March 22, 2001
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NOTRE DAME BASEBALL GAMEDAY NOTES
Friday, March 23, 2001 … at Pittsburgh … Trees Field
PLAY (BIG EAST) BALL: The 8th-ranked Notre Dame baseball team (14-2-1)-picked by the conference coaches, Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball to win the 2001 BIG EAST Conference title-opens BIG EAST play Friday with its first trip to the University of Pittsburgh since 1997 before heading down to Blacksburg, Va., for doubleheader action at BIG EAST newcomer Virginia Tech on Sunday, March 25 … both DHs start at noon EST and all the action can be heard live on South Bend-based WJVA 1580 AM (also via the internet, at www.und.com) … the Irish are riding a nine-game unbeaten streak and are off to their best 17-game start in 91 seasons, dating back to the 16-1 start by the 1910 team … ND capped its Spring Break trip by winning Fresno State’s eight-team Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic, with three wins over 2000 NCAA tournament teams (Fresno State, Miami of Ohio and Illinois) and a 3-0 shutout of New Mexico (which won the 2000 Mountain West Conference regular-season title) … the title-game victory over Portland t the Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic was the 600th victory in the 19-year head coaching career of Paul Mainieri (now in his seventh season at ND, he is 601-392-1/.605 overall and 269-113-1/.704 at ND).
SERIES NOTES: ND leads the all-time series with Pittsburgh 16-2, including a wild late-season series in 2000 at Eck Stadium (ND took the series 7-0, 11-8 in 10 inn., 18-22) and another slugfest in a BIG EAST Tournament elimination game (the Irish won 15-7) … Aaron Heilman posted one of three 7-inning shutouts of his career in the 2000 series opener (2H, BB, 8 Ks) while Paul O’Toole smacked a 3-run HR in that game … current SS shortstop Alec Porzel then won the nightcap with a 3-run shot in the 10th while John Corbin tossed three strong innings for the win (10 BF, BB, 2 Ks) … Pitt won the wild series finale, thanks to 10 runs in the top of the 9th … the loss spoiled Porzel’s record-setting six-hit day (see note below) … the teams combined for 49 hits, 66 baserunners and 85 total bases … recent games in the series also include three narrow ’99 wins for the Irish at Eck Stadium (4-1, 3-2, 9-8) and a pair of victories in ’98 at Three Rivers Stadium (11-1, 12-7, third game rained out) … the Irish posted a pair of home wins over Pittsburgh in ’96 (8-3, 2-0) and split a pair at Pittsburgh in ’97 (11-8, 6-7) … the teams first met in 1951 (a pair of Irish wins at Pitt, 5-3 and 10-5), with the Irish taking two from the Panthers at home in 1952 (18-3, 9-4) … the only game between the teams from 1953-95 came in 1989, a 16-9 Irish win in Orlando, Fla.
SIX-HIT CYCLE – Current senior SS Alec Porzel was more than just an observer in Notre Dame’s wild 22-18 loss to Pittsburgh on May 7, 2000, at Eck Stadium-as Porzel turned in one of the most noteworthy accomplishments in Notre Dame baseball history by batting 6-for-6 and hitting for the cycle-including both a traditional and an inside-the-park home run. He became the first player to record six hits in a game in the 108-year history of ND baseball and is the first Irish player to hit for the cycle since at least the mid-1980s (boxscore records are incomplete prior to ’85)-with the addition of an inside-the-park HR making his day one of the more unique accomplishments in baseball. Porzel tied the BIG EAST single-game hit record and his 15 total bases came three shy of the BIG EAST record. He is just the second known Irish player to record five-plus hits in a losing effort. Porzel had registered four-plus hits just once previously and it marked just the second game in his Irish career that Porzel had been credited with two home runs. His previous 2-HR game also was unconventional, as he hit one on May 19, 1999, and one the next day-in a rain-suspended BIG EAST Tournament game vs. West Virginia. The six-hit game included: an RBI triple to right-center in the first (1 out, 0-2 pitch), a two-out, 2-1 hit to shallow left-center that kicked past the sliding centerfielder and rolled to the track for a third-inning HR, a two-out, first-pitch single to center in the fifth, and three straight leadoff hits in the seventh (full-count double to left-center), eighth (2-2 home run to left) and ninth (1-0 single through the left side).
CAREER STATS VS. PITT: ND’s current offensive players have put up some impressive career stats vs. Pittsburgh, with the 10 who have played previously vs. the Panthers combining for a .324 batting average (none below .286) … the most noteworthy series numbers belong to senior SS Alec Porzel (.432, 16-for-37, 16 RBI, 6 HR, 3B, 3 2B, 1.054 slugging pct., 15 R, 2 BB, K) … other top stat from the Pitt series include sophomore LF Kris Billmaier (.667, 6-for-9, 6 RBI, HR, 2 2B, 6 R, BB, K), junior OF Matt Strickroth (.600, 6-for-10, 5 RBI, HR, 2B, 2 R, BB, K) and junior C Paul O’Toole (.400, 12-for-30, 11 RBI, 3 HR, 2B, 9 R, BB, 6 K, 1-1 SB) … none of the ND pitchers who could see time on the hill on Friday have logged significant innings vs. the Panthers.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS (see www.pittsburghpanthers.com for detailed information): Pittsburgh was one of the surprise teams of the 2000 BIG EAST Conference season, sneaking into the BIG EAST tournament with a sixth-place finish … the Panthers return 25 of 33 letterwinners from their 2000 team that posted a 31-24 overall record (11-15 in the BIG EAST) … Pitt’s biggest loss was 2nd team all-BIG EAST 3B Joe Lydic (.340, 19 HR, 49 RBI) … the BIG EAST coaches slotted Pittsburgh ninth in the 2001 preseason coaches poll, with Brad Rea getting the nod as the preseason 1st team all-BIG EAST DH (he hit .313 in 2000, with 10 home runs and 48 RBI).
IRISH STEADY IN THE POLLS: Notre Dame (13-2-1) has earned consensus top-10 status in each of the three major national polls for the first time in the program’s history. The Irish maintained the eighth spot in the Collegiate Baseball magazine poll while moving up from 11th to 10th in the Baseball America poll and rising from 10th to 9th in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll … Pepperdine dropped from 9th to 13th in the BA poll, from 9th to 18th in the coaches poll and from 6th to 18th in the CB poll (Miami’s rise from 9th to 7th kept the Irish 8th in that poll) … Rice retained the top ranking in the CB and coaches poll while Stanford still holds down the top spot in the BA poll … five other teams are ranked ahead of the Irish in each of the three polls: Georgia Tech, Nebraska, Arizona State, Miami and South Carolina … LSU is ranked ahead of Notre Dame in the BA (8th) and coaches (6th) polls while USC is one spot ahead of the Irish in the BA poll (9th).
PROBABLE ROTATION (all RHP):
Danny Tamayo … Sr. … 6-1/240 … Miami, FL … 2.08, 2-1, 5 GS, 34.2 IP, 32 K/6 BB, .179 opp. avg. … 3-hit shutout vs. New Mexico (2 BB, 5 K)
Aaron Heilman … Sr. … 6-5/225 … Logansport, IN … 1.66, 5-0, 5 GS, 38 IP, 35 K/7 BB, .191 opp. avg. … Winningest pitcher at ND in 77 years (33-7)
J.P. Gagne … So. … 6-0/200 … Bloomington, MN … 6.89, 0-1, 5 GP/1 GS, 15.2 IP, 8 K/7 BB, .317 opp. avg. … Won first five decisions of 2000 season
Matt Buchmeier … Jr. … 6-0/190 … Greenwood, IN … 2.86, 1-0, 4 GS, 22 IP, 15 K/5 BB, .272 opp. avg. … No-decision vs. Miami Univ. (6 IP, 7 H, 2 R, BB, 6 K)
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP (* – lefthanded hitter, # – switch hitter)
CF … *Steve Stanley … Jr. … 5-7/150 … Upper Arlington, OH … .385, 8 RBI, 14 R, 6 2B, 4 BB, 7 K, 7-9 SB, 3 SAC … .349 career batting avg., with 60 SBs, 142 consecutive starts (all CF)
C … *Paul O’Toole … Jr. … 6-2/215 … Lakewood, OH … .241, 11 RBI, 8 R, 2 HR, 2 2B, 5 BB, 5 K, 4 HBP, 4-9 SB … Ended slump vs. UNM, Navy (4-for-9, solo HR vs. Lobos)
SS … Alec Porzel … Sr. … 6-0/195 … Lisle, IL … .188, 5 RBI, 12 R, 3B, 4 2B, 9 BB, 7 K, HBP, 2-3 SB … Just one error, preseason BIG EAST player of the year (CB)
RF … *Brian Stavisky … So. … 6-3/220 … Port Allegany, PA … .385, 14 RBI, 10 R, HR, 2 3B, 4 2B, 8 BB, 9 K, 3-3 SB … National Player of the Week, 2/19 (9-for-13, 10 consec. on-base)
LF … Kris Billmaier … So. … 5-9/195 … Woodinville, WA … .262, 14 RBI, 7 R, 3 2B, 3 BB, 6 K, 3 HBP, 2-2 SB … Batting .450 (10-for-20) with runners in scoring position
1B … *Joe Thaman … Fr. … 6-4/205 … St. Louis, MO … .295, 10 RBI, 6 R, HR, 8 2B, 6 BB, 13 K, 0-1 SB … 9 of his 18 hits have gone for extra bases, just one error
3B/C … *Andrew Bushey … Jr. … 5-10/190 … Boardman, OH … .295, 4 RBI, 13 R, 3B, 4 2B, 6 BB, 11 K, 1-4 SB … Has made 7 starts at catcher (7 SB throwouts)
DH … Ken Meyer … Jr. … 6-0/210 … Fort Myers, FL … .281, 2 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB, 7 K … Hit .478 in 2000 BIG EAST games
or Matt Strickroth … Jr. … 6-5/230 … Mission Viejo, CA … .143, 4 RBI, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 BB, 7 K … Hit pair of towering first-pitch HRs at UOP
2B … Steve Sollmann … Fr. … 5-10/180 … Cincinnati, OH … .417, 11 RBI, 12 R, HR, 3 2B, 9 BB, 10 K, 3-8 SB, 2 SAC … Spring Break: 14-for-27 (.519), 7 RBI, 7 R, HR, 2 2B, 3 BB
RESERVES (* – lefthanded hitter, # – switch hitter)
DH/RF … #Matt Bok … Jr. … 5-10/190 … Akron, OH … .133, 3 RBI, 3 R, HR, BB, 4 K, 2 SAC, 0-1 SB … RBI from both sides in NCAA comeback vs. Tulane (10-6)
UTIL … #Ben Cooke … Sr. … 5-9/175 … Bay Village, OH .286, RBI, R, 3 BB, 5 K … Delivered hit-and-run RBI single vs. UNM (starter at 3B)
3B … Javier Sanchez … Fr. … 6-2/190 … Miami, FL … 0-for-4, K
C … Soran Leahy … Fr. … 6-1/80 … Buffalo Grove, IL … 1 GP, R, BB
CF … John Heintz … Jr. … 5-8/160 … Tucson, AZ
BULLPEN
RHP … Brandon Viloria … So. … 5-11/215 … Wailuku, HI … 1.64, 3-0, 5 GP, 11.0 IP, 3 K/3 BB, .167 opp. avg. … Spring Break: save vs. EMU, wins over Fresno St., Portland
RHP … Matt Laird … So. … 6-1/200 … Bellaire, TX … 2.00, 1-0, 3 SV, 7 GP, 9 IP, 8 K/6 BB, .179 opp. avg. … Picked up save and win at Mississippi State
LHP … Mike Naumann … Sr. … 6-0/180 … Tucson, AZ … 2.16, 1-0, 5 GP, 8.1 IP, K, BB, .344 opp. avg. … 8-1 career, posted 3-2, 11-inn. win over Miami Univ. (5 IP, 4 H, K)
RHP … Aaron Edwards … Fr. … 6-2/195 … Chambersburg, PA … 5.40, 2 GP, 3.1 IP, 1 K/ 5 BB. .250 opp. avg. … BIG EAST preseason rookie of the year (BA)
RHP … Drew Duff … Jr. … 5-10/185 … Sevierville, TN … 9.00, 3 GP, 5.0 IP, 3 K/3 BB, .364 opp. avg.
RHP … Mike Morgalis … Fr. … 6-4/210 … Cincinnati, OH Pitched vs. Devil Rays in relief
RHP … Nick Colagiovanni … Fr. … 6-1/190 … Garfield Hts, OH … Pitched vs. Devil Rays in relief
READY TO ROAR: Notre Dame won eight of its first 10 games for the second consecutive season and is in the midst of a three-year stretch that has seen the Irish win 32 more games than it has lost during the months of February and March (46-24-1), including 16-7 in 1999, 16-5 in 2000 and the current 14-2-1 mark … that early success stands in stark contrast to the starts of the 1995 (11-10) and 1997 (12-11) seasons that saw the Irish forced to rally with strong play in April and May … the current 14-2-1 record is ND’s best after 17 games in 91 seasons, since the 1910 team started 16-1 (that team improved to 19-1 and finished the season with a 19-3 record) … Notre Dame’s athletic teams were not known by the Fighting Irish nickname until 20 years after that 1910 campaign.
BIG EAST OPENERS: Notre Dame won its BIG EAST Conference opener in four of the previous five seasons, with a 9-0 road victory over Boston College in 1996, a 5-4 loss at Seton Hall in `97, a 7-6 win over Georgetown in `98, and 4-1 win at West Virginia in `99 and a 4-0 win over Villanova 2000 (played in downtown Philadelphia) … the Irish also posted a 9-4 combined record from 1996-2000 in their first BIG EAST series of those seasons (the `97 team dropped all three games at SHU while the 2000 squad lost the finale with Villanova, 11-5).
PITCHING IN THE CLUTCH: Notre Dame’s pitching staff has allowed 37 percent of leadoff batters to reach base while allowing just a .224 overall batting average by the opponents … more impressively, the Irish pitchers have beared down with runners in scoring position-holding opposing hittters to just .174 batting with runners on second or third base (50 points below the opponents overall batting average) … senior RHP Danny Tamayo (22.9%) has been ND’s top pitcher in terms of keeping leadoff batters off base while four others-Peter Ogilvie (.143), Aaron Heilman (.179), Matt Laird (.125) and Matt Buchmeier (.176)-have posted impressive opponent batting averages with runners on base.
HAWAII 3-0: Sophomore RHP Brandon Viloria (Wailuku, Hawaii) had a productive week out of the bullpen during the spring break trip, picking up a save vs. Eastern Michigan (4-3) before posting tightly-contested wins over Fresno State (5-4 in 10 innings) and Portland (7-6 in the title game of the Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic).
NO SPRING CHICKENS: Freshman 2B Steve Sollmann has surged to the team batting lead (.417), thanks to a .519 average during the eight Spring Break games (14-for-27) while the other Steve S.-junior CF Steve Stanley-hit .441 during the Spring Break games (15-for-34) and is batting .384 overall … those two players earned all-tournament honors at the Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic, as did senior RHP Aaron Heilman.
TOURNAMENT TOUGH: ND is 53-18-1 (.747) in regular-season tournaments during the Paul Mainieri era, including a 1998 win over Florida State, wins in 2000 over Wake Forest, Georgia and Illinois (2) and this season’s wins over Mississippi State (2), Fresno State and Illinois … the Irish are 19-3-1 in their last 23 regular-season tournament games, dating back to a 9-7 loss to Minnesota on March 4 of last season and ND has posted a winning (or even) record in its last 11 tournament showings.
WORKING OVERTIME: Notre Dame is 8-0-1 in its last nines extra-inning games, since losing a 10-7 game to Boston College on April 17, 1999 (in a seven-inning game that ended in the eighth) … that streak includes a rare happening at last week’s Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic, with the Irish tying Navy (4-4 in 10) before beating Fresno State (5-4 in 10) and Miami of Ohio (3-2 in 11) … in addition to the 11-inning win earlier this season at Mississippi State (4-2), the extra-inning streak includes wins over Oakland (7-6 in 10, 4/30/99), Villanova (7-3 in 10, 3/25/00), West Virginia (3-1 in 7-inn. game extended to 10, 4/15/00), Michigan (5-4 in 11, 4/26/00) and Pittsburgh (11-8 in 10, 5/6/00) … the VU and WVU games both came on the road while the Michigan win was held on neutral ground, at Old Kent Park (just outside of Grand Rapids, Mich.).
NAUMANN RECEIVES SCHOLARSHIP FROM BIG EAST: Notre Dame senior LHP Mike Naumann (Tucson, Ariz.) is one of four BIG EAST baseball players who have been awarded a $2,000 scholarship for use towards postgraduate studies … AEROPOSTALE Stores is the official apparel of BIG EAST Championships and also is the sponsor of the conference’s Post Graduate Student-Athlete Scholarship Program … each BIG EAST school nominated a male and female student-athlete for the scholarship program, with other BIG EAST baseball players that were nominated by their schools including Mike Scott (Connecticut), Matt Irvin (Pittsburgh), (Baseball) and Brian Leighton (Seton Hall) … Naumann earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in 2000 and carries a 3.92 cumulative grad-point average as a pre-professional science major (he has been accepted to Baylor’s medical school and plans to attend that prestigious institution beginning in the fall of 2001).
CONFERENCE WINNING PCT. – Over the course of its first six BIG EAST seasons (1996-2001), Notre Dame ranks first in the 11-member conference with: a .713 overall winning percentage (229-92-1, Rutgers was second at .634, heading into 2001), a .736 BIG EAST regular-season winning percentage (81-29, Rutgers is second at .713) and a .720 winning percentage in combined BIG EAST regular-season and tournament games (106-41-1, Rutgers was second at .690 prior to 2001) … St. John’s owns the best BIG EAST Tournament winning pct. during the past five seasons (.600, 10-6), followed by Notre Dame at .524 (11-10) … the double-elimination tournament has been the ultimate bugaboo for Notre Dame, with the same team providing the Irish losses during each of the first three seasons (WVU in ’96, Villanova in ’97, Rutgers in ’98) before the Irish were beaten by complete game-efforts from Seton Hall and Providence in ’99, followed by a pair of losses to Boston College in 2000.
GAME-ENDING HOME RUNS: Senior SS Alec Porzel has made a name for himself when it comes to game-ending home runs. In addition to his 10th-inning blast vs. Pittsburgh (11-8) on May 7, 2000, Porzel also beat the Panthers with a first-pitch, walkoff home run to cap the ’99 Pittsburgh series (3-2, in the ninth). As a freshman, he ended the longest game in Eck Stadium history with a 15th-inning homer vs. West Virginia (5-3). Most recently, Porzel’s first career grand slam broke an 7-7 tie in the eighth inning of the 15-7 BIG EAST Tournament win over Pittsburgh.
SERIES SUCCESS: In five BIG EAST seasons, Notre Dame owns 34 series wins, five series losses and five series ties. The Irish have won 17 of their last 19 BIG EAST series (’99 series tie at Rutgers, ’99 series loss to St. John’s) and 29 of the last 34 (three ties). Notre Dame has played 42 all-time BIG EAST doubleheaders, sweeping 22 (18 splits, just two opponent sweeps). The Irish have played 33 straight BIG EAST doubleheaders since last being swept (at Seton Hall, March 22, 1997). The only other DH sweep by a BIG EAST team over Notre Dame was by West Virginia in ’96 (at Eck Stadium). The Irish have played 23 BIG EAST series at Eck, winning 19 (one tie) and have won their last nine home BIG EAST series, since dropping one to St. John’s in ’98.
TOP-FIVE CONFERENCE: BIG EAST baseball heads into 2001 with a prestigious ranking from Baseball America, which rated the BIG EAST as the nation’s fifth-best Division I baseball conference, behind traditional power conferences (SEC, ACC, Pac-10, Big 12). Four current BIG EAST teams participated in the 2000 NCAAs: Notre Dame, Rutgers, Seton Hall and newcomer Virginia Tech (formerly of the Atlantic-10). Five other current BIG EAST teams advanced to the NCAAs in the 1990s while the league consistently has produced high draft picks and NCAA statistical leaders (see p. 89). TRAVEL – Notre Dame’s schedule regularly takes the baseball team to top-notch facilities and noteworthy cities. In seven seasons, the Irish have visited: Fullerton and Long Beach, Calif., Seattle, Wash. (Kingdome), San Antonio, Texas, four Florida cities (Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville and St. Petersburg), Atlanta, Ga., New Orleans, La., Boston, Mass., Washington, D.C., New York City, and Minneapolis, Minn. (Metrodome).
SHILLIDAY, LIDGE LEAD DOMINATING DH AT THREE RIVERS: Alex Shilliday and Brad Lidge highlighted a dominating 25-strikeout doubleheader by the ND pitching staff, vs. Pitt on April 18, 1998, at Three Rivers Stadium (11-0, 12-1) … Shilliday and Lidge both pitched seven innings while and closed the nightcap … the 48 outs broke down as follows: 25 Ks, 15 groundouts, 3 DP balls, 3 popups, 1 caught stealing, 1 flyout … ND allowed nine baserunners (4 H, 4 BB, HP) while facing 53 batters, five over the minimum … Shilliday was working on a no-hitter in the 6th before Aaron Vicari’s first-pitch bunt down the 1B line … Shilliday needed just 79 pitches and faced 23 batters (1 H, 1 HP, 9 Ks, 8 GOs) … the game marked the first solo one-hitter by an Irish pitcher in five years, since David Sinnes posted a 6-0 win at Evansville on April 24, 1993 (9 IP, 1 BB, 1 HP, 5 K’s, 31 BF) … Chris McKeown and Tim Kalita one-hit Bowling Green in ’97 … Shilliday allowed one ball to leave the infield-Harry Ciavarella’s game-ending flyout to center … Lidge (109 pitchers) racked up a career-best 12 Ks and faced just 25 batters over 7 IP (2 H, 3 BB, 6 GOs) … Lidge’s 12 Ks equaled the most by an ND pitcher since Bob Bartlett’s 13 vs. Bethel in 1980.
STRONG STARTS: Senior RHP Danny Tamayo and sophomore RHP J.P. Gagne will be looking to extend the impressive performances by Notre Dame starting pitchers during the 2001 season, as the Irish starters have combined for a 2.05 ERA through the first 17 games … the bulk of those starts (14) have come from the regular three-man rotation-Tamayo, senior RHP Aaron Heilman and junior RHP Matt Buchmeier-with sophomore RHP Peter Ogilvie doing his part vs. Navy in his first collegiate outing (5 IP, UER, 3 H, 2 Ks) before tossing seven shutout innings in Wednesday’s win over Cleveland State (3 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks) … the other combined stats for ND starting pitchers in 2001 include a 9-1 record in 114 innings pitched, with 92 Ks, 24 walks and 82 hits allowed (for nine-inning averages of 8.2 Ks, 1.9 BBs and 6.5 hits) … Tamayo (2.08, 2-1, 34. 2 IP, 32 Ks, 6 BB, 22 H) tossed an impressive three-hit shutout vs. New Mexico last week (3-0) while Gagne had no decision as the starter in the 5-4, 10-inning win over host Fresno State (7. IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 5 Ks) … Heilman (1.66, 5-0, 38 IP, 35 Ks, 7 BB, 27 H) is locked into his fourth All-America season while Buchmeier (2.86, 1-0, 22 IP, 15 Ks, 5 BB, 22 H) had a solid no-decision in last week’s 3-2, 11-inning win over Miami of Ohio (6 IP, 7 H, 2 R, BB, 6 Ks) … ND’s overall 2.66 team ERA includes a 4.19 ERA by the bullpen-led by Brandon Viloria (1.64, 3-0, SV, 11 IP, 3 Ks, 3 BB, 7 H) and his fellow sophomore RHP Matt Laird (2.00, 1-0, 3 SV, 9 IP, 8 Ks, 6 BB, 5 H), who is settling into the closer role occupied the past two season by ND all-time saves leader John Corbin (20, including 11 in 2000).
FIT TO BE TIED: The 4-4 game with Navy was the 17th tie in the 109-year history of Notre Dame baseball and the first since 1989, when the Irish played a 5-5 game at Northwestern … it also marked the first tie in the 19-year coaching career of Irish skipper Paul Mainieri (coming in his 990th game).
HITTING IN THE CLUTCH: ND’s team batting average has dipped to .295 but is 13 points lower with runners in scoring position (.282) … by contrast, the Irish batted .299 overall in the 2000 season but hit 14 points higher (.313) with runners in scoring position … the lack of clutch hitting has seen the Irish total just 54 runs in the last 12 games (4.5/gm), with the Irish breaking the five-run plateau in back-to-back wins over Illinois (9-5) and Portland (7-6) … sophomores Brian Stavisky (.409) and Kris Billmaier (.450) have been among ND’s top hitters with runners in scoring position, with Steve Stanley is now owning the team’s top batting avg. with RBI chances (.467) while Steve Sollmann is at .412.
CLEARING THE COBWEBS: ND has totaled just nine runs in the first two innings this season (five in the first, four in the second)-with three of those runs coming in timely fashion, vs. Portland in the title game of the Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic … the Irish bats typically have awakened in the third (10 runs), fourth (16) and fifth (10) innings … the 7th inning continues to be ND’s most dominant (18-3, including 4-0 in Fresno) while ND’s third-most productive inning has been the 8th (14) … the Irish have yielded 16 runs in both the 8th and 9th innings, compared to just 30 in the first seven innings combined.
SCORING STREAK: By scoring vs. Navy on March 12, Notre Dame set the team record for consecutive games with at least one run scored (134), dating back to a 12-0 loss at Florida International on Feb. 21, 1999 (the streak now stands at 139 games) … ND set the previous record by scoring in the each of the first 133 games of the Paul Mainieri era (Feb. 24, 1995-March 9, 1997) and has scored in of 378 of 383 total games during the Mainieri era (98.7 percent).
SHUTOUT CITY: ND’s last 19 games have including three shutout performances by Irish pitchers … Danny Tamayo tossed a three-hit shutout at Mississippi State in the 2000 NCAA Regional (3-0) before duplicating that feat in last week’s 3-0 win over New Mexico … Aaron Heilman blanked Florida Atlantic on five hits to lead ND’s 3-0 win over the Blue Wave on March 2.
CAREER STAT NOTES: Notre Dame’s top career batting averages belong to junior CF Steve Stanley (.349) and a pair of sophomores: RF Brian Stavisky (.313) and LF Kris Billmaier (.315) … senior SS Alec Porzel needs one home run and two stolen bases to become the first “30-30” player in ND baseball history … Porzel already ranks 10th in the ND record book for career games started (193) while his 715 career at-bats rank 8th, just three behind `94 grad. Greg Layson … Porzel has pushed his career double total to 54, good for 5th in ND history and four behind 1996 grad. Mike Amrhein (Eric Danapilis holds the record, with 61 from 1990-93) … his 162 career RBI leave him three shy of cracking that ND top-10 list while his 29 home runs already are tied for 7th … Porzel also picked up his 11th career triple last week (tied for 8th all-time at ND) … Stanley last week swiped his 60th career stolen base and already ranks 5th all-time among ND basestealers.
NOTRE DAME CAREER STATISTICS
Name … GP/GS … AB … R … H … HR-3B-2B … RBI … BB … HP … K … SF/SH … SB … AVG
Billmaier … 50/37 … 143 … 25 … 45 … 4-0-6 … 31 … 10 … 4 … 16 … 2/0 … 2-4 … .315
Bok … 86/54 … 199 … 41 … 52 … 3-2-12 … 35 … 22 … 8 … 33 … 2/3 … 4-8 … .261
at ND … 48/30 … 100 … 23 … 24 … 1-0-4 … 17 … 13 … 3 … 19 … 1/3 … 1-3 … .240
Bushey … 116/115 … 400 … 59 … 110 … 5-3-22 … 44 … 41 … 8 … 43 … 5/2 … 6-11 … .275
Cooke … 149/68 … 274 … 47 … 71 … 1-0-10 … 32 … 19 … 3 … 87 … 2/13 … 19-29 … .259
Holba … 8/1 … 9 … 2 … 5 … 0-0-1 … 1 … 1 … 1 … 4 … 0/0 … 0-1 … .556
Meyer … 81/54 … 230 … 45 … 68 … 4-5-16 … 28 … 11 … 8 … 40 … 2/0 … 2-2 … .296
O’Toole … 130/122 … 449 … 112 … 135 … 18-4-27 … 89 … 41 … 17 … 55 … 6/3 … 32-43 … .301
Porzel … 193/188 … 715 … 142 … 218 … 29-11-54 … 162 … 67 … 11 … 91 … 19/1 … 28-41 … .305
Stanley … 142/142 … 550 … 117 … 192 … 0-3-22 … 61 … 63 … 2 … 44 … 9/20 … 60-81 … .349
Stavisky … 77/77 … 300 … 60 … 94 … 15-7-19 … 59 … 26 … 3 … 48 … 2/0 … 8-13 … .313
Strickroth … 89/59 … 211 … 38 … 47 … 6-0-10 … 36 … 22 … 12 … 62 … 2/0 … 3-6 … .223
Name … GP/GS … CG/Shut … IP … H … R/ER … BB … K … WP … HB … BK … AVG (AB) … HR … W-L … SV … ERA
Buchmeier … 32/7 … 0/0 … 84.2 … 100 … 56/48 … 30 … 60 … 12 … 6 … 0 … .287 (349) … 14 … 5-2 … 2 … 5.10
Duff … 39/8 … 0/0 … 87.0 … 118 … 115/84 … 41 … 68 … 8 … 4 … 0 … .332 (356) … 8 … 8-4 … 2 … 6.93
Gagne … 24/14 … 0/0 … 88.1 … 117 … 52/48 … 32 … 52 … 4 … 4 … 0 … .331 (354) … 8 … 7-2 … 0 … 4.89
Heilman … 73/34 … 15/4 … 317.2 … 252 … 126/94 … 92 … 349 … 19 … 31 … 1 … .208 (1212) … 11 … 33-7 … 12 … 2.66
Laird … 22/9 … 0/0 … 56.0 … 60 … 34/22 … 21 … 42 … 7 … 11 … 0 … .270 (222) … 2 … 6-2 … 3 … 3.54
Naumann … 55/5 … 0/0 … 91.1 … 140 … 65/44 … 25 … 47 … 5 … 3 … 0 … .359 (390) … 4 … 8-1 … 1 … 4.34
Tamayo … 20/10 … 2/2 … 82.0 … 65 … 40/32 … 33 … 67 … 5 … 2 … 1 … .215 (303) … 4 … 6-3 … 1 … 3.51
Viloria … 16/1 … 0/0 … 28.0 … 26 … 10/8 … 4 … 18 … 1 … 3 … 0 … .239 (109 … 1 … 3-0 … 1 … 2.57
TAMAYO MUFFLES LOBOS: Senior RHP Danny Tamayo (Miami, Fla.)-who missed the ’99 season before undergoing “Tommy John” reconstructive elbow surgery-continued his stellar start to 2001 with a three-hit shutout of New Mexico (3-0) in the opening game of Fresno State’s Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic … Tamayo reprised the three-hit shutout that he turned in at Mississippi State in the 2000 NCAA Starkville Regional, also allowing two other baserunners to reach via walks while striking out five UNM batters … his 122-pitch outing included eight groundouts and 13 flyouts, with a single through the left side in the first inning, a single to right in the third and an infield single in the seventh … Tamayo retired nine straight batters from the third through sixth innings, highlighted by four straight strikeouts of the No. 5-8 batters.
30-30: Senior SS Alec Porzel is on the verge of becoming the first Notre Dame player ever to reach 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in his career … Porzel has 29 HRs and 28 SBs in 193 GP, leaving him on the doorstep of the 30-30 plateau … junior C Paul O’Toole (18 HR, 32 SB, 130 GP) likewise has a shot at the 30-30 distinction.
ALL-STATE TEAM: With eight Ohio natives on the 2001 Irish baseball squad, Notre Dame could field an all-Ohio squad that also would include second-year assistant coach Dusty Lepper at SS (he is a native of Findlay and played at Toledo) while the team’s student managers-Ken Kleppel and Katie Furman-would split time in left field (both hail from the Cleveland area) … here’s how the rest of the all-Ohio squad would be aligned: junior C Andrew Bushey (Boardman, suburb of Youngstown), junior 1B Paul O’Toole (Lakewood, outside of Cleveland), freshman 2B Steve Sollmann (Cincinnati), senior 3B Ben Cooke (Bay Village, suburb of Cleveland), junior CF Steve Stanley (Upper Arlington, in Columbus area) and junior RF Matt Bok (Akron) … two freshman RHPs would share pitching duties: Mike Morgalis (Cincinnati) and Nick Colagiovanni (Garfield Heights).
BIG SHADOWS: Several members of the Notre Dame baseball team bring big frames to the ballpark, including All-America RHP Aaron Heilman (6-5, 225 pounds) and two everyday starters: sophomore RF Brian Stavisky (6-3, 220) and freshman 1B Joe Thaman (6-4, 205) … sophomore 1B Mike Holba (6-7, 225) is the tallest member of the Irish squad and was an all-state quarterback as a prep while junior OF Matt Strickroth (6-5, 230) was an all-state football lineman during his high school days.
LOBOS JOIN ALL-TIME OPPONENT LIST: Notre Dame’s consistent travel to all parts of the country has seen the baseball program face 272 all-time opponents in 109 varsity baseball seasons, including five first-time opponents during the 2001 season: Sam Houston State, Florida Atlantic, South Florida, the University of the Pacific and New Mexico.
ROOKIE SENSATIONS: Irish freshman 2B Steve Sollmann (team-best .417 season avg.) and rookie 1B Joe Thaman (.295, including eight of ND’s 36 doubles) have provided steady production as members of a veteran Irish offense that is hitting just .295 as a team … their strong starts are all the more noteworthy considering the early-season struggles of recent Irish players during their freshman seasons, including Alec Porzel in 1998, Steve Stanley in 1999 (opened 0-for-17) and Brian Stavisky in 2000.
ROAD WARRIORS: Last week’s Spring Break trip completed a first month that saw ND traverse more than 10,000 miles while playing in four parts of the country (Starkville, Miss., San Antonio, Texas, St. Petersburg, Fla., and Fresno, Calif.) …the well-traveled Irish spent 13 of 17 days on the road from Feb. 16-March 4 (all but Feb. 19-20, 26-27) and were away from home during 19 of 27 days from Feb. 16-March 17 (ND will spend the first six weekends away from home, before a March 31-April 1 series with Seton Hall at Eck Stadium) … despite the travel demands, the Irish players have missed just five class days and are coming off a stellar 2000 fall semester that saw the 33-member squad combine for a 3.19 team GPA.
THE FIRST 10: ND opened play at the Bank of Commerce Classic, losing a tough 7-6 game to New Orleans before twice knocking off the host team and 16th-ranked Mississippi St. (7-5, 4-2 in 11) … the Irish then swept all three games in San Antonio at the Alamo Invitational, beating Texas-San Antonio (8-3), Texas-Pan American (14-9) and Sam Houston State (7-4) … ND then blanked Florida Atlantic (3-0) behind Aaron Heilman’s first career nine-inning shutout before losing to South Florida, 6-1 (both games were played at Florida Power Park, the spring training home of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays) … Notre Dame also played an exhibition vs. the Devil Rays, losing 17-4 while saving its top pitchers (a third game versus Western Michigan was rained out) … Heilman’s strong eight innings then powered ND past UOP on March 10 (5-2, in Stockton) and the Irish then survived a scare from Eastern Michigan, 4-3.
NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: ND sophomore RF Brian Stavisky (Port Allegany, Pa.) lived up to his preseason hype by earning national player-of-the-week honors after batting .692 (9-for-13) and reaching base on 10 consecutive plate appearances at the season-opening National Bank of Commerce Classic … Stavisky was recognized by Collegiate Baseball magazine as the national player of the week while the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association tabbed Stavisky as its national “hitter of the week” … the 6-3, 220-pound lefthander also earned the first BIG EAST player-of-the-week award for the 2001 season … his 10 consecutive times on base included hits in his final two ABs versus UNO and a 3-for-3 effort (with 2 BB) later that day vs. host Mississippi State. … in the final game of the NBC Classic, he collected hits in his first three ABs vs. MSU-yielding 10 straight times on base … a strikeout to open the 8th halted Stavisky’s streak (he had hits in eight of his first 10 ABs overall) and his final 1B was a hard-hit lineout to CF in the 11th inning of that 4-2 win … Stavisky’s weekend production from the cleanup spot included three walks, three RBI, three runs scored, two triples, two doubles, 15 total bases, a stolen base and two Ks … current Irish senior RHP (Logansport, Ind.) was named by CB as the national pitcher of the week twice in 2000, following his 12-K game in a 6-4 win over Georgia on March 5 and his 18-K game at West Virginia on April 15 (a 3-1, 10-inning win) … Stavisky’s 10 straight times on base included a wide variety of ABs, with three first-pitch hits (one RBI double, one RBI triple), four hits with two strikes (one RBI triple), two leadoff hits and a two-out RBI double.
REVERSE TRANSFORMATION: During the previous six seasons of the era at Notre Dame, several prep shortstops have been converted into Irish outfielders … current ND freshman Steve Sollmann has completed what has appeared to be a seamless transition in the other direction, by moving from his typical outfielder position to second base for the Irish … Sollmann has filled one Mainieri staple, as the team’s No. 9 batter (providing a “second leadoff hitter” in hopes of jumpstarting big innings).
AYE, CAPTAIN: ND’s tri-captains for 2001 are senior RHP Aaron Heilman (Logansport, Ind.), senior SS Alec Porzel (Lisle, Ill.) and junior 3B Andrew Bushey (Boardman, Ohio) … Bushey-whose .275 career average at ND includes 9-for-25 in the NCAAs (.360)-is the fifth junior to serve as an Irish baseball captain since ’91, with the others being: Heilman, SS Brant Ust (’99), C Bob Lisanti (’94) and 1B Joe Binkiewicz (’91) … Heilman joins Binkiewicz (’91-’92), Lisanti (’94-’96) and IF J.J. Brock (’97-’98) as the fourth multi-year captain at ND in 22 years (Lisanti and Brock both were five-year players).
DOMINO EFFECT: The return of senior RHP Aaron Heilman has done more than just impact the top pitching matchup of a weekend series-in fact, the return of No. 22 could leave a mark on nearly every Irish game during the 2001 season … Heilman’s return transformed classmate Danny Tamayo into potentially one of the BIG EAST’s top No. 2 pitchers while helping junior Matt Buchmeier ease into the role of weekend starter in the No. 3 spot (as opposed to breaking in at No. 2) … sophomore J.P. Gagne also now can be used in a swingman role, as a very capable starter and tough long-reliever … finally, Heilman’s return also could impact the role of sophomore Matt Laird-who may have taken on a role somewhere in the starting rotation without Heilman on the staff but instead has turned in a solid debut as the Irish closer.