Notre Dame 2 No. 3 seed

vs.

Illinois-Chicago 0 No. 4 seed

Score by Innings		1	2	3		4	5	6		7		R	H	E
Illinois-Chicago (51-24)		0	0	0		0	0	0		0		0	3	1
Notre Dame (47-12)		0	0	0		2	0	0		x		2	4	0

Boxscore and Play-By-Play

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Alumni Field)
Event: NCAA Regional 8 Softball Championship (Game 3)
Result: #17 Notre Dame 2, #23 Illinois-Chicago 0
Records: Notre Dame (47-12); UIC (51-24)
Next UND Game: Friday, May 19 -- vs. Michigan/DePaul winner, 4 p.m.
Next UIC Game: Friday, May 19 -- vs. Central Michigan, 2 p.m.

Notre Dame Shuts Out Flames in Rain-Soaked Game

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Despite more than two hours of rain delays, No. 3 seed Notre Dame defeated No. 4 seed Illinois-Chicago, 2-0, in a seven-inning pitcher's duel in first-round action at the NCAA Regional 8 Softball Championship on Thursday afternoon (May 18) at Michigan's Alumni Field.

The Irish's Jennifer Sharron proved why she was the Big East Conference Pitcher of the Year as she surrendered just three hits in seven complete innings of work. Sharron extinguished the Flames' bats all game long, collecting 11 groundballs for outs and four strikeouts among the 24 batters she faced.

Despite one inning of surrendering two runs, Illinois-Chicago's Samantha Iuli had a strong performance as she held Notre Dame to just four hits while striking out four in six innings of work. Like her pitching counterpart, Iuli collected eight groundball outs and five flyouts among the 22 batters she faced.

Following back-to-back 1-2-3 innings, Illinois-Chicago's Gina Arnold collected the game's first hit in the top of second inning to start the Flames' offense, but Sharron quickly recovered, getting Emily Webster to ground out to stop the UIC threat. In the bottom of the second, Notre Dame's Lizzy Lemire singled down the left field line for Notre Dame's first hit, but Iuli would again follow the opposition's lead, getting Jarrah Myers to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Two more 1-2-3 innings followed before Jennifer Tiffany singled in the top of the fourth to start a Flame rally. Sharron again shut down any threat as she forced Iuli to hit into a double play and, after an Amy Gonzales walk, ended the inning by forcing Kathy Casey to pop up to Irish second baseman Alexis Madrid.

With that rally cut short, Irish capitalized in the bottom of the fourth. A leadoff double by Jennifer Kriech followed by a Sharron walk put two Irish runners on the basepaths with no outs. After Melanie Alkire popped up to Iuli and Andrea Loman struck out, Lemire doubled to the leftfield wall to clear the bases, giving the Irish a 2-0 lead. Myers grounded out to end the inning.

Sharron took over, allowing just one more hit in the last three innings, which took more than two and a half hours to play, thanks in part to two rain delays lasting two hours. The first delay, which lasted an hour and 30 minutes, began after Sharron collected her fourth 1-2-3 inning of the game in the bottom of the sixth. The teams returned to finish out the sixth, but the rains came again, delaying the game another half-hour. After the field was readied for a second time, Sharron made quick work of the Flames in the top of the seventh, recording her fifth 1-2-3 inning of the game to preserve her 12th shutout of the season.

Notre Dame advances to face the winner of the Michigan/DePaul contest on Friday (May 19) at 4 p.m., while Illinois-Chicago faces Central Michigan at 2 p.m.

Q U O T E S

Notre Dame Head Coach Liz Miller
On playing through two rain delays ... "It's a very challenging situation and I think the key on something like this is to realize it's something we can't control and just to stay focused on playing when the opportunity comes up. We were in this same situation earlier this season in Arkansas where we were delayed for six hours, so it almost like a repeat of that because we've been out here warming up since 11 (a.m)."

On Irish pitcher Jennifer Sharron ... "Staying focused is a challenge. Because of the extra-inning game earlier, we kept on going down and up and down and up. Jen was already warmed up when the first game went into extra innings, so she had double warmups."

On what she did during the rain delays ... "I learned how to play hackey-sack."

On taking the 2-0 lead in the fourth inning ... "It's critical getting the lead in these situations. It's hard being in a rain delay, but it's even harder when you're behind during a rain delay, because it changes the chance of getting momentum or switching the momentum. It was to our advantage getting the lead before the delay."

Notre Dame Pitcher Jennifer Sharron
On pitching a three-hitter ... "I felt pretty well; I think our defense played phenomenal and that was the key. No matter how good you're pitching, they did make contact and the defense stepped up. It's very hard to keep warming up and get ready for the game with delays and extra innings preceding them. You just have to stay mentally tough and that was both good on my part and the team as well as the coaches. I think everyone did a good job of staying focused."

On her success against the Flames ... "I think everything was working well for me today, I was able to mix it up and that was the key. It kept them off balance and continually thinking, because I didn't want to be too predictable."

On playing through the weather ... "I feel I've played through a lot of rain games. I never really pitched a game in the rain until I came to college and I feel I've gotten better in those circumstances. I pitch the same way. I don't change my style. Today the weather didn't affect me."

Notre Dame Outfielder Lizzy Lemire
On her success against the UIC pitcher Samantha Iuli ... "We faced Sam earlier in the year, but she wasn't as strong because she was coming back from an injury, so I guess I was going up to bat as whatever happens, happens."

On what to do during the rain delay ... "Playing, staying up and moving around, not getting too sluggish sitting around and just waiting for it to pass."

Illinois-Chicago Head Coach Mike McGovern
On the deciding factors in the loss ... "The weather wasn't the factor; basically it came down to one pitch and that pitch hurt us. But, it wasn't the pitch, it was a coaching mistake. It wasn't anything the players did. We played well enough defensively to be in the game and that's what you have to do in regionals. Games are usually tight and they come down to one or two plays or miscues. I made a coaching mistake that hurt us and that was the difference."

On the game ... "Sam's (Samantha Iuli) performance pitching-wise was a good job and the team did a good job. You saw how many runs were scored the first game and how long it took them. Sometimes runs come hard and when the winds blowing in it can be very difficult."

On rebounding from the loss ... "When you're in double-elimination you have an insurance policy, so we're not dead yet. So will pull out the old insurance policy and read the fine print and see what we have in store. If Mother Nature is nice to us maybe tomorrow will be talking victories."

Illinois-Chicago Pitcher Samantha Iuli
On giving up the two-run double to Lizzy Lemire ... "When we first faced them (Notre Dame) I was ready to face them, but not physically. Today I felt stronger and everything was working. It came down to that one pitch, which wasn't a coaching mistake, it was a pitching mistake. I wanted to shake it off, but I have a lot of confidence in my catcher. Even though I should have, but -- should of, could of, would of."

Last updated: Friday, 19-May-2000 11:31:08 EDT