March 23, 2007

Full-Color Game Program in PDF Format
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The Notre Dame baseball team (10-9) continues on its seven-game homestand by opening BIG EAST Conference play with a three-game series versus South Florida … see PDF for full-color game program, which features a variety of offerings to help bring Irish fans closer to the ballpark as they follow the Irish online (program text also included below) …

** best viewed via above PDF link **

BIG EAST Baseball at The Eck – South Florida Bulls (16-7, 2-1) vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-9, 0-0) … Friday, Saturday & Sunday … March 23-25, 2007 … Frank Eck Stadium (Notre Dame, Indiana) … * all records and statistics on this page prior to March 23 *

Probable Pitching Matchups

Friday – 5:05 p.m.
USF – Danny Otero (RHP, Sr.)
3.07, 4-3, 44.0 IP, 7 GP/6 GS, 32 Ks, 9 BB, 52 H (.297 opp. avg.)

ND – David Phelps (RHP, So.)
1.20, 3-1, 30.0 IP, 5 GS, 26 Ks, 10 BB, 28 H (.246 opp. avg.)

Saturday – 1:05 p.m.
USF – Daniel Thomas (RHP, Jr.)
1.27, 2-1, 28.1 IP, 5 GS, 25 Ks, 11 BB, 24 H (.231 opp. avg.)

ND – Wade Korpi (LHP, Jr.)
4.38, 1-3, 24.2 IP, 5 GS, 22 Ks, 16 BB, 25 H (.269 opp. avg.)

Sunday – 1:05 p.m.
USF – Chris Delaney (RHP, Jr.)
3.86, 4-0, 30.1 IP, 6 GP/5 GS, 25 Ks, 19 BB, 23 H (.213 opp. avg.)

ND – Dan Kapala (RHP, Sr.)
1.98, 0-1, 13.2 IP, 5 GP/2 GS, 9 Ks, 2 BB, 12 H (.245 opp. avg.)

Tale of the Tape (… ND … USF)
2006 Final Records 45-17-1 23-35
Lettermen Ret./Lost 18/11 16/13
CURRENT STATS (BIG EAST rank in parentheses)
Batting Average … .293 … .312
Runs Per 9 Innings … 6.8 … 7.3
Home Runs … (8) 10 … (7) 11
Slugging Percentage … (5) .421 … (4) .425
Batters’ BB+HBP-K Margin … -22 … +12
On-Base Percentage … (8) .383 … (1) .417
Stolen Bases-Attempts … (9) 18-26 … (4) 26-35
Stolen Base Percentage … 69% … 74%
Team ERA … (1) 3.29 … (4) 3.98
Opponent Batting Avg. … (4) .255 … (3) .253
Pitchers’ K-BB Ratio … 1.8 … 1.7
Pitchers’ Ks Per 9 Innings … (9) 6.8 … (6) 7.6
Pitchers’ BB Per 9 Innings … (3) 3.8 … (9) 4.5
Fielding Pct. (Errors) … (11) .951 (37) … (10) .955 (42)
Double Plays Turned … 12 … 14
Record at Home … 2-0 … 15-6
Record on Road (incl. neutral) … 8-9 … 1-1
Record in 1-Run Games … 0-2 … 4-1
Record in Extra Innings … 1-0 … 0-0

THE SERIES – Notre Dame swept the series at USF in 2006 (9-6, 10-4, 10-1) and then beat the Bulls in the first game of the BIG EAST Tournament (3-1, in Clearwater) … USF won the only other previous meeting (6-1, in a 2001 game played in St. Petersburg) … current ND players Brett Lilley (.625, 10-for-16, 2 RBI, 4 R, 2B, 3 BB, K) and Jeremy Barnes (.471, 8-for-17, 6 RBI, 3 R, 2 3B, 2B, 3 BB, 2 Ks) combined with departed All-American Craig Cooper to put up big numbers vs. USF last season … six current ND pitchers who saw action last season vs. USF combined to allow just one earned run in those four games, in 16.2 innings … junior LHP Wade Korpi beat USF in the 2006 BET opener (6 IP, R, 4 H, 3 BB, 11Ks) and then beat Louisville in the title game to earn tournament MVP (current USF coach Lelo Prado was the UL coach in ’06).

GAME NOTES – Notre Dame this week is playing its first home games under head coach Dave Schrage, whose 20 years as a college head coach now have produced 486 wins (he is in the midst of his 18th season as a D-I head coach) … the Irish are coming off a 17-9 win over Western Michigan that featured the most hits (22) by an ND team since the 2002 College World Series season … the 17 runs are the most by ND in an Eck Stadium game since that ’02 season (and most for the Irish in any game since late in the 2005 season) … since the 4-0 shutout loss to Harvard on March 11, the Irish have gone 6-1 while doubling up the opposition in scoring (64-32) and amassing 91 hits – on .358 hitting – in that seven-game span (avg. of 9 runs, 13 hits) … 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 the 2006 team (also unprecedented in a check of the past 19 seasons) … the Irish are in the midst a much-needed 7-game homestand, after spending 22 days on the road (including travel days) during the first month of the season … ND’s 2007 highlights include wins over #12 TCU (4-1) and #7 Nebraska (16-6) … the Irish are batting .390 in their wins this season (11 runs/gm) but just .162 in the losses (1.3 runs/gm) … ND has lost four times this season when holding a mid-game lead (unearned runs provided the margin in each of those losses) … the ND offense hit .303 (.355 with runners in scoring position) and averaged 7.0 runs in the eight Spring Break games, with a 2.88 staff ERA over Spring Break while holding opponents to .239 batting and posting a 2-to-1 K-to-walk ratio (55/27) … the Irish dominated late-game scoring on the trip (32-3 from the 7th-10th innings) … top Spring Break hitters included: A.J. Pollock (.419, 13-for-31, 4 RBI, 8 R, 3B, 4 BB, 3 Ks, 3 SAC, SF, 3-3 SB, 5 Es), Ryan Smith (.381, 9-for-21, 6 RBI, 4 R, 2B, 2 BB, 3 Ks, SF, 2 Es), Danny Dressman (.367, 11-for-30, 6 RBI, 6 R, 2B, 3B, 3 BB, K, SAC, SB) and Lilley (.364, 12-for-33, 2 RBI, 11 R, BB, 5 HBP, 4 Ks, SAC, SB, 3 Es) … ND has yet to lose this season when scoring 5-plus runs (7-0) … the Irish own an 18-8 scoring margin in the 1st inning (also 19-6 in the 7th) … Lilley’s 60 career time hit-by-pitch already rank 12th in NCAA history (one shy of 9th) … ND is 9-1 when outhitting the opponent (1-8 when being outhit) and 5-0 when hitting a home run … the Irish are batting .358 with runners in scoring position, led by Pollock (.444) and Barnes (.368) … six different ND pitchers own a sub-2.00 season ERA … Dressman is riding a 7-game hitting streak (tying Pollock for longest by an ND player this season) … six of Matt Weglarz’s seven hits this season have gone for extra bases (5 2B, HR) while Ryan Connolly has a team-best six doubles to go along with three singles … the ND offense has shown its explosive ability several times this season, totaling 11 innings with 4-plus runs (including a pair of 8-run innings and another with 7)

HISTORIC NIGHT FOR LILLEY AND POLLOCK – The recent 17-9 win over Western Michigan featured a rare 5-run game from ND leadoff batter Brett Lilley (4-for-5, 2 RBI, 3B, BB) while freshman A.J. Pollock added five hits from the #2 spot in the batting order (5-for-6, 2 RBI, 2 R, HR)… Pollock is the 30th ND player ever to post 5-plus hits in a game (Alec Porzel and Steve Sollmann share the record, with 6-hit games) … Pollock, Lilley (’05, vs. Cincinnati) and current senior catcher Sean Gaston (’04, vs. Florida Memorial) are three of only five ND freshmen ever to have a 5-hit game … Lilley became just the ninth ND player ever to score 5-plus runs in a game (Sollmann also shares that record, with 6) … Lilley and recent All-America 3B Matt Macri (’04) are the only ND players ever to post a 5-hit game and a 5-run games during their careers … Pollock now is batting .487 over the past nine games (18-for-37) Pollock is batting .487 over the past nine games (18-for-37).

Batting Average
1. Derek Shunk (VILL) – .542
10. A.J. Pollock (ND) – .390
11. Walter Diaz (USF) – .389

Slugging Percentage
1. Logan Lohnson (LOU) – .761
6. Mike Dury (ND) – .638

On-Base Percentage
1. Derek Shunk (VILL) – .603
7. Addison Maruszak (USF) – .490
10. Ty Taborelli (USF) – .479
11. Brett Lilley (ND) – .477

Runs
1. Walter Diaz (USF) – 28
2. Ty Taborelli (USF) – 24
3. Brett Lilley (ND) – 23
6. Addison Maruszak (USF) – 20

RBI
1. Brandin Daniel (USF) – 30
8. Ty Taborelli (USF) – 17
10. Ross Brezovsky (ND) – 16
Dexter Butler (USF) – 16

Home Runs
1. Logan Johnson (LOU) – 7
4. Mike Dury (ND) – 4
8. Brandin Daniel (USF) – 3

Triples
1. Brett Lilley (ND) – 2
Ross Brezovsky (ND) – 2

Doubles
1. Walter Diaz (USF) – 9
6. Ryan Connolly (ND) – 6
Butler (USF) – 6
Daniel (USF) – 6
11. Mike Dury (ND) – 5
Matt Weglarz (ND) – 5
Ty Taborelli (USF) – 5

Hits
1. Walter Diaz (USF) – 37
5. Dexter Butler (USF) – 30
8. Brandin Daniel (USF) – 28
9. Brett Lilley (ND) – 27
Addison Maruszak (USF) – 27

Walks
1. Yeager (UConn) – 19
3. Ty Taborelli (USF) – 18
5. Consolmagno (USF) – 15
6. Jeremy Barnes (ND) – 12

Earned-Run Average
1. Kyle Landis (PITT) – 0.40
2. David Phelps (ND) – 1.20
3. Daniel Thomas (USF) – 1.27

Opponent Batting Average
1. Zack Pitts (LOU) – .188
5. Chris Delaney (USF) – .213
10. Daniel Thomas (USF) – .231

Strikeouts
1. Saris (Georgetown) – 36
4. Danny Otero (USF) – 32
5. Yuri Higgins (USF) – 30
7. David Phelps (ND) – 26

Wins
1. Chris Delaney (USF) – 4-0
Danny Otero (USF) – 4-3
4. David Phelps – 3-1

Saves
1. Sanford (USF) – 4

BIG EAST CONFERENCE STANDINGS (as of March 22)
South Florida 2-1 16-7
Pittsburgh 1-2 7-10
Louisville 0-0 14-7
West Virginia 0-0 10-5
Villanova 0-0 8-6
Cincinnati 0-0 11-9

Notre Dame 0-0 10-9
St. John’s 0-0 7-8
Georgetown 0-0 9-11
Rutgers 0-0 7-10
Seton Hall 0-0 5-9
Connecticut 0-0 5-9

LAST WEEK IN THE BIG EAST – South Florida took 2-of-3 vs. Pittsburgh (4-2, 2-5, 5-2) … Connecticut at Seton Hall had all three games cancelled

THIS WEEK IN THE BIG EAST – Louisville at Villanova … Cincinnati at Pittsburgh … St. John’s at Connecticut … Seton Hall at West Virginia … Georgetown at Rutgers