Feb. 25, 2006

Complete Release in PDF Format, including updated position-player bio. capsules
Download Free Acrobat Reader

Notre Dame Baseball Gameday Notes – vs. Memphis (Feb. 25, 2006; Millington, Tenn.)

Today’s Game – Notre Dame looks to move to 3-0 while sending sophomore LHP Wade Korpi to the mound in the game vs. Memphis (the game is slated to start at 4:00 central but will be pushed back at least 40 minutes due to delays in the earlier games) … the Irish opened with a 3-0 victory over Indiana State before coming back from a 1-0 midgame deficit to beat Air Force in the first game of the Service Academies Classic (8-2) … ND now is 12-2 in four all-time trips to the S.A.C. and 39-13 in all-time games played in the state of Tennessee.

Irish Take Aim At 3-0 Start – ND typically faces some challenging early-season games while facing teams that already have been playing for several weeks … in 18 previous seasons spanning the coaching tenures of Pat Murphy and Paul Mainieri, just three teams in that 18-year stretch have opened 3-0: 1989, 1992 (went to 5-0) and 2004 (7-0) … the 113 previous seasons in ND baseball history have featured a 3-0 start 29 times, with 11 of those coming early in the 20th century (1896, 1901, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’15 and ’18), followed by eight more years with 3-0 starts from the 1920s-40s (1921, ’22, ’23, ’29, ’31, ’36, ’38 and ’44), plus 1951, ’53, ’69, ’62, ’64 and ’67) … in addition to the three Murphy/Mainieri-era 3-0 starts, only three others seasons in the past 19 have featured a 2-0 start (1991, 1994, 2003 and ’05) … Mainieri’s past four teams have combined to go 7-1 in the first two games of the ’03-’06 seasons.

Quick Starter – Sophomore 2B Ross Brezovsky has hit a combined 9-for-26 (.346) in opening-week games during his two seasons with the Irish (8 RBI, 3 R, HR, 3 2B, BB, 4 Ks).

Dynamic Defense – ND’s position players have made just one error while turning three double plays (all in the Indiana State game) and then throwing out three attempted basestealers in the Air Force game (all by senior Cody Rizzo).

Timely Hitting and Pitching – Here’s a look at some key situational stats from after two games in the books:

* ND is batting just .270 as a team but .435 (10-for-23) with runners on base, led by Greg Lopez (2-for-3), Matt Bransfield (2-for-4) and Steve Andres (2-for-4) … the Irish also are hitting .412 with runners in scoring position (Lopez 2-for-3, Bransfield 2-for-4).

* The ND pitchers have struggled vs. leadoff batters (allowing 9-of-18 to reach) but have buckled down with runners on base (2-for-24 opp. batting, .083), including just 1-for-11 opponent batting with runners in scoring position (.091) … game-1 starter Tom Thornton did not allow a hit with runners on (0-for-8) and also held Indiana State to 1-for-8 batting with 2-outs … game-2 starter Jeff Samardzija held Air Force to 1-for-9 batting with runners on (2-for-7 with 2-outs) … RH batters are hitting just .207 vs. the Irish pitchers.

Early Long Balls – ND now has hit home runs in the first two games of a season five times in the 12-year Paul Mainieri era (Matt Bransfield homered vs. Indiana State and Ross Brezovsky vs. Air Force) … Dan Leatherman homered in the 1998 opener vs. Florida State, as did Brant Ust and Jeff Wagner in the next game vs. N.C. State … the ’99 team received an opening-game HR from Brant Ust (vs. James Madison) and in game-2 from Ed Golom (vs. FIU) … Matt Bok (vs. Missouri) and Andrew Bushey (vs. New Orleans) had the early HRs in 2002, as did Kris Billmaier in 2003 vs. both Dayton (opener) and Newman (2 HRs, in game-2).

Scoring Streak Reaches 212 – Notre Dame now is riding a 212-game scoring streak, has scored in 443 of the past 44 games and has been shut out a total of just six times in the 12-year Paul Mainieri era.

Wade Korpi Notes – Today’s starter Wade Korpi was a top middle reliever and midweek starter in 2005, going 4-3 with a 5.47 ERA in 18 appearances (9 GS, 32 Ks, 33 BB, 73 H, 54.1 IP) … Korpi played during the summer of 2005 with the Staunton (Va.) Braves of the Valley League and pitched vs. Louray Wranglers team that featured his former Santaluces HS and current ND teammate Joey Williamson … four current Memphis players also were members of the 2005 Louray team (IF Jordan Tolliver), OF/RHP Josh Irvin, 1B Adam Amar and RHP Marcus Davis .. Korpi struck out eight batters in a five-inning stint vs. Central Michigan as a freshman … he also allowed just a single earned run in 5.0 IP vs. #19 USC.

Notre Dame Baseball 2006 Summer League Commitments (others are TBA)
Brett Lilley (3B, So.) – Cape Cod League, Cotuit Kettleers
Joey Williamson (RHP, So.) – Alaska League, Fairbanks Goldpanners
David Phelps (RHP, Fr.) – Alaska League, Mat-Su Miners (Palmer, AK)
David Gruener (LHP, So.) – Alaska League, Mat-Su Miners (Palmer, AK)
Ross Brezovsky (2B, So.) – Jayhawk League, Hays (KS) Larks
Sam Elam (LHP, Fr.) – Jayhawk League, Hays (KS) Larks
Wade Korpi – Valley League, Staunton (VA) Braves
Kyle Weiland (RHP, Fr.) – Great Lakes League, Delaware (OH) Cows
Jeremy Barnes (IF/RHP, Fr.) – Great Lakes League, Delaware (OH) Cows
Danny Dressman (OF, Jr.) – Northwoods League, Madison (WI) Mallards
Jess Stewart (RHP, Jr.) – Coastal Plains League, Wilson (NC) Tobs
Brett Graffy (RHP, Fr.) – Central Illinois Collegiate League, DuPage Dragons
Eddy Mendiola (3B/C, Fr.) – Florida Collegiate League
Ryan Connolly (OF, Fr.) – New York Collegiate League

GAME-1 RECAP – Notre Dame 3, Indiana State 0

Tom Thornton’s seven shutout innings and a home run from Matt Bransfield highlighted a strong showing from the senior class, as ND won its season opener for the fifth straight season and improved to 8-1 in the past nine season-opening games … Thornton picked up his 21st career victory, with the 6-foot-6 LHP registering a strong opening-week start for the third straight season (7 H, 0 BB, 5 Ks, 56 of 74 pitches for strikes) … freshman RHP Kyle Weiland relieved Thornton to pick up the save (2 IP, 7 BF, 3 Ks, double-play ball) .. sophomore RHP Ryan Tatusko took the loss (3 R, 7 H, BB, 3 Ks)

All of ND’s big hits came off the bats of seniors, a group which comprised two-thirds of the opening-day lineup … DH Steve Andres sparked the three-run bottom of the 2nd by pulling a 1-1 pitch into the right-center gap for a leadoff double … SS Greg Lopez then bunted the runner to third and Bransfield connected firmly on the next pitch from Tatusko for a home run over the leftfield fence.

Alex Nettey followed moments later with out, sending a gapper deep to left-center that tipped off the glove of his lunging counterpart, CF Cory Kral, for a first-pitch double … another senior OF, Cody Rizzo, then delivered his own two-out hit, slapping a 1-0 pitch into shallow right field for an opposite-field RBI single.

NOTES – Thornton also had strong opening-week starts earlier in his career at USC (in ’04) and at Central Florida (’05), with his combined stats in his past three opening-week starts now including a 1.00 ERA, 12 Ks, 5 walks and 16 hits allowed in 18 innings … ND’s previous opening-day shutout also came at USA Baseball Stadium (6-0 vs. Air Force, in 2000) … after losing the first three season openers of the Paul Mainieri era, the Irish now are 8-4 in season openers during the past 12 seasons … Notre Dame’s new-look batting order included Gaston in the 2-hole, Cooper in the 3rd spot and Lopez batting 5th … this marks just the third season in the Mainieri era (and second since his debut season, in ’95) that the Irish have not featured at least one freshman starting position player … Thornton dropped his impressive career walk average below 2.00 per 9 IP (1.99; 57 BB in 257.1 IP) … Thornton has tied former teammate Chris Niesel (21-4) for 12th on the Notre Dame career victories list … he has the sixth-most wins of any Mainieri-era pitcher, behind Aaron Heilman (43-7), Darin Schmalz (30-13), J.P. Gagne (25-16), Alex Shilliday (25-17) and Niesel … ND now is 44-9 vs. fellow Indiana-based teams during the Mainieri era.

Indiana State (0-1-0) 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 – 0 7 0
Notre Dame (1-0-0) 0-3-0 0-0-0 0-0-X – 0 7 1

Ryan Tatusko (L, 0-1), Adam Tyler (8) and Nevin Ashley.
Tom Thornton (W, 1-0), Kyle Weiland (SV, 1) and Sean Gaston.

Home Run: Matt Bransfield, ND (1 on in 2nd; 1st of season, 13th of career). Doubles: Steve Andres (ND), Alex Nettey (ND).

GAME-2 RECAP – Notre Dame 8, Air Force 2

Jeff Samardzija held AFA to one run in six innings of work and Ross Brezovsky’s three-run shot capped off a six-run top of the 8th, as ND opened play at the Service Academies Classic with an 8-2 victory over the Falcons … ND faced a 1-0 midgame deficit before surging to the lead with two runs in the 6th … Steve Andres and fellow senior Greg Lopez provided the key RBI singles in the inning, plating Danny Dressman and Craig Cooper to claim the 2-1 lead.

Samardzija improved to 14-4 in his ND career, yielding only the single run (in the 4th) and four hits while walking four, with a pair of Ks … the junior RHP located 45 of his 76 pitches for strikes (59%) and worked out of several jams, allowing four leadoff batters to reach but holding Air Force to just 1-for-9 batting with runners on base … junior Mike Dury (IP, K) and sophomore David Gruener (2 IP, R, K) provided the lefthanded relief for the Irish.

Brezovsky (2-for-4) joined Lopez (2-for-4, 2 RBI, R) and Matt Bransfield (2 RBI, R, 2B) with multiple-RBI days, as eight Irish players combined on a 10-hit attack … Dressman (2 R, single, 3 BB) had a productive day batting from the 2-hole and Cooper also scored twice (single, HBP) … ND gave Samardzija all the run support he would need in the two-run top of the 6th … Dressman coaxed a full-count walk, Cooper followed with a one-out single up the middle and Andres pulled the next pitch into right field to tie the game before Lopez added his own first-pitch RBI, going the other way with a single through the right side that brought Cooper home for the 2-1 lead.

The Irish batted around in the six-run top of the eighth, with Bransfield (2-run double) and Brezovsky proving to be the “killer-B’s” by bringing home five of the runs … Dressman (bunt) and Lopez singled in the inning while Cooper reached on a HBP.

NOTES – The Irish opted to get some different players some game time, with Barnes starting at third, Dressman in center field and Dury at DH (senior Cody Rizzo moved behind the plate, resulting in Andres making a rare start in right field) … sophomore 3B Brett Lilley, junior C Sean Gaston and senior CF Alex Nettey each were given a day off during the rare four-game trip … the Irish pitching staff has allowed a total of just two runs in the first two games – matching the 2004 team for the fewest runs allowed in the first two games during the 12-year Paul Mainieri era (the ’04 team played just 16 innings in the first two games, due to a rain-shortened game vs. USC) … the first 11 years of the Mainieri era had seen the Irish yield an average of 14 runs in the first two games of the season … every other Mainieri-era team, with the exception of 2000 (5) and ’04 (2), had allowed at least 11 runs in the first two games … ND is 12-2 all-time at the Service Academies Classic (previously playing in 1992, ’97, 97 and ’00) … the ND pitchers also have combined to allow just a .226 opponent batting average through the first two games of the ’06 season.

Notre Dame (2-0) 0-0-0 0-0-2 0-0-0 – 8 10 1
Air Force (5-4) 0-0-0 1-0-0 0-1-0 – 2 7 1

Jeff Samardzija (W, 1-0; 14-4 career), Mike Dury (7), David Gruener (8) and Cody Rizzo.
Mitch Brown (L, 2-2), Juan Perez (8), Paul Pratt (8) and Jon Polston.

HR: Ross Brezovsky, ND (2 on in 8th; 1st of season, 3rd of career). 2B: Matt Bransfield (ND), Dustin Smith (AF), Price Paramore (AF).

** See PDF for updated bio capsules of starting position players **