2021 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP LEXINGTON REGIONAL the COACHES Combined Conference Coaching Staff of the Year Awards Earned by Notre Dame
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FIGHTING IRISH MEDIA Claire Kramer [email protected] Assistant Athletics CommunicationsDirector 913-952-6454 (cell) 2021 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP LEXINGTON REGIONAL GAME INFORMATION RV/RV Notre Dame Mike Couzens (31-13, 20-10 ACC) Friday, May 21 (play-by-play) 2:30 p.m. ET ESPN3 Miami (OH) Carol Bruggeman (analysis) (46-8, 36-2 MAC) John Cropp Stadium No. 1 Kentucky Lexington, KY Live stats: (39-13, 13-11 SEC) statbroadcast.com/ncaa/ Friday, May 21 ESPN2 Northwestern Noon ET (29-15, 29-15 Big Ten) NOTRE DAME SOFTBALL BY THE NUMBERS THE COACHES 10 Combined conference coaching staff of the year awards earned Head Coach At School (Years) Overall (Years) by Notre Dame head coaches and their staffs Notre Dame Deanna Gumpf 783-334-1 (20) 783-334-1 (20) Head Coach Deanna Gumpf is in her 20th season at the helm of Miami (OH) Kirin Kumar 46-8 (1) 46-8 (1) Notre Dame Softball, assisted by a long-tenured coaching staff: Kentucky Rachel Lawson 491-292 (14) 583-377 (16) 20 Associate head coach Kris Ganeff (20th season) and associate head Northwestern Kate Drohan 657-385-1 (20) 657-385-1 (20) coach Lizzy Ristano (16th season), along with operations specialist Jamie Spitale (seventh season). ALL-TIME SERIES 23 Number of Notre Dame players in program history to earn All-Time at Neutral Postseason Last conference player/pitcher of the year recognition ND leads ND leads ND leads W, 5-0 (May 21, 2016) - Miami (OH) 6-3 6-1 2-1 NCAA Regionals 25 NCAA Championship appearances earned by Notre Dame since 1994 (22-consecutive) UK leads UK leads UK leads L, 0-8 (6) (May 20, 2018) - Kentucky 28 NFCA All-America selections at Notre Dame since 1994 5-1 2-1 4-0 NCAA Regionals Northwestern NU leads ND leads NU leads L, 1-3 (April 9, 2019) - 32 30-win seasons at Notre Dame (every season in program history 14-10 2-0 4-2 at Northwestern except for 2020 - record was 13-9, cut short due to COVID-19) 33RD Varsity season of softball at Notre Dame in 2021 WHAT’S INSIDE... 36 All-time wins during the NCAA Championship tournament Notes & Numbers 1-2 Results 9 Schedule/Results 3 The Last Time... 10-11 42 Total conference tournament game wins in Notre Dame program Roster & Pronunciations 4 Head Coach Deanna Gumpf 12 history (seven as a member of the ACC). 2021 Statistics/Game-By-Game 5-7 Player Stats 13-35 Games Summary 8 NCAA Tournament History 36-39 98 Number of wins for Notre Dame over the national top 25 since 1994 (30 over the top 10) Win percentage for the Irish at Melissa Cook Stadium. Notre .818 Dame boasts a remarkable 186-41-1 record since Melissa Cook Stadium opened in 2008. 463 Number of home wins since the program’s inception 1,295 Number of varsity wins earned by Notre Dame softball since 1989 NDSoftball NDSoftball NotreDameSoftball UND.com/NDSoftball 2021 NOTRE DAME SOFTBALL 2021 NOTES & NUMBERS OF Abby Sweet is one of the nation’s best at the plate, ranking Notre Dame student-athletes earned seven total All-ACC selections, among the top not only in the ACC, but across Division I softball. as OF Abby Sweet made the first team, OF Emma Clark and DP Sweet’s .463 avg. leads the ACC and ranks 12th in the nation, 7 Karina Gaskins were selected to the second team and 2B Katie while her 62 total hits are tied for second in the ACC. Sweet boasts Marino, P Alexis Holloway and P Payton Tidd were voted to the 1 16 doubles on the season, which leads the conference and ranks third team. Gaskins was also named to the All-Freshman team. T-14th in the nation. She leads the conference in on-base percentage 9 The ACC’s top batter, OF Abby Sweet has led the conference in (0.556 - 15th nationally), is the second-toughest player to strike out batting average since March 13, 2021 (nine-straight weeks). in the ACC (16.8 at-bats per strikeout) and ranks third in slugging The Irish have reached a regional final 10 times under head coach percentage (0.739), T-fifth in total bases (99) and second in runs- 10 Deanna Gumpf since she assumed the helm of the Notre Dame per-game (0.93). program in 2002. Notre Dame has reached the NCAA Championship in each of the The Irish own 11 wins over the RPI Top 75 this season, including past 22 seasons in which the tournament has been contested, one victories over Duke, Liberty, Virginia Tech, Villanova and Charlotte. 1/8 of just eight teams nationally to hear its name called each season 11 Of those 11 wins, nine of them were on the road, including four in since 1999. Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Michigan, Oklahoma, UCLA a four-game sweep at Virginia Tech. and Washington are the only other teams a part of this exclusive list. Irish pitchers are dangerous in the batter’s box, totaling 13 Notre Dame pitchers have totaled two combined no-hitters so far extra-base hits on the season. P Payton Tidd has hit eight extra- this season. In both the games against Alabama State (Feb. 14) and 2 base balls this season, with five doubles and three home runs, Valparaiso (March 24), Ps Alexis Holloway, Morgan Ryan and accumulating 10 RBI on 12 total hits. She was named Honorable Payton Tidd all pitched to keep both teams hitless and scoreless. 13 Mention for the Nation’s Best Hitting Pitchers by Justin’s World of 2 The Irish boast two of the ACC’s Top 5 individual batters. OF Abby Softball. P Alexis Holloway has also made a significant mark at Sweet (.463) ranks first, and OF Emma Clark is fifth (.406). the plate, hitting two doubles and three home runs, totaling 13 hits For the first time in program history, the Irish have two graduate and 10 RBI on the season. 2 students on the roster. IF Katie Marino and IF Chelsea Purcell Notre Dame owned an 14-game win streak to end the regular each took advantage of the NCAA’s extra year of eligibility. 14 season, following three-consecutive series sweeps of Virginia, No. The Irish swept four (of eight) ACC series this season, winning 15/13 Virginia Tech and Boston College. 4 all games against NC State, Virginia, No. 15/13 Virginia Tech and Notre Dame was 9-9 against the NCAA RPI Top 25 as of May 9, which Boston College. included a win against No. 16 Duke (Feb. 20) and a four-game sweep Deanna Gumpf announced the selection of three captains for the of No. 21 Virginia Tech (April 23-25). Notre Dame added an 8-2 mark 2021 season: Seniors IF Sarah Genz, P Alexis Holloway and 17-11 against the RPI Top 51-100 to fashion a 17-11 mark against the 3 OF Abby Sweet. Holloway and Sweet are the eighth and ninth current RPI Top-100 as of May 13. That mark bested the winning two-time team captains in program history. All three captains also percentages of No. 6 LSU, No. 12 Missouri, No. 15 Oregon, No. 17 announced their decisions to return for a fifth year as graduate stu- Kentucky, No. 18 Liberty and No. 19 Georgia. dents, thanks to the NCAA’s extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19. The Irish went undefeated at home in 2021 (15-0), continuing a OF Abby Sweet was hit by four pitches in the second game of the 19-game home win streak that began with a four-game win streak doubleheader vs. NC State, totaling six HBP on the day (two from the to end the 2019 home slate, as the Irish did not play a home game 4 first game). The four HBP tied for the most in a single game taken 19 in 2020. The streak began with an April 13, 2019 win over NC State by any Division I player in NCAA history, and are the single-most and extends to the present. 10 of those 14 wins came as part of this season. She ranks second in the ACC and 11th in the nation in three ACC series sweeps: vs. NC State (March 24-26), vs. Virginia HBP per game (0.41). (April 16-18) and vs. Boston College (May 7-8). Notre Dame ranks in the ACC’s Top 5 in team batting average and On April 23, OF Abby Sweet was named one of 25 finalists for USA 5 pitching. The Irish lead the conference with a collective .305 batting Softball’s Collegiate Player of the Year Award, which is considered avg., while they rank fifth in the conference with a 2.28 ERA. 25 the most prestigious honor in Division I women’s collegiate softball. Notre Dame is 6-8 this season against teams who are currently Sweet is the third player in Irish history to be selected as a Top 25 ranked. All of those games have been played at away or neutral Finalist for the award, joining Emilee Koerner (2013) and Karley locations. The Irish were the first team to hand Duke a loss in 2021 Wester (2015 & 2016). (Feb. 20), the only loss on Duke’s record until March 27, and then IF Chelsea Purcell, currently in her fifth season (graduate student), 6-8 took a game from Liberty at Liberty’s home field. The Irish swept leads the team in defensive assists with 88.