April 20, 2007

ND-WVU Full-Color Baseball Program in PDF Format (includes rosters, stat sheets, notes, standings, headshot sheet and more)
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The Notre Dame baseball team’s Friday-night series opener versus West Virginia will kick off a blockbuster sports weekend on campus, as five different Irish teams will be in action. The three-game baseball series at Eck Stadium will see opposing forces collide, as the Irish own the nation’s 14th-best team ERA (3.25; including 1.64 on the current homestand) while the Mountaineers rank 6th nationally in team batting average (.337), 8th in slugging pct. (.503) and 14th in scoring (8.1 runs/gm). Friday night’s game starts at 6:05, followed by a 3:05 game on Saturday and the series final on Sunday at 1:05.

Enterprising Notre Dame fans actually could see five different teams in action – all on Saturday afternoon at venues close in proximity. The Irish men’s lacrosse team will be the first to take the field, with an 11:00 a.m. game vs. Lehigh at Moose Krause Stadium. The women’s softball team then will be battling a tough Louisville squad in doubleheader action at Ivy Field (starting at noon) – while the Blue-Gold football intrasquad scrimmage will kick off at 1:35 p.m. (at Notre Dame Stadium). Game-2 of the baseball series then will start at 3:05, just minutes after the women’s lacrosse team opens its game with Rutgers at Moose Krause Field. Sunday’s action will include game-3 of the ND-WVU baseball series (1:05) and a noon softball doubleheader vs. USF.

(excerpts from the ND-WVU game program are included below – content is best viewed via the PDF link included above)

BIG EAST Baseball at The Eck – West Virginia Mountaineers (22-11, 5-6) vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (19-17, 4-7)

Friday, Saturday & Sunday … April 20-22, 2007 … Frank Eck Stadium (Notre Dame, Indiana) … all records and statistics on this page prior to April 19

Tale of the Tape … ND … WVU

2006 Final Record … 45-17-1 … 29-28-1
2006 BIG EAST Record … 21-5-1 (1) … 13-14 (6)
Lettermen Ret./Lost … 18/11 … 30/8
CURRENT STATS (BIG EAST rank in parentheses)
Batting Average … (7) .285 … (1) .336
Runs Per 9 Innings … (7) 6.1 … (2) 8.9
Home Runs … (11) 13 … (4) 30
Slugging Percentage … (8) .381 … (1) .503
Batters’ BB+HBP-K Margin … -37 … -24
On-Base Percentage … (8) .373 … (1) .417
Stolen Bases-Attempts … (8) 37-48 … (7) 43-51
Stolen Base Percentage … .771 … .843
Team ERA … (2) 3.25 … (6) 4.40
Opponent Batting Average … (4) .254 … (6) .267
Pitchers’ K-BB Ratio … 1.9 … 2.0
Pitchers’ Ks Per 9 Innings … (8) 7.2 … (3) 7.8
Pitchers’ BB Per 9 Innings … (6) 3.7 … (12) 3.9
Fielding Pct. (Errors) … (9) .955 (64) … (3) .970 (37)
Double Plays Turned … (9) 22 … (9) 22
Record at Home … 10-4 … 15-3
Record on Road (incl. neutral) … 9-13 … 7-8
Record in One-Run Games … 4-4 … 4-2
Record in Extra Innings … 2-0 … 1-0

Probable Pitching Matchups

Friday – 6:05 p.m.
WVU – Matt Yurish (LHP, Jr.), 3.04, 2-2, 47.1 IP, 7 GS, 48 Ks, 22 BB, 43 H (.247 opp. avg.) … ND – David Phelps (RHP, So.), 1.34, 5-3, 60.2 IP, 9 GS, 54 Ks, 17 BB, 52 H (.232 opp. avg.)

Saturday – 3:05 p.m.
WVU – Levi Maxwell (RHP, Jr.), 5.77, 4-2, 34.1 IP, 6 GS, 23 Ks, 18 BB, 33 H (.260 opp. avg.) … ND – Kyle Weiland (RHP, So.), 3.94, 3-0, 16.0 IP, 7 GP/2 GS, 16 Ks, 12 BB, 16 H (.267 opp. avg.)

Sunday – 1:05 p.m.
WVU – Kenny Durst (LHP, Jr.), 4.06, 4-2, 57.2 IP, 9 GS, 47 Ks, 16 BB, 33 H (.286 opp. avg.) … ND – Eric Maust (RHP, Fr.), 2.39, 2-0, 26.1 IP, 9 GP/2 GS, 21 Ks, 3 BB, 31 H (.287 opp. avg.)

Team Rosters – see PDF

BIG EAST CONFERENCE STANDINGS (as of April 18)
Rutgers … 9-3 BIG EAST, 21-14 overall
Louisville … 8-4, 25-11
St. John’s … 8-4, 22-12
South Florida … 9-6, 27-12
Pittsburgh … 8-6, 15-16
West Virginia … 5-6, 21-11
Cincinnati … 5-6, 19-16
Villanova … 5-7, 18-15
Seton Hall … 5-7, 18-16
Notre Dame … 4-7, 19-17
Connecticut … 4-8, 17-18
Georgetown … 3-9, 13-23

THIS WEEK IN THE BIG EAST – Rutgers at South Florida … Louisville at Seton Hall … Georgetown at St. John’s … Pitt at Villanova … Cincinnati at UConn

LAST WEEK IN THE BIG EAST – Notre Dame took 2-of-3 from Georgetown (10-0, 1-6, 11-2) … Rutgers took 2-of-3 from Seton Hall (13-9, 4-2, 1-2) … Louisville took 2-of-3 from Connecticut (6-2, 5-0, 1-4) … St. John’s took 2-of-3 from Pittsburgh (12-2, 9-10, 15-1) … Villanova took 2-of-3 from South Florida (3-2, 4-5, 6-2) … West Virginia split with Cincinnati (16-5, 8-11)

SERIES NOTES – ND has won eight straight vs. WVU (since ’03) and owns a 32-13 series edge (23-10 since both teams joined the BIG EAST, in ’96) … ND is 14-5 at home vs. WVU, including a sweep of the ’05 series (3-1, 5-1, 7-3), with a BIG EAST Tournament bid on the line (the BET featured just four team in ’05) … the teams did not meet in the 2006 regular season but ND beat WVU on the second day of the ’06 BIG EAST Tournament (12-4) … WVU owns the most wins at Eck Stadium (5-8) of any visiting team (since ’94) … ND and WVU have faced each other in five BIG EAST Tournaments (’96-’99, ’03, ’06; ND 6-2 edge) … the Irish have won six of the previous eight season series vs. the Mountaineers (WVU is the only BIG EAST team ever to win two series at Eck Stadium, in ’96 and ’03) … ND has lost just five of 54 all-time BIG EAST series at Eck Stadium (42 series wins, 7 splits; SJU won series in ’98, Louisville in ’06, USF in ’07) … WVU’s 2003 visit to Eck Stadium (1-0, 5-7, 1-5) featured a classic pitchers duel in the opener, as ND’s Chris Niesel nearly posted a no-hitter while Shawn Miller took the tough-luck, 1-0 loss (Lee Fritz had a 2-out bunt in the 7th and final inning for WVU’s only hit) … the series has featured 12 games won by one run or in extra innings (ND is 11-1 in those games) … ND’s 2002 team fell to 0-4 in BIG EAST play (9-10 overall) after a 4-2 loss at WVU but rallied to win the nightcap (10-6), launching the Irish on to a BIG EAST regular-season (18-8) and tournament titles, a 50-18 overall record and a trip to the College World Series … former ND All-American Aaron Heilman had an 18-K game at WVU in 2000 … ND’s leaders in the 2006 BET win over WVU included Jeff Samardzija (8 IP, 4 R, 9 H, BB, 6 Ks; 21st career win), Matt Bransfield (2-run HR), Ross Brezovsky (2-for-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R), Jeremy Barnes (3-for-5, 3 RBI, 2 R) and Sean Gaston (3-for-4, RBI, R)… WVU’s Stan Posluszny hit a 2-run HR in that game, which extended ND’s record-setting win streak in the BIG EAST Tournament to nine games (ND went on to win its fifth straight BET title, as the only team ever to win more than two straight).

IRISH NOTES – ND was 1-4 in its first five 1-run games of the season, before winning three 1-run games on the current homestand (3-2 vs. IPFW, 8-7 vs. Toledo, 1-0 vs. Purdue in 10) … ND faced an early 5-0 deficit vs. Toledo before staging its biggest comeback win since 2004 … Sam Elam and Purdue’s Matt Bischoff both took no-hitters into the 8th (Purdue’s first hit came with 2-outs in the 8th while ND’s Jeremy Barnes hit a leadoff single in the 9th, breaking up Bischoff’s perfect game) … Matt Weglarz hit a 2-out double in the 10th and scored on a Danny Dressman single … Weglarz owns a team-best .357 batting avg. and team-high 9 runs scored over the past 8 games (10-for-28, 4 RBI, 5 BB; hits in 6 of the 8 games), with runs scored in 7 straight games … the Irish played 22 of their first 30 on the road but now are in the midst of playing 19 of 26 at home (ND is 10-4 at Eck Stadium this season) … ND entered the week ranked 2nd in the BIG EAST and 16th nationally with a 3.31 season ERA (now 14th with a 3.25, which would rank 2nd-best by an ND staff in the past 15 seasons) … the Irish pitchers have combined for a lowly 1.64 ERA over the first 6 games of the current homestand … ND’s 2007 highlights include wins over #12 TCU (4-1) and #7 Nebraska (16-6) … the Irish have lost seven times this season when unearned runs led to the losing margin (ND held midgame leads in each of those tough losses) … the Irish are batting .323 at home this season, led by Brett Lilley (.434, 18 R, HR, 2 3B, 2B, 11 BB, 2 HBP, 6 Ks), A.J. Pollock (.393) and Danny Dressman (.340) … ND’s many early-season challenges have included replacing the entire 3-man weekend rotation (a task not faced by at least the 19 previous ND teams) while losing six of the nine everyday position starters from 2006 (also unprecedented in a check of the past 19 seasons) … the streaky ND offense has hit .356 in wins (9.2 runs/gm, 11 HR, .494 slugging, .438 on-base, 33 Es, only 18 unearned runs) but just .199 in the losses (2.2 runs/gm, 2 HR, .243 slugging, .289 OB, 31 Es, 36 UERs) … the Irish are averaging 2.1 UERs allowed per loss … ND has won nine times this season by 5-plus runs and is 4-4 in 1-run games (ND’s avg. margin of victory is 5.6, with just a 3.7 avg. loss margin) … the Irish have posted double-digit hits in 13 wins this season but also have 10 losses with 2-5 hits … ND head coach Dave Schrage began tracking the stat of “freebies” during the past few years at Evansville … the freebie stat takes into account seven categories (walks, hit batters, wild pitches, errors, passed balls, stolen bases, balks) in which a team helps its opponents by putting runners on base or allowing them to advance (without the benefit of a hit) … ND’s current freebie total is 328 (129 BB, 37 HB, 23 WP, 64 E, 21 PB, 50 SB, 4 BK), for an avg. of 9.1/gm … Schrage’s record-setting ’06 Evansville squad averaged just 5.6 freebies in its 43-22 season while ND’s 2006 team averaged just 6.3 freebies/gm, en route to 45 wins … ND is 16-5 when scoring the game’s first run, 10-6 when scoring in the 1st inning and 15-1 when scoring 5-plus runs (just 4-16 with 0-4 runs; 3-13 with 0-3) … the team with the hit edge is 28-6 in ND’s games this season (the Irish are 15-4 when totaling more hits) … in ND’s games this season, the team leading at the end of the 6th is 28-4 (ND 14-1), the team ahead at the end of the 7th is 29-3 (ND 14-0) and the team with the lead entering the 9th is 32-1 (ND 16-0) … ND has scored 31 runs in the 1st inning but also has allowed 20 (ND’s top scoring margins are 23-7 in the 2nd and 35-14 in the 7th) … the 5th inning often can supply pivotal moments in a game, but ND has been outcored 26-11 in the 5th this season … the Irish are 6-2 when hitting a home run (3-0 with multi HRs) … ND has 16 games with 0-1 errors (20 with 2-plus) … Mike Dury has five more extra-base hits (17) than singles (12) this season … Dressman ranks 3rd in ND history with 30 career sac. bunts … Lilley is riding a 15-game errorless streak, spanning 64 fielding chances (all at shortstop) … Lilley’s .478 career on-base pct. ranks 3rd in ND history while his 65 career times hit-by-pitch are 7th in NCAA history … David Phelps ranks 6th among the nation’s ERA leaders (1.34; min. 1 IP/tm gm) and would rank 6th-best in the ND record book (best since 1990; 2nd-best since ’62) … Schrage is five shy of his 500th career coaching win … three ND pitchers (Elam, Kyle Weiland and Brett Graffy) will pitch this summer with the Cape Cod League’s Falmouth Commodores while Jeremy Barnes will play for the CCL’s Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox (others TBA).

BIG EAST Stat Leaders

Overall Batting Average
1. Justin Jenkins (WVU) … .429
5. Adam White (WVU) … .391
15. Brett Lilley (ND) … .366

BIG EAST Batting Average
1. Chris Aninos (SJU) … .484
4. Justin Jenkins (WVU) … .440
7. Trent Ridgley (WVU) … .429
12. Brett Lilley (ND) … .381

Slugging Percentage
1. Logan Lohnson (LOU) … .792
3. Justin Jenkins (WVU) … .729
6. Jordan Yost (WVU) … .625

On-Base Percentage
1. Logan Lohnson (LOU) … .530
5. Justin Jenkins (WVU) … .487
6. Brett Lilley (ND) … .485

Runs
1. Todd Frazier (RUT) … 49
6. Brett Lilley (ND) … 37
7. Vince Belnome (WVU) … 36

RBI 1. Neall French (CIN) … 42

Home Runs
1. Todd Frazier (RUT) … 13
3. Jordan Yost (WVU) … 8
9. Mike Dury (ND) … 6

Triples
1. Brett Lilley (ND) … 3
Justin Jenkins (WVU) … 3
3. Ross Brezovsky (ND) … 2

Doubles
1. Justin Jenkins (WVU) 18
5. Tyler Kuhn (WVU) 12
8. Mike Dury (ND) 10

Hits
1. Walter Diaz (USF) … 62
2. Justin Jenkins (WVU) … 60
3. Adam White (WVU) … 54

Walks
1. Ryan Hill (RUT) … 35
8. Vince Belnome (WVU) … 36

Stolen Bases
1. Boomer Whiting (LOU) … 46

Earned-Run Avg. (min 1 IP/tm gm)
1. Kyle Landis (PITT) … 1.02
3. David Phelps (ND) … 1.34
11. Matt Yurish (WVU) … 3.04

BIG EAST ERA (min 1 IP/tm gm)
1. Zack Pitts (LOU) … 0.88
3. David Phelps (ND) … 1.47

Opponent Batting Average
1. Zack Pitts (LOU) … .184
3. Josh Whitlock (WVU) … .200
9. David Phelps (ND) … .232

Strikeouts
1. Jimmy Saris (GU) … 62
6. David Phelps (ND) … 54
11. Matt Yurish (WVU … 48
12. Kenny Durst (WVU) … 47

Wins
1. Chris Delaney (USF) … 8-0
5. David Phelps … 5-3

Saves
1. Shawn Sanford (USF) … 10
4. Chris Enourato (WVU) … 4

Team Stats Sheets and ND Headshot Sheet – see PDF