USF Softball vs. Notre Dame

Laura Fountain and the Bulls will try to sweep Notre Dame in this huge double header on Wednesday (Picture:www.gousfbulls.com)

USF softball has a fight on its hands as it comes down the stretch of the Big East conference schedule. The Bulls sit at 32-16 (12-1) on the season and are tied for first place with DePaul and face a huge test on Wednesday when Notre Dame, 3308 (12-2) comes to town.

The ladies swept UCONN this weekend with dominating performances by freshman pitcher Sara Nevins. Nevins has become the leading arm for USF (taking nothing away from the great Lindsey Richardson). Nevins has lowered her ERA to 1.71 and now has a scoreless streak of 41 straight innings, showing how dominate she is. Nevins has been key starting games and coming out in relief, she has 8 saves on the season which is the highest number in the nation.

Offensively, the ladies are hitting everything right now. Gina Kafalas gets it all started with a .380 batting average. She is a slap hitter and is able to use all of the field to get on base and is a threat to steal at any time. Janine Richardson is hitting .371 on the year, including 3 homeruns and 44 RBIs. Laura Fountain is doing an incredible job behind the plate and from the batters' box. She is hitting .296 on the season and has 21 RBIs. Ashli Goff is a huge threat at the plate, batting .368 and driving in 50 RBI on the season so far.

The ladies face a huge test in the double header on Wednesday. Notre Dame is a powerful team and can hit with the best of them. They are led by Heather Johnson who is hitting .385 on the season and has launched 11 homeruns. Alexis Clay is hitting .380 and has 5 homeruns. Alexi Maldaonado is hitting .378 with 3 homeruns and Dani Miller is hitting .386 and has 7 homeruns on the year.

This is a huge moment for USF. They control their own destiny now and need this series against Notre Dame. The first game is at 11 AM and second game is scheduled for 1 PM. The Bulls really need to sweep the series to remain in a tie for first and help set up a big matchup with DePaul to end the season. Everyone needs to get to the softball complex for this series, skip studying for finals for a few hours, take a longer lunch break, whatever you have to do, get to the games and help cheer on the ladies as they continue to play at a high level and continue the battle for the Big East regular season title.