FINDLAY, Ohio – To kick off the 2024 softball season, Notre Dame College played the University of Findlay, in a neutral site double-header on Ashland University's home field. In game one, the Falcons fell by a score of 11-3. NDC led early in the second game and would put up four runs, but Findlay took game two by a score of 12-4.
Findlay, who was designated as the home team on Saturday, put three runs on the board in the first inning of game one. The Oilers had back-to-back RBI singles.
NDC responded in the top of the third, as freshman
Hope Barrett walked to lead off the inning and senior
Katelyn DeWeese singled right. With two out, and runners on second and third, sophomore
Danielle Fick tripled to score both runs, pulling Notre Dame within one, 3-2.
Junior
Alyssa Wahl tied the contest at three when she hit a lead-off home run to begin the fourth inning. That was her first career collegiate home run.
Findlay went back in front quickly, scoring on an error in the bottom of the fourth inning. UF would add five runs in the fifth and three in the sixth to win in six innings.
Sophomore
Lindsay Breuer led the Falcons with two hits, including a double.
The Falcons jumped out to a lead in game two. In the top of the first inning, Fick doubled to score junior
Destany Blake from first base. An error by the Oilers allowed Fick to score and NDC led 2-0.
In the top of the third, with two out and the bases empty, Fick did it again, hitting a triple to put pressure on Findlay. Breuer stepped up with an RBI single to give NDC a 3-0 lead, before UF's offense had a hit.
That changed in the bottom of the fourth inning, when the Oilers scored three runs on three hits, to tie the game.
But, the Falcons fought back. Wahl sent another pitch over the wall in the top of the fifth to give NDC a 4-3 advantage.
The Oilers then scored nine times in the fifth inning to end the game.
Fick had two more hits in game two, and totaled three extra-base hits on the day. The three-four-five hitters (Wahl, Fick, Breuer) in the order combined for four hits and three RBI in the second contest.
NDC will travel to Evanville, Ind. for the Blue Bridge Battle. On Feb. 23, the Falcons will take on Kentucky Wesleyan and Ashland.
