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April 5, 2002

2 0 0 2 N O T R E D A M E B A S E B A L L

vs. St. John’s (April 6)

The Notre Dame baseball team (15-10, 3-4 BIG EAST) will look to build on its six-game winning streak while playing host to its first BIG EAST Conference home series, versus St. John’s (12-12, 4-3) on April 6-7 (starting at noon each day) … the Irish opened their home season earlier this week, with wins over BYU (1-0) and Valparaiso (16-0, 12-1) … ND is slated to start freshman RHP John Axford (2-2, 3.51 ERA) and junior RHP J.P. Gagne (2-2, 3.06) in Saturday’s doubleheader while SJU will counter with freshman RHP Jim Wladyka (1-3, 4.38) and junior RHP Greg Holmes (2-1, 5.25) … Sunday’s probable starters are ND freshman RHP Chris Niesel and SJU senior RHP Charlie Bilezikjian (2-3, 3.89) … both teams have suffered major injury losses, with SJU’s top three starting pitchers all sidelined while ND freshman shortstops Matt Macri (elbow strain) and Matt Edward (broken leg) both are out for the year, with junior LF Brian Stavisky hoping to return next week (due to a facial fracture).

RADIO COVERAGE: South Bend’s ESPN Radio 1620 AM (WDND) and its sister station WHLY 1580 AM are slated to broadcast Notre Dame’s entire 56-game schedule in 2002 (plus all postseason action) … a real-audio link to internet broadcasts of the games 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 … all remaining ND baseball games in 2002 are slated to air on WDND 1620.

Today’s Probable ND Starting Pitchers

John Axford, Fr., RHP (last three games are starts)

(6 GP/3 GS, 3.51, 2-3, 25.2 IP, 25 H, 22 K/15 BB, .250 opp. avg., 3 WP, 1 HB)

at New Orleans (2/23, 7-8) … 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 6 BB, K, WP

vs. Fla. Int’l, in Homestead (3/2, 4-13) … loss, 2.1 IP, 5 H, 8 R/2 ER, 3 BB, K, WP

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

at Connecticut (3/24, 6-13) … loss, 5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 3 K, HB

vs. Georgetown (3/30, 12-3) … win, 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R/UER, 3 BB, 9 K, BK

Situationally: 14-of-26 leadoff batters reached (.538), 8-for-32 opp. batting with 2 outs, .246 with runners on base (14-for-57), 35 groundouts, 13 flyouts

J.P. Gagne, Jr., RHP (all are starts, except UConn)

(7 GP/6 GS, 3.06, 2-2, 35.1 IP, CG/ShO, 30 H, 28 K/5 BB, .231 opp. avg., 2 WP, 6 HB)

at New Orleans (2/23, 7-8) … 3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, BB, 3 K

vs. Duquesne, in Homestead (3/1, 6-0) … win, 7 IP, 2 H, 6 K, 2 HB

vs. Creighton, in Round Rock (3/11, 6-8) … loss, 6 IP, 5 H, 6 R/2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, WP

vs. So. Illinois, in San Antonio (3/16, 3-2) … 6 IP, 8 H, 2 R, BB, 4 K, WP, HB

at Connecticut (3/23, 8-9) … loss, 3.1 IP, 2 H, R/UER, 2 K, 2 HB

at West Virginia (3/28, 10-6) … IP, 6 H, 5 R, HB

vs. BYU (4/1, 1-0) … win, 9 IP, 3 H, 7 K

Situationally: 10-of-35 leadoff batters reached (.286), .220 opp. 2-out batting (9-for-41), .294 with runners on base (15-for-51), 34 groundouts, 36 flyouts

NOTRE DAME’S PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP * – lefthanded hitter, # – switch hitter

Pos. … Player … Yr. … Ht./Wt. … Hometown … 2002 Stats

LF … Ken Meyer … Sr. … 6-0/205 … Fort Myers, FL … .308, 7 RBI, 17 R, HR-3B-5 2B, 6 BB, 1-1 SB

Career vs. SJU: 10-for-24, 6 R, HR, 2 3B, 4 2B

CF … *Steve Stanley … Sr. … 5-8/155 … Upper Arlington, OH … .433, 13 RBI, 22 R, 18-22 SB, 3B-7 2B, 12 BB

ND records: consec. starts (213), H (311), SB (102)

2B … Steve Sollmann … So. … 5-10/190 … Cincinnati, OH … .288, 9 RBI, 10 R, 2B, 4 BB, 0-0 SB

Slowed by quad injury, 5 RBI vs. Valpo

C/3B … *Paul O’Toole … Sr. … 6-1/205 Lakewood, OH … .289, 21 RBI, 20 R, 5 HR-3 3B-4 2B, 9 BB, 5-8 SB

Last 10 games: 15-for-39 (.385), 14 RBI, 3 HR

3B/C … *Andrew Bushey … Sr. … 5-10/190 … Boardman, OH … .392, 21 RBI, 19 R, 3 HR-10 2B, 9 BB, 0-2 SB

BE Player of Week (6-for-9, UNO Classic)

RF … Kris Billmaier … Jr. … 5-10/200 … Woodinville, WA … .256, 8 RBI, 10 R, 3 2B, 6 BB, 2-2 SB

Hit go-ahead double in rally vs. USC

SS … Javier Sanchez … So. … 6-2/200 … Miami, FL … .289, 10 RBI, 17 R, HR-3B-4 2B, 11 BB

Team-best .440 batting in BIG EAST games

DH … #Matt Bok … Sr. … 5-10/190 … Akron, Ohio … .319, 10 RBI, 14 R, HR-8 2B, 4 BB, 0-1 SB

Hit solo HR in win over Missouri

1B … *Joe Thaman … So. 6-4/210 St. Louis, MO .263, 11 RBI, 10 R, HR-4 2B, 7 BB Ended UALR game with 2-run HR

ND-SJU SERIES NOTES

Series Record: ND leads 10-5 (4-3 at Eck)

Streak: ND has won last four meetings

SERIES NOTES – Notre Dame holds a 10-5 series edge versus St. John’s (4-3 at Eck Stadium), since joining the BIG EAST in 1996 … ND has won the last four meetings in the series, including 3-2, 5-0, 7-3 last year at SJU … the Irish posted BIG EAST Tournament wins over SJU in 1996 (4-00 and ’98 (3-2) … four of the games in the series have been decided by one run, with ND winning three.

BACK & FORTH – ND won the first two games of the SJU series (7-3 and then 4-0, in 1996) but the teams then alternated victories in the next 10 games, before ND’s sweep in 2001.

SLOW STARTER – The ND-SJU series featured just one regular-season game in 1996 and ’97 due to weather (ND also beat SJU in the ’96 BIG EAST Tournament, 4-0).

RARE LOSSES, IN MANY WAYS – SJU’s 3-0 win at ND on May 9, 1998, remains the only shutout loss for the Irish at Eck Stadium during the Paul Mainieri era (since 1995, a span of 206 games) … since that loss, ND has not been shut out during its last 90 home games while scoring in 219 of 221 overall games since that shutout defeat to SJU (the Irish have scored in 451 of 456 games under Mainieri, or 98.9 pct.) … ND has lost just five three-game BIG EAST series, with SJU owning two of them (’98, ’99) … Aaron Heilman 2-1 loss to SJU in ’98 was one of just seven losses in his 43-7 career.

Recapping The 2001 ND-SJU Games – Aaron Heilman (7 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 8 Ks, 12 GOs) and Danny Tamayo (9 IP, 30 BF, 2 H, BB, 9 Ks, 14 GOs, 75 of 107 pitches for Ks) tossed complete games in the 3-2, 5-0 doubleheader – with the dynamic duo allowing just seven balls to reach the outfield … ND plated three 1st-inning runs in the opener (capped by Andrew Bushey’s 2-run single) while Brian Stavisky had 3 RBI in the nightcap … J.P. Gagne’s strong outing (7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 Ks) then completed the sweep in the 7-3 series finale, with Alec Porzel’s two-run HR and RBI double highlighting a 12-hit attack (Bushey also had 3 RBI) … Gagne did not allow a hit or walk until the 5th inning … Matt Buchmeier picked up the save (2 H, R).

YOU AGAIN? – The SJU pitching staff had its fill of current ND senior DH Ken Meyer during the 2000 series vs. the Irish … Meyer hit safely in all 8 ABs vs. SJU in 2000 while scoring 6 runs and collecting 18 total bases (HR, 2 triples, 3 doubles, 2 singles) … Meyer owns a .417 career batting avg. vs. SJU (10-for-24), with 21 TBs for an .875 slugging pct.

Series Stats

Billmaier (.200) … 2-for-10, RBI, 3 R, 2B, 2 BB, SB

Bok (.000) … 0-for-8, BB, 2 K

Bushey (.407) … 11-for-27, 4 RBI, 5 R, 3 2B, 2 BB, 5 K

Meyer (.417) … 10-for-24, RBI, 6 R, HR, 2 3B, 4 2B, 3 K

O’Toole (.321) … 9-for-28, 2 RBI, 4 R, 2B, 4 BB, 4 K, SB

Sollmann (.182) … 2-for-11, 2 R, 3B, BB, 3 K, SB

Stanley (.235) … 8-for-34, 4 RBI, 8 R, 2 2B, 5 BB, 4 K, 5 SB

Stavisky (.350) … 7-for-20, 7 RBI, 3 R, HR, 2B

Strickroth (.417) … 5-for-12, 4 RBI, 2 2B

Thaman (.100) … 1-for-10, R, BB, K

Buchmeier … 3 GP, SV, 9.82, 7.1 IP, 10 H, 5 K, 6 BB, HB

Gagne … 2 GS, 1-0, 3.46, 13 IP, 13 H, 7 K, 4 BB

Duff … GP, 1.0 IP, 4 H, K, 2 BB, WP

TURNING THE CORNER: In addition to early-season injury woes, Notre Dame’s 9-9 start also could be traced to other factors, including:

Batting With Runners In Scoring Position

First 18 games – .272 … Last 7 games – .391

Two-Out Batting Average

First 18 games – .235 … Last 7 games – .264

Batting With Bases Loaded

First 18 games – .167 (3-for-18) … Last 7 games – .400 (6-for-15)

Fielding Percentage (Errors)

First 18 games – .964 (40, 2.2/gm) … Last 7 games – .987 (3, 0.4/gm)

Opponent Unearned Runs

First 18 games – 32 (1.8/gm) … Last 7 games – .5 (0.7/gm)

Bullpen ERA

First 18 games – 4.42 … Last 7 games – 0.86

Bullpen Opponent Batting Average

First 18 games – .329 … Last 7 games – .222

First-Inning Scoring Margin

First 18 games – 2-11 … Last 7 games – 15-6

First-Inning Batting Average

First 18 games – .177 … Last 7 games – .485

RBI Margin Via Home Runs

First 18 games – 18 (on 12 HRs) – 20 (on 8) … Last 7 games – 9 (on 4) – 2 (on 1)

Big Innings (5-Plus Runs)

First 18 games – 2 … Last 7 games – 5

HEAD COACH PAUL MAINIERI: Eighth-year ND head coach Paul Mainieri owns a 651-413-1 (.612) record in 19-plus college seasons … in addition to his 319-134-1 (.704) mark 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 319 wins now 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) … 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.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION: The ND pitching staff once again owns an impressive strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.62, 181/69), which would rank second in team history (since ’48) behind the 2001 staff (2.92) … the low walk total (2.90/9 IP) would rank 3rd in ND history, behind the ’01 (2.48) and ’94 (2.82) teams … ND starting pitchers have posted a 3.58 K-to-walk ratio (129/36) in 2002 starts, led by juniors J.P. Gagne (26/5) and Peter Ogilvie (14/3) and freshmen Chris Niesel (31/9), John Axford (18/6), Grant Johnson (33/12) and Martin Vergara (7/1).

NO E’s ALLOWED: The ND defense has not made an error in the past three games, with the previous six seasons producing just two ND streaks of four straight errorless games: May 3-7, 2000 (vs. Oakland, 3-game series vs. Pitt.) and May 17-27, 2001 (BET vs. Va. Tech, Rutgers and VT, plus NCAAs vs. Wis.-Milwaukee).

FRESHMAN FORCE: Notre Dame’s six freshman pitchers have combined for a 9-6 record in 27 appearances and 15 starts, plus a 3.98 combined ERA in 120 innings, with 110 strikeouts, just 45 walks and 119 hits allowed.

BOUNCE BACK: Several Irish players have recovered from early-season slumps to post solid offensive numbers during the past 10 games, most notably: sophomore 2B Steve Sollmann (.450, 9-for-20, 7 RBI), senior C Paul O’Toole (.385, 15-for-39, 14 RBI), junior RF Kris Billmaier (.364, 12-for-33, 4 RBI) and sophomore 1B Joe Thaman (.312, 10-for-32, 6 RBI) … in the previous 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).

JAVI ANSWERS THE CALL: Sophomore Javier Sanchez – thrust into the fulltime starting SS role due to the season-ending injuries suffered by freshmen Matt Macri and Matt Edwards – already has proven that he is up to the challenge, with his early .440 batting average in BIG EAST games ranking 9th in the conference … his recent clutch plays have included the two-run, 10th-inning double that gave ND the lead at WVU (a 10-6 win) and his first career home run two days later to cap a five-run 1st inning in the second game vs. Georgetown … Sanchez also has steadied his defense at the key SS position, with no errors in the last seven games (compared to 10 in his first 14).

BROKEN RECORDS: Senior CF and national player-of-the-year candidate Steve Stanley already has claimed three ND career records, for consecutive starts (now 213), hits (311) and stolen bases (102) … he also has moved into 3rd on the ND career at-bats list (836), ranks 5th in runs scored (201, ’92 grad. Craig Counsell is 4th with 204) and has pushed his career batting average to .372, which would tie Scott Sollmann for 3rd in ND history.

STREAKS FOR ALL SEASONS: Stanley opened the season with a 13-game hitting streak (the fifth double-digit hitting streak of his career and second-longest overall) before adding a 10-game hitting streak that ended in his short stint during the nightcap vs. Valparaiso (0-for-2) … Stanley – who closed the 2001 season by batting 14-for-23 in the NCAAs – has three four-hit games this season, vs. Fairfield, Sacred Heart and Creighton (bringing his career total to 10 four-hit games, plus a 5-for-5 game vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the 2001 NCAAs) … his career-best hitting streak lasted 16 games in the 2000 season, (he also had a 12-game hitting streak in ’99 and 10-game hitting streaks in ’00 and ’01) … Stanley’s team-best .433 season batting average includes 12 walks and four sacrifice bunts … he has registered hits in 23 of 25 games in 2002 (30 of the last 32, including the final seven of 2001).

AN SB A DAY: Stanley has swiped 18-of-22 stolen bases this season, which puts him on pace to challenge the ND single-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 102 career SBs rank first in ND history, besting Sollmann’s record total of 101 (from ’94-’96).

BIG EAST BUGGER: Two major BIG EAST career records also are within Stanley’s grasp, as he already ranks 4th in conference hits (122) and 5th in runs (86) – needing nine hits and five runs to move into 2nd on both lists … former Rutgers players Darren Fenster (138 hits) and David DeJesus (93 runs) currently hold 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 … others among the BIG EAST top four in career hits are Pete Zoccolillo (130, Rutgers, ’96-’99) and Mike Scott (126, Providence/UConn, ’99-’01) … others ahead of Stanley on the BIG EAST runs list include Fenster (90), Brian Fili (88, Villanova, ’94-’97) and Zoccolillo (87).

PENCIL HIM IN, OR USE PEN: Stanley has started all 213 games of his ND career (all in CF) while logging all but 20 innings in CF during his four seasons (he played every inning of 60 straight games, before yielding to George Howard late in the 6th inning of both 7-inning Valparaiso games) … the familiar #2 – who has totaled just seven errors in 486 career fielding chances (.992) – has patrolled CF in 98.90% of the innings (1,801.2 of 1,821.2), including all but two of 513 as a freshman (his classmate Paul O’Toole played the final two innings in a 20-10 loss at Northwestern on April 6, 1999) … Stanley then played in CF for the final 267.2 innings of ’99 and the first 497 of 2000 – a span of 764.2 consecutive innings in CF – before being replaced by 2001 grad Ben Cooke for the final five innings of the 8-1 NCAA loss at Mississippi St. (the Irish fell into an early 7-0 hole and Stanley reluctantly left the game due to illness) … in 2001, he patrolled center in all but nine of 547.2 innings – with Mike Naumann inserted into CF for the final inning vs. Texas-Pan American (14-9) while Cooke played the final two frames in the second 3-0 at Pittsburgh and John Heintz played the position for the final four innings vs. Hillsdale (9-2) and for the final two innings of the 15-3 win over Seton Hall (becoming the only ND player other than Stanley to play CF at Eck Stadium during the past four seasons, prior to Howard earlier this week).

WEEKLY STATS (vs. BYU, Valpo)

Billmaier … 5-for-10, 3 RBI, 4 R, 2 2B, BB

Sollmann … 4-for-8, 5 RBI, 2 R, 2B, BB

Thaman … 4-for-9, 3 RBI, 3 R, 2B, BB, SF

Stanley … 3-for-7 , RBI, 4 R, 2 BB, HBP, SAC, 3 SB

Meyer … 3-for-8, RBI, 3 R, 2B, BB, HBP, K

O’Toole … 3-for-10, RBI, 2 R, 3B, K, SF

Bushey … 3-for-11, 4 RBI, 3 R, 2B, K

Sanchez … 2-for-7, 3 R, 2B, 3 BB, HBP

Strickroth … 2-for-3, 2 R, 2B, BB, K

Holba … 1-for-5, R, 2B, K

Bok … 1-for-3, R, 2B, K, SF

Milligan … 1-for-2, R, K

Sisko … 1-for-1, RBI, SAC

Weiss … 0-for-2

Milsom … 0-for-2, RBI, BB, K

Howard … 0-for-2, K

TEAM … .367, 29 R, 3B, 10 2B, 12 BB, 9 K, 0 E

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

201 runs scored, 102 stolen bases, 100 walks, 98 RBI

Senior 3B Andrew Bushey

192 hits, 99 runs scored, 97 RBI, 45 doubles

Senior DH Matt Bok

100 hits

Sophomore 2B Steve Sollmann

95 hits

Senior C Paul O’Toole

197 games played, 48 stolen bases

Junior RF Kris Billmaier

97 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).

SCORING STREAK: Notre Dame heads into the Valparaiso doubleheader riding the school record for consecutive games with at least one run scored (208) … the Irish scored in the final 58 games of 1999 and in every game of 2000 (64), ’01 (63) and ’02 (23), 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 (444 of 449), 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-games (April 23, 1930-May 26, 1937) and 103-games (May 25, 1907-May 17, 1912).