Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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ND Sports Notre Dame's power on the mound this year will come from junior Dan Slania. The 6-5, 275-pound closer led the league with 12 saves a year ago and is a third-team All-America pick this spring. Question marks remain in the starting rotation for Aoki's club. Senior Adam Norton holds one of the three starting spots. Sophomore Pat Connaughton, who hits the mid-90s consistently with his fastball, will start when his role as a starting guard on the basketball team is finished for the year. The last spot is still up for grabs and will likely go to another young player that emerges during the first couple weeks of the season. If the Irish can get some solid pitching from their young players, the lineup should be strong enough to give them a shot at a berth in the NCAA Tournament this season. "I like this team," Aoki said. "I think we've got a really good mix of some of the older guys and young potential." Softball The Irish softball team reeled off 17 straight wins at the end of last spring before losing to Louisville on an extrainnings walk-off home run in the Big East championship game. This year's group returns several of the key pieces to their late-season success. Junior pitcher Laura Winter won the conference's pitcher of the year award while posting a 2.18 ERA in her 46 appearances. Her catcher, senior Amy Buntin, completed an all-conference battery. Buntin led the team with a .360 batting average and 60 RBI. She is Softball 2012 Finish: 40-16, 16-3 in Big East; lost to No. 13 Arizona in the NCAA regional round Top Returner: Senior catcher Amy Buntin Fresh Face To Watch: Freshman infielder Micaela Arizmendi one of 50 players on the USA Softball player of the year watch list to begin the season. Women's Lacrosse Head coach Christine Halfpenny gets set for her second season in South Bend after leading Notre Dame to one of the program's better regular seasons during her first year. The Irish lost their last two games of the year against top competition after leading scorer Lindsay Powell went down with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Powell, a junior, is back for the 2013 season and can be one of the conference's top scorers if she returns to her old form. Powell joined junior midfielder Margaret Smith and sophomore defender Barbara Sullivan on the preseason All-Big East team in January. Five ranked teams are on Notre Dame's 16-game schedule, including a rematch with defending national champion Northwestern. ✦ Women's Lacrosse 2012 Finish: 13-5, 6-3 in Big East; lost to eventual national champion Northwestern in first round of NCAA Tournament Top Returner: Junior midfielder Margaret Smith Fresh Face To Watch: Freshman defender Stephanie Peragallo