May 27, 2002

Members of the Notre Dame baseball program posted another solid semester in the classroom during the 2002 spring term, led by Academic All-America candidates Brian Stavisky and Andrew Bushey (the Academic All-America teams will be announced on June 4).

Bushey (Boardman, Ohio) graduated with a 3.43 cumulative grade-point average as a finance major, after posting his third Dean’s List semester with a 3.75 GPA in the 2002 spring semester. The senior third baseman and team co-captain ranks among Notre Dame’s leaders in several major categories while earning all-BIG EAST Conference honors each of the past two seasons.

Stavisky – a third team Academic All-American in 2001 – registered his fourth Dean’s List GPA (3.47) in six semesters at Notre Dame, with the junior leftfielder owning a 3.50 cumulative GPA as a business management major. The Port Allegany, Pa., native, wh10th-inning double led to Notre Dame’s winning run in last week’s BIG EAST Championship, earned second team all-BIG EAST honors for the third consecutive season and also is a candidate for All-America honors in 2002.

Several other Notre Dame players posted Dean’s List semesters during the 2002 spring semester, most notably junior pitchers J.P. Gagne (Bloomington, Minn.) and Brandon Viloria (Wailuku, Hawaii), who joined Bushey and Stavisky as nominees for the Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-District V team (Bushey and Stavisky were named to the team, thus qualifying them for the current Academic All-America ballot).

Gagne – who has emerged as Notre Dame’s top relief pitcher in 2002 – posted his second Dean’s List semester with a 3.54 GPA in the spring of 2002. The finance major had carried a 3.25 cumulative GPA into his sixth semester at Notre Dame.

Viloria also ranks among the top relievers on the 2002 Irish staff while posting his fifth Dean List semester in the spring of 2002, as an electrical engineering major (he carried a 3.63 cumulative GPA into the semester).

Stavisky – who missed 18 games in the first half of the season due to a shoulder injury and facial fracture – currently leads the Irish in slugging percentage (.662), triples (5) and RBI per game (1.02, 42 total), while also owning team-best situational numbers for two-out batting (.448) and advancing runners (64.2%). The 6-3, 220-pound lefthander ranks second on the team in batting avg. (.397), on-base pct. (.467), hits (60), home runs (6) and sacrifice flies (6) – plus batting with runners in scoring position (.441), leadoff on-base pct. (.533) and two-out RBI (13).

Stavisky has scored 36 runs in 41 games played (all starts), with his other season stats including eight more walks (23) than strikeouts (15), 12 doubles and just one error. He finished the BIG EAST regular season ranked fourth among the league’s players for batting avg. in conference games (.394), plus fifth in conference slugging (.648) and seventh in on-base (.465) – while also entering last week’s action with the BIG EAST’s second-best overall batting average (now .397), plus third in slugging (.662) and triples (5). He is tied for third in the ND record book for career triples (14) and is eighth in Irish history for career home runs (30), with a .353 career batting avg. and 44 doubles in 163 games played.

Bushey currently leads Notre Dame in RBI (51), doubles (18, 6th among BIG EAST players), sacrifice bunts (10) and runners advanced (39) while ranking third on the team in batting average (.335) and three situational categories: batting with runners on (.374) and in scoring position (.375) and pct. of runners advanced (60.3%). His 12 doubles during the BIG EAST regular season ranked fourth among the conference’s players. Bushey’s other season stats include 39 runs in 54 games played (all starts), plus five home runs, 21 walks vs. just 16 strikeouts, and only 10 errors. His 208 career games started rank 10th in ND history and his 53 doubles are 6th in the ND record book.

Gagne’s 2.79 season ERA leads the BIG EAST and is tops among ND pitchers with 25-plus innings, while he also leads the staff in appearances (21), games finished (12), saves (4), innings pitched (80.2) and fewest walks per game (1.67), in addition to sharing the team lead in wins (7-4). He ranks second on the staff in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.8; 57/15), low opponent batting avg. (.231; 6th BIG EAST) and fewest hits allowed per 9 IP (7.70) while ranking third on the team in opponent two-out batting (.198) and leadoff on-base pct. (.325).

Viloria leads the team with 15 relief appearances while also compiling team-best numbers in several situational categories, including: low opponent batting avg. (.189), leadoff on-base pct. (.235), fewest hits allowed per 9 IP (6.00) and groundball outs (13.7 per 9 IP). His season stats include a 2.14 ERA, 2-1 record and three saves in 21 innings, plus 7 Ks, 5 walks, no wild pitches and just one hit batter. His ratio of 2.14 walks per 9 IP is third-best on the 2002 Irish staff.