This Week: Notre Dame College softball travels to Ashland University, to play a doubleheader on April 19, at 3 and 5 p.m. The Falcons will celebrate Senior Day, on April 22, against Concord University, with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m. On April 23, NDC will host Glenville State University, at 12 and 2 p.m.

Senior Day: Notre Dame will honor Emily Marsh, Emmilee McCracken and Alexi Maciejowski prior to the games on Saturday.
 
Records: Notre Dame has a record of 24-18 (14-10 MEC) this season, sitting two games behind Fairmont State for first place in the North Division. With one more conference win, Notre Dame will break the program's record for MEC wins in a season (15). Ashland enters the week with a record of 15-23. Concord has an overall record of 16-29, while going 7-17 in MEC play. This season, Glenville State is 19-21, overall. The Pioneers sit in fourth place in the South Division with a 12-12 MEC record.

Coaches Corner: Kelsey Stopp is now in her fourth season as head coach of the Falcons. She has a record of 85-111 (51-67 MEC). Emlyn Knerem has a record of 102-130 over six seasons at Ashland. Alyssa Morris is now in her second campaign with Concord and Sara Scoone is in her second season with GSU.

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

Series History: Notre Dame has gone 3-8 all-time record versus Ashland, which includes a 7-2 win over the Eagles on Feb. 25. NDC has won the last four matchups against Concord and have a 10-10 record versus the Mountain Lions, since 2014. The Falcons are 9-7 all-time against Glenville State.

Noting the Falcons: Last week, NDC went 3-3, sweeping Alderson Broaddus, splitting with West Virginia State and losing a pair to Charleston. Danielle Fick went 7-for-21 (.333), and extended her hit streak to 13 straight games over the first five games of the week before it came to an end. Allison Weilnau earned two wins last week and pitched three complete games, allowing just two earned runs. She struck out 12 total batters, including eight in a start against Alderson Broaddus. Weilnau picked up her 12th win of the season against WV State, becoming the first Falcon since 2017 to win more than 11 games.
 
Grace Fisher also pitched well, throwing a complete game shutout, with eight strikeouts, against Alderson Broaddus. She then allowed two runs against W.Va. State and one versus Charleston, but was saddled with the loss in both games.

Danielle Fick is currently second in the Mountain East Conference with 13 doubles and Emma Gumont is second with 41 RBI. Gumont leads the team in batting average (.348), home runs (6), RBI, total bases (77), a .570 slugging percentage and a .376 on-base percentage. Danielle Fick leads the team in hits (49), doubles, stolen bases (14), and is not far behind Gumont with a .345 batting average, four home runs, 74 total bases and a .372 on-base percentage.

Notre Dame's team ERA is 3.34, due to the dominance of Grace Fisher and Allison Weilnau. Fisher has an ERA of 2.66 with four shutouts and 108 strikeouts in 123.2 innings pitched. Weilnau has a 3.13 ERA, four shutouts and 87 strikeouts.

Noting the Eagles: Ashland had a lot of work to do after starting the season in a hole, with a record of 4-14. They have gone 11-9 since, including an 8-8 mark in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. AU played just four games last week, splitting doubleheaders with Ferris State and Ohio Dominican. Leadoff hitter Danielle Roberts had three, two-hit games throughout the week.

Five players are hitting over .300 for Ashland. Hailey Struckman has 38 hits, a .365 batting average, 11 doubles, 60 total bases, a .404 on-base percentage and a .577 slugging percentage. In the circle, Kayla Roberto leads the team with a 3.67 ERA. In 66.2 innings, she has struckout 29 batters. As a team, the Eagles have an ERA of 4.19 and opponents hold a batting average of .311.

Noting the Mountain Lions: Concord also got off to a tough start this season, opening with a record of 2-9. Last week, the Mountain Lions had a record of 2-4. CU split with Glenville State and Frostburg State, but was swept by Fairmont State. In the first game last week, a 1-0 victory in extra innings, Concord pitcher Nancy-Jo Roberts pitched all nine frames, allowing zero runs and striking out five.

Only two players are hitting over .300 for Concord, but Lacie Lewis has been pulling the offense along with a .347 average, 50 hits in 43 games, 11 doubles and 67 total bases. Nancy-Jo Roberts has a 3.08 ERA to lead the team. She has thrown 16 complete games, four shutouts, with 68 strikeouts.

Noting the Pioneers: Glenville State is one win away from the program's first 20-win season since 2018. With one more conference win, GSU can tie its win total from 2022. Last week, GSU split a doubleheader with Concord, but then dropped all four against Frostburg State and Fairmont State. 

Katelyn Richardson leads the Pioneers with a .351 batting average. She has 47 total bases and a .462 on-base percentage. However, she is the only Pioneer hitting over .300. Shelby McDaniels and Kaelyn Stenger both lead the team with 35 hits. Holly Brehm has been a top starting pitcher for Glenville State, holding an ERA of 1.56 over 139 innings. She has totaled 17 complete games and five shutouts and 170 strikeouts. She ranks 12th in the country in strikeouts.