The Week in Notre Dame Athletics: Men's Lacrosse Beats #1 & Softball Sweeps

Notre Dame currently has an impressive 5 top-25 teams among its ranks. Without further ado, we bring you the results of the last week's Irish match-ups.

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Baseball (16-10, 3-9) went 1-3 over the past week once again, besting Western Michigan, 8-3, then dropping 3 in a row to no. 12 Virginia, 9-1, 4-2, and 5-4.

Here are highlights from Sunday's 5-4 loss:

The Irish next host Eastern Michigan this Tuesday (6:05 p.m. ET, WatchND). Friday, they'll play Pittsburgh on the road (3:00 p.m. ET, WatchND); the pair will meet again Saturday afternoon (3:00 p.m. ET, WatchND) and Sunday afternoon (1:00 p.m. ET, WatchND).

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Softball (23-11, 7-5) earned an impressive 4-0 sweep over the past week. They bested IPFW, 9-0, then swept no. 24 Virginia Tech, 2-0, 6-1, and 11-1, behind some very impressive pitching.

Here are highlights from Saturday's 6-1 win:

And from Sunday's 11-1 win:

This Wednesday, the Irish host Eastern Michigan (4:00 p.m. ET, WatchND). Friday, they'll face Pittsburgh on the road in a double-header. The teams will play once more on Saturday. Next Tuesday, the Irish host Western Michigan (5:00 p.m. ET, WatchND).

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No. 1 men's lacrosse (6-1, 2-0) earned a huge win this past Saturday, downing then no. 1 (now no. 2) Syracuse at home in double-overtime, 13-12. The teams subsequently switched places in the polls. The game-winner for the Irish came from senior captain Jack Near. Notre Dame spread the goals around, with 4 players netting 2 a piece and Matt Kavanagh snagging 1 alongside 3 assists. Shane Doss served in-goal for ND and tallied 12 saves.

Highlights from the big win:

Look for a game recap and preview of the team's next match from Paul Rigney here soon.

The Irish next play Duke on the road this Saturday (5:00 p.m. ET, ESPNU) then Marquette next Tuesday afternoon at home (4:00 p.m. ET, ESPN3).

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No. 17 women's lacrosse (6-5, 1-3) claimed an impressive win over Marquette, 18-8, on the road, but fell in a heartbreaker to no. 3 UNC, 9-8, at home this past week. Against Marquette, Cortney Fortunato and Rachel Sexton netted 5 goals a piece. You can find a recap of the big win right here. Against UNC, Notre Dame rallied from a 7-1 deficit to claim an 8-8 tie late in the game, but the Tarheels grabbed the game-winner in the closing minutes.

Here are highlights from the close loss to UNC:

This Saturday, the Irish play Virginia on the road.

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No. 37 men's tennis earned two close wins over the past week, edging past Miami, 4-3, and no. 32 Florida State, 4-3, on the road. Friday, the Irish travel to Durham, NC, to face Duke; they'll play North Carolina on the road on Sunday.

The no. 37 women's squad won their last week's matches with style, dominating both NC State, 6-1, and Marquette, 7-0. The Irish next play Wake Forest on the road this Friday. Sunday at noon, they face Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA.

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Men's swimming and diving sent a small handful of competitors to the NCAA Championships this past weekend. The Irish earned 9 top-25 finishes: they placed 12^th in the 100 breast, 16^th in the 800 free relay and 200 breast, 18^th in the 400 IM, 19^th in the 200 IM, 20^th in the 3m dive, 21^st in the 200 fly, 23^rd in the 1m dive, and 24^th in the 200 medley relay. A number of Irish swimmers and divers earned personal bests and school records in their events, bringing a strong season to its conclusion.

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No. 30 women's golf competed in the LSU Tiger Classic in Baton Rouge, LA, this past weekend. They came in 8^th overall, coming in 7 shots over the top 5 finishers in 3 rounds. The best individual finish for the Irish came from Ashley Armstrong (18^th overall), who finished 10 over par in 3 72-par rounds.

The Irish next compete in the Bryan National Collegiate this weekend in Greensboro, NC.

Men's golf was idle this past week. They next compete in the Mason Rudolph Invitational in Nashville this weekend.

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No. 14 Irish rowing competed in the Big 10-ACC Double Duel this past Saturday in Columbus, OH, claiming 6 wins in 12 races against no. 1 Ohio State and Michigan State. The Irish return to the water the weekend after next for the Lake Natoma Invitational in Folsom, CA.

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Irish track & field shifted to the outdoor season this past week at the Texas Relays in Austin, TX, and the Bobcat Invitational in San Marcos, TX. The Irish claimed top-5 finishes in the women's 4x200m relay, 4x800m relay, and 100m hurdles, as well as the men's 4x200m relay, javelin, long jump, pole vault, and high jump. Another handful of top10 finishes made it a great showing for the Irish.

Next up for the Irish is a trip to the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, CA, this weekend.

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No. 2 women's basketball (33-2, 18-1 ACC) earned wins in the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament this past week, besting Stanford, 81-60, and Baylor, 77-68, it what was a true nail-biter. We've got our game analysis for you right here.

The Irish compete in their Final Four match against South Carolina this Sunday in Tampa, FL (6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). If they advance to the final, they'll play (almost certainly UConn) on Tuesday, April 7^th (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

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No. 8 men's basketball (29-5, 14-3 ACC) had a phenomenal run in the NCAA tournament, besting Wichita State in the Sweet Sixteen, 81-70, before being gut-wrenchingly edged by no. 1 Kentucky in the Elite Eight on Saturday night, 68-66. Our recap and analysis of the Wichita State win is right here and our breakdown of the loss to Kentucky is right here. CW shares his reflections on what was a truly unforgettable season for the team here.

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We'll bring you updates again next week on how Notre Dame's Olympic sports are faring. For now, go Irish. Beat everybody.