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Boston College Comes Calling For BIG EAST Series At The Eck

April 10, 2004

Click on PDF link to view game program for April 10 Notre Dame-BC doubleheader (includes photos, game notes, BIG EAST standings and leaders, full stat sheets for both teams – and more
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(note: see PDF for complete data in chart form, some of which is included below)

BIG EAST Baseball Doubleheader – Boston College Eagles (11-16, 3-2) vs. #4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (24-3, 6-0)

Saturday, April 10, 2004 … Eck Stadium (Notre Dame, Indiana)

Tale of the Tape … BC … ND

2003 Records … 33-21, 13-11 (5th) … 45-18, 16-7 BE (3rd)

Lettermen Ret./Lost … 19/3 … 21/7

CURRENT Stats (BIG EAST rank in parentheses)

Batting Average … (11) .254 … (3) .318

Runs Per 9 Innings … 4.9 … 9.4

Home Runs … (10) 9 … (1) 30

Slugging Percentage … (11) .334 … (2) .482

Batters BB/K Margin … -50 (98/148) … -19 (136/155)

On-Base Percentage … (10) .342 … (1) .422

Stolen Bases … (11) 26-45 … (10) 29-39

Stolen Base Percentage … .578 … .744

Team ERA … (3) 4.13 … (1) 3.61

Pitchers’ K-to-BB Ratio … 1.62 (202/125) … 2.34 (178/76)

Pitchers’ Ks Per 9 Inn. (Ks) … 8.2 … 6.6

Opponent Batting Average … (2) .242 … (3) .243

Fielding Pct./Errors … (8) .955/45 … (2) .971/31

Double Plays Turned … (4) 23 … (4) 23

Record In One-Run Games … 0-8 … 3-0

Extra-Inning Record … 1-2 … 3-0

Probable Starters

Game 1

BC – Matt O’Donnell (Sr., RHP; 6.00, 2-2, 33.0 IP, 29 K/16 BB, .290)

ND – Chris Niesel (Jr., RHP; (5.09, 4-1, 40.2 IP, 34 K/11 BB, .316)

Game 2

BC – TBA

ND – Tom Thornton (So., LHP; 2.38, 4-1, 45.1 IP, 30 K/12 BB, .209)

Current BIG EAST Standings

1. Notre Dame 6-0 (1.000), 24-3

2. St. John’s 6-2 (.750) , 17-10

Rutgers 6-2 (.750) , 14-13

4. Pittsburgh 5-3 (.625) , 17-8

5. Boston College 3-2 (.600) , 11-16

6. Seton Hall 4-4 (.500) , 8-18-1

7. Georgetown 5-6 (.455) , 19-18

8. Villanova 3-5 (.375) , 18-10-1

Connecticut 3-5 (.375) , 14-12

10. Virginia Tech 1-7 (.125) , 14-14

West Virginia 1-7 (.125) , 9-18

Thursday’s BIG EAST Scores – BC swept at Vill. (8-5, 3-0/6) … SJU split at UConn (7-6, 2-6) … SHU split at WVU (3-4, 9-8) … VT split at GU (3-4, 16-3) … Rutgers swept at home vs. Pittsburgh (4-0, 8-5)

Today’s Other BIG EAST Doubleheaders – Georgetown at Rutgers … Seton Hall at UConn … Virginia Tech at Villanova … Pittsburgh at West Virginia

Last Week’s Other Series – GU lost 2-of-3 at UConn (2-5, 3-11, 5-0) … RU swept WVU (6-4, 8-4, 6-4) … BC lost 2-of-3 at Pitt (4-9, 4-2, 6-7) … SJU swept VT (3-2, 9-5, 2-0)

SERIES NOTES – Notre Dame holds a 17-6 all-time series edge vs. BC (9-2 at Eck Stadium), with the Irish sweeping the ’02 series (8-2, 10-6, 5-2) after BC had won 4 of the previous 6 … the teams were slated to play a 2003 doubleheader in Brockton, Mass., that was cancelled due to weather … Joe Thaman hit grand slams in back-to-back games of the ’02 ND-BC series … most of the participants from that ’02 series have moved on or will not be playing today due to injury, position shifts or (in the case of BC’s top pitchers Chris Lambert and Kevin Shepard) because they pitched two days ago … senior C/IF Javi Sanchez (4-for-9, RBI, 5 R, 3B) and junior RHP Grant Johnson (W, 6 IP, 4 H, R, 2 BB, 6 Ks) are the only active players who have started previous games vs. BC – as senior 2B Steve Sollmann is sidelined with a fractured jaw, Thaman now serves as a LHP, John Axford is out for the season due to injury and his fellow junior RHP Chris Niesel was coming back from a bout with mononucleosis at the time of the ’02 ND-BC series (he saved Axford’s 10-6 win: H, K in 2 IP).

EAGLES RESULTS – BC owns wins over Auburn (11-4), Detroit (6-4), Valparaiso (14-2), Holy Cross (4-1), Hartford (4-2, 3-0), Pittsburgh (4-2/10), Rhode Island (3-0) and Villanova (8-5, 3-0), with losses to Auburn (5-6/10, 1-2), FIU (9-11), Maine (2-7), La Salle (1-10), Bowling Green (0-1), URI (1-5), IPFW (0-1), Central Conn. (7-8, 7-14), Nebraska (1-10, 2-3/10, 1-10), Northeastern (3-4) and Pitt (4-9, 6-7).

IRISH TEAM NOTES – Notre Dame is riding the 9th double-digit win streak of the Paul Mainieri era (11 games) and enters today with the fewest losses among all 287 Division I programs … just three others – Texas (33-4), Mississippi (26-4) and Albany (17-4) – have four losses (Texas survived a 20-inning game vs. Kansas State last night, winning 10-6) … no previous ND team that played 25-plus games has finished with a better win pct. than the current .889 (24-3) … the Irish have compiled a 63-8 record in April during the ’01-’04 seasons … ND has posted 12 error-free games, 4 with 1 E … ND’s 30 HRs are one five shy of the team’s entire total in ’03 … the Irish have hit 3 HRs four times in ’04 … ND has dominated 2nd-inning scoring (25-3) and owns a 59-17 combined edge in the 7th (30-8) and 8th (29-9) …. the 6-0 league start is ND’s best since the ’98 team started 10-0 in BIG EAST play … the Irish have posted 3-0 sweeps of nine different BIG EAST teams but have notched the tough 3-0 road sweep just six times in BIG EAST play … ND is 51-7 in its last 58 at Eck Stadium (since mid-’02) … the Irish have scored in 111 straight games and have been shut out just once in the last 341 … ND has scored in 99.3% of the games during the 10-year Mainieri era (583 of 587) … Mainieri’s 22-year career record is 754-442-2 (423-163-1/.723 at ND) … the Irish own a 143-48 (.749) record in 8-plus seasons of BIG EAST play, with Mainieri owning the best BIG EAST winning pct. in the league’s history … ND’s 75 all-time BIG EAST series include 57 series wins, 9 even series and just 9 series wins by the opponent … since starting 0-4 in ’02 BIG EAST play, ND is 39-11 in its last 50 BIG EAST games … the Irish have lost just 3 of 39 all-time BIG EAST home series (32 series wins, 4 even) while the last 25 BE series at Eck have seen ND win 22 (slit 2) … the last 5 games have featured 4 “big innings” (6-plus runs) from the ND offense … the team’s .422 on-base pct. would rank 3rd in ND history (best since ’93) while the .243 opp. batting avg. is 3rd-best by an ND staff since 1971 … the Irish have won 14 times by 5-plus runs … last week’s 34 runs vs. Villanova represented ND’s biggest offensive output in a BIG EAST series since 2000 … the Irish have posted double-digit hits and double-digit runs in 5 of the last 7 games, with 16 total double-digit hit games (12 with 12-plus) and 11 games with double-digit runs.

IRISH PLAYER NOTES – Today’s starters Chris Niesel (17-2, .895) and Tom Thornton (2.07) have combined respectively for the 2nd-best career win pct. and best career ERA in ND baseball history … ND’s infield shifts – Greg Lopez to SS, Matt Macri SS to 3B, Matt Edwards 3B to 1B and Joe Thaman 1B to LHP – have paid bid dividends, with the four starting IF (also 2B Steve Sollmann) combining for just 15 errors … the leftside IFs have combined for 41 error-free games this season (20 for Lopez; 21 for Macri, error-free 15 of last 16) … after flipping spots with Danny Dressman (now the leadoff hitter), Sollmann was batting .476 (10-for-21) as the 2-hole hitter during his last 6 games (prior to his injury) … Macri is batting 13-for-20 (.650) in the last 5 games (8 RBI, 12 R, 4 BB, HBP, 2 3B, 2B) … sophomore LF Steve Andres is a classic slugging/on-base double threat (his combined “OBS” is a team-best 1.141), with 14 walks in his current and carer-best 10-game hitting streak (12-for-30, 10 RBI, 11 R, 2 HR, 3B, 2 2B) … Craig Cooper has his own career-best hit streak (8 games; 14-for-26, 10 RBI, 9 R) and has smacked 4 HRs in the last 6 games … Matt Bransfield has hits in 12 of the last 13 games while hitting all of his team-best 6 HRs in that stretch (he and Cooper did not homer in 193 combined ABs as freshman) … Sollmann has not made an error in his last 26 games with the Irish (16 total Es in last 3 seasons) while and ranks 4th on the ND career hits list (280) … Cody Rizzo’s 37 times hit-by-pitch are two shy of the ND career record … Thornton’s 6-hit gem at WVU is just ND’s third 9-inning solo shutout in a BIG EAST game during the last six seasons (Danny Tamayo had two in ’01) … Thornton has posted a 1.29 ERA in his last four starts (16 H, 7 BB, 17 Ks in 28 IP) … Jeff Samardzija (a scholarship receiver on the ND football team) has not allowed a run in his last 15 innings and 7 appearances … Lopez (.250 in ’03, .366 in ’04) and Macri (.273 in ’02/’03, .379 in ’04) continue to hit well above their career averages heading into ’04 … Lopez totaled just 26 RBI in 50 GP/40 GS/132 ABs during the ’03 season while Bransfield had only 10 RBI in 33 GP/17 GS/71 ABs (they both have 22 RBI in ’04) … senior C Javi Sanchez ( who also doubles as Sollmann’s top replacement at 2B) has hit safely in his last 7 games.

BIG EAST LEADERS

Batting Average – 1. PJ Hiser, Pittsburgh, .423 … 4. Matt Macri, ND, .379 … 11. Craig Cooper, ND, .369 … 12. Greg Lopez, ND, .366

Home Runs – 1. PJ Hiser, Pitt, 10 … 2. Matt Bransfield, ND, 6 … 6. Matt Edwards, ND, 5 … 8. Macri/Cooper/Andres, ND, 4

RBI – 1. Jeff Frazier, RU, 31 … 2. Matt Macri, ND, 30 … 3. Matt Edwards, ND, 29 … 8. Lopez/Edwards, ND, 22

Slugging Percentage – 1. PJ Hiser, PITT, .972 … 3. Craig Cooper, ND, .646 … 4. Matt Macri, ND, .632 … 5.Steve Andres, ND, .613 … 6.Matt Bransfield, ND, .611

On-Base Percentage – 1. Graig Badger, RU, .533 … 2. Steve Andres, ND, .528 … 7. Matt Macri, ND, .478

Stolen Bases – 1. Kris Molloy, VILL, 13 … Chris Stanton, VT, 13 … 9. Drew Locke, BC, 8-8

Triples – 1.Matt Macri, ND 3

Doubles – 1. Brian Newbold, VILL, 10 … Blake Hershelman, SJU, 10 … Parker Brooks, GU, 10 … 4. Greg Lopez, ND, 9 … 9. Drew Locke, BC 8

Walks – 1. Ryan Morgan, BC, 25 … 3. Steve Andres, ND, 23 … 5. Macri/Edwards, ND, 17

Runs Scored – 1. Matt Macri, ND, 31 … 4. Greg Lopez, ND, 26 … 9. Steve Sollmann, ND, 23

Hits – 1. Michael Lombardi, GU, 42 … 4. Matt Macri, ND, 36 … 6. Greg Lopez, ND, 34

Total Bases – 1. PJ Hiser, PITT, 69 … 2. Matt Macri, ND, 60 … 6. Matt Edwards, ND, 52

ERA (min. 1 IP/tm game) – (Jeff Samardzija, ND 0.47) … 1. Tom Thornton, ND, 2.38 … 4. Mike Gauthier, BC, 2.52 … 7. Joe Martinez, BC, 2.83 … 8.Kevin Shepard, BC, 2.91 … 9. Chris Lambert, BC, 3.11 … (Joe Thaman, ND, 3.42)

Opponent Batting Average – (Jeff Samardzija, ND, .141) … (Joe Thaman, ND, .170) … 1. Chris Lambert, BC, .196 … 2. Joe Martinez, BC, .202 … 4.Tom Thornton, ND, .209

Wins – 1. Thornton/Niesel, ND, 4-1 … 3. Jess Stewart, ND, 3-0 … Ryan Doherty, ND, 3-0 … Kevin Shepard, BC, 3-3

Strikeouts – 1. Chris Lambert, BC, 53 … 9. Chris Niesel, ND, 34

Saves – 1. Ryan Doherty, ND, 5 … 3. Mike Gauthier, BC, 4

Appearances – 1. Mike Gauthier, BC, 14 … 2. Ryan Doherty, ND, 13 … 4. Joe Thaman, ND, 12 … 7. Dan Kapala, ND, 11

Innings – 1. Eduardo Pena, GU, 48.2 … 2. Chris Lambert, BC, 46.1 … 3. Tom Thornton, ND, 45.1