This Week: Notre Dame College softball will play Walsh University, in a non-conference game on April 3, at 3 and 5 p.m. on Normandy Field. The NDC Falcons will then drive to West Virginia to battle Fairmont State, at 12 and 2 p.m. on April 6, and then Frostburg State, at 12 and 2 p.m. on April 7.

Schedule Change: The games that were originally scheduled for April 2, have now been moved to April 3.

Records: After playing 10 games in six days last week, Notre Dame currently has a record of 20-13, going 6-6 in the Mountain East Conference. Walsh enters the week with a record of 6-16. Fairmont State is 26-6 to start this season, with an 11-1 MEC mark. Frostburg State is 16-11, while holding a 9-3 conference record.
 
Coaches Corner: Kelsey Stopp is in her sixth season at NDC, leading the NDC Falcons to a record of 112-131 (61-77 MEC). Katie Connell is entering her third year in the dugout at Walsh, while Brooke Sullivan is in her first season at Fairmont State and Bill Vasko is in his sixth season at Frostburg State.
 
Rankings: None of these teams are ranked in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division II top 25.
 
Series History: Since 2009, Notre Dame has a 10-11 record versus Walsh. The NDC Falcons swept the Cavaliers in 2019 and then dropped both games in the series last year. However, NDC has not hosted Walsh since 2017. Notre Dame played Fairmont State, on March 25, falling in both games to the FSU Falcons. NDC has an all-time record of 15-22 against Fairmont. Notre Dame has beaten Frostburg State in five of the last six matchups and now holds a 5-11 all-time record against the FSU Bobcats. NDC split a doubleheader with the Bobcats, on March 24.
 
Noting the NDC Falcons: Notre Dame was busy last week, playing four doubleheaders from Monday through Friday. The Falcons went 4-4 during that stretch, which included a four-game winning streak right through the middle of the week. NDC dropped a pair of games against Fairmont State, split a doubleheader with Salem University, swept West Virginia Wesleyan and then split with Davis & Elkins.
 
Destany Blake had a great week, totaling 10 hits and three games with multiple hits. She now leads the team with a .354 batting average, 35 hits and 24 RBI. Katelyn DeWeese and Mia Cipriano are both hitting .323. Four of Cipriano's 10 hits so far have been doubles. DeWeese has hit six doubles, three triples, leads the team in on-base percentage (.455) and stolen bases (22). Her stolen base total ranks 23rd in NCAA Division II. As a team, the Falcons rank 23rd in the country with 11 triples. In pitcher's circle, Grace Fisher has 10 wins already this season, 11 complete games and three shutouts, with 93 strikeouts. Madison Olszewski continues to pitch well and has dropped her earned run average to 1.00 for the season in 11 appearances.
 
Noting the Cavaliers: Walsh played one doubleheader last week, losing two games on the road to Malone University. Bryn Elliott had three hits over the two games. In the second game of the day, Madi Russo and Laney Ferrance both had two hits, while Kaylee Nolte hit a three-run homer. Lindsey Leeds pitched 3 1/3 innings of relief in game one and did not allow a run.
 
Sarah Moats leads Walsh with a ,381 batting average and a .571 slugging percentage. She also has six doubles and three triples. Bryn Elliott is not far behind with an average of .346. However, those are the only hitters on Walsh who are hitting over a .300 average and the team has only hit two home runs. In the circle, Maci Smythe has a 2.04 ERA in 12 appearances and five starts. She has struck out 29 in 48 innings pitched. Jaelyn Peterson has a 2.80 ERA in six appearances.
 
Noting the FSU Falcons: Fairmont State went 6-0 in three doubleheaders last week, winning by at least five runs in three of the six games. The FSU Falcons swept NDC and Wheeling. Then, on Saturday, they snuck past West Liberty with a pair of walk off wins, taking game one by a score of 5-4 win, followed by a 1-0 win, in eight innings, in game two. Grace Sobeck hit a walk-off homer in game one and Isabella Yelle had the walk-off single in game two.
 
Fairmont has one of the best offenses is the country. As a team, they are hitting .340, which ranks 19th in Division II. They have 21 home runs and nearly 200 RBI. The FSU Falcons have 11 players, who have at least 18 at bats, hitting over .300. Bella Hess leads the team, and ranks sixth in Division II, with a .513 average and a .562 on-base percentage. Emily Riggs is hitting .373, but has five doubles, six home runs, 33 RBI and a slugging percentage of .651. Fairmont State also steals a lot of bases, already with 105 as a team, which is the third-best mark in the country. Hannah Workman leads the team with 21 steals. The pitching staff's ERA is 2.91. Delaney Haller has started 14 games, with 91 2/3 innings of work, holding an ERA of 1.15, with 11 complete games and five shutouts, which is a top-15 mark in the country.

Noting the Bobcats: Frostburg State also played three doubleheaders last week, going 6-0. The Bobcats swept Salem, West Liberty and Wheeling, but had multiple close games, winning five of the six games by four runs, or fewer. Frostburg's last loss came against Notre Dame, on March 24.
 
As a team, Frostburg State is hitting .320. Jamie Roberts is up to a .430 batting average, with an .806 slugging percentage, a .477 on-base percentage, nine home runs and 34 RBI. Seven players are hitting over .300. Alyssa Albright leads the team with 10 doubles to go along with a .375 batting average. Samara Funk is second on the team with a batting average of .375. Arden Miller (.367) and Cristina Sommerkamp (.354) are both hitting over .350. The pitching staff has struggled a bit lately as the team ERA is up to 5.78. Jamie Roberts now has a 5.20 ERA and 46 strikeouts. Sydney Theobald has started 12 games, but has an ERA of 5.33.