Winners of 14 straight, Virginia Tech softball will host Notre Dame at Tech Softball Park for a three-game set this weekend.
The Hokies (33-5) sit No. 12 in the ESPN/USA Softball rankings, No. 13 in D1Softball, No. 13 in Softball America and No. 11 in the NFCA poll. They went down one spot in the first three polls and up two in the NFCA ranking. They are also No. 12 in the RPI.
Notre Dame is not ranked in any polls and sits No. 102 in the RPI.
The Fighting Irish boast a 19-21-1 record in head coach Kris Ganeff’s first season at the helm. She spent 23 years as an assistant under longtime coach Deanna Gumpf, who retired after last season as the winningest coach in Notre Dame history.
It’s a typical series at Tech Softball Park, with the finale taking place later in the day to accommodate the ACC Network. Saturday’s game will not be televised, though a radio broadcast will be available through the Virginia Tech Sports Network.
Friday, April 11: 6 p.m. ET, ACCNX (Military Appreciation Day)
Saturday, April 12: 2 p.m. ET
Sunday, April 13: 6 p.m. ET, ACC Network (Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day)
The two teams met in Blacksburg last season and Tech won all three games, highlighted by senior Maija Louko’s first career home run.
The Fighting Irish sit 10th in the ACC with a 6-9 record. Their conference slate included Louisville (they won once), NC State (one win), Stanford (no wins), Virginia (two wins) and Pitt (two wins). Following their trip to Blacksburg, they will play series against Duke and North Carolina to conclude the regular season.
Notre Dame has won two of its last three ACC series and is 4-2 in its last six conference matchups. It’s traveling to Blacksburg on the heels of a 8-0 run-rule midweek victory over DePaul on Tuesday.
Both teams rely heavily on the punchout. The Fighting Irish rank second in the ACC with 256 strikeouts, only trailing Virginia Tech’s 271. Notre Dame’s 102 strikeouts against conference foes are the most in the league. Plus, it has three pitchers with at least 60 strikeouts, two of whom have reached more than 70 — the only school in the conference to achieve that mark.
Ganeff’s squad has utilized four arms for more than 50 innings: freshman Brianne Weiss, senior Shannon Becker, sophomore Kami Kamzik and junior Micaela Kastor. Kastor has tossed 83 frames — the most on the team — and has tallied a team-high 83 strikeouts. Becker is next in innings pitched with 53 ⅔ and has accumulated a 3.52 earned run average. Weiss has a team-best 3.46 ERA across 54 ⅔ innings pitched; she has allowed 64 hits and struck out 61 batters. Kamzik has 72 strikeouts across 71 frames and a 4.55 ERA.
The Fighting Irish have two hitters with a batting average over .300: Addison Amaral (.388) and Sydny Poeck (.330). Amaral has totaled a team-high seven home runs in 116 at-bats, adding nine doubles in the process. Rachel Allen, Emily Tran and Jane Kronenberger are Notre Dame’s other hitters who have notched more than 100 at-bats and are hitting .283, .278 and .223, respectively.
Notre Dame has a .966 fielding percentage — good for eighth in the ACC. The Hokies lead the conference with a .982 clip.
The Irish lead the all-time series 31-12 dating back to matchups as Big East opponents. Under Virginia Tech head coach Pete D’Amour, Notre Dame still leads 6-5. Still, the Hokies have won five of the last seven matchups since the 2021 ACC Tournament.