March 20, 2011
SAN ANTONIO – Notre Dame and Gonzaga played to a 3-3 tie after 12 innings on the final day of the 2011 Irish Baseball Classic from Wolff Stadium Sunday afternoon. The game was called due curfew as both the Irish and Bulldogs needed to catch flights. Notre Dame returns home from their spring break trip with a 7-10-1 record, while Gonzaga is now 10-7-1.
The Irish have a golden chance to win the game in the bottom of the 12th inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, fifth-year senior Herman Petzold ripped a 1-2 offering from Gonzaga reliever Billy Moon right back up the middle. In complete self-defense, the southpaw pulled his glove up to his face and somehow managed to snag the liner to end the game.
Irish senior RHP Todd Miller did not factor in the decision, but tossed another gem. He limited Gonzaga to a pair of earned runs of seven hits in 7.0 innings of work. Miller struck out five and walked two.
Notre Dame took a 3-2 lead into the ninth inning, but the Bulldogs rallied off junior RHP Will Hudgins. The closer walked Acker to open the frame. After Edman executed a sacrifice bunt to move Acker into scoring position, Hudgins struck out Stanford and was one strike away from securing the victory and his second save of the season, but Moon laced a 1-2 offering into right center field to tie the score, 3-3.
Freshman LHP Anthony McIver, freshman RHP Sean Fitzgerald, Hudgins and freshman Dan Slania limited Gonzaga to one earned run on five hits in 5.0 innings out of the bullpen. The quartet fanned three and walked two.
Sophomore 2B Frank DeSico paced the Irish attack with three hits. Freshman OF Eric Jagielo went 2-for-5 with an RBI double. Sophomore 3B Adam Norton went 1-for-3 with two RBI. Senior DH Matt Grosso also chipped in with a pair of hits.
Notre Dame returns to South Bend and hosts Oakland at 5:35 p.m. on Tuesday in the 2011 Eck Stadium opener. The game can be heard on WHME Harvest 103.1 FM and UND.com.