South Bend Road Trip: Day 4 - Nashville!

Still high on our incredible win the day before, we all woke up Sunday morning with an excitement in our hearts, ready to get back on the road to go to Tennessee. The majority of the day was uneventful, consumed mostly by driving and "you had to be there" moments, but you all will be happy to know that everywhere we went we held up the horns and yelled "Go Bulls" at every opportunity we had. Because of the lack of significant events due to the 8 hours we spent in the car, I'm not going to be keeping a timeline. I'll just recap the fun parts to make you guys super jealous.

Souh Bend Road Trip: Day 3 - GAME DAY!!!

Game day is finally here! The day we've been anticipating has officially arrived! We got off to a super early start, but we didn't mind because it's time for FOOTBALL!!!

P.S. Sorry for the late post; as you'll read, we sort of had a late night.

South Bend Road Trip Journal: Day 2

Second day on the road! We're glad to have finally had a chance to stop and eat a real meal. Well, we stopped at Shoney's just south of the Tennessee-Kentucky border, where I'd give the food about a C. But it was good just to have something to eat.

11:30 A.M., EST, Friday- We're back on the road, with a new passenger, who wasted no time scavenging through the back and drinking all our adult beverages. He's keeping himself busy by plucking the hairs off the back of the necks of the other passengers and talking about his wild nights in Nashville. I'm glad I got to ride shotgun for this part of the drive.

12:00 P.M. - Kentucky! One more state down, we slapped that sticker on the Kentucky state border and piled back in the car, ready to finally get there.

12:45 P.M. - Silence at last. The new guy finally had those adult beverages catch up to him and he's taking a little cat nap. We're going to enjoy this solace while we can.

1:30 P.M. - A couple of people are getting restless, asking about lunch. Unfortunately for them, we ate our fill at breakfast and were prepared to go the rest of the day without eating.

We just passed through the University of Louisville. Big, good looking campus, and the stadiums are all nice. Unfortunately, the Cardinal's football venue, Papa John's Stadium, got the same people thinking about lunch again. The next 20 miles were spent hearing requests to stop for pizza.

2:00 P.M. - Just entered Indiana, and pulled off for a much-needed break from driving and a seat shift. During the stop, of course we had to tag the "Welcome to Indiana" sign, and we think it's our best one. Back in the car, though. Next stop: South Bend!

2:45 P.M. - OK, one more stop. We got off at the Indiana University exit in Bloomington to grab some pizza just to hold us over for the rest of the day. I pray that no one needs to go to the bathroom between now and the time we get to South Bend

3:30 P.M. - 24 HOURS UNTIL KICKOFF!!!

7:00 P.M. - WE'RE HERE!!!!!!! Just planted our car in a KOA campground just a few miles east of the Notre Dame Campus. Put together the big tents and finally changed our clothes. Went onto the Notre Dame campus for a while afterward to see the scenery and catch the end of USF's final practice before opening day.

9:00 P.M. - Just got some firewood and replenished our adult beverages again, getting ready to settle in for two nights.

10:00 P.M. - Going to the Notre Dame campus to walk around and get acquainted with the area to prepare for our victory march tomorrow evening.

11:30 P.M. Finally settled at the campsite. Built a campfire and now it's time to party all night long until it's time to go to the stadium.

Now it's time to party into the late hours and go to sleep so we can wake up at 6:30 to get to the stadium to tailgate all morning and afternoon. Gameday tomorrow!

South Bend Road Trip Journal: Day 1

It's finally here! The day that we thought would never come has finally arrived! While waiting for the last of our friends to get out of class, we killed time by painting up the car in green and gold window paint. We were just about ready to go before I realized I left my ticket at home. Thank God I live across the street from the school or else that would have been a horrible way to start the trip. I grabbed my ticket and my computer case and hopped into the back seat of my friend's SUV, armed with 17 "This is USF Bulls Country" stickers, ready to slap them on all the state border signs. Our tailgate equipment is all on board, complete with our charcoal grill built from an old Yuengling keg and mounted on welded metal, all painted green and gold. But, I understand that most fans are unable to make the exodus north to the game. Travel isn't cheap. Not to mention, neither is South Bend. Therefore, I want to share my trip with all of you, in hopes that you'll all appreciate all the things I'll be experiencing on this epic journey to one of the biggest games in USF's short history. In addition to reading my daily trip posts, you may want to follow me on twitter (@nascyUSF) to see some photos and experiences that didn't get to find its way into the posts.

Crist Will Start for Irish

After weeks of watching the battle for the starting spot at quarterback, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly has announced officially that Senior Dayne Crist will be getting the start for the September 3rd opener against South Florida. Crist is making his tenth career start against an experienced B.J. Daniels, who will be making his 23rd start. It was widely believed that Crist would be winning the starting job, returning as last year's starter, but Coach Kelly was playing his cards close to the vest, potentially disrupting the USF defense's preparation. The 6-4, 235 lb quarterback comes off last year's showing of throwing 15 touchdowns and 7 interceptions and completing about 59.2% of his passes in his nine games before he sustained a season-ending knee injury.

My Day at the USF Softball Doubleheader

I got up at 9:55 this morning, rolled out of bed, and immediately put on my USF shirt and hat. I grabbed something to eat on my way out to the car, and drove to campus, excited to finally see a USF team in contention for a league title this late in the season. After finding out yesterday that Sara Nevins would be starting both games today, got to the park at around 10:30 hoping see a no-hitter. I guess I forgot that we were going to be facing the 23rd ranked softball team in the country, one whose only losses this season are to teams that have won national championships and are still national powers. Even with that considered, I was confident when I settled into my seat, ready for game one.

Game one started exactly as expected. Sara Nevins walked out to the circle and was dialed in from the beginning. She struck out the first three batters on 14 pitches to get the Bulls a quick trip back into the dugout. Gina Kafalas got hit by the Notre Dame pitcher Laura Winter's first pitch, and Janine Richardson drew a walk, but that was pretty much the highlight of USF's game. Unable to capitalize on the first inning baserunners, the ladies took the field again. Nevins was still in the zone, though, pitching perfectly through the first four innings of the game, only to be matched by Winter's outstanding performance. In the top of the fifth, though, things began to come apart. After a one-out single by Sadie Pitzenberger broke up the perfect game and stole second, Nevins struck out the next batter. It looked like the Bulls were going to be able to escape unharmed until Erin Marrone popped up what looked to be a routine fly ball. Gina Kafalas came in to chase the ball down, but Kelly McCarver was tracking it from left too. The two collided, and the ball fell to the ground allowing Pitzenberger to score. That was the only damage done by the Irish's offense, but it appeared to be all Winter needed. Since the first-inning walk to Richardson, Winter was perfect, retiring all remaining 19 batters in order. Like I said, when I woke up this morning, I hoped to see a no-hitter. I wasn't expecting Notre Dame to be the one pitching it.

Final score: Notre Dame 1, USF 0.

And don't worry, I kept track of the scoring again:

Here's my scoresheet for Notre Dame and for USF

I also kept track of pitch counts and pitcher stats, but I figured this was good enough.

Game two came around at 1:15, and Nevins was handed the ball for her second start of the day. After 107 pitches in game one, it was clear that Nevins wouldn't be around long. the first and second innings went very well for both pitchers, but the third was where things started getting bad. Alexa Maldonado had a leadoff single, and a walk put two on with one out. It appeared that things may not be too bad when Sadie Pitzenberger slapped a ground ball to short, but Janine Richardson misplayed it and it turned into an RBI. The fourth was even worse, when a leadoff single allowed Marrone to come aboard, which was followed by what would be Nevins' last batter. Brianna Jorgensborg bunted to advance the runner, but an errant throw by Nevins rolled all the way into the corner of right field, and Jorgensborg turned a sacrifice bunt into a bunt home run. After 57 pitches in the second game for a grand total of 164, Nevins' day was finally done. By this time, I was pretty much ready to go, seeing how the offense couldn't produce all day. But I had to be strong and finish watching so I could write about it here, so I stuck around. Capri Catalano was able to close out the inning without further damage. Offensively, the Bulls still hadn't found a hit. It wasn't until the bottom of the 6th with two on and one out that Janine Richardson finally recorded USF's first hit of the day, breaking a 13.1 inning hitless streak. The bases were loaded at this point, but Stephanie Medina flew out to left field, followed by an inning-ending groundout by Laura Fountain.

Final Score: Notre Dame 5, USF 0.

My scoresheets for Notre Dame and for USF

I'd like to say I took something positive away from this doubleheader, but there really wasn't anything that looked good all day. The only thing that was remotely encouraging was Nevins' perfect game going into the 5th, but we already knew she could do that. We can only wonder what would have been different if Lindsey Richardson had been healthy for the game, but nothing good can come out of the "what if" game. The offense was, no pun intended (maybe a little), offensive, not being able to record a hit in more than a game and a half. Obviously Notre Dame didn't get ranked #23 in the nation for just no reason, but if USF expects to compete with teams of this caliber they have to be able to manufacture hits and capitalize on baserunners. Defensively, the ladies looked confused at times, even though there were no pre-game position changes. Now, the Bulls have a few days off before going to Chicago to complete their season at DePaul, who still lead the conference. As it looks right now, they're going to have to sweep the Blue Demons and hope Notre Dame drops a bunch of games in these final weeks of the season if they have any expectations of a #1 seed in the Big East championship tournament in Clearwater. Despite the losses today, this softball team has given us a great season, and hopefully we get to see some more of them in the postseason.

USF Softball Preparing for Judgment Week

With the five biggest games of the season just over the horizon for the Lady Bulls of the softball team, everything seems to be falling right into place for head coach Ken Ericksen. There are many emotions stirring in the clubhouse this week approaching a season-defining doubleheader tomorrow at home against Notre Dame, but the most prevalent is excitement. Coach Ericksen has seen success in the past in USF's Conference USA days, but this team has something special about it.

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.