notre dame softball swept by no. 4 Florida

By J.J. POST Associate sports e ditor

n otre d ame softball endured a tough weekend, losing to Florida s tate in a three-game sweep in s outh b end.

The series’ first game would prove to be the biggest heartbreaker for the Irish. n otre d ame jumped out to a quick lead on the fourth-ranked s eminoles, going ahead 4-0 at m elissa c ook. The Irish had a chance to expand the lead further, but senior infielder Joley m itchell’s two out rb I double was chalked off due to junior infielder c arlli Kloss leaving second base early.

The would-be 5-0 lead would quickly become pertinent. Florida s tate would chalk up four runs of their own in the top of the sixth inning, tying the game. Then, in extras, the s eminoles would push ahead. A calamitous fielders choice rundown turned into a 12-minute umpire review that resulted in a Florida s tate runner on third with two outs. A wild pitch by freshman reliever m icaela Kastor scored the runner soon after, and the s eminoles had the lead for good.

Games two and three were decidedly less close. The Florida s tate bats ran wild against n otre d ame’s staff, chalking up 11 runs in game two and 12 in game three. A particularly brutal fourth inning defined said game three rout. The s eminoles plated eight runs before the Irish could stop the damage. Florida s tate put their first five batters on base.

A strikeout gave n otre d ame one out, but the s eminole offense kept on clicking. Three consecutive singles followed a two run home run.

The Irish offense proved a stark contrast to Florida s tate’s explosion. m itchell’s double in the fourth kept n otre d ame from being no-hit, but that proved to be the only production the notre d ame softball will be back in action Tuesday against c entral m ichigan. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. and the contest will be broadcast on Acc network e xtra. Contact irish start slow offensively and fall behind early, only for the bats to become white-hot in the middle innings. in saturday’s 12-2 shellacking of Florida state, it happened again. after winning close Friday and watching Fsu softball do the same, Link Jarrett’s squad felt great heading into saturday. The good vibes picked up right away in the first, as James Tibbs skied a leadoff homer. nander de sedas crushed another in the fourth, putting Fsu ahead 2-0. all the while, seminole starter conner Whittaker looked impeccable in his first three innings. but notre dame made serious adjustments in the fourth. on the next four pitches, sophomore outfielder dm Jefferson and coetzee added another in with back-to-back doubles. Junior catcher danny neri then kept the train moving on an rbi single to right. When the dust settled on the inning, notre dame led 6-2. now pitching with the lead, graduate starting pitcher blake hely settled in masterfully. he retired his final 10 batters, striking out eight in his second consecutive seveninning start.

Irish could muster.

While errors didn’t decide the game, they were an uncharacteristic problem for n otre d ame on s unday. The Irish committed four, three of which directly resulted in s eminole runs.

The sweep now puts notre d ame in a precarious position heading into Acc tournament play. The Irish currently sit on the nc AA Tournament bubble. A win over the highly-ranked s eminoles would have done a lot to help the team’s position. notre d ame instead will have just a single out-of-conference game against c entral m ichigan and then an unfavorable Acc Tournament draw to prove themselves to the committee before selection day.

Happy Birthday: engage in the activities and pastimes that make you happy. Take charge of your life and change what is no longer working for you. by helping yourself, you’ll be setting an example for others. Trust and believe in yourself and your ability to initiate what needs to happen to feel good about yourself and look forward to what lies ahead. your numbers are 5, 11, 23, 26, 33, 42, 49.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Anger isn’t becoming. channel your energy into something meaningful. Take the initiative and make home improvements that will improve your living arrangements. Invest more time and money in yourself and what you have to offer. make healthy living a priority.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): relax and enjoy friends and family. someone you respect will offer a different perspective regarding something that interests you. stick to a budget, and you’ll avoid debt stress. If you use your imagination, you’ll find a cheaper way to get what you want.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): A positive attitude will encourage you to trust and believe in yourself instead of letting someone play games with you and point you in the wrong direction. focus on what makes you happy and take measures to protect against harmful interference.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): make a difference. get involved in something that will benefit your community or encourage you to get back to basics, pastimes and people who make you smile. Pay attention to those offering insight into what’s trending, and invest in your future.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): follow the money. generosity may make you feel good, but debt doesn’t. Pay attention to how you earn your living and handle your cash. someone will be happy to take advantage of you. Trying to buy friendship won’t help you gain respect.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): don’t pressure yourself if it jeopardizes your health or emotional well-being. Associate with those who pick you up, not put you down. look at what’s possible and be honest about what you can offer. share your intentions and pursue your goals.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Pamper yourself, attend a reunion or research something to improve your health or overall appearance. feeling good about your appearance will up your game and make you more attractive to someone of interest. romance is on the rise.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): look at the possibilities and discuss your thoughts with anyone affected by your decisions. you’ll gain momentum if you convince loved ones to support your efforts. Protect against anyone trying to scam you, and avoid health risks.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): you can make suggestions, but don’t force your ideas, opinions or beliefs on others. go about your business, engage in fitness or activities that offer adventure or an outlet for your pent-up energy. Physical fitness and self-improvement are in your best interest.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Take control and make things happen. Invest in yourself, your home and your future. Pay attention to what things cost and how you can crunch the numbers to get what you want. verify the information you receive and listen to your heart.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Take a pass where risky investments are concerned. don’t let the hype someone feeds you make you ignore common sense. Pay attention to living a healthy lifestyle, free of stress. congregate with like-minded people you can trust.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Pay attention to where your money goes. don’t overspend on luxury items. reach out to someone you can share memories with, and you’ll gain insight into how others perceive you. Invest in something that offers security and peace of mind.

Birthday Baby: you are benevolent, insistent and energetic. you are protective and loyal.

Prajzner opened the inning with a flyout, but the irish scored five before recording the next out. They racked up six consecutive hits, getting the barrel to everything in sight. The first big blow came from graduate catcher vinny martinez, who launched a go-ahead, three-run shot down the right-field line.

Though it didn’t feel like it, Florida state was still very much in the game. notre dame’s offense put that idea firmly to rest with a six-run eighth. sophomore third baseman Jack Penney stole the show, hammering a grand slam and adding an equally impressive bat flip. With the four-piece, Penney became the first irish hitter to 10 home runs in 2023. Just like that, the irish had blown the game open and were well on their way to a 12-2 win.

Game three: Irish overcome pitching woes with second offensive explosion despite considerably damper conditions, notre dame’s offense

Sheikh

con T inued F rom Page 9 were packed, the room electric. Last time i had been up there, on the night before i took the sa T, courtesy of free tickets i had gotten from work, those seats were largely empty. b oth of those nights were nonetheless unforgettable, watching c hickFil- a packages float down from the rafters and the fireworks on the court, the faces i still remember from the Jumbotron and the absurdity of a Kings halftime. i ’ve been accused of being a bandwagoner, and it’s probably true. i ’ve never been a huge sports fan of any sort to be perfectly honest. b ut perhaps it’s because the Kings gave s acramentans — even rolled right along into sunday’s game. in the first, graduate first baseman carter Putz tagged a 420foot homer to the opposite field. an inning later, martinez belted his ninth dinger of the year to leftcenter field. With both being solo shots, the irish were out to a 2-0 lead. however, just like saturday’s affairs, the early lead evaporated quickly.

Facing graduate starter carter bosch, Florida state got to work in the third. vincent stroked a runscoring single to right, setting up deamez ross. on the first pitch he saw, the center fielder slammed his first career home run, a threerun job to right. after that, bosch only saw two more hitters. but his replacement, freshman caden spivey, excelled in relief. he pitched 4 2/3 innings, conceding just two runs and allowing notre dame’s offense to soar.

Takeoff occurred in the bottom of the fourth when coetzee stepped in with two men on and driving sleet falling from the sky. The right fielder mashed a ball right through, homering to center and handing notre dame a 5-4 lead. That sent Fsu starter carson montgomery to the showers, allowing the irish to attack an already thin seminole bullpen.

Though Florida state briefly leveled the score in the fifth, Putz powered notre dame to a lead that would last. after Prajzner singled to lead off, he sent his eighth roundtripper to right-center again.

From there, notre dame never looked back. Prajzner, Putz and coetzee combined to drive in five between three singles in the sixth. The ‘noles tried to make it a game late, but junior relievers ryan Lynch and sammy cooper slammed the door for a 12-8 victory.

With the result, the irish now hold a 25-17 overall record. Their 13-11 acc mark ties boston college for second place in the atlantic division. meanwhile, Florida state (15-27, 6-18 acc) continues to dwell in the division’s basement. notre dame will face bowling green at 6:00 p.m. at home Tuesday before a crucial visit from nc state this weekend.

Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu

those like myself who grew up in d ubs city — something big to be excited about. s omething really big; as we know well in c alifornia, the end of a drought is nothing to laugh at. a t the game i chose to attend instead of last-minute cramming for the most stressful test i ’d ever taken, the unbridled joy we felt as a city taught me something else, something i can’t quite put into words. Perhaps the consumerist, saccharine sports slogans i ’ve always mocked have an answer here. m ore cowbell. b eam Team Forever.

Contact Isa Sheikh at isheikh@nd.edu there’s no feeling quite like the end of a lengthy drought. a few big late-inning swings on a fateful sunny sunday in Knoxville, and 21 years of baseball demons in south bend were exorcised just like that.

The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

5. ZeLO series — Tom Zwiller

“i built it and all the decisions made were intentional and wellthought-out. it back tested incredibly well last year … georgia won the title and alabama finished second, mirroring the results of the actual season. always a good sign.” i’m cheating a little here by giving this slot to a series of articles rather than a specific one. as someone who is big into analytics, it blows my mind that someone my age is able to create not just a fully functional college football predicting model, but a pretty accurate one to boot. That’s exactly what Tom did throughout the 2022 season. Look forward to even more ZeLo coverage this fall — i know i am.

4. The 6,500 souls that built the 2022 FIFA World Cup — Olivia Schatz

“i am not blaming the fans … rather, i hope that it will make people think just a little more than they did previously on the graves that the World cup is built on.” often, the most serious thing for a college newspaper’s sports department to cover is a football loss to a mid-major school, something that could *never* happen to notre dame (curse you, marshall). This thoughtful piece really shows olivia’s range as a writer. it is incredibly well-researched, well-written and more than well-worth reading. unlike a lot of articles, this piece does a fantastic job of letting readers think for themselves, but making sure they are aware of everything they should know about the black eye that was the host city of an otherwise spectacular World cup.

3. ‘One of those special moments’: Irish knock off No. 4 Clemson 35-14 — Liam Coolican

“When junior quarterback drew Pyne lined up in victory formation and the clock ticked toward zero, fans and students alike spilled onto the field in jubilation.” The word jubilation is incredibly important here. The 2020 upset win over clemson felt like more of a relief than anything. That semester was so hard that something — anything — had to go our way, right? The 2022 version, however, was more blissful. no stressing about double overtime or cFP implications. Just a game full of iconic and little moments (see below) to not just enjoy, but celebrate together. Liam’s article wonderfully captures the significance of all of it.

2. ‘I just did it for my team’: How the 1995 title shaped Kate Markgraf’s mentality — Mannion McGinley

“in all of these roles, markgraf took on larger leadership roles than she may have thought she would originally … her advice? if something scares you, go after it.” as someone who grew up cheering for notre dame, i felt like my knowledge of notre dame sports history was pretty solid. but not knowing the story of Kate markgraf and notre dame’s 1995 women’s soccer championship was definitely a blind spot i’m happy to have filled in. mannion tremendously tells the team’s story and markgraf’s growth as both a player and a person, the latter of which is what sports are all about.

1. ‘Call duo until you can’t speak’: How the Irish used selfless football to forge their identity — Aidan Thomas “but the irish aren’t trying to be what they’re not … rees and the irish aren’t keeping it a secret. They want to physically dominate their opponent.”

Personally, my favorite sports stories to read are the ones that take one small little detail and show their importance in the broader picture. Without context, the quote in this headline means basically nothing. but aidan does a stellar job of showing how these six words from then-offensive coordinator Tommy rees defined not just notre dame’s high-water mark of the 2022 football season, but the evolution of the team — and the people who made it up — as a whole.

Contact Andrew McGuinness at amcguinn@nd.edu

The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.