April 1, 2008

NORTH CANTON, Ohio – Tuesday brought a new page to the calendar, ending a month of schedule delays and postponements for Notre Dame Softball. After a 30-day layoff, NDC hit the field against Walsh University in what was the conference opener for the Falcons. The twin bill would prove to be a tall order for the rusty Falcons, as they were pitted against a Cavalier team that came in with a 13-5 mark overall and an undefeated 4-0 record in American Mideast Conference (AMC) North Division play.

Walsh knocked off Notre Dame in both ends of the doubleheader, 6-2 and 7-5.

Game one (Walsh 6, NDC 2)
In the opener at a windswept Cavalier Stadium, Walsh starter Dana Hartings (Sr/Chickasaw, OH) fanned 11 Falcons and allowed just two runs in going the distance. Freshman Meredith Harbarger (Akron, OH) toed the rubber for the Falcons, and she had NDC in the lead, 2-1, after three-and-a-half frames. The Cavaliers, however, scored a game-tying solo run in the home half of the fourth and then added two-spots in the fifth and sixth to earn the 6-2 victory.

Harbarger went the distance (six innings) for the Falcons. She allowed 11 hits and six runs (five earned). The freshman hurler walked two and struck out an NDC season-high six.

Third baseman Anna Ball (Jr/Bellville, OH) led the NDC attack offensively. She went 3-for-4 with a double. Juniors Jess Fiorilli (Cleveland, OH) and Jill Gigliotti (Medina, OH) each drove in a run with an RBI double to account for all of the Falcons' scoring in game one.

Game two (Walsh 7, NDC 5)
In the nightcap, Notre Dame (3-7, 0-2) fell behind Walsh, 2-0, in the first. The Blue & Gold cut the Cavalier lead to 2-1 with a solo marker in the fourth.

Walsh (15-5, 6-0) then answered with a lone run in the fourth and three more in the fifth to chase NDC starter Katie Lapczenski (Jr/Willoughby Hills, OH).

Both teams traded runs in the sixth before NDC made the final score interesting by scoring three runs in the seventh.

Lapczenski allowed six runs in her five innings of work. Meredith Harbarger closed out the game allowing a run in her only frame.

Krystal Sherry (So/Brunswick, OH) went the route for WU; she gave up 12 hits and five runs (four earned), while stiking out six and walking none.

Anna Ball notched another 3-for-4 performance in the nightcap. Through the Falcons' first 10 games, the Bellville native owns a 1.615 OPS (on-base plus slugging). Ball is hitting .576/.615/1.000 (BA/OBP/SLG), which leads the AMC in all three categories.

Gigliotti, Jessica Simmons (So/Garfield Heights, OH), and Stephanie Tartaglione (Jr/Euclid, OH) also had multi-hit games in the second tilt. NDC's 12 hits in the game mark a season-high.