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Softball and women's track and field won Big East conference regular season and tournament titles this past week, adding theirs to those recently claimed by men's and women's tennis and women's golf.
Without further ado, we bring you the results of the last week's Irish match-ups.
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Lacrosse: The no. 5 men's team (10-4, 4-3) lost again to no. 3 Syracuse, 9-3, in the Big East tournament semifinals last Thursday. The Irish kept the game tied up deep into the second quarter, when a 7-0 run by the Orange stretching into the fourth quarter put the game out of reach.
The no. 2-seed Irish face Detroit at home in the first round of NCAA tournament play this Saturday (5:00 p.m. EST, ESPNU).
The no. 9/10 women's team begins NCAA tournament play this Friday vs. Stanford in Evanston (8:00 p.m.). Should they win, they will advance to the second round on Sunday.
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Baseball: The Irish (28-19, 8-10) went a disappointing 1-3 over the past week, dropping their game with Eastern Michigan, 12-6, then losing twice in extra innings to USF, 8-2 and 4-3, before routing the Bulls, 10-1. Though the second contest ended after ten innings, the first between the Irish and the Bulls lasted an exhausting 19 innings, equaling the longest game in ND and Big East baseball history (and recalling the epic and ultimately tragic 6-hour ND-USF football meeting of 2010). The Bulls capitalized on a pair of back-breaking Irish errors to score six unearned runs in the top of the 19th inning. Fortunately, the Irish dominated USF in their Sunday rematch, winning 10-1.
The Irish face St. John's in a doubleheader in Queens this Saturday (12:00 and 3:00 p.m. EST), then again on Sunday (1:00 p.m. EST). Tuesday, the Irish play Western Michigan on the road.
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Softball: The Irish (41-12, 19-3) went 3-1 over the weekend to claim the Big East regular season title. After earning a 6-1 victory over Western Michigan on the road, the Irish battled no. 9 Louisville for the conference championship to a 5-4 win and a 15-1 loss. On Sunday, the Irish claimed a 3-1 victory over the Cardinals behind the impeccable pitching of Laura Winter (allowing 1 earned run in 7 innings, walking none, striking out 5).
The Irish face Seton Hall on the road Thursday to open Big East tournament play as the no. 1 overall seed, then, should they win, proceed to the Big East tournament semifinals Friday at 4:00 p.m. EST. The Big East championship game is on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. EST (ESPN2).
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Track & Field: The Irish competed in the Big East outdoor conference championships over the weekend. Happily, the women claimed the Big East conference title in dominant fashion and the men earned a close second place behind Connecticut on the back of a very impressive final day performance. The Irish women claimed both the indoor and outdoor Big East titles this season, while the men earned second in both after sweeping last season. The women earned event victories in the 400s, 100mH, 3000m steeplechase, 4x100m, and 4x400m. The men won out in the 400m, 1500m, 400mH, and 4x800m.
The Irish compete in the Grand Valley Last Chance Invitational this weekend before heading to the regional preliminary round of the NCAA tournament on May 23-25, then to the tournament itself on June 5-8.
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Tennis: Both the no. 21 women's team and the no. 28 men's team were idle this past week after winning their Big East titles. The women's team begins NCAA tournament play this Friday vs. North Carolina in Ann Arbor. The men's team faces no. 33 Washington in the opening round of NCAA tournament play on Friday in Columbus. The second round for both teams is on Saturday, should they advance.
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Golf: The no. 26 women's team was idle this week after winning the Big East Championship a few weeks ago. The Irish begin NCAA regional tournament play this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
The men's team was idle this past week after claiming third in the Big East Championship. They begin NCAA tournament play next Thursday.
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Rowing: The no. 12 Irish were idle this past week and next compete in the Big East Championship on May 19th.
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Trick Shot Monday: On the off chance you missed it, a crowd of Notre Dame head coaches competed this past week in the grueling competition of Trick Shot Monday. Experienced CB Bennett Jackson stepped in to claim the hard-won victory and AD Jack Swarbrick demonstrated once again his immeasurable value to Irish athletics.
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We'll bring you updates again next week on all our Notre Dame Olympic sports. We leave you with April's "Top Ten" plays in ND athletics from Fighting Irish Digital Media. Go Irish!