Bulldogs stay perfect at 19-0

Lauren Reinagel already felt disappointed two batters into Monday's softball game.

Reinagel issued a walk to Kelly's Katee Moore, ruining her shot at a perfect game.

"I knew it," Reinagel said. "I knew I blew it."

Reinagel is a threat to throw a perfect game every time she heads to the circle. She's thrown two this season to go with four no-hitters. She settled for a one-hitter Monday as her Notre Dame Bulldogs downed Kelly 6-0.

"We keep preaching you don't want to go down looking, especially this late in the season," Kelly coach Rhonda Ratledge said. "If you're going to put it in play, you've got to go up there swinging. You're not going to put it in play looking. Anything in that sweet spot, we tried to swing at it and lay off all of her junk."

The Hawks' lone hit came in the seventh inning with one out when Danielle Dock ripped a shot to left field. Notre Dame shortstop Jane Morrill made a diving try, but the ball scooted into left field.

"It's a lot of pressure off me, actually," Reinagel said. "Now I know I can go right at them. If they hit it, they hit it. It doesn't matter after that. I go right at them and hopefully they don't."

ELIZABETH DODD ~ edodd@semissourian.com Kelly's Londyn Backfisch strikes out during the third inning against Notre Dame at Notre Dame Monday. The Bulldogs defeated the Hawks 6-0.

Kelly put runners on first and second with one out in the seventh, but Reinagel rebounded to strike out the last two Hawks batters to extinguish the rally attempt.

"My riseball, I have a really good riseball," Reinagel said. "It's always jumping. That's usually my No. 1 pitch. I guess I have really good spin on the ball. It rises. I throw it and it goes where it wants to."

Reinagel finished with 14 strikeouts.

Notre Dame (19-0) took a 1-0 lead in the second inning with some aggressive baserunning. Alecia Glaus, who reached on a single, stole third and came home when the throw got away.

ELIZABETH DODD ~ edodd@semissourian.com Notre Dame's Alexis Ralls connects with a pitch during the second inning Monday during a 6-0 victory against Kelly at Notre Dame. Ralls had a triple and a double in the game.

It stood that way until the fifth inning, when the Bulldogs' offense awoke. Alexis Ralls slammed a triple down the left-field line to score a pair and push Notre Dame's lead to 4-0. She doubled during the fourth inning. The hits continued a hot streak for Ralls, who slammed three home runs then collected a pair of doubles in the title game at the Seckman tournament over the weekend.

"After this weekend, I got a lot more confidence in myself," she said. "I came through."

If it had been up to Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett, the triple only would have been a double. He threw up the stop sign as Ralls rounded second, but the senior decided to try for third.

"He was like, 'It was your decision,'" Ralls said. "I was going. I had the speed going, so I was just like, 'I'm going,' and I went."

The Bulldogs tacked on a pair of runs in the sixth when Nikki Chambers doubled to left-center.

Even with the big lead, Reinagel didn't change her approach to hitters.

"It's always a 1-0 game to me," she said. "I go out there thinking if they get a hit, they're going to win, so I have to keep them off the bases."

The Hawks dropped to 16-3, but Ratledge said facing Reinagel will be beneficial for her team as it tries to make another run to the state tournament.

"Even though we're aggravated at how we played, we gave up those six runs, I would not trade this competition for anything," she said.

Kelly 000 000 0 — 0 1 3

Notre Dame 010 032 x — 6 11 0

WP — Lauren Reinagel. LP — Danielle Dock. 2B — Alexis Ralls (ND), Erika Reinagel (ND), Alecia Glaus (ND), Nikki Chambers (ND). 3B — Ralls (ND). Multiple hits — Notre Dame: Glaus 2-3, Ralls 2-3, Brooke Glastetter 2-3. Records — Kelly 16-3, Notre Dame 19-0.