. Both teams scored two runs in the first inning, before Wheeling scored eight runs between the fourth inning and sixth inning. Ohio Dominican tried to comeback with four runs in the sixth and three in the top of the seventh, but came up one run short. The teams combined for 23 hits and six different Cardinals totaled two hits.
 
This season, Madison George leads the team with a batting average of .372, four doubles, a slugging percentage of .465 and an .837 OPS. Maddie Munoz also has 14 hits, a batting average of .311 batting average and leads the team with three triples. As a team, WU holds a batting average of .236.

The pitching staff has a team ERA of 7.84 and a batting average against of .334. Tessa Wise leads the squad in strikeouts, with 18, in just 13 innings pitching.