April 30, 2008

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Notre Dame swept their second straight doubleheader Wednesday, as the Falcons downed Heidelberg College in a pair of non-conference games. Notre Dame came back for a 3-2 last at-bat victory in the opener. They closed out the Student Princes with a 12-4 run-rule win in the second game.

With the sweep, NDC has now won four straight and eight of their last nine. Third baseman Anna Ball (Jr/Bellville, OH) went 5-for-8 in the twin bill to lead the Falcon offense. The lefty slugger knocked in three and collected three doubles and a home run on the afternoon. Her third double of the day marked her 25th of the season, which sets a new program record for two-baggers in a single season.

Game one (NDC 3, HC 2)
In the opener, Heidelberg scored a solo run in their half of the second to take a 1-0 lead. Notre Dame was held scoreless by HC starter Katie Allenspach (Jr/Aurora, OH) until the fourth inning, when the Falcons plated an unearned run on a two-out RBI single by Josephine Zappitelli (Jr/Painesville, OH).

Heidelberg scored a second run off NDC's Meredith Harbarger (Fr/Akron, OH) on a pair of two-out base hits in the fifth. Those two hits (a double and a single) accounted for two-thirds of the hits that Harbarger would give up the whole game - she went seven, yielding three hits and four walks.

Down 2-1, Stephanie Tartaglione (Jr/Euclid, OH) led off the bottom of the sixth with a single. After a wild pitch and a ground out, Tartaglione was plated by a Lianna Holub (Reminderville, OH) single to tie the game, 2-2. Zappitelli then struck out bringing senior right fielder Kim Corbets (Solon, OH) to the plate with two outs. Corbets laced a run-scoring double to left field to score pinch-runner Heather Sheber (So/South Euclid, OH) as the go-ahead run.

Harbarger walked the lead-off batter in the seventh, but a nice play by Tartaglione retired the runner at second, and the Falcon starter closed out the inning to preserve the NDC come-from-behind win.

Game two (NDC 12, HC 4 - 5 inn.)
In the second game, the Falcon offense came alive in the first to remove the necessity for late-game heroics. Against HC's Jerrica Sweetnich (So/Garfield Heights, OH), the Blue & Gold ripped seven consecutive hits to start the game. When the inning was finally over, NDC had sent 12 batters to the plate and eight had scored. Three scored on the biggest blow of the first stanza, a three-run homer by Anna Ball.

Falcon hurler Katie Lapczenski (Sr/Willoughby Hills, OH), who yielded a solo run in the first, gave up three more runs over the rest of the game. She would go the full five, allowing nine hits, four runs (three earned), and a walk. She struck out four.

Lapczenski got plenty of run support - the Falcons scored another four runs in the third, this time with a three-run bomb from Jessica Simmons (So/Garfield Heights, OH).

After five, NDC led the game, 12-4, to close out HC with a run-rule victory.

In addition to Ball's five-hit day, Holub, Simmons, and Tartaglione added three hits apiece. For the two games, NDC out-hit HC, 21-12.

During the two games at NDC's Campus Field, Ball first tied, then broke her own single-season doubles record, when she clubbed her 23rd, 24th, and 25th of the year. Her previous record of 24 doubles was set in the 2006 season. The Bellville native has hit a program record 69 doubles over her three-year career.

The twin victories over Heidelberg run Notre Dame's season record to 25-11. The Blue & Gold will play their home finale Thursday against Ohio Dominican; first pitched is slated for 3 p.m.

NOTES FROM THE NEST...

HOME, SWEET HOME: With the sweep, Notre Dame is now 13-3 at home this season. They are 25-4 over their last 29 at Campus Field. The Falcons have also won eight of their last nine overall. ... In winning their 25th game overall this season, NDC Softball has now won 25-plus games in three straight seasons (2006-08). In that three-year stretch, NDC is a combined 90-31 (.744 winning percentage).

APRIL POWERS: NDC closed out the month of April on the right note. In a busy month after missing most of March due to bad weather, the Falcons went 22-6 in April. Over the last two years, Notre Dame is 37-10 in April. ... The squad's 12-run outburst in Wednesday's nightcap marked their sixth double-digit game of the season and third in their last four contests.

MILESTONE-WATCH: Anna Ball's doubles record likely won't be the last program record to be toppled in 2008. With four regular season games plus a trip to the NAIA Regional (Great Lakes East) Tournament on tap, several season and career records are in jeopardy. Ball needs three more base hits to break her own single-season record for hits (67). She is also in good shape for taking down her own marks in batting average (.496), on-base percentage (.550), and slugging percentage (.805). Ball needs one more home run for the new single-season NDC mark (10). ... Junior catcher Jill Gigliotti (Medina, OH) needs seven RBIs to tie the single-season mark set by Ball a year ago (56). ... On the career front, Ball needs three hits to reach No. 200 for her career.