Notre Dame Ends Season at NCAA Regional for the Third Consecutive Year
Notre Dame, Ind. -- Notre Dame capped the most successful season in
Irish history with its third straight appearance in the NCAA
championships. The Irish received an at-large bid into the 32-team
field but dropped their first two games and were eliminated. The BIG
EAST regular-season champions finished with a 48-16 mark, the best
record Notre Dame history.
NCAA Regional Review: Notre Dame earned its first ever at-large bid
into the 32-team NCAA field for its third consecutive appearance in the
post-season tournament. The Irish traveled to Ann Arbor, Mich. for the
four-team regional that included Central Michigan, South Carolina and
host Michigan. The third-seeded Irish fell to the second-seeded Lady
Gamecocks 3-0 in the first game of the regional on May 17. South
Carolina, which had beaten the Irish earlier in the season by a 5-2
score on March 8, scored the games only runs in the third inning.
Angela Bessolo (Lakewood, Calif.) suffered the loss as she pitched four
innings, yielding just two hits and no earned runs. South Carolina used
a pair of Notre Dame errors to score its three unearned runs. The Irish
could manage just two hits off winning pitcher Trinity Johnson, who
pitched a complete-game shutout. Kara McMahon (Pasadena, Tex.) and
Kelly Rowe (Edison, N.J.) each singled for Notre Dame's only hits. The
loss sent Notre Dame into the first elimination game on May 19, against
Central Michigan, whom Notre Dame had beaten 10-0 earlier in the season
on March 9. In the second meeting, Central Michigan jumped out to a 3-0
before Notre Dame tied the game with three runs in the third inning.
Katie Marten (Lisle, Ill.) doubled and scored on a single by McMahon,
who scored on an error. Jenna Knudson (Wichita, Kan.) hit an RBI single
to score Meghan Murray (Minnetonka, Minn.). Central Michigan matched
Notre Dame with three runs in the fourth inning, one in the fifth and
two more in sixth for a 9-3 win. Kelly Nichols (Vancouver, Wash.)
suffered just her second loss of the season in eight decisions as she
pitched 2.2 innings in relief of Terri Kobata (Villa Park, Calif.).
Miller Wins Coach of the Year: Liz Miller was named BIG EAST Coach of
the Year at the BIG EAST Championship banquet on Friday, May 3, as she
led the Irish to a 19-1 record and the South division title. Miller
also won MCC Coach of the Year in 1995. She won her 700th career game
this season on April 27 in the 7-2 win over Seton Hall. Miller now has
an all-time career-record of 706-210 (.771). Miller began her coaching
career at Lake Michigan Community College where she posted a 541-142
(.792) mark. She has complied a 165-68 (.708) mark in her four seasons
at Notre Dame. In 1994, Miller became only the ninth head coach in
collegiate softball history to reach the 600-win plateau when the Irish
defeated Western Michigan 5-3 on April 14, 1994. In 1995, Miller picked
up her 100th win at Notre Dame when the Irish beat Wisconsin-Green Bay
9-0. Later in the 1995 season, Miller won her 650th career game as
Notre Dame beat Loyola 9-5 on May 5.
BIG EAST Tournament Review: The Irish entered the BIG EAST Championship
with a 19-1 record in the conference and a 7-1 record against the field.
In their first game on Saturday against Providence, Notre Dame
struggled offensively, managing just five hits and two runs through six
innings of a 2-2 game. Notre Dame won the game in the bottom of the
seventh when Jenn Giampaolo (San Marino, Calif.) singled and Meghan
Murray followed Giampaolo with a triple to end the game. Connecticut
took advantage of Notre Dame's lack of offense in the next game as the
Huskies blanked Notre Dame 3-0 to send Notre Dame into the losers
bracket by scoring three runs in the sixth inning. On Sunday, Notre Dame
eliminated Villanova by defeating the Wildcats 4-0. Notre Dame then
faced Connecticut with the task of having to defeat them twice to win
the title. Notre Dame came through in the first game as they scored two
runs in the fourth inning and four runs in the fifth inning to build a
6-0 lead. Connecticut tried to rally with three runs in the seventh
inning but it was not enough. The final game of the championship was
scoreless heading into the sixth inning before Connecticut scored the
only run of the game when Karin Muller singled and reached third base on
an error. A wild pitched then scored the game's only run. Notre Dame
tried to rally in the bottom of the sixth but failed to score, leaving
the bases loaded. The Irish stranded another runner at second in the
bottom of the seventh. With the win, the Huskies won their second
straight BIG EAST title and their sixth in seven seasons.
Tournament History 101: The loss to Connecticut marks the first time
since Liz Miller took over as head coach in 1993 that the Irish did not
win their conference championship tournament. Notre Dame claimed the
MCC crowns in 1990 and 1991 under former head coach Brian Boulac and
from 1993-95 under Miller.
Tournament History 201: The bid in the 1996 NCAA softball championship
marked the third straight appearance in the NCAA tournament for Notre
Dame. The 1996 regional was also the first time that the Irish failed
to win a game in the regional. In Notre Dame's first appearance in
1994, the Irish defeated top-seeded and host Indiana 3-1 before dropping
their next two games of the regional. In 1995, Notre Dame beat
Illinois-Chicago 5-2 to before losing to top-seeded and host Michigan
2-0. Another win over Illinois-Chicago sent the Irish to the
championship game where they were eliminated with another loss to
Michigan.
Kobata Closes Career: Terri Kobata ended her incredible four seasons at
Notre Dame with the loss to Central Michigan. She finished with a
career mark of 79-15 (.840) with a 0.63 ERA. Kobata threw 65 complete
games and 42 shutouts in 630.1 innings pitched. She struckout 907
batters for a 10.07 strikeouts per seven inning mark. Kobata has thrown
14 no-hitters, eight of which are perfect games and leaves Notre Dame
with her name at or near the top of almost every pitching record.
Marten Named All-American: Junior Katie Marten was named to the
third-team of the Louisville Slugger NSCA All-America list as a
designated player. Marten also earned third team All-American honors as
a sophomore. She becomes the second two-time All-American in Notre Dame
softball history. Terri Kobata was an All-American in 1994 and 1995.
Marten batted .338 this season with seven doubles and four triples. She
set new Notre Dame records with 52 runs and 21 stolen bases this year.
Marten is already the career leader with 48 stolen bases in three
seasons.
GTE/Academic All-Americans: Four players were named to the 1996 GTE
Academic All-America teams. Joy Battersby (Morris, Ill.), Katie Marten
and Meghan Murray were named to the second team. Jenna Knudson was
named to the third team. Battersby and Marten were third-team
selections in 1995. Battersby had a 9-5 record on the mound this season
with one save and two shutouts. She also threw her first career
no-hitter against St. John's on April 21. As a pre-professional major
in the College of Science, she earned a 3.929 grade point average this
spring and has a cumulative average of 3.692 after six semesters. Marten
batted .338 this season as designated player. She led the team in runs
(52) and stolen bases (21) and was third in hits (68). As a
pre-professional in the College of Arts and Letters, Marten had a 3.833
grade point average this spring and has a cumulative average of 3.396
after six semesters. Murray batted .402 this season at shortstop and
second base and was named 1996 BIG EAST Player of the year. She led the
team in hits (84), RBI (47), triples (5) and home runs (4). As a
finance major in the College of Business, Murray earned a 3.734 grade
point average this spring and has a cumulative of 3.378 after six
semesters. Knudson batted .321 this season in the outfield and was
second on the team with 38 RBI and fourth with 61 hits. She also hit
four doubles and scored 14 runs. Knudson graduated with a degree in
government in the College of Arts and Letters with a 3.464 cumulative
grade point average and will attend law school at the University of
Kansas this fall.
Irish Earn BIG EAST Honors: Seven different players also collected BIG
EAST awards. Meghan Murray was named Player of the Year and first team
All-BIG EAST as she led the conference in batting average (.507), hits
(34), on base percentage (.529) and hits per game (1.70). Terri Kobata,
Jenn Giampaolo and Kara McMahon also earned first team All-BIG EAST.
Angela Bessolo was named Co-Rookie of the Year as she shared the honor
with Allyson Johnson of Connecticut. Joy Battersby and Katie Marten
were named second team All-BIG EAST.
Murray Reaches .400: Junior Meghan Murray became the first batter in
Irish history to bat over .400 in a season. Katie Marten batted .399 in
1995 for the previous high mark surpassed by Murray with a .402 average
this season. She had 84 hits in 209 at bats with 13 doubles, five
triples, four home runs and 47 RBI. She also stole 15 bases. Murray
set the single season record in hits (84) and was one short of the
records in triples (5) and RBI (47).
Nichols, Irish Among NCAA Leaders: Kelly Nichols (Vancouver, Wash.) was
the NCAA leader in saves with eight heading into the Women's College
World Series. Terri Kobata stood 14th in the NCAA with a 0.97 ERA and
11th in strikeouts per seven innings with 8.3. As a team, Notre Dame
was 16th in winning percentage at 48-16 (.750) and 21st in pitching with
a 1.45 team ERA.
Ironwomen: Just two Notre Dame players, Jenn Giampaolo and Meghan
Murray, started in all 64 games for the Irish. Murray also started all
59 games in 1995. Liz Perkins (Cupertino, Calif.) started 63 games and
played in all 64.
USA Today/ NSCA
Top 25 Final Poll
May 8, 1996
Team Record Pts. LW
1. Washington* 49-7 500 1
2. Arizona 47-9 476 2
3. Fresno State 47-9 452 3
4. UCLA 40-8 450 4
5. Southwestern Lousiana 42-8 401 5
6. Cal State Northridge 41-13 376 6
7. Michigan* 43-12 353 9
8. South Carolina* 36-10 347 7
9. Oklahoma 45-18 307 10
10. UNLV 36-21 290 8
11. California 36-20 270 11
12. South Florida* 40-10 234 15
13. Minnesota 42-14 233 14
14. Iowa* 43-15 231 13
15. Cal State Fullerton 39-26 226 12
16. Florida State* 48-19 194 17
17. Oklahoma State* 33-15 177 16
18. Nebraska 37-18 144 18
19. Long Beach State 34-17 129 23
20. NOTRE DAME 48-14 129 19
21. Texas A&M* 38-18 108 20
22. Illinois-Chicago* 39-11 97 21
23. Indiana* 36-19 91 22
24 Princeton* 38-6-1 53 24
25. Hawaii * 36-25 32 NR
* indicates 1996 Notre Dame opponents
BIG EAST FINAL STANDINGS
BIG EAST OVERALL
South W L Pct W L Pct
Notre Dame 19 1 .950 48 16 .750
Villanova 10 8 .555 27 17 .614
Rutgers 10 10 .500 25 17 .595
Seton Hall 4 14 .222 13 25 .342
North
Connecticut 16 4 .800 29 18 .617
Providence 9 11 .450 21 18 .544
Boston College 9 11 .450 27 19 .587
St. John's 1 19 .050 4 34 .105
