April 15, 2002
NOTRE DAME BASEBALL – GAMEDAY NOTES
vs. Central Michigan … Monday, April 15, 2002 (6:05 p.m.)
The Notre Dame baseball team (21-12, 8-6 BIG EAST) will close its 14-game homestand this week with three games versus non-conference teams Central Michigan (17-12), Ball State and Toledo … ND and CMU will face off on Monday night at 6:05, with freshman RHP Martin Vergara slated to start for the Irish.
Series Notes: Notre Dame owns a 12-6 series edge vs. CMU, including wins in each of the last five seasons … ND is 9-2 in home games vs. CMU (6-0 at Eck Stadium).
It’s Still Going: Notre Dame’s 6-4 win over CMU last season ended in unforgettable fashion and helped the Irish claim the program’s first No. 1 national ranking days later … four straight batters stayed alive with two-out, two-strike counts, capped by Ken Meyer’s game-ending grand slam … the Irish plated just two of 18 baserunners in the first eight innings while ND’s pitchers included J.P. Gagne (3 IP, 2 H, 4 Ks), Matt Buchmeier (IP), Mike Naumann, Drew Duff (1.2 IP, K) and Matt Laird, who need just seven pitches in the 9th (2 Ks) … lefthanded reliever J.D. Wheeler was one out from closing out the game before Kris Billmaier reached on a third-base throwing error, Paul O’Toole sliced a 1-2 single into center field, Andrew Bushey worked a full-count walk and Meyer launched a 2-2 pitch high over the leftfield fence.
Quick Team Notes:
* CMU dropped three of four games last weekend at Eastern Michigan … the Chippewas return 15 of 22 letterwinners from their 2001 team that went 35-24.
* ND is 12-2 in its last 14 overall games, since opening 0-4 in BIG EAST play.
* The Irish are 13-2-1 in their last 16 extra-inning games, including Friday’s 2-1, 11-inning win over Virginia Tech.
* ND is locked into a five-way tie for second in the BIG EAST standings (8-6), behind 10-4 Boston College.
Quick Player Notes:
* Senior CF Steve Stanley’s ratio of 45.00 at-bats per strikeout (135/3) would rank first in the ND record book (since ’69), ahead of the 44.00 by Rick Pullano in 1978 (132/3).
* Stanley has hits in 31 of 33 games this season, with hitting streaks of 13, 10 and 8 (active) games.
* Stanley was ranked 19th in the nation last week for batting average (.447, now .459) and could crack the top 10 when this week’s NCAA rankings are released tomorrow (Stanley also ranked 12th last week for stolen bases per game).
* Senior catcher Paul O’Toole (26 home runs, 10 triples) recently joined junior leftfielder Brian Stavisky (28/11), Alec Porzel (37/12, ’98-’01) and Ryan Topham (31/13, ’93-’95) as the only ND players ever to show the offensive versatility of 25-plus home runs and 10-plus triples.
Homestand Stat Leaders (9-2)
* Steve Stanley – .526 (20-for-38), 5 RBI, 12 R, HR, 3 2B, 4 BB, 6-7 SB, HBP, 2 SAC
* Kris Billmaier – .378 (14-for-37), 10 RBI, 6 R, HR, 2 2B, BB, HBP
* Paul O’Toole – .351 (13-for-37), 6 RBI, 7 R, HR, 2 3B, 4 2B (.649 slugging), 4 BB, 2 SAC, 2 SF, SB
* Matt Bok – .346 (9-for-26), 6 RBI, 4 R, 2 3B, 2B, 3 BB, SF
* Joe Thaman – .344 (11-for-32), 5 RBI, 8 R, 2B, 3 BB, SF
TEAM – .333, 69 runs (6.3/gm), 1.94 team ERA, .972 fielding pct. (11 E)