April 16, 2008

ERIE, Penn. – Notre Dame had an eight-game win streak wiped out by No. T-36 Walsh University Monday. On Wednesday, NDC rebounded to sweep Mercyhurst College in a pair of non-conference games. Notre Dame shut out the Lakers, 3-0, in the opener, and then pulled out a 9-8 come-from-behind victory in the nightcap.

Freshman hurler Meredith Harbarger (Akron, OH) pitched a combined 12 innings in the twin bill, giving up just two earned runs, and junior third baseman Anna Ball (Bellville, OH) went 4-for-8 with three doubles to lead the Falcons.

Game one (NDC 3, MC 0)
In the first game, Harbarger scattered three hits (all singles) in notching her first career shutout. Harbarger went the distance (seven innings), walking two and striking out four.

The Falcons scored a pair of unearned runs in the second on a two-run double by Josephine Zappitelli (Jr/Painesville, OH). NDC closed out the scoring in the pitchers' duel with a sacrifice fly in the third. Notre Dame was shut down by Mercyhurst's Brittany Strier (Jr/Guilford, NY) over the final 2-2/3.

Harbarger, who did not allow a hit through the first four innings, yielded lone singles in the fifth, sixth, and seventh to preserve the win.

Game two (NDC 9, MC 8)
The bats for both teams came alive in the second game. Catcher Jill Gigliotti (Jr/Medina, OH) hit a three-run home run in the top of the first.

MC's Amber Rapose (So/Conneaut, OH) answered with a two-run bomb in a four-run Laker rally in the third. Through three, Mercyhurst led 5-4.

Harberger came on to relieve starter Katie Lapczenski (Sr/Willoughby Hills, OH) after the Lakers' surge in the third. Harbarger was touched up for a pair of runs in the fourth and one in the fifth, as the Lakers took an 8-5 lead into the sixth.

In the sixth, the Falcons used three Mercyhurst (17-23) errors and doubles by Anna Ball, Stephanie Tartaglione (Jr/Euclid, OH), and Sam Williams (Sr/Painesville, OH) to rack up four runs and take a 9-8 lead.

Harbarger preserved the NDC rally by setting the Lakers down quietly over their last two at-bats. Her 12-inning, two-earned run performance lowers her season ERA to 3.58.

Ball's three doubles came on a day when the American Mideast Conference (AMC) announced that the junior slugger had won the league's Player of the Week Award, her second straight, for games played on Apr. 7-13.

Notre Dame (13-9) is scheduled to be off for four days before entering a busy stretch next week. The Falcons are slated to play 12 games the week of Apr. 21.


NOTES FROM THE NEST...

ANOTHER JACK FOR JILL: Jill Gigliotti's game two homer was her third of the season and the 16th of her NDC career. The junior catcher leads the team in RBIs this season, with 28. ... Through Wednesday's action, Gigliotti and Ball are tied for the all-time program lead in home runs (16), and Gigliotti leads the career RBI race between the two, 114 to 113. Both players have played in 107 contests, never missing a game in their time at Notre Dame.

STREAK SNAPPED: Second baseman Jessica Simmons (So/Garfield Heights) went 1-for-3 in game one Wednesday against the Lakers. That snapped a string of six consecutive multi-hit games for the Falcons' second sacker. In the nightcap, Simmons picked iup where she left off by going 2-for-4 with a triple. ... Over her last 11 games, the Garfield Heights native is batting .521 (25-for-48) with six doubles and a triple. For the season, Simmons is batting .411/.463/.562 (batting/on-base/slugging).

KWEEN, WITH A K: Freshman hurler Meredith Harbarger has struck out 49 batters over her last 49-2/3 innings. For the season, she has worked 88 innings and fanned 72.