April 17, 2006
The Notre Dame baseball team – riding the nation’s longest active winning streak (17 games) – has climbed in this week’s national polls, reaching as high as 16th in the Collegiate Baseball magazine poll and 18th per Baseball America. The Irish also are ranked 22nd by both the National Collegiate Baseball Writers and Rosenblatt Report while the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll lists the Irish 23rd in this week’s rankings. In other news on Monday, All-America candidates Greg Lopez and Jeff Manship were named to the BIG EAST Conference weekly baseball honor roll while the Irish have released their week-eight pitching rotation, with the BIG EAST series versus Rutgers to feature Jeff Samardzija pitching the Friday-night game (April 21), Manship on Saturday the 22nd and Tom Thornton in the series finale on Sunday, April 23.
Wednesday’s game versus IPFW (April 19; 5:05 EDT) will be telecast by Comcast Local live in Michigan, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Muncie and South Bend (on Comcast channel 3) – in addition to being aired by Comcast Sports Net Chicago on a delayed basis on April 20 at 7:00 p.m. EDT. Additional re-airs are likely on the various Comcast affiliates (check local listings).
Lopez – who joined Manship as one of five players named to the weekly BIG EAST honor roll – led the way last week in the sweep of fellow BIG EAST contender St. John’s, batting 7-for-11 (.636) with four RBI, four runs scored, a pair of doubles and two walks from his spot in the 8-hole. The senior shortstop hit .538 overall for the week (7-for-12, 4 RBI, 5 R, 2 2B, 3 BB). Lopez’s RBI single brought home the eventual gamewinning run in the 9-2 opener versus SJU and he also scored in that pivotal five-run bottom of the sixth. He followed with a pair of singles (with a run and then an RBI) in Notre Dame’s eight-run explosion during the fourth inning of game-2, later adding a single and walk (3-for-4).
The series finale then saw Lopez open the scoring with a two-run double to spark the four-run bottom of the second, adding another double, a walk and a single (3-for-3).Two of Lopez’s at-bats in the first game of the series forced the action up the middle, as his counterpart at shortstop made errors (meaning Lopez was on base 11 times in the series). Lopez was the leader of an ND defense that repeatedly made big plays in the SJU series, as the Irish totaled as many double plays (5) as errors (5) in the three games (compared to SJU’s 12 Es and 3 DPs).
Lopez has surged to third on the team with a .354 season batting average while ranking as one of nation’s top all-around shortstops, with an impressive 5-to-1 ratio of RBI (team-best 30) to errors (6), an RBI/E ratio bested by just two shortstops among the other top-20 teams currently in the Baseball America poll (see full chart below). The All-America/Academic All-America dual candidate also owns a team-best .438 batting average with runners in scoring position and now is a .485 career batter versus the Red Storm (16-for-33).
Manship has endured several tough-luck outings this season, including last Sunday’s strong start versus St. John’s. The junior righthander left that game with a 4-0 lead and two runners on base in the eighth, earning no-decision as the Irish later rallied for the 9-7 win. Manship was charged with two runs on six hits and four walks while striking out seven SJU batters. He did not allow a two-out hit in the game, with his season stats placing him among the frontrunners for BIG EAST pitcher-of-the-year honors (2.04 ERA, 4-1 record, 61 Ks, 14 BB, 38 H/.276 opp. avg. in 53 IP).
Probable Week-Nine Pitching Matchups
Tues., April 18 (5:05) – Toledo sophomore RHP Mike Ellis (5.02 ERA, 0-0 record, 14.1, IP, 5 GP/1 GS, 6 Ks, 9 BB, 22 H, .367 opp. avg.)… ND sophomore LHP Wade Korpi (2.19, 3-1, 37.0 IP, 7 GP/6 GS, 52 Ks, 12 BB, 29 H, .216)
Wed., April 19 (5:05) – IPFW senior LHP Eric Lambert (5.85, 3-4, 40 IP, 9 GP/8 GS, 14 Ks, 13 BB, 55 H, .331) … ND sophomore LHP David Gruener (3.29, 1-0, 13.2 IP, 9 GP/2 GS, 12 Ks, 7 BB, 11 H, .216)
Fri., April 21 (6:05) – Rutgers junior RHP Steve Holt (5.43, 4-4, 53 IP, 9 GS, 27 Ks, 18 BB, 69 H, .322) … ND junior RHP Jeff Samardzija (3.83, 5-1, 49.1 IP, 8 GS, 28 Ks, 23 BB, 51 H, .276)
Sat., April 22 (3:05) – Rutgers senior LHP Matt Pustay (5.62, 2-3, 40 IP, 9 GP/7 GS, 13 Ks, 8 BB, 55 H, .333) … ND junior RHP Jeff Manship (2.04, 4-1, 53 IP, 8 GS, 61 Ks, 14 BB, 38 H, .194)
Sun., April 23 (12:05) – Rutgers junior RHP Sean Spicer (5.11, 5-1, 56.1 IP, 11 GP/6 GS, 30 Ks, 21 BB, 61 H, .282) … ND senior LHP Tom Thornton (3.78, 5-1, 50 IP, 8 GS, 39 Ks, 4 BB, 52 H, .277)
BIG EAST Stat Leaders (for ND starting pitchers)
* Manship is 1st in overall Ks looking (25), 2nd in ERA (2.04), 3rd in opp. batting avg. (.194), 4th in strikeouts (61) … in BIG EAST games, he is 4th in opp. avg. (.210) and Ks looking (11), 6th in ERA (2.57), 7th in Ks (29) – note that several teams have played one more BIG EAST series than ND at this point so the ND strikeout numbers will be lower
* Korpi is 4th overall in ERA (2.19), 6th in opp. avg. (.216) and pickoffs (4)
* Samardzija is 3rd in wins (5) and 18th in ERA (3.83), also 1st with 4 BIG EAST wins and 15th with a 3.62 ERA in BIG EAST games
* Thornton is 3rd in wins (5) and 16th in ERA (3.78)
* There are 40 BIG EAST pitchers who meet the min. requirement of 1.0 IP per team game … among those pitchers, Thornton has the fewest walks (4, next pitcher with 6) while Samardzija and Korpi are two of just four BIG EAST “regular” pitchers who have yet to allow a home run
* Notre Dame is the only team with four pitchers among the top-20 on the BIG EAST list for overall ERA
Greg Lopez has boosted his batting average 80 points from his junior season (.274 to .354) while striking out just eight times this season, well below his 2005 total of 43 Ks (photo by Pete LaFleur).
|
 |
LOPEZ AMONG NATION’S ELITE ALL-AROUND SHORTSTOPS – A glance at Notre Dame senior Greg Lopez’s season statistics reveals the rare combination for his position of shortstop, as the two-time Irish captain has paired a high RBI total (team-best 30) with a low error total (6) while appearing in 32 games this season … the resulting 5-to-1 ratio of RBI-to-Es is a tremendous mark for even the most elite of shortstops and a check of the other 19 teams currently among the top-20 in the Baseball America poll reveals that only two shortstops from those teams – Oklahoma’s Freddy Rodriguez (18.0; 18/1) and South Carolina’s Reese Havens (5.2; 26/5) – own a better mark in the unique but telling stat of RBI-to-error ratio, with Lopez’s .354 batting avg. nearly 70 points higher than both Rodriguez and Havens … Lopez’s RBI total (30) is second-most among the top-20 shortstops, behind only UNC’s Josh Horton (34) … Lopez also owns the second-lowest strikeout total (8) among the group (one more than Oregon State’s Darwin Barney, who has 7 Ks) and boasts the fifth-best fielding pct. (.956) among the top-20 shortstops – behind Rodriguez (.992), Havens (.967), N.C. State’s Jonathan Diaz (.972) and Fullerton’s Blake Davis (.971) – in addition to having the sixth-lowest error total (8), the eighth-best batting avg. (.354) and the eighth-best plate-discipline ratio (even for BB+HBP-Ks) … Lopez is one of just four seniors among the shortstops for teams currently in the BA top-20 … here’s a look at the 20 and their complete season stats:
Starting Shortstops for Teams Currently Among the Top-20 in the Baseball America Poll
(first number indicates RBI/E ratio, followed by RBI and error totals … other numbers indicate, in order, batting avg., hits, at-bats, fielding pct., slugging pct., extra-base hits, on-base pct., walks, hit-by-pitch, strikeouts, plate-discipline ratio for BB+HBP-Ks, sac. bunts, stolen bases and finally games played and started):
18.0 RBI/E ratio (18 RBI/1 E) – Freddy Rodriguez (Oklahoma, Sr.) … .288 batting avg. (32-for-111), .992 fld, .360 slug (HR-3B-3 2B), .344 OB (9 BB, HBP, 11 K; -1 PDR), 5 SAC, SB, 34 GP/28 GS
5.2 (26/5) – Reese Havens (South Carolina, Fr.) … .292 (38-for-130), .967 fld, .408 slug (HR-3B-10 2B), .397 OB (21 BB, 3 HBP, 19 K; +5), 3 SAC, 36 GS
5.0 (30/6) – Greg Lopez (Notre Dame, Sr.) … .354 (40-for-113), .956 fld, .416 slug (3B-5 2B), .387 OB (6 BB, 2 HBP, 8 K; E), 4 SAC, 2 SB, 32 GS
4.8 (24/5) – Jonathan Diaz (N.C. State, Jr.) … .262 (33-for-126), .972 fld, .317 slug (HR-4 2B), .409 OB (25 BB, 9 HBP, 12 K; +22), 10 SAC, 5 SB, 40 GS
4.0 (16/4) – Blake Davis (Cal State Fullerton, Jr.) … .336 (46-for-137), .971 fld, .423 slug (HR-2 3B-5 2B), .413 OB (16 BB, 2 HBP, 18 K; E), 8 SAC, 3 SB, 36 GS
3.0 (27/9) – Ryan Wehrle (Nebraska, So.) … .388 (50-for-129), .943 fld, .589 slug (4 HR-3B-12 2B), .456 OB (15 BB, 3 HBP, 22 K; -4), 3 SAC, 10 SB, 32 GS
2.8 (33/12) – Josh Horton (UNC, So.) … .387 (55-for-142), .925 fld, .514 slug (2 HR-3B-10 2B), .455 OB (19 BB, 2 HBP, 13 K; +8), 9 SB, 37 GS
2.6 (29/11) – Dominic de la Osa (Vanderbilt, So.) … .301 (42-for-143), .921 fld, ..482 slug (5 HR-11 2B), .354 OB (7 BB, 6 HBP, 19 K; -6), SAC, 9 SB, 36 GP/25 GS
2.6 (23/9) – Thomas Berkery (Mississippi State, Sr.) … .411 (52-for-129), .954 fld, .550 slug (4 HR-6 2B), .509 OB (29 BB, 2 HBP, 23 K; +8), SAC, SB, 35 GS
2.5 (25/10) – Brian Friday (Rice, So.) … .379 (58-for-153), .944 fld, .523 slug (2 HR-3B-14 2B), .453 OB (17 BB, 6 HBP, 29 K; -6), 4 SAC, 10 SB, 40 GS
2.3 (25/11) – Greg Paiml (Alabama, Jr.) … .293 (39-for-133), .944 fld, .444 slug (2 HR-4 3B-6 2B), .360 OB (13 BB, 2 HBP, 28 K; -13), 6 SAC, 3 SB, 39 GS
2.2 (24/11) – Oliver Marmol (College of Charleston, So.) … .377 (52-for-138), .926 fld, .522 slug (2 HR-2 3B-10 2B), .471 OB (16 BB, 12 HBP, 12 K; +16), 8 SAC, 22 SB, 36
2.0 (34/17) – Buster Posey (Florida State, Fr.) … .356 (53-for-149), .895, .490 slug (3 HR-3B-9 2B), .440 OB (23 BB, HBP, 32 K; -8), SAC, 6 SB, 39 GS
1.8 (14/8) – Matt Willard (Arkansas, So.) … .333 (36-for-108), .941 fld, .389 slug (HR-3 2B), .398 OB (11 BB. 2 HBP, 24 K; -11), SAC, 6 SB, 32 GP/27 GS
1.6 (14/9) Jesse Schoendienst (Old Dominion, Sr.) … .314 (33-for-105), .928 fld, .476 slug (2 HR-3B-9 2B), .397 OB (8 BB, 9 HBP, 14 K; +3), 4 SAC, 2 SB, 33 GP/32 GS
1.5 (12/8) – Chris Fuller (Texas, Jr.) … .253 (25-for-99), .942 fld, .293 slug (4 2B), .348 OB (11 BB, 4 HBP, 15 K; E), 8 SAC, 32 GP/31 GS
1.3 (18/14) – Darwin Barney (Oregon State, So.) … .357 (49-for-137), .915 fld, .438 slug (2 3B-7 2B), .438 OB (17 BB, 4 HBP, 7 K; +14), 6 SAC, 10 SB, 34 GS
1.3 (17/13) – Michael Fisher (Georgia Tech, So.) … .238 (30-for-126), .926 fld, .262 slug (3 2B), .320 OB (16 BB, HBP, 28 K; -11), 3 SAC, 5 SB, 37 GS
1.2 (5/4) – Matt Hall (Arizona State, Fr.) … .318 (14-for-44), .925 fld, .545 slug (HR-2 3B-3 2B), .388 OB (4 BB, HBP, 12 K; -7), 3 SAC, 24 GP/15 GS
0.8 (12/15) – Stan Widmann (Clemson, So.) … .312 (39-fof-125), .918 fld, .368 slug (3B-5 2B), .399 OB (16 BB, 2 HBP, 26 K; -8), SAC, 9SB, 37 GS