Notre Dame Softball looks to redeem themselves in this year's regional tournament

 

SOUTH  BEND, Ind -- The Notre Dame Women's Softball team will begin regionals Friday against McNeese State, on the road to the NCAA College World Series.

After a first-round exit in the ACC tournament last week, the Irish look to bounce back after some time off.

They are hoping to advance to the super regionals if they can manage to win their bracket this weekend.

“With this game, you play well. You win it,” said Irish Head Coach Deanna Gumpf.

The Irish went into the ACC tournament scorching hot, with an eight-game winning streak, before facing Clemson.

“When the result doesn’t go your way, you just take the good stuff out of it and know what you need to do better,” Gumpf said.

In this case, better is putting players in position to score.

“When we’ve done really, really well, we create runs and we didn’t create any,” Gumpf said.

The Irish have their hands full as the two seed, facing the three seed from Louisiana, the McNeese State Cowgirls.

After a week off, the load seems a bit lighter, as players have finished school and seniors have walked the stage, allowing them to focus one thing and one thing only.

“Time is on our hands right now because it’s just softball and it’s fun. Not having to worry about academics, not having worry about testing, finals, etc. It just makes everything a little bit easier,” Gumpf said.

The Irish will be playing in Evanston, Illinois during regionals, in a double-elimination.