Notre Dame nearly goes from no-hitter to no win vs. Kelly

~ The Hawks scored three runs in the seventh, but the Bulldogs escaped with a 4-3 victory

BENTON -- Notre Dame ace Lauren Reinagel had a no-hitter through six innings Monday at Kelly High School.

In the seventh, she lost the no-hit bid but found a win -- barely.

Kelly pushed home three two-out runs and had the tying run at second base before Notre Dame escaped with a 4-3 softball victory.

"Nice win," Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett said. "Anytime you get a win over Kelly, I'll take it every time. They're a great program."

Kelly's Danielle Dock safely slides back to third as Notre Dame shortstop Jane Morrill keeps the pickoff throw from heading to the outfield Monday, September 28, 2009, in Benton. (Kit Doyle)

Kelly's ace Danielle Dock shut down the Bulldogs (17-2) through four innings, but ran into trouble in the fifth.

Hali Rendleman drew a walk to lead off the inning and stole second. Rendleman advanced to third on an infield single by Brianne Sanders to give the Bulldogs runners at the corners with no outs.

Sanders led the Notre Dame's seven-hit attack with three hits from her leadoff spot.

"It's a big role for me," Sanders said. "It's a lot of pressure, but I'm excited."

Senior Mallory Siebert followed with a bunt back to Dock, who faked a throw to first and caught Rendleman in a rundown between third and home. Rendleman was tagged for the first out, but not before the runners moved up to second and third.

Notre Dame's Lauren Reinagel delivers a pitch to a Kelly batter. Reinagel took a no-hitter into the seventh inning.

Jane Morrill then pushed a bunt past Dock for a single that scored Sanders with Notre Dame's first run.

"Once you get one run in, hopefully it starts flowing things," said Morrill, who had two hits. "It's always good to get ahead."

Siebert later scored on a wild pitch to extend Notre Dame's lead to 2-0.

It looked like two runs would be enough for Reinagel, who struck out 14 batters -- most coming on a changeup.

"We had it planned," Reinagel said. "I spent a lot of time working on my changeup before the game and got it going."

Graviett agreed the changeup was the key to Reinagel's success.

"Especially after the Saturday tournament at St. Louis," Graviett said. "She got hit a little bit; I thought she needed to work on it. She's been working extremely hard on it, and it paid off today."

The game remained 2-0 until Notre Dame struck again in the seventh.

Brianne Sanders opened the inning with a single to left, then took second on a wild pitch. With one out, Morrill lined a double to deep left field that scored Sanders for a 3-0 lead.

After Reinagel reached on an error, Alecia Glaus roped a single to left to score Morrill for a 4-0 lead.

"You just try to keep getting as many as you can for insurance," Morrill said.

Notre Dame needed every one of its runs as the Hawks rallied in the bottom of the inning.

Senior Londyn Backfisch drew a leadoff walk, but Reinagel retired the next two batters to get within one out of a no-hitter. The third out was not quite as easy.

Kaitlin Glastetter broke up Reinagel's no-hit bid when she lined a single to right field to score Backfisch, then moved up to second on a wild pitch. Carissa Klipfel lined a double to left field to score Glastetter, trimming Notre Dame's lead to 4-2. Hannah Vinyard then made it a one-run game when she smoked a double to right field.

"They came together and got three or four good hits," Reinagel said. "They really came together as a team."

But Reinagel ended the rally and the game when she fanned Kameryn Wood.

"Conference win," Morrill said. "So it's pretty big, plus it's Kelly, so that was awesome."

Notre Dame 000 020 2 -- 4 7 0

Kelly 000 000 3 -- 3 3 1

WP -- Reinagel. LP -- Dock. 2B -- Morrill (ND), Glaus (ND), Klipfel (K), Vinyard (K). Multiple Hits -- Notre Dame, Sanders 3-4, Morrill 2-4. Records -- Notre Dame 17-2.