June 10, 2015
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame baseball team enjoyed its most successful season in nine years in 2015, posting 37 wins and qualifying for both the ACC and NCAA Championships.
Not surprisingly, the Irish have been rewarded from an individual standpoint for the success of the team, as several honors have been handed out over the last couple of weeks. Let’s take a look back at the different honors:
June 10: Sophomore RHP Ryan Smoyer earned first team Mideast-ABCA/Rawlings all-region honors after posting a 9-1 record with a 2.27 ERA in 2015 … the Bowling Green, Ohio native finished tied for first in the ACC in shutouts (1), tied for second in wins (9) and placed fourth in ERA … he became one of only three Irish players since 1998 (Aaron Heilman, John Axford) to begin a season 9-0 … Smoyer didn’t allow a stolen base all season over 17 appearances (11 starts) and 79.1 innings of work.
June 3: Freshman pitchers Brad Bass (RHP) and Sean Guenther (LHP) earned Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America honors … Bass went 3-1 with two saves and a 1.91 ERA over 19 appearances and 33.0 innings of work … the New Lenox, Illinois native kept opposing batters at a slim .198 average … Guenther posted a team-high five saves over a team-high 27 appearances and 46.1 innings of work … the Atlanta product tallied a 2.72 ERA and helped finish off two shutouts.
June 1: After outstanding regional showings, sophomore Cavan Biggio (2B) and senior Ryan Bull (OF) earned all-region honors for the NCAA Champaign Regional … Bull was almost unstoppable in three games, batting .545 with six hits, two doubles, a homer, four RBI, two hit by pitch and two runs scored … he slugged 1.000 and had an on-base percentage of .615) … he was especially monstrous in a regional-opening win over Wright State, where he went 3-for-4 with a homer, two doubles, one hit by pitch, four RBI and two runs scored … Biggio, meanwhile, batted .333 with four hits, a homer, three RBI, a walk and two runs scored … the Houston, Texas native clubbed his homer in the win over the Raiders.
May 24: Sophomore Kyle Fiala extended his impressive on-base streak to 46 games with an outstanding ACC Championship to earn all-tournament team accolades … the Carmel, Indiana native batted .429 with three hits, a double, two RBI, six walks and two runs scored … he had a ridiculous on-base percentage of .692.
May 18: Fiala (3B), Smoyer (RHP) and senior Robert Youngdahl (OF) earned third team all-ACC honors following outstanding campaigns … in addition, freshman pitchers Brandon Bielak (RHP) and Guenther (LHP) earned spots on the league’s all-freshman team.Â
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For more information on the Notre Dame baseball team, follow the Irish across social media … /NDBaseball on Facebook, @NDBaseball on Twitter and notredamebaseball on Instagram.
–Russell Dorn, Assistant Media Relations Director
–ND–