Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Overall Rank: #28
Conference Rank: #2 ACC
Notre Dame has been a very steady consistent program over the last two decades as they have been to 20 consecutive NCAA Tournaments. The 2018 season wasn’t easy at times, but the Fighting Irish found a way to win key games at the right times and they were sent to the Lexington Regional last May. Notre Dame knocked off Michigan in the opening game of the Lexington Regional and ended up with a 2-2 record as they beat the Wolverines twice but ran into an offensive Buzzsaw in Kentucky.
2018: 34-23, 13-10
2018 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Deanna Gumpf
Key Departed Players:
Morgan Reed, INF, .317 BA, 6 HR, 25 RBI
Katie Beriont, P, 3.23 ERA, 11-7 W-L, 104.0 IP, 44 BB, 63 SO
Key Returning Players:
Ali Wester, OF, .365 BA, 0 HR, 20 RBI, 15 SB
Abby Sweet, OF, .333 BA, 3 HR, 26 RBI, 15 SB
Alexis Bazos, OF, .316 BA, 0 HR, 13 RBI
Cait Brooks, P/INF, .272 BA, 9 HR, 38 RBI, 3.50 ERA, 1-1 W/L, 32.0 IP, 22 BB, 19 SO
Katie Marino, INF, .269 BA, 6 HR, 27 RBI, 11 SB
Melissa Rochford, INF, 265 BA, 1 HR, 22 RBI
MK Bonamy, INF, .250 BA, 2 HR, 21 RBI
Alexis Holloway, P, 2.55 ERA, 22-15 W/L, 228.0 IP, 137 BB, 179 SO
Projection:
This Fighting Irish squad will be very experienced and deep. Ali Wester and Abby Sweet are excellent contact hitters who can cause all sorts of headaches on the base paths. Cait Brooks and Katie Marino will provide the power in this lineup as they combined for 15 homeruns and 65 runs batted in last season. Alexis Holloway will be the ace in the circle once again for Notre Dame in 2019. Holloway was a workhorse in 2018 as she threw 228 innings enroute to 22 wins and 22 complete games. Now, the task for Holloway this season will be to balance out her walk to strikeout ratio as she walked 137 batters while striking out 179 batters. Those numbers need to get closer to a 2:1 strikeout to walk ratio this season. The first two weeks of the season will show where the Fighting Irish stand nationally as they have games against South Carolina, Washington, Oklahoma, Tennessee, California, Minnesota and Ohio State. The quality of the competition along with travel to Puerto Vallarta and down to Clearwater will be the perfect stress test for this veteran team. Florida State will host Notre Dame to kickoff conference play, followed by a series with Louisville. If the Fighting Irish can survive that stretch at 3-3 then they will be in great shape to finish in the top three in the ACC. Look for Notre Dame to earn their 21st straight trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2019.
Projected Postseason: NCAA Softball Tournament
