April 26, 2002
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NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame baseball team (29-12, 11-6 BIG EAST co-leader) will play host to 17th-ranked Arizona State on Friday, April 26 (6:05) and Saturday the 27th (3:05) …the games mark the return of former ND head coach Pat Murphy (’88-’94), now the head coach at ASU, and former Irish OF Mike Rooney (an ASU assistant coach) … the Irish are riding an 11-game winning streak and have won 20 of their last 22 … ND entered the week raked 11th nationally in team ERA (now 3.38) … ND, Rice and Texas are the only teams currently in the top 20 for team ERA who also finished among the final top-20 ERA leaders in both 2000 and ’01 (ND was 16th and 5th) … South Bend’s ESPN Radio 1620 AM (WDND) will broadcast every Notre Dame game in 2002 … a real-audio link to internet broadcasts may be accessed at www.und.com while real-time stats for home games – including updated play-by-play – likewise can be accessed at und.com … South Bend’s WHME TV-46 will telecast Saturday’s game (delayed, at 11:00 p.m.), also airing live in Arizona on KAZ-TV (with satellite coordinates of Galaxy 4R, Transponder 15).
MURPHY/MAINIERI ERA PLACES ND BASEBALL AMONG NATION’S BEST:
Notre Dame baseball ranks among the nation’s top programs in the past 15 years, behind the leadership of head coaches Pat Murphy (’88-’94) and Paul Mainieri (’95-present) … the Irish won 72.4% of their games in the 1990s – spanning the final five years of the Murphy era and the first five under Mainieri – to rank 7th among the nation’s winningest programs of the ’90s (behind Wichita St., Miami, Clemson, Florida St., LSU and Delaware) … 43 ND players who played in the ’90s have gone on to professional baseball (not counting several current seniors likely to join that group), including 13 who were selected in the first 10 round of the MLB draft … ND’s streak of 13 consecutive seasons with 40-plus wins ranks 4th-longest in Div. I (behind FSU, Wichita St. and Clemson).
John Axford, Fr., RHP (last sevengames are starts)
(10 GP/7 GS, 3.28, 4-2, 46.2 IP, 41 H, 42 K/29 BB, .237 opp. avg., 4 WP, 1 HB, 57 GO)
at New Orleans (2/23; 7-8) 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 6 BB, K, WP, 5 GO
vs. Florida Int’l, in Homestead (3/2; 4-13) loss, 2.1 IP, 5 H, 8 R/2 ER, 3 BB, K, WP, 3 GO
vs. Texas-Pan American, in Round Rock (3/10; 5-6) 1.1 IP, 2 H, R/UER, 2 K
vs. Creighton, in San Antonio (3/13; 6-2) win, 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R/UER, 6 K, WP, 9 GO
at Connecticut (3/24; 6-13) loss, 5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 3 K, HB, 11 GO
vs. Georgetown (3/30; 12-3) win, 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R/UER, 3 BB, 9 K, BK, 7 GO
St. John’s (4/6; 4-1) win, 6.1 IP, 3 H, R, 6 BB, 5 K, 9 GO
Pittsburgh (4/11; 12-2) 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R/ER, 2 BB, 6 K, WP, 3 GO
Ball State (4/16; 10-1) 2.0 IP (planned rotation), 3 H, R, 2 K, 2 GO
at Seton Hall (4/20; 9-4) win, 7.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 6 BB, 7 K
Situationally: 51.0% leadoff batters reached, .275 opp. batting with 2 outs, .226 with runners on
Nine-Inning Averages: 7.9 H, 5.6 BB, 8.1 K, 11.0 GO, 39.7 BF
Peter Ogilvie, Jr., RHP (first three and last three are starts)
(9 GP/6 GS, CG, 2.45, 5-1, 40.1 IP, 46 H, 31 K/7 BB, .293 opp. avg., 4 WP, HB, 50 GO)
vs. Missouri (2/22; 7-6) GS, 3.0 IP, 6 H, 4 /3 ER, BB, 3 K
vs. Sacred Heart (3/3; 4-1) win, GS, 5.0 IP, 6 H, R, 4 K
vs. Texas-Pan American (3/10; 5-6) loss, GS, 5.2 IP, 9 H, 4 R/2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 WP
vs. Southern Illinois (3/16; 3-2) win, 3.0 IP, 4 H, 2 K
at Connecticut (3/24; 6-13) 0.2 IP, 2 H, R
vs. Georgetown (3/30; 12-3) 2.0 IP, 3 H, R, K
Valparaiso (4/3; 12-1) win, 4.0 IP, 2 H, R, 5 K
Virginia Tech (4/12 4-2) win, 9.0 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 6 K/BB, WP
at Seton Hall (4/21; 6-1) win, 7.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 6 BB, 7 K
Situationally: 42.5% leadoff batters reached, .224 opp. batting with 2 outs, .244 with runners on
Nine-Inning Averages: 10.3 H, 1.6 BB, 6.9 K, 11.2 GO, 38.2 BF
MAINIERI’S MILESTONES:
Paul Mainieri – who posted his 300th career victory at Notre Dame in the second game of the DH sweep at Boston College on May 12, 2001 – fittingly reached the 500-win milestone in ND’s Feb. 27, 1999, win at his former school New Orleans (14-11) before reaching his 600th win during the 2002 season in memorable fashion: on St. Patrick’s Day in the 7-6 win over Portland in the title game of Fresno State’s Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic (the Irish wore special green jerseys) … Mainieri experienced two noteworthy homecomings in ’99, making his third return with the Irish to UNO (where he played) and his third return as the ND coach to his hometown of Miami … he coached his 800th career game on Feb. 20, 1998, at the University of Miami, after a Feb. 15 game at UNO was rained out … he notched his 499th career win in the ’99 season opener vs. James Madison, in Miami at Fla. International (Feb. 19) … Mainieri picked up his 200th win at ND in the 7-6 win over Oakland on April 30 ,1999 … he coached his 900th college game in the opener at Georgetown on May 8, 1999, and his 1,000th last season vs. Hillsdale College (March 29, 2001).
*FALL SIGNEES:
Notre Dame signed six high school seniors to national letters of intent in the 2001 fall period: C Cody Rizzo (Temecula, Calif.), SS Greg Lopez (Upper Arlington, Ohio), OFs Craig Cooper (Plainview, N.Y.) and Brennan Grogan (Tequesta, Fla.),RHP Ryan Doherty (Toms River, N.J.) and 3B/RHP Matt Bransfield (Englewood, Colo.) … Cooper, Doherty and Grogan have been listed among Team One Baseball’s top 200 high school prospects while Cooper, Doherty and Rizzo are ranked among Baseball America’s list of the nation’s top prospects … Grogan and Cooper are accomplished OFs who should add speed to the lineup while Lopez has been rated as the best infield prospect to come out of talent-rich Ohio in five years (according to The Buckeye Scout) … Rizzo is a talented all-around catcher who could make the biggest contributions as a freshman while Bransfield’s versatility could prove valuable to the 2002 squad … Doherty provides an added dimension to the class, due to his 7-1, 235-pound frame that produced plenty of interest from Division I basketball programs.
*TOP ASSISTANT:
Notre Dame’s Brian O’Connor was named the Division I national assistant baseball coach of the year for the 2001 season, as selected by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Baseball America … O’Connor – recently promoted to associate head coach – spent the previous seven seasons as ND’s primary assistant h while overseeing the pitching staff and coordinating the program’s highly-successful recruiting effort … O’ Connor, who pitched on Creighton’s 1991 College World Series team, has tutored 13 eventual pro baseball pitchers, including 10 Major-League draft picks (two 1st-rounders) … Notre Dame is one of just four schools since 1998 to produce two pitchers who have been drafted in the first round – Brad Lidge in 1998 and Aaron Heilman in 2001 – with only Notre Dame and Baylor having the same pitching coach during that span (Baylor head coach Steve Smith coaches the Bears pitching staff).
*TRAVEL:
Notre Dame’s schedule regularly takes the baseball team to top-notch facilities and noteworthy cities. In Paul Mainieri’s eight seasons, the Irish have visited: Fullerton and Long Beach, Calif., Seattle, Wash. (Kingdome), San Antonio and Round Rock, Texas, five Florida cities (Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, St. Petersburg and Homestead), Atlanta, New Orleans, Boston, Washington, D.C., New York City, and Minneapolis, Minn. (Metrodome).
*SUMMER STARS:
Several Notre Dame players had noteworthy 2001 summers, following a 2000 summer season that saw Steve Stanley, Paul O’Toole and Brian Stavisky start in the Cape Cod League All-Star game while three others – Matt Buchmeier, Drew Duff and Andrew Bushey – helped the Hays Larks reach the title game of the National Baseball Congress World Series (Wichita, Kan.) … Stanley was named by Baseball America as a 2001 summer All-American, after earning Great Lakes League MVP honors as a member of the Delaware (Ohio) Cows (.442 batting avg., 23 SBs) .. Stavisky again was an all-star with Hyannis in the summer of 2001, as was Irish 2B Steve Sollmann with the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox … righthander J.P. Gagne (11-1, 1.70 ERA, 65 Ks/15 BB in 80 IP), Buchmeier and 1B Joe Thaman continued ND’s tradition in Hays, helping lead the Larks back to the NBC World Series title game in the 2001 summer season.
IRISH TIGHTEN UP THE D:
Despite its early struggles in the field, the Notre Dame defense has made just three errors in the last seven games (40 in the first 18) – including none in the first three home games … unearned runs have provided the losing margin in half of ND’s defeats this season (5 of 10): vs. Florida International (9 UER), Texas Pan-American (3), Creighton (4) and UConn (1, twice) … the Irish gave up 32 unearned runs in the first 18 games (but just five in the last seven).
MILESTONE WATCH:
Several Notre Dame players are approaching (or recently reached) career milestones. Here’s their current stats that are approaching noteworthy milestones:
Senior CF Steve Stanley
203 runs scored
103 stolen bases
101 walks
99 RBI
Senior 3B Andrew Bushey
196 hits
100 runs scored
101 RBI
45 doubles
Senior DH Matt Bok
104 hits
Sophomore 2B Steve Sollmann
98 hits
Senior C Paul O’Toole
201 games played
192 games started
48 stolen bases
Junior RF Kris Billmaier
101 hits
1-0 GAME A RARITY:
Monday’s narrow win over BYU marked just the fourth 1-0 game in the eight-year Paul Mainieri era at Notre Dame – with one of those coming in a seven-inning game (vs. Navy, at the 1998 Service Academies Classic in Millington, Tenn.) … the Irish then posted a 1-0 win over Valparaiso on April 22, 1998 (7-inning game extended to 9) before the memorable 1-0 win over the Miami Hurricanes, on May 12, 1999, at Eck Stadium (Alex Shilliday, Chris McKeown and Aaron Heilman combined on a near-no-hitter).
SCOUTING ASU:
For detailed information on ASU, consult www.thesundevils.com.
BRINGING ‘EM HOME:
The last six games have seen ND score more runs (53) than it has stranded (42), batting .388 with runners on base in that six-game span (.365 with runners in scoring position).
FAVORITE MONTH:
Notre Dame has won better nearly 82% of its games in April during the eight-year Paul Mainieri era (since ’95), with that 156-36 April record including a 37-4 mark during the past two seasons (20-2 in ’01, 17-2 in ’02).
EXCLUSIVE CLUB:
Former ND pitcher Aaron Heilman (43-7, 425) is one 15 Division I players ever to reach 40 wins and 400 Ks … two ASU greats from the early 1970s (’69-’72) were the second and third members of that elite group: Eddie Bane (40-4, 505 Ks) and Greg Swan (47-9, 459 Ks).
AZ CONNECTIONS:
Current Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White held the same position at Arizona State from 1996-2000 … ND baseball has produced two all-time letterwinners from Arizona: LHP Mike Naumann (Tucson/Salpointe Catholic; ’98-’01) and 3B Thomas Lux (Phoenix; ’67-’69).
THE SERIES:
Arizona State swept a 1992 home series from Notre Dame (16-2, 10-5, 9-5), with the Irish winning the only other game of the ND-ASU series (11-4 in ’93, at ASU).
GRANDEST OF GRAND
– Last week’s 10-1 win over Ball State saw Andrew Bushey hit his first career grand-slam home run (at any level), with Paul O’Toole then hitting grand slams in the next two games (vs. Toledo and Seton Hall).
MANUFACTUERS:
Notre Dame’s recent surge in offensive efficiency has included quality execution, with the team’s 35 total sacrifice bunts already seven more than the entire total posted by the 2001 ND team (28) … senior 3B Andrew Bushey – in addition to batting .364, with 4 HR, 12 2B and 33 RBI – has executed seven sacrifice bunts (compared to just four in his first three seasons combined) … junior RF Kris Billmaier (7) also has a high sac-bunt total, after totaling none as a freshman and just two in 2001.
HEAD COACH PAUL MAINIERI:
Eighth-year ND head coach Paul Mainieri owns a 665-415-1 (.616) record in 19-plus college seasons … in addition to his 333-136-1 (.710) mark in eight seasons at ND, Mainieri’s teams were 180-121 in six seasons at St. Thomas (Fla.) and 152-158 in six seasons at Air Force … his 333 wins rank 2nd all-time at ND, behind Jake Kline (558, ’34-’75), with Pat Murphy posting a 318-116-1 record from 1988-94 … Mainieri has seen 27 of his Irish players go on to pro baseball (19 via the draft), with RHP Christian Parker being the first to reach the Majors (as the N.Y. Yankees No. 5 starter, making his debut vs. Toronto on April 6 at Yankees Stadium – with Mainieri and others from ND on hand) … RHP Brad Lidge also was called up from double-A Round Rock to the Houston Astros earlier this week … 15 of his players at St. Thomas went on to pro ball, including three – Joe Klink, Dane Johnson and Dan Rohrmeier – who have played in the Majors … Mainieri and his father Demie are the only known father-son combo in college baseball history to top 500 wins … Demie won 1,018 in 30 years at Miami-Dade North CC.
ND QUICK NOTES
- Junior Javier Sanchez – in his first year of playing SS – has shored up his defense in the last 19 games (15 error-free games, no Es in last seven).
- Senior C Paul O’Toole (27 HR/10 3B) recently joined junior LF Brian Stavisky (28/12), Alec Porzel (37/12, ’98-’01) and Ryan Topham (34/13, ’93-’95) as the only ND players ever to record 25-plus home runs and 10-plus triples.
- ND owns a 37-5 scoring edge in the 5th inning but has been outscored 30-16 in the 8th … the Irish are 13-2-1 in their last 16 games that have extended to extra innings (including Friday’s 2-1, 11-inning win over Virginia Tech).
- Freshman SS Matt Macri (Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery, 4/10) and Matt Edwards (broken leg, 3/9) are out for the year … freshman RHP Chris Niesel is sidelined indefinitely with mononucleosis (last outing April 7).
TAKING TURNS:
ND’s ERA charts have featured several new leaders in recent weeks, with various pitchers turning in strong outings to take over the top spot … 10 different pitchers have combined for the teams 29 wins, including five-time winners J.P. Gagne and Peter Ogilvie, four-time winner John Axford and Martin Vergara, 3-4 Grant Johnson and three with three Ws, plus a pair of recent winners in freshmen Tyler Jonesand Scott Bickford … ND’s 3.38 team ERA – impressively close to ND’s 3.22 mark that ranked 6th in the nation last season – includes six of nine “regulars” (10-plus innings) with ERAs under 3.28.
SCORING STREAK:
Notre Dame heads into the ASU series riding the school record for consecutive games with at least one run scored (226) … the Irish scored in the final 58 games of 1999 and in every game of 2000 (64), ’01 (63) and ’02 (41), for a streak that stretches back to a 12-0 loss at Florida International on Feb. 21, 1999 … the previous record 133-game scoring streak began with the first game of the Paul Mainieri era, a 10-6 loss to Texas at the Anaheim Classic, on Feb. 24, 1995 (the Irish were shut out by Auburn, 8-0, in the 1994 NCAA East Regional at Clemson) … the previous record streak ended vs. another Texas team, 2-0 vs. Texas Pan-American in a seven-inning game on March 10, 1997 (at Wolff Stadium in San Antonio) … ND has scored in 98.9 pct. of its games in the Mainieri era (462 of 467), with other shutouts at Seton Hall (16-0, 3/22/97), vs. St. John’s (3-0, 5/9/98) and vs. Rutgers in the BIG EAST Tournament (12-0, 5/16/98) … prior to the Mainieri era, the longest ND scoring streaks were: 121 (April 23, 1930-May 26, 1937) and 103 games (May 25, 1907-May 17, 1912).
BACK TOGETHER:
Junior LF Brian Stavisky returned to action in the 5-4 win over Western Michigan on April 9, after missing nine games due to a facial fracture (he was hit by a pitch early in the March 28 doubleheader at West Virginia, suffering two broken bones on the left side of his face) … the WMU game marked just the third game this season that ND’s three preseason All-Americans – Stavisky, senior CF Steve Stanley and sophomore 2B Steve Sollmann – had started in the same game (also the opener vs. Missouri, when Sollmann left with a 4th-inning quad injury, and March 13 vs. Creighton).
RARE BLANKING:
One of just five shutout losses in the eight-year Paul Mainieri era came at Seton Hall on March 22, 1997 (16-0), completing a three-game sweep for SHU that remained the only time ND had been swept in a three-gam BIG EAST series until the Irish dropped three at UConn earlier this season … ND’s five shutout losses under Mainieri have included just two on the opponent’s field (also at FIU in 1999), plus one at Eck Stadium and two on neutral fields.
ONE TO GO:
Senior Paul O’Toole’s career-best nine home runs this season (he 8, in both 1999 and 2000, plus 4 in ’01) give him 29 for his career (8th in ND history) … O’Toole – who ranks 6th in ND history with 50 career stolen bases – needs one more HR to join former teammate Alec Porzel (37 HRs, 32 SBs) as the only “30-30” players in Notre Dame baseball history … 10 of O’Toole’s first 20 home runs came during lateseason games played in May (his nine HRs this season nearly match his previous pre-May three-year total of 10, from 1999-2001).
FRESHMAN FORCE:
Notre Dame’s six freshman pitchers have combined for a 15-7 record in 45 appearances and 26 starts, plus a 3.96 combined ERA in 186.1 innings (82 earned runs), with 171 strikeouts, just 86 walks and 181 hits allowed.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION:
ND pitchingonce again owns an impressive K-to-walk ratio (2.27; 295/130), which would rank 4th in team history … the low walk total (3.33/9 IP) would rank 6th in ND history … ND starting pitchers have posted a 2.57 K-to-walk ratio (203/79) in 2002 starts, led by juniors J.P. Gagne (27/8) and Peter Ogilvie (28/7) and freshmen Chris Niesel (35/10), John Axford (38/20), Grant Johnson (48/19) and Martin Vergara (15/78.
BOUNCE BACK:
Several players have recovered from early slumps to post solid numbers in the last 26 games, most notably: Steve Sollmann (.394, 12 RBI), Kris Billmaier (.360, 16 RBI), Paul O’Toole (.333, 30 RBI) and Joe Thaman (.307, 12 RBI) … in the first 15 games, those players’ stats were as follows: Sollmann (.188, 2 RBI), O’Toole (.216, 7 RBI), Billmaier (.184, 4 RBI) and Thaman (.200, 5 RBI).
TOP PROSPECTS:
Notre Dame junior LF Brian Stavisky is listed 25th on Baseball America’s annual list of top pro prospects in college baseball … Stavisky is the 8th position player and 2nd OF on the list, behind Stanford’s Jason Cooper (12) … ND was the only school with multiple outfielders on BA’s list of the top 100 college prospects, with senior CF Steve Stanley listed 80th (he’s the 34th position player and 14th OF on the list) … only seven teams had more than two players listed among the top 80 on that list … ND (7) joined Stanford (10) as the schools with the most players among BA’s top-40 prospects by college class: Stanley (9th among seniors), C/3B Paul O’Toole (31st senior), Stavisky (25th junior), 2B Steve Sollmann (37th sophomore), SS Matt Macri (2nd freshman) and freshman RHPs Chris Niesel (11th) and Martin Vergara (15th).
MIDSEASON PRAISE:
Notre Dame senior CF Steve Stanley was one of nine position players named by Baseball America to its midseason list of senior All-Americans … BA also recognized the 5-7 Stanley as being the nation’s top player under 5-10 … here’s the other members of BA’s midseason senior All-America team and their stats (as of mid-April):
C-Adam Shorsher, San Jose St. (.350-11-36).
1B-Yaron Peters, South Carolina (.414-12-51).
2B-Eric Arnold, Rice (.379-6-47).
3B-Ryan Barthelemy, Florida St. (.409-10-61).
SS-Khalil Greene, Clemson (.479-10-42). OF-L.J. Biernbaum, Florida Atlantic (.405-7-45, 11 SB); Steve Stanley, Notre Dame (.447-0-14, 19 SB); Chris Maples, North Carolina (.324-14-42).
DH-Ryan Kenning, New Mexico St. (.385-20-84).
UT-Whit Bryant, Elon (.467-6-36; 6-0, 3.35).
SP-Lance Cormier, Alabama (8-0, 1.36, 3 CG); Trevor Hutchinson, California (7-3, 3.03); Shane Komine, Nebraska (5-0, 2.10, 71 Ks in 56 IP); Steve Reba, Clemson (8-0, 3.25).
RP-David Bush, Wake Forest (4-1, 2.10, 7 SV, 3 BB in 26 IP).
ON A TEAR:
Stanley entered the week ranked 6th in the nation for batting average (.462) … he also entered last week ranked 19th nationally in stolen bases (now 25) … Stanley hit .605 (26-for-43) in his recent 11-game hitting streak, with multiple hits in nine straight (before going 1-for-1 with four walks vs. Toledo) … that marked his third double-digit hitting streak of the season (also 13 and 10) and seventh of hi s career … Stanley’s 40.3 at-bats per K this season (161/4) would challenge for first (44.0) in the ND record book (since ’69), … he has made 191 total plate appearances (47.8 per K) … his ever-growing career hit total (340) leaves Stanley on the verge of becoming the eighth Division I player ever to reach 350 hits (he also holds ND records for career stolen bases, with 109, and consecutive starts, with 229) … Stanley has hits in 38 of 41 games this season and in 45 of his last 48 with the Irish (he went 48 games without an error, before a controversial umpire call at Seton Hall, and has just eight career Es).
BIG EAST BUGGER:
Two major BIG EAST career records now belong Steve Stanley, as he ranks 1st in conference hits (141) and runs (98) … former Rutgers players Darren Fenster (138 hits) and David DeJesus (93 runs) previuosly held those BIG EAST records … Stanley’s six career triples in BIG EAST play rank 9th in the league record book, four shy of the shared record.
STREAKS FOR ALL SEASONS:
Stanley opened the season with a 13-game hitting streak before adding a 10-game streak that ended in a short stint vs. Valparaiso (0-for-2), followed by another 13-game streak … Stanley – who closed 2001 by batting 14-for-23 in the NCAAs – has four 4-hit games this season, vs. Fairfield, Sacred Heart, Creighton and Ball State (bringing his career total to 11 four-hit games, plus 5-for-5 vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the ’01 NCAAs) … his career-best hitting streak lasted 16 games in 2000 (he had a 12-game hitting streak in ’99 and 10-game streaks in ’00 and ’01) … Stanley’s team-best .460 season batting average includes 23 walks, five sacrifice bunts and just four Ks … he has hits in 38 of 41 games in 2002 (45 of the last 48, including the final seven of 2001).
BROKEN RECORDS:
Stanley – a leading contender for national player-of-the-year honors – already has claimed three ND career records, for consecutive starts (now 229), hits (340) and stolen bases (109) … he also has moved into 2nd on the ND career at-bats list (893, just four behind Alec Porzel’s record), ranks 2nd in runs scored (221, leaving him 25 shy of Pat Pesavento’s record) and has pushed his career batting average to .381, which ranks 3rd in ND history.
GREAT EYE:
Stanley has struck out just four times in 161 at-bats and 191 plate appearances this season (with 22 walks), for a ratio of 40.3 ABs and 47.8 plate appearnces per K … that would rank as the 2nd-best K/AB ratio in the ND record book (since ’69, min. 90 ABs), with Rick Pullano holding the record with 3 Ks in 132 ABs (44.0) … the top 10 on that list include just one player since 1982 – as current senior 3B Andrew Bushey averaged 17.58 ABs per K in 2000 (211/12, good for 10th on the list) … Stanley owns a career average of 15.4 ABs per K (890/58, with 111 walks), with near-identical strikeouts totals (18, 19, 17) in his previous three seasons.
AN SB A DAY:
Stanley has swiped 25 stolen bases this season and could challenge the ND season record set by Scott Sollmann in 1996 (52, in 62 GP) … ironically, Sollmann’s brother Steve typically bats with Stanley on base (as the Irish No. 2 hitter) … Stanley’s 109 career SBs rank first in ND history, besting Sollmann’s record total of 101 (from ’94-’96).
PENCIL HIM IN, OR USE PEN:
Stanley has started all 229 games of his ND career (all in CF) while logging all but 25 innings in CF since ’99 (he played every inning of 60 straight games, before yielding to George Howard late in the 6th inning of both 7-inning Valparaiso games this season) … the familiar #2 has just eight career errors, with none in 50 games before last week’s Seton Hall series … in addition to Howard, only four other players have briefly replaced Stanley in CF: Paul O’Toole (’99), Ben Cooke (’00, ’01), Mike Naumann (’01) and John Heintz (’01).