This Week: Notre Dame College softball will stay home to take on Alderson Broaddus University, on April 12, at 2 and 4 p.m. Over the weekend, on April 15, the Falcons will be in Institute, W.Va. to play West Virginia State University, at 1 and 3 p.m. The next day, NDC heads over to play the University of Charleston, with first pitch of the doubleheader at 1 p.m.
 
Records: Notre Dame has a record of 21-15 (11-7 MEC) in the 2023 campaign. Alderson Broaddus has put together a record of 11-25, overall, while going 6-12 in MEC play. West Virginia State has started the year 11-19 (5-12 MEC), while Charleston is currently 20-6, putting together a record of 14-3 in the conference.

Coaches Corner: Kelsey Stopp is now in her fourth season as head coach of the NDC Falcons. She has a record of 82-108 (48-64 MEC). Nikki Nuzum is in her second season with Alderson Broaddus and Michelle Frew is in her second year at UC. Mattie Best enters her fifth season in the dugout at WVSU.

Rankings: Charleston is receiving votes in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II top 25 poll.

Series History: Notre Dame has an all-time record of 9-1 against AB. The Falcons went 1-1 against the Battlers back on March 29. Since 2014, Notre Dame has gone 6-13 against W.Va. State and 4-13 against Charleston.

Noting the Falcons: From Monday to Sunday last week, Notre Dame had a record of 6-2. The NDC Falcons picked up three important wins against two North Division opponents aiming for the top spot. They split a doubleheader with Fairmont State and swept Frostburg State to move into a tie with Fairmont at the top of the division.
 
At the plate, Katelyn DeWeese went 11-22 (.500) last week, scoring seven times. DeWeese had four multi-hit games, including two three-hit games. She raised her batting average from .227 at the beginning of the games on Wednesday, to .304. Danielle Fick had a hit in every game last week, including two doubles a home run and stole five bases. Emma Gumont totaled 10 hits over the week, including four games of two hits. She totaled 11 RBI, and had five runs batted in in one game against Ursuline, which is tied for sixth most in a game in program history.
 
NDC is currently fifth in the MEC in team batting average (.268), total hits (247), slugging percentage (.371) and total stolen bases (51). Emma Gumont leads the MEC in RBI, with 40. She leads the team in average (.362), slugging percentage (.612), on-base percentage (.388), home run (6) and total bases (71). Danielle Fick is now second in the conference with 12 doubles. Fick and Gumont are tied for the team lead with 42 hits.
 
On the pitching side, Grace Fisher is fourth with 94 strikeouts. She also has an ERA of 2.94, a 1.18 walks-and-hits per innings pitched (WHIP), 10 complete games, three shutouts and 104 2/3 innings pitched. Allison Weilnau has 10 wins, the team's first 10-game winner since 2019 (Taylor Olson, McKenzie Zigmont).

Noting the Battlers: Alderson Broaddus started last week with two losses to West Virginia Wesleyan, but then won one versus Frostburg State and swept Fairmont State for the first time in program history. Those wins came at home and the Battlers now hold an 8-2 record in home games, while they are 0-14 on the road. If neutral games are added to the road record, the Battlers are 3-23 away from Philippi.
 
Hailee Culbertson leads the team with a .358 batting average, 29 hits, two doubles and two triples. Breonna Marietta has brought the power this season, with five home runs, four doubles, 23 RBI and 39 total bases. As a team, the Battlers have an ERA of 5.87. Amber Corley leads the pitching staff with a 4.75 ERA, 87 innings pitched and 66 strikeouts.

Noting the Yellow Jackets: West Virginia State has lost seven in a row, dropping two against both W.Va. Wesleyan and Davis & Elkins, over the weekend. WVSU has struggled on the road this season, but the team has been a little better at home, going 5-6.
 
Two years ago, the Yellow Jackets were one of the top teams in the conference, with a 25-7 MEC record. At the moment, WVSU sits outside of the top four teams that make the MEC Tournament in the South Division.
 
As a team, the Yellow Jackets rank fourth in the MEC in batting average (.277), doubles (45), stolen bases (52) and slugging percentage (.388). The team is third in the MEC with 5.17 runs per game. Emma Pauley ranks third in the conference with 11 doubles, while Kasey Murphy ranks third in slugging percentage (.769), fourth in RBI (36) and fifth in batting average (.407). Murphy has 37 hits this season, nine doubles, eight home runs and nine stolen bases.
 
The struggles have come in the pitcher's circle. Kasey Murphy leads the team with a 5.05 ERA, seven complete games and 54 strikeouts. As a team, WVSU has an ERA of 5.49 and opponents are hitting .335 against W.Va. State pitching. The Yellow Jackets' pitching staff does not have a shutout yet.

Noting the Golden Eagles: Charleston went 4-2 last week. The Golden Eagles swept Glenville State, outscoring the Pioneers 11-1 over that series. At home over the weekend, UC split with both doubleheaders with Davis & Elkins and West Virginia Wesleyan. Charleston is a half game behind Wesleyan for the lead in the South Division.
 
Charleston's offense is tough to stop. They rank eighth in NCAA Division II in runs per game (7.58) and 23rd in slugging percentage (.514). They lead the conference in batting average (.330), doubles (55), runs per game, on-base percentage (.408) and slugging percentage (.514).
 
Hannah Rose has the best batting average in Division II, hitting .534. She is also eighth in the country in slugging percentage (.920). Rose leads the conference in total bases, with 81. She has nine doubles, seven home runs and 15 stolen bases. Her teammate, Isabella Andujar, leads the MEC with 11 home runs. She has 35 RBI already this season.
 
In the pitcher's circle, Brianna McCown leads the conference with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 6.72 and strikeouts-per-seven innings, with 9.2. The pitching staff has an ERA of 2.15. Danielle Bauer leads the staff with a 1.81 ERA, but McCown has a 13-2 record with 12 complete games, five shutouts in 94.1 innings pitched, 121 strikeouts and a 0.99 WHIP.