April 13, 2003

NOTRE DAME BASEBALL GAMES NOTES – at Creighton (April 13, 2003)

The Notre Dame baseball team (24-6, 7-1 BIG EAST) looks to push its winning streak to 16 games with Sunday’s rematch vs. Creighton at the CU Sports Complex (noon CDT) … if the Irish win, it will match the longest winning streak of the nine-year Paul Mainieri era and will trail only a 17-game win streak in 1910 and a 17-game run in 1991 among the longest win streaks in the program’s 111-year history … ND leads the Creighton series 6-3, with three straight wins.

Pitching Matchup

ND – sr. RHP Ryan Kalita (2.31, 4-0, 35 IP, 26 Ks, 16 BB, 26 H, .208 opp. avg.)

CU – fr. RHP Eric Wordekemper (5.28, 1-1, 29.0 IP, 34 Ks, 15 B, 23 H, .215 opp. avg.)

SECRETS TO HIS SUCCESS – Senior RHP Ryan Kalita ranks as possibly ND’s top situational pitcher this season, allowing just 26% of leadoff batters to reach (9-of-35) while limiting the opponents to .157 batting with runners on (8-for-51) and .171 with 2 outs (7-for-41) … Kalita also owns nearly a 3-to-1 groundout-to-flyout ratio (55/17) and has recorded 77% of his outs (81 of 105) via Ks (26) or GOs – with a 9-inning average of 20.8 outs on Ks or Gos.

KALITA NOTES

* Closed the 6-2 win over Creighton at the 2002 Irish Baseball Classic in San Antonio, tossing the final two innings (2 H, K) in relief of John Axford … Matt Daegas legged out an infield single vs. him (1B-6) while Ryan Fitzgerald flew out to center.

* His last outing came in the 18-3 win at St. John’s, when he averaged just 10 pitches per inning while recording all 21 of his outs via Ks (4), groundouts (14), popups (2) or runners caught stealing (1) … he allowed three runs (just one earned) on six hits and no walks, with 56 of his 71 pitches going for strikes while his ERA dropped to 2.31.

* Has allowed just one run from the 2nd-5th innings all season (19.2 IP, .136 opp. batting, 9 H, 17 Ks, 8 BB).

* His .208 season opp. batting avg. is best among ND pitchers with 12-plus innings (he has allowed just a .248 opp. slugging pct., with six doubles in his 35 IP).

* His 2.71 career ERA would rank 6th in the ND record book and 3rd-best since 1961 (behind Larry Mohs’ 2.52 from ’94-’97 and Aaron Heilman’s 2.49 from ’98-’01).

* Since moving to the weekend rotation in place of injured classmate Peter Ogilvie, he has gone 3-0 in three BIG EAST starters with an 0.86 ERA and .171 opp. batting in those games – with his 63 outs in that stretch including 35 groundouts, 17 Ks, five popups, three caught stealing and just three flyouts ( with 8 BB).

* 11-0 career, could become 5th ND pitcher to win 14 straight, needs five more decisions to qualify for ND career win pct. list.

TERRIFIC TRIO – Notre Dame’s current three-man rotation – sophomore RHPs Chris Niesel and John Axford and senior RHP Ryan Kalita – has the makings for one of the best in the program’s history … their combined totals in 2003 include a 2.51 ERA, a14-1 record and a .219 opponent batting average in 21 appearances (20 starts), with a 3-to-1 K-to-walk ratio (124/43) and 104 hits allowed in 129.1 IP … their combined nine-inning averages: 7.2 hits, 3.0 walks, 8.6 Ks and 11.0 groundouts (average of 19.6 outs via K or GO) … they also own a 30-3 combined career record (Kalita 11-0, Axford 11-2, Niesel 8-1) … Niesel (10 Ks vs. SIU in ’02, 11 vs. Villanova in ’03) combines with John Axford (12 Ks vs. WMU) as the 10th pair of ND teammates ever to post double-digit Ks in the same season … the others include Ron Mottl and Dick Bunker (’55), Jim Sholl and Don Wolfe (’75), the 1977 trio of Sholl, Bob Hughes, and Mike Bobinski, David Sinnes and Al Walania (’93), Darin Schmalz and Christian Parker (’96), the ’98 trio of Brad Lidge, Alex Shilliday and Tim Kalita – and Aaron Heilman with Tim Kalita (’99), Drew Duff (’00) and Danny Tamayo (’01).

BROTHERS BEST – Two current Notre Dame veterans have done their part in completing possibly the top two brother combinations in Notre Dame baseball history … senior RHP Ryan Kalita (2.31, 11-0, 72 Ks, 40 BB in 89.2 IP) has matched the win total posted by his brother Tim during his 1997-99 ND career (4.00, 11-3, 214 Ks, 116 BB in 214 IP) … the elder Kalita is one of the top LHPs in recent ND baseball history and was a 7th-round draft pick of the Detroit Tigers in 1999 (he pitched with the triple-A Toledo Mud Hens in 2002 and currently is with the double-A Erie Sea Wolves, as is former Irish 3B and the Tigers 6th-round pick in ’99, Brant Ust) … current ND junior 2B Steve Sollmann has followed in the steps of his brother, CF Scott (’94-’96), as two of the top hitters in ND history (Scott’s .372 career batting avg. ranks 4th in the ND record book while Steve is 8th at .366).

ND QUICK NOTES

* Junior 2B Steve Sollmann has 17 multi-hit games this season, including five of the last eight games … he ranks 7th on the ND career stolen-base list and is approaching his 50th SB (48).

* Since moving to the leadoff spot on the Spring Break trip, Sollmann is batting .390 (37-for-95, 29 R in 23 games).

* Freshman OF Brennan Grogan had a pair of sac. bunts in Saturday’s game vs. Creighton, brining his team-best total to seven.

* Sophomore 3B/1B Matt Edwards now has 20 RBI in the last 11 games.

* Senior RF Kris Billmaier is looking for a breakout game, with just two multi-hit games in his last 15 and only one multi-RBI game in the last 16.

* Sophomore SS Matt Macri is batting .375 (15-for-40) in the last 13 games (7 RBI, 11 R).

* Freshman OF/C Cody Rizzo is batting 7-for-13 in the last three games (6 RBI, 8 R, HR) … his 13 time hit-by-pitch are two shy of the ND record (by Eric Danapilis, in ’93).

* Hit 8-for-17 (7 R, RBI) in the last seven games played, with team-best .400 batting in win streak and in BIG EAST play.

* Alex Nettey yesterday become the fourth ND freshman to start in CF this season (Steve Stanley started all 256 games in CF from 1999-2002).

STRONG FIRST HALF – The current 24-6 record represents one of the program’s best records at this point in the season … in fact, the program’s all-time history includes just one 30-game start better than the current 23-6 record: 24-5-1 in 2001 … that ’01 team won its next 13 games (37-5-1) en route to claiming the nation’s No. 1 ranking (a first for the ND program) … the only other previous team on a par with the current squad’s 30-game record is the 1989 team, which also owned a 24-6 mark near the midpoint of its season … the ’89 team kept winning until its 33rd game, rising as high as 26-6 … the quickest seasons to 30 wins have been in the landmark 2001 season (30-5-1) and ’89 (30-8).

APRIL SHOWERS OF WINS – Notre Dame has dominated in April during the nine-year Paul Maineiri era (167-36, .823), including 47-4 (.922) in April during the past three seasons (20-2 in ’01, 19-2 in ’02, 8-0 in ’03) … ND’s only April losses in that stretch: vs. Ball State (3-4) and Valparaiso (3-7) in ’01, St. John’s (3-4) and Pittsburgh (5-7) in ’02.

BULLPEN BOOST – After a rough start to the 2003 season, the Notre Dame bullpen has strung together some quality outings … the bullpen ERA now stands at 4.48, with just two of 15 inherited baserunners scoring … the relief pitchers have allowed just .167 opponent batting (8-for-48) by first batters faced (6 BB, 18 Ks).

NOTRE DAME CAREER STATS VS. CREIGHTON

Steve Sollmann – 7-for-16, RBI, 3 R, 2 BB, 2 SB, SAC, 2 Ks

Brennan Grogan – 1-for-7, RBI, 3 R, BB, 1-2 SB, 2 SAC, K

Matt Edwards – 4-for-9, 4 RBI, 2 R, 2 2B, HBP, CS

Kris Billmaier – 2-for-16, 3 RBI, R, 2B, 2 BB, SF, 4 Ks

Javi Sanchez – 4-for-13, 2 RBI, 2 R, 2B, HBP, K, 4 E, PB

Matt Macri – 5-for-15, 3 RBI, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 Ks, E

Joe Thaman – 2 GP, 0-for-2, RBI, K

Cody Rizzo – 3-for-6, R, 2B, 2 HBP

Craig Cooper – 2-for-5, R, 2B, 2 BB, K

Greg Lopez – 0-for-6, RBI, R, 2 HBP, K

Steve Andres – 0-for-2

Alex Nettey – 2-for-5, K

Tim Murray – 0-for-1, K

Ryan Kalita – 2 IP, 2 H, K

Roth – P-5-1

Fitzgerald – F-8

Daegas – 1B-6

Schumacher – 6-3

J.P. Gagne – GS, 0-1, 8.1 IP, 6 H (HR), 6 R/2 ER, 4 BB, 7 Ks, WP

Roth – 1B-LS/SB/R, BB/CS, F-8 … Fitzgerald – BB/SB/SB/R, KL, 1B-MI/SB, 1B-8/SB … Gradonville – L-4, L-7, 1-3 … Lapito – E6T, 4-3, 5-3 … Daniel – F-9 … Wiedewitsch – 4-3 … Norquist – F-9 … Schultz – KS … Z. Daegas – 4-3 … M. Daegas – BB … Hammer – 3U

Matt Laird – 2 GP, 2 IP, 3 R, 6 H (HR), BB, K, HB Fitzgerald – 1-4 SAC … Gradonville – 1B-LS … Lapito – 1B-6 … Roth – 5-3

Brandon Viloria – IP, H, K

Fitzgerald – 2B-LC … Suarez – KL … Schultz – 3-1 … Sirianni – 1-3 … Daniel – 1B- … Hammer – 1-3 SAC … Lapito – 5-3

CREIGHTON CAREER STATS vs. NOTRE DAME

Gabe Lapito – 4-for-17, RBI, 2 R, HR, 2B, 3 Ks, 5 Es

Mike Sirianni – 0-for-2

Matt Daegas – 4-for-7, RBI, 3 R, HR, 4 BB, 2 Ks

B.J. Schumacher – 0-for-4, 2 Ks

Ryan Fitzgerald – 5-for-13, 2 RBI, R, 2 2B, 2 BB, 3 SB, SAC, 4 Ks

Tony Roth – 2-for-10, RBI, R, 3 BB, 2 Ks, 1-2 SB

Matt Hammer – 1-for-5, K

Dave Schultz – 1-for-8, 3 Ks

Pete Wiedewitsch – 2-for-7, R, BB, K

Zach Daegas – 0-for-5, K

Alex Suarez – 0-for-1, K

Dan Norquist – 0-for-5, 2 Ks, HB

Tom Oldham – 0-for-6, K

Tony Daniel – 1-for-4

Chris Appuhn – GS, 0-1, 3.2 IP, 6 R/5 ER, 9 H, 2 Ks, WP, HB

Sollmann – 1B-RC/R, 1B-LS/RBI/R, F-9 … Grogan – 1B-RS/R, E6F/R … Edwards – 2B-RC/RBI, 1B-RC/RBI/CS/5-3 … Billmaier – F-7/SF/RBI, 1B-LS/RBI. 2B-RC … Macri – 6-3, KS … Sanchez – F-9, P-4 … Cooper – 5-3, 1B-5 … Rizzo – HB/R. 1B-MI … Thaman – dnp … Lopez – HBP, KS

Adam Rider – IP, R, 2 H, BB, K, WP

Billmaier – BB/R … Sanchez – 1B-6/RBI … Thaman – FC … Nettey – 1B-6 … Andres – P4 … Murray – KL

Matt Garland – 0.1 IP, 2 R, H, BB, K

Sollmann – KS … Grogan – BB/SB/R … Edwards – 2B-8/RBI

Jeff Daneff – 3 IP, R, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks, HB

Sollmann – 1B-9 … Grogan – KS … Edwards – HBP … Billmaier – BB … Macri – L-5 … Sanchez – P-4, L-8 … Cooper – KS, BB/R … Rizzo – 6-3, 2B-RL … Thaman – KL … Lopez – F-9, 6-3/RBI

Steve Grasley – GS, 0-1, 5.2 IP, 5 R, 8 H (HR), 1 BB, 5 Ks

Macri – KS, BB, 1B-LS/R … Billmaier – KS, KL, PP3 … Sanchez – 1B-7, KS … Sollmann – F-9, 6-3, KS Grogan – 4-3 … Edwards – 1B-RL