This Week: Notre Dame College softball opens up a six-game road trip, beginning with a doubleheader at Walsh University on Wednesday, April 26 at 2 p.m. Next, the Falcons head to Wheeling University on Thursday, April 27 for a twin-bill with the Cardinals starting at 3 p.m. Lastly, NDC rounds out the regular season at West Liberty University on Saturday, April 29, as first pitch is slated for 1 p.m.
Schedule Change: Notre Dame will now travel to Wheeling University, and play on Thursday, due to rain in the forecast on Friday.
Records: Notre Dame has a record of 27-21 (16-12 MEC) this season, sitting in third place in the MEC North Division. Walsh begins the week at 18-20, as Wheeling owns a 7-39 (5-23 MEC) record. WLU maintains a 12-34 (8-18 MEC) record, holding fourth place in the MEC North Division.
MEC Standings: Notre Dame is currently in third place in a tightly-contested North Division. The Falcons are four games behind first-place Fairmont State and one game in back of second-place Frostburg State.
Coaches Corner: Kelsey Stopp is now in her fourth season as head coach of the Falcons. She has a record of 88-114 (53-69 MEC). Katie Connell is in her first season at the helm of the Walsh softball program. Sara Pelegreen is in her fourth season, including second stint with the Wheeling softball team. Lastly, Herb Minch is in his 25th season leading West Liberty.
Rankings: None of these teams are receiving votes in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II top 25 poll. Notre Dame was listed as one of the top ten teams in the Atlantic Region, according to the first NCAA Division II regional rankings, last week. The top eight teams in the region will make it to the NCAA Tournament.
Series History: Since joining Division II in 2013, Notre Dame is 6-6 all-time against Walsh, including NDC's pair of victories back in 2019. The Falcons are 15-22 all-time when playing Wheeling, including NDC's sweep of WU back on Mar. 21 (7-6 and 13-5). Lastly, Notre Dame carries a 19-15 all-time record against West Liberty, as the two sides split 6-3 and 7-9 back on Mar. 22.
Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame went 3-3 over the past week in a half. NDC split a double-header with Ashland, last Wednesday, and swept Glenville State, on Sunday. After a couple postponements, the Falcons hosted Concord, yesterday, dropping both games.
The pitching staff has been strong for the Falcons all season.
Grace Fisher is fourth in the MEC in appearances (26), shutouts (4) and strikeouts (124) and she is fifth in complete games (14).
Allison Weilnau ranks second in the conference with 24 starts and is fourth in shutouts (4) and appearances (26). Weilnau has 14 wins on the season, becoming the first NDC pitcher to reach that number since
Taylor Olson in 2017. At the plate,
Emma Gumont is second in the conference in RBI (43) while
Danielle Fick is third in the MEC in doubles, with 13. This season, Gumont leads the team in batting average (.344), slugging percentage (.539), on-base percentage (.373), home runs (6), RBI (43) and total bases (83).
The Falcons rank in the top five in the conference in total stolen bases (63) and stolen bases per game (1.31) on the offensive side and strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.32) on the pitching side.
Noting the Cavaliers: Walsh was busy over the past week and a half, going 3-5 in its eight games. WU was swept by Ohio Dominican and Findlay, took one of two from Ashland and swept Malone, on Monday.
The series against NDC is Walsh's first games against a team outside of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) since March 11, in Florida.
Sydney McKeever leads the GMAC in stolen bases per game (0.76) and fourth in total stolen bases (25). Kaylee Nolte is second in the GMAC, and 19th in the country, with five sac flies this season.
The Cavaliers' offense has been a bright spot for most of this season. The team ranks fifth in the GMAC in batting average (.291), third in total sacrifice flies (16), fifth in sacrifice bunts (22) and fifth in total stolen bases (54). However, the pitching staff has an ERA over five.
Noting the Cardinals: Wheeling had a tough weekend, losing all four games to Frostburg State and Fairmont State. The Cardinals did not score over four runs in any of those games.
Wheeling has lost nine consecutive games, last winning a game on April 12. They are 5-15 at home and 1-15 on the road.
Madison George has struck out eight times this season in 127 at bats, and is third in the conference with an at-bat-to-strikeout ratio of 23.6. Maddie Munoz leads the conference, and ranks sixth in the country, with six triples.
Noting the Hilltoppers: Like Wheeling, West Liberty was also swept by both Fairmont State and Frostburg State. In those two series, West Liberty did not score more than three runs. West Liberty is now in a fight for the fourth and final conference tournament spot in the North Division, holding the same record as Alderson Broaddus.
The Hilltoppers have dropped their last eight games, and have gone 2-15 over the past 17 contests.
Riley Conkle is third in the conference with 13 doubles on the season. Two pitchers have been putting in the work in the circle for West Liberty. Brooke Perri leads the MEC in appearances, with 29, and Madison Angus is second, with 27.
WLU is second in the conference in sacrifice flies (12) and fourth in sac bunts (32). The pitching staff only allows 9.9 hits per game, which is fourth-best in the conference. Their defense has turned five double plays, good enough for fifth in the MEC.
