April 24, 2006
Notre Dame senior first baseman Craig Cooper (Plainview, N.Y.) – coming off an impressive week in which he batted over .500, had a slugging percentage of nearly 1.000, reached base 15 times over the course of five games, and tied the school record by extending his hitting streak to 21 – has received national player-of-the-week honors from Collegiate Baseball magazine, in addition to being named the BIG EAST Conference player of the week for the second time this season and the third time in his career. The righthanded slugger now has been named a national player of the week twice in his career and currently leads all BIG EAST players with a .441 overall batting average (just six points shy of the Notre Dame record), also pacing the conference with .517 batting in league play as he pursues an unprecedented third BIG EAST batting title.
Cooper reaching first base has been a common sight throughout the 2006 season (photo by Pete LaFleur).
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In other news on Monday, Notre Dame is ranked as high as 8th in the national polls (per Collegiate Baseball), also checking in at 12th per Baseball America, 15th in the National College Baseball Writers poll an 18th in both the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll and Rosenblatt Report. Notre Dame has announced its week-10 pitching rotation, with sophomore lefthanders Wade Korpi (April 25, vs. Purdue, 7:05) and David Gruener (April 26, vs. Bowling Green, 5:05) again slated to throw the midweek games while junior righthanders Jeff Samardzija (game-1) and Jeff Manship (game-2) are on tap for the Saturday doubleheader at Connecticut (April 29, noon; both games are nine innings), in a showdown between the frontrunning Irish and the second-place Huskies. Sunday’s starter for the series finale at UConn (11:00 a.m.) is TBA and the starter for the game vs. BG game could change if Gruener is used in relief the night before vs. the Boilermakers.
Cooper’s damage in last week’s five victories included a .526 batting avg. (10-for-19), 13 RBI, 9 runs scored, a .952 slugging pct. (4 home runs, 2 doubles), a .654 on-base pct. (5 walks and a hit-by-pitch) and a lofty 1.606 OPS (on-base plus slugging). The only individual to repeat as BIG EAST player of the week this season, Cooper joins 1997 catcher Mike Amrhein as the only players in the history of Notre Dame baseball who are known to have pushed single-season hit streaks to 21 games. Cooper will have the chance to claim that record outright when Notre Dame faces Purdue on Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. EDT, with the game to be televised live by ESPN-U (note time change from original preseason schedule).
Here are some additional notes on Cooper:
Cooper – shown in action during the 2005 season – earned his first national weekly honor near the end of that sophomore season (photo by Pete LaFleur).
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AMONG THE NCAA LEADERS – Cooper entered last week ranked 18th in the nation with a .427 batting avg. (now up to .441) and 6th in runs per game (1.41, now 1.47) … Coper’s current .441 batting avg. would have ranked 7th in last week’s NCAA rankings (this week’s update is due out on Tuesday) while his 1.47 runs/gm would have ranked 4th … his current .735 slugging pct. would have been 25th in last week’s NCAA rankings.
NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT SHINES AGAIN – Cooper previously earned a national honor at the end of the 2005 regular season, when the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America named him their national hitter of the week (still TBA for this week) … Cooper batted 13-for-22 (.565) in that May 16-21, 2005, stretch that included one game at Pittsburgh, two versus #17 USC and a three-game series with West Virginia (13 RBI, 8 R, 2 HR, 3 2B, 2 BB, HBP, SB, 2 Ks), as the Irish closed 5-1 to roll into the postseason … five other recent ND players have received national weekly honors … RHP Aaron Heilman was named the Collegiate Baseball national pitcher of the week twice during his junior season in 2000, after a 12-K game in a 6-4 win over Georgia (March 9, at the Metrodome) and an 18-K game in a 3-1, 10-inning win at West Virginia (April 15) … then-sophomore RF Brian Stavisky opened the ’01 season by batting .692 (9-for-13) and reaching base 10 consecutive times at the Mississippi State Classic, earning the weekly hitter honor from the NCBWA and CB‘s national player-of-the-week award … the 25-1 win over South Alabama in the ’02 NCAAs resulted in then-sophomore 2B Steve Sollmann (6-for-7, 7 RBI, 6 R, HR, 2 3B) and then-freshman RHP Grant Johnson (1-hitter, 8 Ks, BB, HBP, 30 BF) earning the respective player/hitter and pitcher-of-the-week awards from the NCBWA and CB … more recently, current junior catcher Sean Gaston earned the NCBWA hitter-of-the-week honor after opening his career by batting 10-for-12 during 2004 games played in Boca Raton, Fla., vs. Winthrop, Florida Memorial and Minnesota (6 RBI, 7 R, 3 2B, 2 SB).
AWARDS PILE UP FOR IRISH – Notre Dame players have combined for more 2006 BIG EAST player-of-the-week awards (3) than any other team while the Irish have totaled five player or pitcher weekly awards from the BIG EAST this season (UConn and Cincinnati are next, with three each) … Cooper’s first BIG EAST weekly award of the 2006 season came on April 10, after ND’s 5-0 week that included wins over Chicago State and Ball State, plus the 3-0 sweep at South Florida (he hit 12-for-20 that week, with 5 RBI, 10 R, HR, 3B, 2 2B, 3 BB, 2 SB, K) … junior OF Danny Dressman earned the March 13th honor after opening the Spring Break trip in San Antonio by batting 7-for-12 in wins over Texas A&M, Iowa and Illinois (8 RBI, 2 R) … senior LHP Tom Thornton has been named BIG EAST pitcher of the week twice this season, after beating Indiana State on Feb. 23 (3-0, in Millington, Tenn.; 7 IP, 5 H, 0 BB, 5 Ks) and then hurling a 5-hit shutout vs. Southern Illinois on March 19, in San Antonio (2 Ks, 0 BB, 84 pitches).
THREE-TIME HONOREE – Cooper’s three career BIG EAST player-of-the-week honors tie him for second-most in BIG EAST history (four former ND standouts also collected three weekly player honors from the BIG EAST) … in addition to his pair of 2006 weekly honors noted above, Cooper previously was named BIG EAST player of the week for the final week of the 2005 regular season (the same stretch that earned the national honor cited above) … former Boston College outfielder Jason Delaney holds the record for most career BIG EAST player-of-the-week honors (5), while former Viginia Tech 2B Marc Tugwell totaled three awards, as did four former ND greats: OF Brian Stavisky (4/24/00, 2/19/01, 4/2/01), SS Alec Porzel (5/0/00, 4/15/01, 5/7/01), 2B Steve Sollmann (2/24, 3/17 and 5/19 in ’03) and SS/3B Matt Macri (4/21/03, 4/5/04, 5/17/04) … Cooper is the only repeat honoree this season and could join Sollmann as the only position player in BIG EAST history to receive three weekly awards in the same season … a total of 20 Notre Dame players – including current junior catcher Sean Gaston (3/1/04) and current senior SS Greg Lopez (4/19/04) – now have combined to earn 34 BIG EAST baseball player-of-the-week awards, since Notre Dame joined the BIG EAST in 1995-96 … the ND program also has produced 31 total BIG EAST pitcher-of-the-week recipients in the past 11 years, including five honors for current senior LHP Tom Thornton (2nd-most all-time, behind 10 by former ND ace Aaron Heilman) … ND’s previous all-time BIG EAST player-of-the-week recipients include the five three-time honorees (Stavisky, Porzel, Sollmann, Macri and Cooper) – plus five two-time recipients: catcher Jeff Wagner (4/7/97, 5/5/97), SS/3B Brant Ust (4/3/98, 3/29/99), 1B Jeff Felker (4/15, 5/12), catcher Paul O’Toole (5/13/00, 4/1/02) and CF Steve Stanley (2/26, 4/23) … the other seven ND position players who have received weekly BIG EAST honors include catcher Mike Amrhein (3/17/97), OF Allen Greene (4/28/97), SS J.J. Brock (3/16/98), catcher Mike Knecht (5/4/98), 3B/C Andrew Bushey (2/25/02), 1B Joe Thaman (5/13/02) and 3B Matt Edwards (4/7/03), plus Gaston and Lopez.
Craig Cooper’s recent home run binge has included several opposite-field shots over the rightfield fence (photo by Matt Cashore).
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BEST THERE EVER WAS – Last week’s impressive display in the three-game sweep of rival Rutgers (8-for-11/.727, 9 RBI, 8 R, 3 HR, 2 2B, 5 BB, HBP, 1.727 slug, .813 OB, 2.540 OPS) pushed Cooper’s career batting average in BIG EAST games to .445 (98-for-220), placing him ahead of former Rutgers player Joe Cirrone (.443; 51-for-115) as the top hitter in the 22-year history of BIG EAST baseball … Cooper needs 13 more hits and 3 more HRs (currently 15) to crack those BIG EAST career top-10 lists (for league games) … he also owns 16 doubles and 36 walks spanning 72 career games in BIG EAST regular-season play.
TRADING HRs FOR Ks – Cooper’s many impressive stats this season include totaling nearly as many home runs (9) as strikeouts (10) while grounding into just two double plays all season (none in past 22 games).
HITTING BASEBALLS AND TEXTBOOKS – Cooper has rocketed to the top of most All-America projections but also could add Academic All-America honors to his 2006 awards haul … the political science major was one of 21 members of the 2006 ND baseball team to post a GPA of 3.0 or higher (3.40) during the 2005 fall semester … Cooper joins six of his teammates – senior LHP Tom Thornton, senior SS Greg Lopez, senior LF/DH Matt Bransfield, junior C Sean Gaston, sophomore 3B Brett Lilley and sophomore 2B Ross Brezovsky – as potential candidates for the official 2006 Academic All-America honors (as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America).
SLAYER OF THE KNIGHTS – Cooper has feasted on Rutgers pitching throughout his career, batting .500 (19-for-38) versus the Scarlet Knights with 12 RBI, 15 runs and 8 extra-base hits (3 HR, 5 2B, 8 BB, 5 SB, 5 Ks) in 13 games played … ND’s other veteran players had combined for just a .193 career batting avg. vs. RU (22-for-114) prior to last weekend’s offensive explosion that saw the Irish bat .438 with 49 total hits vs. the Knights (Cooper batted 8-for-11 while the rest of the team was 41-for-101/.406).
Cooper’s stellar 2006 season also has included strong defense at first base, as the former outfielder has totaled just two errors all season (photo by Pete LaFleur).
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WEEKLY ROUNDUP – Cooper’s key role during last week’s 5-0 showing included a 2-run HR in the 8-2 win over Toledo (1-for-3, 3 RBI, R, BB, HBP) before adding an RBI single in the 10-inning win over IPFW (4-3) … he opened the Rutgers series 2-for-4 (4 RBI, 2 R), breaking a 2-2 tie with a 2-run blast in the 5th, walking in the 6th and hitting another 2-run HR in the 7th for his first career multi-HR game (11-5) … he opened game-2 vs. RU with walk and run scored, later adding a single and run, another single and then an HBP/run (2-for-2, 3 R; 15-3) … Cooper then started the game for the ND offense with a home run for the fourth time this season, in the RU series finale … he added a walk/R in the 2nd inning of the series finale, a 2-run 2B/R in the 3rd and a 2-run 2B in the 4th (plus a single in the 8th) of that 14-12 slugfest (4-for-5, tied career-best with 5 RBI).
OH-SO-CLOSE – Cooper has hits in 30 of his past 31 games and possibly would be riding a 31-game hit streak if he could have managed another at-bat or two versus Central Michigan on March 22 (when he went 0-for-1, walked three times and added a sacrifice fly) … he has collected at least one hit in 32 of his 34 games played during the 2006 season, with only one hitless game in which he had at least two ABs (0-for-4 vs. Memphis, in the third game of the season).
Cooper has hit safely in 32 of his 34 games played this season and in 42 of his past 44 regular-season games, stretching back to the 2005 season (photo by Pete LaFleur).
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EXTENDED ROLL – Including the final 17 games of his junior season, Cooper has collected hits in 47 of his past 51 games (42 of 44 in the regular season) … he ended the 2005 regular season on a 10-game hitting streak, then hit safely in all three games of the ’05 BIG EAST Tournament before enduring a two-game slump at the NCAA Gainesville Regional he bounced back with hits in ND’s final two games of the ’05 NCAAs) … the current stretch of collecting hits in 47 of his past 51 games played spans the only double-digit hitting streaks of Cooper’s four-year ND career (13 and 21 games, plus the 9-game streak that ended with the 0-for-1 game vs. CMU).
LEADOFF LEADER – Cooper has reached a team-best 62% when leading off any inning but his production is even more impressive when leading off for the Irish in the 1st inning … Cooper has reached base 23-of-31 times (74%) when leading off the game for the ND offense, batting 18-for-26 (.692) in his 1st-ining leadoff plate appearances, including 4 leadoff home runs (1.385 slugging pct., 6 doubles, 4 walks, plus a time hit-by-pitch) … his OPS (on-base plus slugging) is an off-the-charts 2.127 as the 1st-inning leadoff batter this season … led by Cooper, the Irish are batting a robust .384 as a team this season in the 1st inning (.616 slugging, .482 on-base) while outscoring their opponents 48-21 in the opening frame.
BIG EAST’S BEST – Cooper leads all BIG EAST players in four overall categories (.441 batting avg., .735 slugging pct., 1.263 OPS, 50 runs) while ranking 2nd in total bases (100) and on-base pct. (.528, behind Pitt’s Jim Negrych at .537) plus 3rd in hits (60) and home runs (9) … in league games only, Cooper leads the BIG EAST in seven categories: .517 batting, .966 slugging, .600 on-base, 1.566 OPS, 24 runs, 7 HRs and 56 TBs (also 2nd with 30 hits and 20 RBI) … Cooper could duplicate the sweep of the three offensive pct. titles that he posted during 2004 BIG EAST play (.470 batting, .545 OB, .712 slugging), when he became the only player ever to lead the conference in all three of those categories during the same season.
Cooper has reached base 74% of the time when leading off the game for the Irish offense this season and ND is 28-3 when he hits in the leadoff spot (photo by Pete LaFleur).
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THE X FACTOR – Notre Dame is 28-3 with Cooper batting in the leadoff spot and just 4-5 when another player serves as the leadoff batter … the Irish dropped four straight games when Cooper was out of the lineup (vs. top opponents Oklahoma, Nebraska, Minnesota and Arizona) but ND now is riding a 30-3 extended streak over the past seven weeks after Cooper’s return to the lineup (he has played in all but two of those games).
LOFTY COMPANY – Cooper’s current .517 batting avg. in BIG EAST games puts him in range of the conference record, set more than 20 seasons ago by UConn’s Dave Ford (.522/24-for-46, in ’85) … Cooper’s overall stat line during 2006 BIG EAST games include 30 hits in 58 ABs, 20 RBI, 24 runs, a .966 slugging pct. (7 HR, 3B, 2 2B), a .600 on-base pct. (11 BB, HBP, just 3 Ks), a 1.566 OPS, 4 stolen bases and no errors … he needs 25 hits in ND’s final 12 BIG EAST games to break the league’s record for most hits in one BIG EAST season (54, by Rutgers shortstop Darren Fenster in ’99).
30-30 IN HIS SIGHTS – Cooper’s sophomore season in 2004 yielded 10 home runs and made him a legit candidate to become the program’s third all-time player with 30-plus stolen bases and 30-plus home runs in his career (he currently ranks 9th in ND history with 44 SBs) … his HR output dropped off to 7 in 2005 and Cooper did not have a long ball in his first 14 games of the 2006 season – before a power surge that includes 9 HRs in ND’s current win streak … that recent HR spike has lifted his career total to 26, leaving Cooper 4 HRs shy of joining shortstop Alec Porzel (37 HR, 32 SB; ’98-’01) and catcher Paul O’Toole (31 HR, 54 SB; ’99-’02) in the exclusive 30-30 club.
Cooper is part of a veteran core that includes five seniors and two juniors among the 10 regulars in the lineup (photo by Pete LaFleur).
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TEAM RANKS – Cooper leads the Irish in 10 total categories: batting (.441), slugging (.735), on-base (.528), OPS (1.263), HRs (9), runs (50), hits (60), TBs (100), leadoff on-base pct. (.618) and batting vs. RHPs (.469) … he also ranks 2nd on the team in doubles (11), walks (21) and stolen bases (8), 3rd in RBI (30) and batting with runners on base (.400), and 4th in hit-by-pitch (5) and batting vs. LHPs (.368) … he has struck out just 10 times all season, owns the team’s 2nd-best plate-discipline ratio (+16; 21 BB+5 HBP-10 Ks) and actually is batting 101 points higher this season vs. RHPs (.469) than LHPs (.368).
ND RECORD BOOK PROJECTION – Cooper’s current .441 batting avg. would rank best in the 12-year Paul Mainieri era and 3rd in the ND record book, behind Edwin Hartwell’s .447 in ’93 and Dan Peltier’s .446 in ’89 … his .735 slugging pct. also would rank 3rd in ND history (behind Peltier’s .783 in ’89 and Joe Binkiewicz’s .738 in ’91), as would his .528 on-base pct. (behind the .531 posted by Eric Danapilis in ’91 and Hartwell’s .529 in ’93) … Peltier’s 1.296 OPS in ’89 is the only mark in ND history higher than Cooper’s current 1.263 OPS … Cooper’s pace for the 2006 season (over 64 games) includes the following: 160 total bases (would rank 2nd behind Peltier’s 202 in ’89), 80 runs (would rank 4th), 96 hits (5th) and 14 HR (9th) … in the ND career record book, Cooper ranks 10th with a .453 career on-base pct. and 12th with a .355 career batting avg. (7th in Mainieri era) … his projected career numbers include: 51 doubles (7th in ND history), 264 hits (8th), 49 stolen bases (8th), 169 RBI (9th), 31 home runs (10th), 28 HBPs (10th) and 107 walks (11th), with a current 1.014 career OPS.
Cooper – shown during the 2005 season – is poised to compile one of the top offensive careers and seasons in Notre Dame history (photo by Matt Cashore).
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PAIR OF LONG HIT STREAKS – Cooper’s 13-game hit streak near the end of the 2005 season and his current 21-game tear make him the third player in the 12-year Paul Mainieri era to post multiple hit streaks of 13-plus games … centerfielder Steve Stanley had a 16-game hit streak in 2000 and hit safely in 13 straight games during the 2002 season while another former ND All-American, second baseman Steve Sollmann, had 13- and 15-game hit streaks during the 2003 season.
HOME & AWAY – Cooper has compiled nearly identical batting marks at home (.456, 31-for-68) and on the road (.426, 29-for-68) this season.