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Heilman And Tamayo Reach Status As One Of Nation's Top Pitching Tandems

April 18, 2001

Notre Dame senior righthanders Aaron Heilman (Logansport, Ind.) and Danny Tamayo (Miami, Fla.) have emerged as one of the top pitching tandems in college baseball for the 2001 season, as the Irish duo currently are the only teammates ranked among the NCAA top 12 for season ERA while helping Notre Dame lead the nation in team ERA (2.61).

The three-time All-American Heilman-who led the nation in ERA as a freshman in 1998 (1.61)-currently checks in at sixth on the list with a 1.32 season ERA while Tamayo-who has completed an impressive comeback from 1999 “Tommy John” reconstructive elbow surgery-is 12th at 1.65, with the NCAA list limited to pitchers who have logged at least one inning per team game played (two pitchers rated above Heilman narrowly qualify for the limit).

Heilman also joins Michael Rogers (Oral Roberts) and William Collero (Florida International) as the current NCAA pitching leaders in winning percentage, with each owning a season record of 9-0.

The current issue of Baseball America listed its version of the nation’s top seven pitching tandems, heading into last weekend’s action. Of those pitching duos, Heilman and Tamayo own the second-best combined ERA (1.49, just behind the 1.46 owned by Cal State Fullerton’s Jon Smith and Kirk Saarloos) and the second-best combined winning percentage (14-1), trailing only the 16-1 combined record of Stanford’s Jeremy Guthrie and Jeffrey Bruksch.

Here’s an updated look at BA’s lisf of the nation’s top pitching tandems, sorted by combined ERA:

PITCHERS, SCHOOL (NATIONAL ERA RANK) W-L ERA IP ER SO
Jon Smith (14)/Kirk Saarloos (10), Cal State Fullerton 16-2 1.46 178.1 29 151
Aaron Heilman (6)/Danny Tamayo (12), ND 14-1 1.49 133.1 22 123
Mark Prior (4)/Ric Currier, USC 18-2 1.71 152.2 29 191
Justin Pope (9)/Jason Arnold (46), Central Florida 17-3 1.83 152.2 31 191
Jeremy Guthrie/Jeffrey Bruksch (50), Stanford 16-1 1.96 161.0 35 152
Kenny Baugh (17)/Jon Skaggs, Rice 16-2 2.04 154.1 35 166
Daniel Haren/Noah Lowry, Pepperdine 15-3 2.12 140.0 33 141

LAST WEEK: Heilman and Tamayo combined in the 4-1, 8-1 sweep of West Virginia (April 14) to allow just one earned run on 10 hits and two walks over 16 innings, with all but six of their 48 outs coming via strikeouts (12), groundball outs (24), infield popups (4), pickoffs (1) and runners thrown out trying to advance (1) … nearly 70% of their 218 combined pitches went for strikes (147).

DOUBLE (HEADER) TROUBLE: Heilman and Tamayo have teamed up on three BIG EAST doubleheaders this season, with matching 3-0 wins at Pittsburgh on March 23 followed by 6-0, 6-1 wins over Seton Hall on March 23 … their combined stats in their three BIG EAST doubleheaders this season: 6-0, 0.39 ERA, 46.2 IP, 5 complete games (Matt Laird relieved Tamayo for the final 1.1 IP vs. SHU), 3 shutouts, 46 Ks, 8 walks, 28 hits, a .177 opponent batting avg. and a 30-3 combined scoring edge for the Irish … in their three doubleheaders, Heilman (5-for-28, .179) and Tamayo (3-for-34, .088) have combined to allow just .129 batting from lefthanded hitters … other noteworthy stats from their three DHs: just 14 of 48 leadoff batters (29.2%) have reached vs. the duo (29.2% vs. Tamayo, 30.4% vs. Heilman) while they have beared down big-time with runners on base, allowing just 4-for-53 batting (.075) with runners on during those 3 games (Heilman is 0-for-25, Tamayo 5-for-28/.143) … they likewise have an impressive .177 (9-for-51) opp. 2-out batting avg. in the three DHs (Tamayo .200, Heilman .143) … their 9-inning combined averages in the 3 DHs: 5.4 hits, 8.9 Ks, 1.5 walks, 10.6 groundouts and 33.2 batters faced … their individual stat lines from those three DHs are nearly identical:

Heilman – 3-0, 0.39 ERA, 23 IP, 19 Ks, 7 BB, 10 H, .139 opp. avg.

Tamayo – 3-0, 0.38 ERA, 23.2 IP, 27 Ks, 1 BB, 18 H, .209 opp. avg. (plus 2 hit batters)

* Here’s how their individual and combined stats shake out for the entire season:

HEILMAN – 9-0, 1.32 ERA, 9 GS, 6 CG, 3 solo shutouts, 68 IP, 40 H, 10 ER, 17 BB, 60 Ks (3.5 K/BB), 7 2B, 1 HR,.169 opp. avg. (.211 slugging), 2 WP, 8 HB, 91 groundouts, 268 BF

TAMAYO – 5-1, 1.65 ERA, 9 GS, 3 CG, 2 solo shutouts, 65.1 IP, 48 H, 12 ER, 10 BB, 63 Ks (10.5 K/BB), 6 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, .205 opp .avg. (.252 slugging), 2 WP, 2 HB, 64 groundouts, 251 BF

COMBINED – 14-1, 1.49 ERA, 18 GS, 9 GC, 5 shutouts, 133.1 IP, 88 H, 29 BB, 123 Ks (4.2 K/BB), 13 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 187 opp. avg. (.231 slug.), 4 WP, 10 HB, 155 groundouts, 519 BF

Combined 9-inning Averages: 5.9 H, 1.8 BB, 8.3 Ks, 10.5 groundouts, 35.0 batters faced

Situationally

HEILMAN – .161 opp. batting by lefties, .136 batting with runners on, .143 with 2 outs, 27.9% leadoff runners reach (2.5 per 9 IP)

TAMAYO – .144 opp. batting by lefties, .217 batting with runners on, .167 with 2 outs, 28.8% leadoff runners reach (2.6 per 9 IP)

COMBINED – .153 opp. batting by lefties, .175 batting with runners on, .154 with 2 outs, 28.4% leadoff runners reach (2.6/9 IP)