May 17, 2007
Two members of the Notre Dame baseball team – junior shortstop Brett Lilley and sophomore righthanded pitcher David Phelps – currently are under consideration for Academic All-America honors, after recently receiving first team Academic All-District V status. The Academic All-America teams, sponsored by ESPN The Magazine and selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America, will be announced on May 29. Notre Dame is one of 15 baseball teams in the nation, among nearly 300 competing at the Division I level, that produced multiple first-teamers on the eight various Academic All-District teams (total of 90 first-team honorees). The Irish were one of just seven teams with both a pitcher and position player on the first team while joining Cornell, Rice and Southern Mississippi as the only teams with a pitcher and infielder on their respective first team Academic All-District lists.
(note: additional photos of Lilley and Phelps will be added to this release later today.)
Lilley (North Canton, Ohio) – whose older sister Tricia was an Academic All-America softball shortstop at Purdue – entered the 2007 spring semester with a 3.78 cumulative grade-point average as an accounting major, following an impressive 2006 calendar year that saw him post a 4.0 in-season GPA during the spring of ’06 (with an 18-credit load) before ramping up to 21 credits and registering a 3.91 GPA in the 2006 fall term (with six A grades and a B-plus). Phelps (Hazelwood, Mo.) has compiled a 3.36 cumulative GPA in his three semesters at Notre Dame, as a double major in political science and computer applications.
(Note: per the guidelines of the Academic All-America program, current Notre Dame catcher Matt Weglarz was not able to be nominated because all nominees must have attended their current school for at least one full year prior to the current season. Weglarz graduated from Missouri State in the spring of 2006 with a 3.48 cumulative GPA, as a business major, before enrolling in Notre Dame’s prestigious MBA school and compiling a 3.42 GPA in the 2006 fall semester, as a graduate student. He previously was a 2006 CoSIDA Academic All-District VII honoree and likely would received serious consideration for the 2007 District V team. Current senior catcher Sean Gaston, a 3.38 student as a double major in political science and history, also could have been nominated if not for the shoulder surgery that has held him out of action throughout the 2007 season).
Lilley leads the BIG EAST and ranks among the national leaders with a .515 season on-base percentage, comprised of 67 hits, 29 walks and 25 times hit-by-pitch (second-most in the nation). The Irish leadoff batter – who has reached base in all but three of his 51 games played this season – also ranks ninth among BIG EAST players in 2007 season batting average (.372) and sixth in runs scored (51), with his strong defensive play including a recent 21-game errorless streak. His .486 career on-base percentage stands second in the Notre Dame record book and is best by an Irish player since the early 1990s.
A .348 career batter at Notre Dame, Lilley also is a .388 career hitter during BIG EAST play to rank 10th-best in the conference’s history (among players with 230 or more league at-bats). The two-time all-BIG EAST performer enters this week’s final regular-season series versus Connecticut with a chance to become Notre Dame’s seventh BIG EAST batting champion in the past 10 years, with his .392 conference batting average in ’07 currently ranking fourth on the league charts, 21 points behind the leader.
A frontrunner for BIG EAST pitcher-of-the-year honors, Phelps currently is one of just six pitchers in all of Division I with an ERA under 2.00 (1.74), eight or more victories (8-4) and 80-plus strikeouts ( 89). He recently became just the fifth pitcher in Notre Dame history to post double-digit strikeouts in three or more games during the same season and is only the third Irish pitcher to reach 10-plus Ks in back-to-back weeks (with 11 Ks in each of his past two starts). His top 2007 wins include victories over 12th-ranked TCU, 7th-ranked Nebraska and BIG EAST leader Rutgers, plus a 1-0 duel with South Florida ace Danny Otero.
Phelps – who also currently is being considered for the Roger Clemens Award (national pitcher of the year) – ranks ninth among the Division I ERA leaders (min. 60 innings) and is second among BIG EAST pitchers, just .02 back of first place. The two-time BIG EAST pitcher of the week continues to lead the conference in strikeouts (89) and Ks “looking” (39) while ranking second among the league’s pitchers in wins (8), third with 93.1 innings pitched and sixth in low opponent batting average (.230). His complete-game win in the recent 3-1 series opener with Seton Hall saw Phelps become the first Notre Dame pitcher since 1996 to post double-digit strikeouts (11) and no walks in a 9-inning start.
Among the 18 total pitchers who received first team Academic All-District honors this season (from the eight various districts), Phelps owns the third-best season ERA (1.74) – right behind Bradley junior Eitan Barbalat (1.73 ERA; also a 4.00 student majoring in cell and molecular biology) while Southern Mississippi senior Patrick Ezell owns a 1.08 ERA and 3.73 GPA as a history major. Phelps (93.1 IP) has logged nearly twice as many innings this season as Barbalat (26) and Ezell combined (25), with those other two pitchers serving as relievers (Barbalat’s nine appearances include only one start while Ezell has made all 21 of his appearances out of the bullpen).
Notre Dame baseball players have combined for Academic All-America honors 23 times in the past 30 years (since 1977), including 10 honorees during the current decade. The most recent Academic All-American, Greg Lopez (’06), became the program’s first shortstop to earn the prestigious honor.
The 2007 baseball Academic All-Americans for Division I will include 11 players each on a first, second and third team, selected from those who received first team Academic All-District honors (from a total of eight districts). Lilley is one of 32 infielders on the ballot (for 12 AAA spots) while Phelps is one of 18 pitchers vying for a coveted six spots on the Academic All-America team.
In addition to his strong chance at receiving Academic All-America honors this season, Lilley also should be among the top candidates in 2008. Among the current juniors who received 2007 first team Academic All-District honors (i.e. the players who will be seniors in ’08), Lilley’s 3.78 GPA is 19th-best and 10th-best among junior infielders on that list.
The 123 total honorees on the 2007 Academic All-District teams (90 first teamers and 33 on the second team) feature 16 players from opponents on Notre Dame’s 2007 schedule (including potential postseason foes), among them five other players from BIG EAST teams. The St. John’s duo of senior catcher Brendan Monoghan (3.63; finance) and junior shortstop Jeff Grantham (3.98; physics) were named to the first team in District I while West Virginia senior second baseman Jason Pape (3.67; business management) and Villanova junior infielder Dan Terpak (3.73; finance) were first-team honorees in District II. Louisville senior first baseman Daniel Burton (who also plays right field) was named to the District IV second team.
The other 11 opposing players on the various Academic All-District teams include two from Toledo – district IV first-team junior IF Scott Boley (3.97; finance) and second team senior OF Joel Visser (3.61; individualized studies) – and two from Central Michigan who also were honored for District IV: first team junior OF Tyler Stovall (3.84; finance planning) and second team junior pitcher Josh Collmenter (3.82; marketing). The District III honorees included two Coastal Carolina players on the second team, in senior catcher Matt Rademacher (3.39; English) and junior OF Tommy Baldridge (3.48; health promotions). Nearby District VII featured Iowa junior catcher Ben Geelan on the first team (3.39; political science, health and sports studies) while the District VI honorees included Texas State senior pitcher Justin Fisks on the first team (3.92; exercise and sports science) and two TCU players: first-team senior OF Austin Adams (3.71; entrepreneurial management) and second-team graduate student OF Keith Conolon (3.37; masters of liberal arts). Valparaiso senior OF Michael Arensdorff (3.47; elementary education) joined Lilley and Phelps as the first-team honorees for District V.
In addition to Notre Dame, the other teams with multiple players who earned first team Academic All-District honors include (all with two, unless noted): St. John’s, Cornell, Maine, Towson, Bucknell, Ohio State (3), Bradley, Illinois, Rice, Southern Miss, Creighton, North Dakota State, South Dakota State and San Francisco.
Brett Lilley UPDATED BIO CAPSULE (SS; Jr.; North Canton, OH; 3.78 cumulative GPA/accounting major) – Coming off an impressive 2006 calendar year in the classroom, after post a 4.0 in-season GPA during the spring of ’06 semester (with an 18-credit load) before ramping up to 21 credits and registering a 3.91 GPA in the 2006 fall term (with six A grades and a B-plus) … his 28 classes in his first five semesters at ND (spring ’07 grades TBA soon) have produced 18 As, five A-minuses, three B-plus grades, a B and a “lowly” B-minus … leads the BIG EAST and ranks among the national leaders (11th) with a .515 season on-base percentage, comprised of 67 hits, 29 walks and 25 times hit-by-pitch (2nd-most in the nation) … has started all 51 games in the leadoff spot while reaching base in all but three of his 51 games played this season … prep shortstop who started ND career at second base and made key midseason switch to third in the middle of the 2005 season … played primarily at third in ’06 … has made most of his starts this season at SS (42; with 9 at 3B as ND experimented with the lineup from Feb. 24-March 11) … has made 38 straight starts at shortstop … ranks 9th among BIG EAST players in 2007 season batting avg. (.372), 6th in runs scored (51), 8th in walks (29), 4th in triples (3) and 9th in fielding assists (142) … in 2007 BIG EAST play, he ranks 4th in batting avg. (.392) – trailing only West Virginia’s Trent Ridgley (.407) and the Rutgers duo of Jon Gossard (.413) and Dave Williams (.409) – while owning a league-best .542 on-base pct. in BIG EAST action this season (including a league-leading 11 HBPs, also ranking 5th with 16 walks) … a .348 career batter at Notre Dame and a .388 career hitter during BIG EAST play (10th-best in the conference’s history, among players with 230 or more league at-bats … a two-time all-BIG EAST performer (3rd team/rookie of the year in ’05; 2nd team in ’06) … enters UConn series with chance to become ND’s seventh BIG EAST batting champion in the past 10 years … currently leads ND or shares lead in season on-base pct. (.515), hits (67), runs (51), triples (3), HBPs (25; 2nd in nation), games played (51) and starts (51) … also 2nd on team in batting avg. (.372) and walks (29), 3rd in slugging pct. (.450) and total bases (81) and 5th in stolen bases (4) … situationally, owns team’s best leadoff on-base pct. (.509) and top batting avg. vs. RHPs (.378), also 2nd on team in batting with runners on base (.403), with men in scoring position (.316) and with 2-outs (.282) … batting .358 vs. LHPs (4th-best on team) … his other season stats include a home run, 5 doubles, 13 RBI, 25 strikeouts and 4 sac. bunts … leads 2007 team with a +29 plate-discipline ratio (29 BB + 25 HBP – 25 Ks) … his .486 career on-base pct. trails only Eric Danapilis (.494; ’90-’93) in the ND record book … his other career stats include 208 hits, 146 runs, 73 RBI, 3 home runs, 3 triples, 16 doubles, 28 sac. bunts (7th in ND history), a .400 slugging pct., a +83 plate-discipline ratio (89 BB, 76 HBP, 82 Ks) and 421 fielding assists (10th in the ND record book) … his 76 career HBPs already rank 4th in NCAA D-I history, behind former Florida Atlantic player Gabe Somaribba (81; ’99-’02), former ND teammate Cody Rizzo (84; ’00-’03) and former University of San Francisco player Tony Hurtado (92; ’97-’00) … Creighton’s Robbie Knight (30) is the only player in the nation with more HBPs this season than Lilley, who could become the first player ever to reach 30 HBPs in multiple seasons (he had 30 in ’05 and 2 in ’06) … his 25 HBP in ’07 rank 3rd on the ND single-season list (Rizzo had 28 in ’03) … 2nd on team with 20 multiple-hit games in ’07 … has hits in 37 of his 51 games played this season and has yet to go three straight games without a hit (he has only a pair of 2-game hit “droughts”) … has been on base this season in all but three games (48 of 51), with an 8-game hit streak being his longest of the ’07 season … if he finishes atop the 2007 ND batting charts, he would join a select group of eight previous Irish players who have been the team’s top hitters in multiple seasons (dating back to at least 1948) … the only players with multiple ND batting titles during the past 40-plus years have included Steve Stanley (2000-02), Brant Ust (1998-99), Danapilis (’90 and ’92) and Dan Peltier (1988-89) … the others include Rich Gonski (1963-64), Jim Morris (1957-58), Mark Tremblay (1953-54) and Dick Giedlin (1949-50) … should he win the ’07 team batting title, he then would have the chance in ’08 to join Stanley as the program’s only three-time batting leaders … the past five players who have been multiple batting champs all were All-Americans (Gonski, Peltier, Danapilis, Ust and Stanley) … his current .515 season on-base pct. would rank 6th in ND history and 2nd-best since ’93 (behind Craig Cooper’s .522 in ’06) … has played error-free in 28 of the past 30 games (3 Es in that span), including a 21-game errorless streak (matching his career-best, set in ’05 at 2B/23B) … has started all 171 games of his ND career … the top starting streaks in ND history are 256 by Stanley (’99-’02), 206 by Pat Pesavento (’86-`89) and 179 by Brant Ust (’97-`99) … named to the 2007 BIG EAST honor roll in late March, after batting .571 (12-for-21, HR, 2 3B, 4 BB, .907 slugging, .604 on-base) in a five-game stretch that included midweek games with Cleveland State and Western Michigan and the opening series of the BIG EAST season vs. USF … repeated the honor in late April, after reaching base 12 times and factoring into nine different Irish runs during a 3-1 week (April 23-29), as the Irish posted a midweek win over Ball State and took 2-of-3 at league leader Rutgers … hit 4-for-9 in that four-game stretch (4 RBI, 5 R, 2B, 3 BB, 5 HBP, sac. fly; extended errorless streak to 21 games) … scored 5 runs in midseason game vs. Western Michigan (4-for-5, 2 RBI, 3B, BB; March 21) … joined former SS/3B Matt Macri (’02-’04) as only ND players ever to have 5 hits in one game and score 5 runs in another (Lilley went 5-for-5 in the 2005 home opener vs. Cincinnati) … played lead role in 16-6 win over #7 Nebraska (4-for-5, RBI, 2 R, 3B) … reached base five times and factored into seven of ND’s runs, as the Irish posted a big 15-3 win in the series opener at Rutgers (2-for-2, 3 BB, 4 RBI, 3 R, 2B) … also reached base five times in the series finale at Louisville (2-for-3, 2 BB, reached on error; 7-3 loss) … has 12 career games with multiple HBPs (six times in ’07), including 4 HBPs in a game at Central Florida early in the 2005 season and 3 HBPs earlier this season vs. Ball State … could follow his old sister Tricia (a former softball shortstop at Purdue) as the second Academic All-American in their family.
David Phelps UPDATED BIO CAPSULE (RHP; So.; Hazelwood, MO; 3.38 cumulative GPA/double major in political science and computer applications) – Enters final week of regular season as one of just six pitchers in all of Division I (which includes roughly 4,000 pitchers) who own a season ERA under 2.00 (1.74) while also totaling 8-plus wins (8-4) and racking up 80 or more strikeouts (89) … others in that exclusive group include Charlotte’s Adam Mills (1.13, 11 wins, 129 Ks), Central Michigan’s Josh Collmenter (1.43, 9 W, 105 Ks), Arizona’s Preston Guilmet (1.70, 10 Ws, 119 Ks), Texas A&M’s Kyle Nicholson (1.74, 11 Ws, 86 Ks) and Texas State’s Justin Fiske (1.94, 8 Ws, 92 Ks) … easily could have double-digit wins, if not for inconsistent run support that has seen the Irish score 0-1 runs in three of his starts (ND has totaled just seven runs in his five non-winning starts) … ranks 9th nationally in ERA, among pitchers with 60-plus innings … allowed 0-1 earned runs in each of his first six starts … has totaled nine starts with zero (3) or one (6) earned run allowed (also one with 2, two with 3 and one game with a season-high of 4 earned runs allowed) … continues to lead the BIG EAST in total strikeouts (89) and Ks “looking” (39; representing 44% of his total Ks) while ranking 2nd in the BIG EAST Conference in overall ERA (1.74, just .02 back of Louisville’s Zack Pitts) … also tied with three others for the 2nd-most wins among BIG EAST pitchers (Dan Osterbrock of Cincinnati is 9-1) and 3rd with 93.1 innings (1.0 behind Pitts and 13.1 back of USF’s Danny Otero), plus 6th in low opp. batting avg. (.230, right behind Pitt’s Kyle Landis, .229, and Osterbrock’s .224) … in league games, he also leads the BIG EAST in Ks (63) while ranking 2nd in wins (5-3), KLs (26, three behind Scott Barnes of St. John’s) and innings (65.2), plus 4th in ERA (1.99) and 6th in opp. batting (.222) … currently leads the Irish pitching staff in 10 different overall categories: ERA (1.74), wins (8), innings (93.1), Ks (89), starts (13), pickoffs (6), Ks looking (39), groundouts (99), opponent batting with runners on base (.194) and average innings per appearance (7.1) … freshman RHP Eric Maust (4.8) is the only Irish regular with a better strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.8) than Phelps (3.9), whose low walk rate (2.22/9 IP) trails only Maust (1.38) and senior RHP Dan Kapala (2.20) … junior RHP Joey Williamson’s strikeout rate of 9.3 Ks per 9 IP is the only mark better than Phelps (8.6), who has allowed just 31% of leadoff batters to reach this season (2.8 per 9 IP; 2nd-best on the staff) … Phelps also ranks 3rd on the staff in low opponent batting avg. (.230), including the staff’s 2nd-best avg. by LH hitters (.220; 3rd on staff with .235 batting by RH hitters) … his 7.6 hits allowed per 9 IP is 3rd-best among the ND pitchers … his tough-luck losses in ’07 have included the 3-0 game vs. Sacred Heart (current national ERA leader Jay Monti threw a complete game vs. ND that day) and last week’s 3-1 duel with Pitts in the Louisville series … also had no-decision in early low-scoring game vs. Texas State (a 2-1 ND loss) … one of five ND pitchers ever to post double-digit Ks three or more times in the same season (10 vs. USF and 11 in each of his past two starts, vs. Seton Hall and Louisville) and the third ever to reach 10-plus Ks in back-to-back weeks … LHP Tim Kalita had 10 Ks vs. Penn State on the 1999 spring break trip (March 10, in San Antonio) and followed with 10 at West Virginia on March 20, plus another 10-K game the next week at Villanova … RHP Danny Tamayo had 10-K games on three straight weekends of the 2001 season, vs. Portland (March 17, in Fresno, CA), at Pittsburgh (March 23) and vs. Seton Hall (March 31) … Tamayo ultimately had an ND-record five double-digit K games in that ’01 season … others to post 10-plus Ks three times in a season include Kalita (3 in ’99), RHP Aaron Heilman (3 in 2000) and current junior LHP Wade Korpi (3 in ’06) … Phelps actually now is one of just seven ND pitchers to have three games with double-digit Ks at any point in their careers (others include RHPs David Sinnes, ’90-’93, and Chris Niesel, ’02-’04, each with three) … if Phelps can reach 10 Ks once more in his career, he would join Heilman (10), Tamayo (5) and Kalita (4) among ND’s all-time leaders in double-digit K games … his current 1.74 ERA would rank 10th in the ND record book and 3rd-best in the aluminum-bat era (since the early 1980s), also 2nd-best in the past 17 years … his 89 strikeouts leave him on the verge of becoming the 11th different ND pitcher ever to reach 90 Ks in a season and he has a strong shot at becoming the fifth to reach the century mark … has totaled 15 more innings pitched (93.1) than hits allowed (79; with a .230 opp. batting avg.) … averaging 18.2 outs per 9-innings via Ks (8.6) or groundouts (9.6), with a solid “WHIP” number of … joins USF’s Otero as the only repeat selections for BIG EAST pitcher of the week this season (each with two) … also has been named to the BIG EAST weekly honor roll once this season … the only two BIG EAST players who have received more total BIG EAST weekly honors this season than Phelps (3; for pitcher/player of the week or honor roll) are Villanova pitcher Mike Loree (four times on the honor roll) and Louisville’s Pitts (a five-time honor-roll selection, but never pitcher of the week) … the only ND pitchers in the past 25 years who have finished with a better season ERA than Phelps’ current 1.74 are Sinnes (1.05, in ’90) and Heilman (1.61, in ’98) … his 1.99 ERA in BIG EAST play would rank 6th-best by an ND pitcher (in 12 BIG EAST seasons), behind RHP J.P. Gagne (1.09, in ’03), Heilman (1.40 in ’01; 1.85 in ’98), LHP Mike Naumann (1.59, in ’99) and RHP Grant Johnson (1.91, in ’04) … recently joined Korpi and LHP Tom Price (’94) as the only ND pitchers ever to post a double-digit K game twice in the same season at Eck Stadium (which opened in ’94) … his 11 Ks vs. Seton Hall were one shy of tying the Eck Stadium record for strikeouts by an ND pitcher (12) … has reached 7.0 innings in nine of his 13 starts, including six straight … has posted 7-plus strikeouts seven times (including five of his past six starts) … owns a solid 9.8 “WHIP” rate (walks plus hits per 9.0 innings) … his five starts without a win (vs. Texas State, Sacred Heart, Pitt, Cincinnati and Louisville) have seen the Irish total just seven runs while Phelps has allowed only 10 earned runs in those five games (plus five unearned) … Cincinnati LHP Osterbrock, who won the game started by Phelps, owns the BIG EAST’s 5th-best ERA (2.61) in addition to leading the league in wins (9-1) … more than one-third of the 25 runs charged to Phelps this season (10 of 28) have been unearned … he has gone the full 9.0 innings in three of his four complete games this season (also 8.0 in the loss at Cincinnati) … in a check back to 1996 (spanning the past 12 seasons), only two ND pitchers have totaled more than three 9.0-inning complete games in a season: Heilman (5) and Tamayo (4), both in ’01 … the ’06 staff totaled only three complete games (two of them 9.0 innings) in that entire season … one of just nine players who have received three or more total BIG EAST weekly honors this season, joining Pitts (5), Loree (4), USF shortstop Walter Diaz (3), Cincinnati centerfielder Tony Campana (3), West Virginia leftfielder Justin Jenkins (3), St. John’s LHP Scott Barnes (3) and Rutgers OF Dave Williams (3) in that distinction …
PHELPS 2007 GAME HIGHLIGHTS – Named to the BIG EAST honor roll for the week of Feb. 19-25, after his 6.0 strong innings helped knock off #12 TCU, 4-1 (unearned run, 5 H, BB, 5 Ks, 24 BF), at the Baseball Bash in Myrtle Beach, S.C. … named BIG EAST pitcher of the week after winning the rare 1-0 game with USF on March 23, reaching double-digit Ks for the first time in his career (10) and logging his first complete game while allowing just 3 hits, a walk and a hit batter … faced only 32 Bulls batters (five over the minimum) that Friday night and did not allow any USF runners to venture beyond first base … located 78 of his 115 pitches for strikes (68%) in that game while holding the potent USF lineup to 0-for-11 batting with runners on base and 1-for-9 with 2-outs (the Bulls lefthanded hitters were limited to a 1-for-12 night) … became ND’s first RHP to throw a 9-inning solo shutout since Gagne’s 1-0 win over BYU midway through the 2002 College World Series season (that also was the ND’s previous 1-0, 9-inning game) … added second BIG EAST pitcher-of-the-week honor after complete-game win in the 3-1 series opener vs. Seton Hall on May 4 (career-high 11 Ks, 5 H, 0 BB, 31 BF, 71 of 107 pitches for strikes) … went to 3-ball counts on just five batters in the SHU game while all but four of his 27 outs came via strikeouts (11, including 4 looking) or groundouts (12), plus a pair of pickoff moves and two routine flyouts to center field … sizzled for six different 1-2-3 innings (one with an assist from a pickoff move) in the SHU game and faced the minimum eight batters through 2.2 innings (later surrendered leadoff double in the 7th but closed with nine straight outs, including three Ks to quickly close the 7th) …the Pirates had multiple baserunners in only the 3rd and 6th innings, with Phelps limiting them to 1-for-7 batting when runners were on base, 1-for-5 with men in scoring position and 2-for-11 with 2-outs (he also allowed just three leadoff baserunners to reach and held SHU’s lefthanded batters to an 0-for-11 night) … one has to go all the way back to April 30, 1996, to find an ND pitcher who went 9.0 innings and reached double-digit Ks without walking a batter (Dan Stavisky had 10 Ks that night in a 3-hit, 2-0 win over Pittsburgh) … the previous time that an ND starting pitcher had double-digit Ks and no walks was RHP John Axford’s 7.0-inning stint vs. Western Michigan on 4/9/03 (12 Ks, 1 R, 6 H; 7-1 win) … it has been three years since any ND pitcher had 10-plus Ks and no walks in the same game (Niesel K’d 12 in 8.1 relief innings during a classic 15-inning battle with Ball State on 4/27/04, with ND winning 7-6 and Niesel’s shutout totals including 4 hits allowed) .. each of the three games mentioned above (10-plus Ks, no walks) took place at Eck Stadium … opened season with the no-decision vs. Texas State, in San Antonio (5 IP, R, H, 2 BB, 7 Ks, allowed solo HR) … picked up 16-6 win over #7 Nebraska (5 IP, 5 R/1 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 3 Ks) … pitched well enough to win Sacred Heart game (7 IP, 3 R/1 ER, 6 H, BB, 6 Ks) but the unearned runs and a solid day from Monti proved to the be the difference … bounced back on the Spring Break trip for 12-1 win over New York Tech (7 IP, R, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks) … followed his win over USF by suffering 4-2 loss at Pittsburgh, after ND had forged a 2-2 midgame tie (6.2 IP, 4 R, 8 H, 2 BB, 7 Ks) … allowed just one earned run in tough-luck, 4-3 loss at Cincinnati (8.0 IP, 4 R/1 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 7 Ks) … followed with four straight wins, vs. Georgetown (10-0; 7 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 8 Ks), West Virginia (5-2; 9 IP, 2 R, 7 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks), at Rutgers (7-3; 7 IP, 3 R, 7 H, 7 Ks) and SHU … saw the showdown with Pitts and Louisville end in the late innings (3-1 loss; 7.1 IP, 3 R, 8 H, 3 BB, 11 Ks).