March 20, 2014
ACC Series 3: Virginia Tech
March 21-23
5:35 p.m. / 4:30 p.m. / 11 a.m.
Four Winds Field (South Bend) – Friday
Grand Park (Westfield, Ind.) – Saturday / Sunday
Team Information:
Notre Dame: 7-12, 0-6 ACC (34-24, 10-14 BIG EAST In 2013)
Postseason: Lost to UConn in BIG EAST Final
Virginia Tech: 10-8-1, 3-3 ACC (40-22, 15-14 ACC In 2013)
Postseason: Lost in Regional Final to #19 Oklahoma
Rankings:
Neither Team Ranked
Projected Pitching Matchups:
G1: RHP Sean Fitzgerald (2-1) vs. RHP Brad Markey (2-2)
G2: RHP Nick McCarty (0-4) vs. LHP Sean Keselica (1-0)
G3: RHP Pat Connaughton (0-0) vs. TBA
Series History:
ND leads 8-6
First Meeting: W, away, 8-5 (4/12/1955)
Last Meeting: W, neutral, 3-0 (3/2/2013)
Aoki vs. Virginia Tech: 4-4 (1-0 at ND, 3-4 at BC)
Live Game Coverage:
Live Video: Watch ND (Fri.) / None (Sat. / Sun.)
Live Audio: WHME 103.1 FM (Chuck Freeby, pbp) or
WatchND (Links on UND.com)
Live Stats: Link on UND.com
Twitter Reports: @ND Baseball / @NDsidRuss
Weather Report (as of Thursday, March 20):
Friday, March 20: 59 Degrees and Partly Cloudy
Saturday, March 21: 50 Degrees and Mostly Cloudy
Sunday, March 22: 40 Degrees and Mostly Sunny
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – An old BIG EAST foe comes to town this weekend to meet the University of Notre Dame baseball team as the Virginia Tech Hokies invade South Bend for the first time since 2004 for a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series. Game one of the series will be Friday at South Bend’s Four Winds Field (formerly Coveleski Stadium) before the series switches to Grand Park in Westfield, Ind., for Saturday and Sunday contests.
First pitch at the Cove is set for 5:35 p.m. and will see Notre Dame’s RHP Sean Fitzgerald (2-1) go toe-to-toe with the Hokies’ RHP Brad Markey (2-2). Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for youth and seniors and free for children under the age of three. Notre Dame students, faculty and staff will be admitted free with their Notre Dame ID.
Saturday and Sunday will take the Irish and Hokies on the road straight down U.S. 31 to Grand Park in Westfield where they will play at 4:30 p.m. Saturday and then again at 11 a.m. Sunday. Saturday’s rotation battle will see Notre Dame send sophomore RHP Nick McCarty (0-4) to the mound to face off with LHP Sean Keselica (1-0). Sunday the Irish will throw junior RHP Pat Connaughton (0-0), while Virginia Tech has yet to decide on a starter. Admission is free for Notre Dame season pass holders and $5 for everyone else. The address to the complex is 711 East 191st, Westfield, IN 46074.
A series that began all the way back in 1955 with an 8-5 Irish win was renewed 46 years later as the two teams competed against each other in four BIG EAST series from 2001-04. While the two historic programs haven’t met for a series since ’04, they did play last season at the USA Baseball-Irish Classic in Cary, N.C., with Notre Dame emerging with a 3-0 win. Junior Ryan Bull notched a hit in that contest, but all three RBI came from current minor leaguer Trey Mancini while the remaining four hits were split between Mancini, graduate Frank Desico and minor leaguer Eric Jagielo. Graduate Adam Norton hurled a complete game in the win.
The Irish (7-12, 0-6 ACC) are looking for their first ACC win in program history after a pair of close sweeps at NC State and Duke. In those two series, the Irish lost five of the six games by three runs or less including four by two runs or less and three by one run. Two of the losses were 1-0 decisions. Notre Dame did build a bit of momentum Tuesday night as it stepped out of conference and shut out NAIA member Robert Morris (IL), 3-0, at Chicago State’s Cougar Stadium.
Virginia Tech (10-8-1, 3-3 ACC) enters the weekend on a four-game win streak after a sweep of ACC foe Pittsburgh and a non-conference win over Rutgers Wednesday night. First-year head coach Patrick Mason leads the Hokies after serving as an assistant coach and then associate head coach for three seasons.
While the Irish are middle of the pack in team pitching (3.38 ERA), but last in team hitting (.234 avg.), the Hokies are the exact opposite as their hitting ranks in the upper half of the league (.266 avg.) but their pitching is dead last (5.73 ERA).
Leading the Hokie bats is catcher Mark Zagunis. A career .333 hitter, Zagunis has started all 19 games this season and is hitting .280 with four doubles, 16 RBI, 12 walks and 18 runs scored. He has also stolen four bases this season and 40 for his career in 129 starts.
“He’s a really good player that is a good athlete, has a good swing and some juice in his bat,” said head coach Mik Aoki. “Behind the plate he is a three-year starter and he can certainly control the running game. He knows the different situations that can occur out there so he certainly won’t be rattled by anything that goes on. He’s played at a high level since he has been there.”
Fans that can’t make it out to the park can watch Friday night’s game on WatchND. All three games will also be available through online radio broadcast (WHME 103.1 FM/WatchND) and gametracker or by following @NDBaseball on Twitter.
–Russell Dorn, Assistant Media Relations Director
–ND–