Notre Dame Takes Series Finale With Virginia

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Virginia softball team (13-25, 9-20 ACC) fell in the series finale at Notre Dame (22-12, 13-10 ACC) by a score of 5-1 on Sunday (April 18) at Melissa Cook Stadium.

Mikayla Houge (4-7) suffered the loss as she allowed the five runs – four of them earned – on five hits with a pair of walks and two strikeouts. Houge (Collins, Iowa) worked 4.1 innings in the start before Molly Grube (Chesterfield, Va.) came on to pitch the final 1.2 innings.

Alexis Holloway (10-6) picked up the win as she allowed the one run on two this with two walks and four strikeouts in the complete-game effort.

Virginia struck first for the third consecutive game, this time pushing a run home in the first inning when Ashley Jennings (Forest, Va.) tripled off the wall in center to drive in Kate Goldberg (Atlanta, Ga.).

Notre Dame would respond with a single run in the second inning before using a two-run home run in the third and two more runs in the fifth to take the 5-1 victory.

NOTES ON THE GAME
• The triple by Ashley Jennings in the first inning was the first triple of her career.
• Madi Wilson picked up her first hit since her freshman season with her seventh-inning single.

FROM HEAD COACH JOANNA HARDIN
“Our team is fighting and competing every game. The experience we are gaining each weekend is priceless and will pay us back as we continue to grow and learn together. Our offense stayed aggressive and our pitching staff threw with guts all weekend. We have a lot of positives to take into another busy week. In softball, you have to have a short memory. We are learning how to turn the page quickly and keep fighting as one unit. I’m really proud of the grit and resilience we are showing day in and day out.”

UP NEXT FOR THE HOOS
Virginia will return to action at home on Tuesday (April 20) when the Cavaliers host Radford in a 6 p.m. contest at Palmer Park.