This Week: Due to inclement weather in Frostburg, Md., Notre Dame College softball will travel to Fairmont, W.Va. to play all four games this weekend. On March 25, Notre Dame will face Frostburg State in a neutral site doubleheader, beginning at 4 p.m. NDC will then play Fairmont State, on March 26, with start times of 1 and 3 p.m.

Records: Notre Dame has a record of 11-9 (3-1 MEC) to start the season. Frostburg State is 15-6 on the season, with a conference mark of 2-2. Fairmont State has started the year 12-12, overall, and 2-2 in the MEC.

Coaches Corner: Kelsey Stopp is now in her fourth season as head coach of the NDC Falcons. She has a record of 72-102 (40-58 MEC). Bill Vasko is in his fourth campaign in the dugout with Frostburg State, while Brooke Sullivan is in her first season at Fairmont State.

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

Series History: Notre Dame is still looking for its first win against Frostburg State, as NDC has gone 0-10 against the FSU Bobcats, since 2021. Against the FSU Falcons, Notre Dame has a record of 13-18, since 2014.

Noting the NDC Falcons: Notre Dame has had a very impressive week so far. Due to weather postponements, games scheduled for last weekend were moved to Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. The Falcons swept Wheeling, scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning of game one for a 7-6 walk-off win. NDC then won game two, 13-5, in six innings. After NDC defeated West Liberty in game one, 6-3, the Hilltoppers scored five runs in the sixth inning of game two and won, 9-7, to split the series.
 
Several hitters stood out for the Falcons. Danielle Fick went 9-for-14 (.643), which included two three-hit games, with six RBI, three doubles and two home runs. Emma Gumont went 9-for-14 (.643), 11 RBI, a double, triple and two home runs. Ella Collinsworth had four hits over two games against Wheeling, with three doubles and six RBI.
 
Notre Dame has three players hitting over .300 at the plate (Emma Gumont, Danielle Fick, Ella Collinsworth). Emma Gumont leads the team by hitting .400, with a 1.097 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, .662 slugging percentage, .435 on-base percentage and 22 RBI. She is tied with Danielle Fick in hits (26) and total bases (43). Fick, who is hitting .382, is at the top of the team in runs scored (18) and doubles (8). Gumont, Fick and Maciejowski have all hit three home runs.
 
The pitching rotation of Grace Fisher and Allison Weilnau has been very solid. Weilnau leads the team with a 3.36 ERA, six wins, two shutouts and an opponent batting average of .264. Fisher leads the team with a 1.33 WHIP, five complete games, 60 innings pitched and 51 strikeouts. Both pitchers have struck out at least 50 hitters.
 
The Falcons lead the MEC with a fielding percentage of .968.

Noting the Bobcats: Frostburg State's games last weekend were moved to Monday and Tuesday of this week. FSU outscored Davis & Elkins 13-3 over the doubleheader and swept the Senators. Frostburg was then swept by WV Wesleyan, and the FSU Bobcats were shutout for the first time this season in game two of that series. On Wednesday, Frostburg battled non-conference Salem and FSU won game one, 11-1, and took game two, 5-2.
 
Frostburg State has seven players hitting over .300 and four (Jamie Roberts - .459, Sierra Sanderson - .439, Laura Gilford - .423, Brianna Munday - .407) are hitting over .400. Along with leading the team in batting average, Roberts is at the top of the team in hits (28), doubles (7) and RBI (25). She is 39th in the country in batting average. Gilford has a .516 on-base percentage and has stolen 15 bags. Ashlynn Routzahn is 12th in NCAA Division II in slugging percentage (.932). She has seven home runs, 41 total bases and a .932 slugging percentage.
 
Jamie Roberts leads the pitching staff with a 2.89 ERA, 56 innings pitched and 41 strikeouts. Sydney Theobald leads the team with a 1.28 WHIP, six complete games and a .240 batting average against. The team has an ERA of 4.44.
 
Frostburg State has a potent offense this year. They rank 16th in Division II by scoring 7.29 runs per game, rank 35th in on-base percentage (.404), tied for 28th in stolen bases (60) and 28th in batting average (.333).

Noting the FSU Falcons: Fairmont State hosted West Virginia Wesleyan, on Monday. The FSU Falcons lost game one, 4-0, but then bounced back and handed WVWC its first conference loss of the campaign with a 3-1 win. In the victory, the first five hitters in the lineup combined for seven of Fairmont's nine hits. In game two, Myaih Cloud hit a two-run homer and Emily Riggs knocked in the third run of the game with a single.
 
Emily Riggs (.388), Hannah Workman (.371), Myaih Cloud (.302) and Bella Hess (.300) are all hitting at least .300. Riggs is 31st in D2 with a slugging percentage of .866, and leads the team in batting average, OPS (1.360), runs scored (19), doubles (9), home runs (7), RBI (22), total bases (58) and on-base percentage (.494). Workman is tied with Riggs for the team lead with 26 hits.
 
Shelby Reed was named MEC Pitcher of the Week last week, after she made one start for the Fighting Falcons. Reed had a complete game win over Davis & Elkins, 5-1. In the contest, she allowed three hits, one run, no earned runs, and struck out six. Reed has posted a 3.07 ERA this season in 29.1 innings. Emma Gates, who has an ERA of 3.48, leads the team in WHIP (1.06), wins (5), complete games (3), shutouts (1) and innings pitched (51.2).