Freshman Kyle Richardson and senior Charlie Markson celebrate following Saturday's walk-off victory over Florida Gulf Coast.

Irish Baseball Monday Report Card

Feb. 18, 2013

Overall Record: 2-1, 0-0 BIG EAST
Last Week’s Record: 2-1, 0-0 BIG EAST

Recent Results:
February 16 – Notre Dame 6, Florida Gulf Coast 5 (10 innings) – Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla.
February 16 – Notre Dame 13, Ohio State 3 – Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla.
February 17 – Mercer 5, Notre Dame 4 – Buck O’Neil Complex in Sarasota, Fla.

Upcoming Games:
February 22, 6:30 p.m. (CT) – Notre Dame vs. Tulane – Greer Field at Turchin Stadium in New Orleans, La.
February 23, 2:00 p.m. (CT) – Notre Dame vs. Tulane – Greer Field at Turchin Stadium in New Orleans, La.
February 24, Noon (CT) – Notre Dame vs. Tulane – Greer Field at Turchin Stadium in New Orleans, La.

Star Watch:

Player avg gp-gs ab r h 2b 3b hr rbi tb slg% bb hbp so gdp ob% sf sh sb-att
Jagielo, Eric .545 3-3 11 3 6 1 0 2 8 13 1.182 2 2 1 0 .667 0 0 0-0
Bull, Ryan .500 3-3 12 1 6 0 0 0 0 6 .500 2 0 2 0 .571 0 0 0-0
Desico, Frank .467 3-3 15 6 7 2 0 1 3 12 .800 0 2 1 0 .529 0 0 1-1
Richards, Lane .364 3-3 11 2 4 0 0 0 2 4 .364 1 0 1 0 .385 1 1 1-1
Mancini, Trey .333 3-3 15 1 5 0 2 1 5 12 .800 0 0 0 0 .313 1 0 0-0
Player era w-l g-gs cg sho sv ip h r er bb so 2b 3b hr ab b/avg wp hbp bk
McCarty, Nick 0.00 1-0 1-0 0 0/0 0 5.0 4 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 18 .222 1 0 0
Norton, Adam 3.86 1-0 1-1 0 0/0 0 7.0 10 3 3 0 4 3 0 1 31 .323 0 0 0
Hearne, David 5.40 0-1 1-1 0 0/0 0 5.0 4 3 3 2 8 0 1 1 19 .211 0 0 0
Slania, Dan 0.00 0-0 1-0 0 0/0 0 2.0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 6 .000 0 0 0
Ternowchek, Matt 0.00 0-0 1-0 0 0/0 0 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 .000 0 1 0
Torres, Cristian 0.00 0-0 1-0 0 0/0 0 1.0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 3 .000 0 0 0
Hissa, Donnie 0.00 0-0 1-0 0 0/0 0 0.1 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 .667 0 0 0

Player of the Week Nominee:
Eric Jagielo – Junior – 3B – Downers Grove, Ill. (Downers Grove North)

Date OPPONENT GS AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB IBB SB CS HBP SAC SF AVG
Feb 16 Florida Gulf Coast * 4 1 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .500
Feb 16 Ohio State * 5 2 3 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .556
Feb 17 Mercer * 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 .545
Totals 3 11 3 6 8 1 0 2 2 1 0 0 2 0 0 .545

Jagielo paced Notre Dame to a 2-1 weekend and was named Perfect Game’s top player from Saturday’s contests from around the country. He batted .545 (6-for-11) for the weekend with a double, two home runs and eight RBI. The .545 batting average is the fifth-best by an Irish player over the opening weekend since 1995, but none of the previous four players hit multiple home runs. Jagielo posted a slugging percentage of 1.182, on-base percentage of .667 and OPS of 1.849. Jagielo opened the season with a 2-for-4 effort against Florida Gulf Coast, including a massive two-run home run to centerfield in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game, 5-5, before Notre Dame won in the bottom of the 10th. He followed up that performance with a three-hit game in a 13-3 rout of Ohio State. Jagielo went 3-for-5 with two runs scored, a three-run home run and career-high five RBI.

Pitcher of the Week Nominee:
Nick McCarty- Freshman – RHP – Indianapolis, Ind. (Cathedral)

Date OPPONENT GS IP H R ER BB SO 2B 3B HR WP BK HBP IBB Score W L SV ERA
Feb 16 Florida Gulf Coast 5.0 4 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6-5 1 0 0 0.00
Totals 0 5.0 4 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6-5 1 0 0 0.00

Nick McCarty made his Irish debut on Saturday against Florida Gulf Coast, tossed five shutout innings of relief and picked up the victory. He entered the game in the sixth inning with Notre Dame trailing 5-3. McCarty blanked the Eagles before the Irish could tie it in the ninth and win it in the 10th. He limited FGCU to four hits and struck out four. McCarty was the first Irish rookie to pick up a victory in the season opener since Grant Johnson on Feb. 22, 2002.

Weekly Recap:
The Notre Dame baseball team opened the season taking two of three games in the 2013 Snowbird Baseball Classic. The Irish captured their first two games from the weekend over Florida Gulf Coast and Ohio State to setup a title game with Mercer, but Notre Dame came up a run short in a 5-4 defeat. The Eagles went 2-1 and the Buckeyes went 1-2, while defending BIG EAST tournament champions and NCAA Super Regional qualifier St. John’s went 0-4.

The Irish had five different players pick up multi-hit games over the opening weekend. Junior 3B Eric Jagielo (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North H.S.), sophomore LF Ryan Bull (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie H.S.), senior 2B Frank Desico (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Ignatius H.S.) and junior 1B Trey Mancini (Winter Haven, Fla./Winter Haven H.S.) all had a pair, while freshman SS Lane Richards (Pendleton, Ore./Pendleton H.S.) had one in the opener.

The Notre Dame bullpen worked 11.0 innings over the three games this past weekend and allowed just one earned run – good for a 0.82 ERA. The sextet allowed just seven hits as Florida Gulf Coast, Ohio State and Mercer batted just .184 (7-for-38) against the Irish relief corp.

Freshman RHP Nick McCarty (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral H.S.) picked up the victory over the Eagles with 5.0 scoreless innings of relief in his Notre Dame debut. McCarty limited Florida Gulf Coast to four singles and did not issue a walk, along with four strikeouts. He was the first Irish rookie to pick up a victory in the season opener since Grant Johnson on Feb. 22, 2002.

Junior Dan Slania (Tucson, Ariz./Salpointe Catholic H.S.) and sophomore Cristian Torres (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula H.S.) combined to throw 3.0 scoreless innings of relief in the setback against Mercer. Torres fanned a couple in an inning of work, while Slania collected three strikeouts in 2.0 innings. Junior Donnie Hissa (Iron River, Wisc./Maple Northwestern H.S.) did allow an unearned run on two hits in the loss to the Bears (0.1 IP), while freshman Zak Kutaulis (Homer Glen, Ill./Providence Catholic H.S.) allowed an earned run on one hit in 1.2 innings. Sophomore Matt Ternowchek (Glenmoore, Pa./Downington East H.S.) tossed a scoreless inning in the rout of Ohio State.

DeSico went hitless in his first four plate appearances of the 2013 season, but followed with a walk-off RBI single to lead the Irish past Florida Gulf Coast, 6-5, in 10 innings. He then doubled, homered and singled twice in his first four times to the plate against Ohio State as Notre Dame routed the Buckeyes, 13-3.

Despite arriving to the team hotel at 3 a.m. Saturday morning, Notre Dame picked up its first opening day doubleheader sweep since Feb. 28, 1992 when the Irish upended Army and Navy.

DeSico’s four hits spearheaded a Notre Dame offense that totaled 16 against Ohio State. He drove in two and scored four runs. Jagielo went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and five RBI, including a three-run home run. Bull also chipped in with three hits (3-for-5).

Senior Adam Norton (Andrean, Ind./Andrean H.S.) picked up the victory with 7.0 solid innings. He limited the Buckeyes to three earned runs on 10 hits. Norton fanned four and did not issue a walk.

Bull, Jagielo and DeSico combined in the twin bill for eight runs scored, double, three home runs and 10 RBI. The trio batted .571 (16-for-28) in the victories over Ohio State and Florida Gulf Coast.

In the opener, DeSico laced a two strike, two out RBI single to right field in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Irish their 22nd one-run victory under third-year Notre Dame head coach Mik Aoki.

The Irish not only trailed 4-0 in the early innings, but they also found themselves down 5-3 heading to the bottom of the ninth inning. Senior co-captain Charlie Markson (Whitefish Bay, Wisc./Whitefish Bay H.S.) lined a one-out single to center field to bring the tying run to the plate in Jagielo. The Golden Spkies candidate rose to the occasion and absolutely crushed a two-run home run that caromed halfway up the batter’s eye in straightaway centerfield – 400-feet from home plate.

The game remained tied, 5-5, until the Irish half of the 10th. After freshman James Nevant (Asheville, N.C./T.C. Roberson H.S.) led off the frame with a walk, freshman Richards perfectly executed a sacrifice bunt that advanced freshman pinch runner Kyle Richardson (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) into scoring position. After a Notre Dame strikeout, DeSico delivered his first career walk-off single with a base hit to right field that plated Richardson.

DeSico made a winner of McCarty, who entered in the top of the sixth inning and tossed 5.0 shutout innings of relief in his first career appearance in an Irish uniform. The right-handed hurler (1-0) limited the Eagles to four hits, all singles, and struck out four. McCarty did not issue a walk.

Eight of the nine players in Aoki’s lineup collected hits in the opener. Bull and Richards paced the 13-hit attack for Notre Dame with three a piece. Bull went 3-for-4 with a run scored, while Richards went 3-for-3 with a run scored, RBI and sacrifice bunt. Jagielo went 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI. The round tripper was the 17th of his career. Mancini added a long ball of his own – a solo bomb that started the Irish comeback in the bottom of the fourth. It was Mancini’s 22nd career homer.

Junior Sean Fitzgerald (McLean, Va./McLean H.S.) started the game, but did not factor in the decision. The righty allowed five earned runs on seven hits in 5.0 innings of work. He struck out one and walked one.

Sophomore Phil Mosey (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral H.S.) drilled a solo home run in the rout of the Buckeyes.

One day after rallying from four runs down to upend Florida Gulf Coast, Notre Dame was not as fortunate Sunday against Mercer as the Bears staved off an Irish rally for a 5-4 victory in the championship game of the 2013 Snowbird Classic at the Buck O’Neill Baseball Complex.

Jagielo drew a two-out walk to bring Mancini to the plate as the potential winning run. Mercer closer Dimitri Kourtis left a fastball out over the middle of the plate and Mancini hammered it to left centerfield, but directly into a stiff breeze. The Bears left fielder Nate Moorhouse made the catch just shy of the warning track to end the game.

Irish freshman RHP David Hearne was charged with the loss, yet acquitted himself quiet well in his first career outing in a Notre Dame uniform. He limited Mercer to three earned runs on four hits in 5.0 innings of work. Hearne struck out eight and walked a pair, one of which was intentional.

The Irish trailed 5-2 heading to the bottom of the seventh inning. Sophomore LF Conor Biggio (Houston, Texas/St. Thomas H.S.) opened the inning with a hit by pitch and DeSico followed with a bunt single. After a pop out, Jagielo stroked a double into the left centerfield gap to make the score, 5-3, and Mancini followed with a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 5-4. After Bull drew a walk, Kutsulis grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the threat.

Kourtis retired the Irish in order in eighth before holding on in the ninth inning.

Notre Dame returns to action this weekend for a three-game series at Tulane. First-pitch for Friday night’s opener is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT. Saturday’s matchup is get underway at 2 p.m. CT, while Sunday’s finale is slated for Noon CT.

— ND —