May 7, 2008

NORTH CANTON, Ohio – Play in the National Assiciation of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Regional Softball Tournament got underway Wednesday in North Canton and Canton, Ohio. The No. 3 seed Notre Dame Falcons swept their way to a crucial day-two match-up with the host No. 1 seed Walsh Cavaliers with a pair of wins - NDC defeated Point Park (PA), 5-3, and No. 2 seed Rio Grande, 7-6 (11 innings).

The Falcons earned their game two win in the 11th after blowing a five-run lead in the sixth inning. A Lianna Holub (Jr/Reminderville, OH) single plated the winning run, as the Falcons earned their 10th straight win.

The event - the NAIA Region IX/X (Great Lakes East/Northeast US) Tournament - pits six teams from the two regions in a double-elimination tournament. The tournament is being hosted by Walsh University, with some games also played on the campus of nearby Malone College. The winner of the regional test earns an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship Tournament.

In game one, Notre Dame plated three runs in the fourth and two in the sixth to earn a 5-3 victory over Point Park. Shortstop Stephanie Tartaglione (Jr/Euclid, OH) went 2-for-3 with a home run. The Euclid native drove in four of NDC's five runs.

Meredith Harbarger (Fr/Akron, OH) pitched a complete game. She gave up one unearned run in the first inning and two runs in the sixth. The Pioneers out-hit the Falcons, 6-5.

In Notre Dame's (31-11) second game, third baseman Anna Ball (Jr/Bellville, OH) led off the game with a home run to ignite the Falcon offense. The Falcons sent seven batters to the plate in the first, six in the second, and 10 in the third, as they opened up a 6-0 lead. Senior pitcher Miranda Laws (Nellis, WV) then settled down and didn't allow an NDC base runner to reach second base until the eighth.

Meanwhile, the Redwomen got a run back in the third on a two-out base hit by Mimi Mahon (So/Hamiliton, OH). NDC starter Katie Lapczenski (Sr/Willoughby Hills, OH) then retired the side in order in the fourth and then got out of a jam in the fifth to maintain the Falcons 6-1 advantage.

In the sixth, Lapczenski retired the first two batters. URG then took advantage of six hits (five in a row) and a Tartaglione error - when the third out was finally recorded, the Redwomen had tied the game, 6-6.

Neither side could cross the plate in the seventh; that sent the regional tournament tilt into extra innings. Rio Grande (26-16) pressed Lapczenski in the eighth and ninth, but both times the Falcons' senior pitcher got out of trouble.

In the 11th, Tartaglione got aboard and then scored on Lianna Holub's clutch single, the eventual game-winner. Lapczenski, working the longest outing of her career, set the Redwomen down one-two-three in both the bottom of the 10th and the 11th to earn the complete game win.

"Katie really beared down when we needed her," said NDC Head Coach Amy Kyler. "Now we just want to keep this going."

Now winners of 10 straight, NDC will square off with Walsh University Thursday at 12:30pm. The Cavaliers are the 28th-ranked team in the nation and the host of the tournament.

NOTES FROM THE NEST...

STREAK A '10': With NDC's wins over PPU and URG Wednesday, the Falcons have now won 10 straight games. That's the second-longest streak in program history. Notre Dame won 14 straight in the 2006 season (March 9 through April 8). ... NDC's last loss was on April 25 (2-0 loss at home to Point Park). The Blue & Gold have won 14 of their last 15 and 20 of their last 22.

THIRTY-SOMETHING: With their game-one victory over Point Park, Notre Dame earned their 30th win of the 2008 season. That marks the third straight year the Falcons have won 30-plus games. ... NDC won a program-best 33 games a year ago.

FALCON POW(ER): Notre Dame swept American Mideast Conference (AMC) North Division awards for the second straight week, the conference announced Tuesday. Stephanie Tartaglione was named the North's Player of the Week, while hurler Katie Lapczenski was tabbed as the division's Pitcher of the Week. Both awards cover the period from April 28-May 4. For Lapczenski, the award as her second straight - she was named the North's Pitcher of the Week the week of April 21.