May 24, 2002

NOTRE DAME BASEBALL – GAMEDAY NOTES

2002 BIG EAST Championship … vs. Virginia Tech (May 24)

The 18th-ranked and top-seeded Notre Dame baseball team (42-14) opened the BIG EAST Championship with an 8-3 win over Rutgers and next faces second seed Virginia Tech (33-24) in the key winner’s bracket game of the four-team, double-elimination tournament (3:30 EDT) … the winner advances to Saturday’s championship round (3:30, 7:00 if necessary) while the loser must return Friday night for an elimination game vs. the winner of the RU-Boston College game … the Irish are riding an eight-game winning streak and are 33-4 since opening 9-10 … VT edged Boston College in Friday night’s 2-1 pitchers’ duel between LHP Joe Saunders and BC righthander Chris Lambert (who served up John West’s go-ahead solo home run in the eighth) … ND’s 3.46 team ERA ranked 10th in the nation heading into the postseason (now down to 3.41).

ND IN THE BET: The Irish now own a 13-12 all-time record in the BIG EAST Tournament and will be looking to open 2-0 for the second time in seven BET appearances (also in ’98).

SERIES NOTES: Virginia Tech handed Notre Dame four of its first 11 losses in the 2001 season (3-2, 9-8 in Blacksburg; 4-3 and 5-2 in the BET) but the Irish swept the Hokies in an April 12th doubleheader at Eck Stadium earlier this season (2-1 in 11 innings, 4-2) … junior RHPs Ryan Kalita (6 IP) and J.P. Gagne (5 IP) helped ND outlast VT ace lefthander Joe Saunders in the 2-1 game, with Matt Bok delivering a pinch-hit triple and scoring the winning run … another junior RHP, Peter Ogilvie, then logged the complete-game win in the 4-2 game.

PITCHING MATCHUP: ND will send freshman RHP Chris Niesel (4.11, 2-0) to the mound while the Hokies will counter with senior RHP Chip Runyon (6.52, 6-7, 83 Ks in 77.1 IP, .329 opp. batting avg.) … Niesel will draw his first start since April 7, due to a five-week bout with mononucleosis … Niesel was eased back into action during the final two series of the regular season, registering saves versus Villanova and Boston College while totaling 4 1/3 shutout innings (dropping his ERA to 4.11), with five strikeouts, one walk and one hit allowed … Runyon has yet to face the Irish this season but posted a solid 3-2 win over ND in 2001 (see below).

NIESEL GAME-BY-GAME (first seven are starts)

(4.11, 2-0, 9 GP/7 GS, 46.0 IP, 45 H/.243 opp. avg., 40 K, 11 BB, 57 GO)

2/24 … vs. Southern Illinois, at UNO 5.0 IP, 5 H, R, 10 K, WP)

3/2 … vs. Fairfield, in Homestead, FL (win, 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R/2 ER, BB, 9 K)

3/9 … vs. USC, in Round Rock, TX (3.1 IP, 5 H, 8 R/5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K)

3/15 … vs. Ark.-Little Rock, in San Antonio (7.0 IP, 8 H, R, BB, 4 K)

3/23 … at Connecticut (7.1 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 2 BB, 4 K, HB)

3/30 … vs. Georgetown, in Bethesda (win, 5.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R/3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, HB)

4/7 … St. John’s (6.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R/ER, BB, 4 K)

5/12 … at Villanova (save, 2.1 IP, BB, 4 K)

5/18 … Boston College (save, 2.0 IP, H, K)

Situationally: .313 opponent leadoff on-base pct., .218 opp, batting with 2 outs, .256 with runners on base

Nine-Inning Averages: 8.8 H, 2.2 BB, 7.8 K, 39.5 BF, 11.2 GO

QUICK NOTES ON NIESEL

* Eased back into action the final two weeks of the regular season while saving wins over Villanova and Boston College, logging 4.1 shutout innings with five Ks, one walk and one hit allowed.

* Averaging 19 outs per nine innings via the strikeout (7.8) or groundout (11.2).

* Making his eighth appearance on the road (just two at Eck Stadium).

* More than half of the runs vs. him (12 of 21) have come on five opponent home runs (grand slams by USC and UConn).

STANLEY ENTERING ELITE STATUS: Senior CF Steve Stanley is on the verge of entering the top five of the NCAA Division I career hits list … Stanley’s 365 career hits leave him one shy of tying former North Carolina State star Jake Weber (’95-’98) on that list (also best since 1987) … Stanley also entered the week ranked fifth in the nation for 2002 season batting average (.449, up to .454) … Stanley’s career average of 1.50 hits per game is better than each of the five players above him on the list while his .384 career batting average is third-best among that group.

NCAA Division I Career Hits

1. Phil Stephenson (Wichita State, ’79-’82) … 418 hits, 288 GP, 1.45 hits/gm, .423 career batting avg.

2. John Fishel (Cal State Fullerton, ’82-’85 … 379 hits, 295 GP, 1.29 hits/gm, .340 career batting avg.

3. Jim Thomas (Wichita State, ’79-’82) … 373 hits, 288 GP, 1.30 hits/gm, .351 career batting avg.

4. Tim Raley (Wichita State, ’84-’87) … 370 hits, 273 GP, 1.36 hits/gm, .394 career batting avg.

5. Jake Weber (North Carolina State, ’95-’98) … 366 hits, 248 GP, 1.48 hits/gm, .366 career batting avg.

6. Steve Stanley (Notre Dame, ’99-’02) … 365 hits, 244 GP, 1.50 hits/gm, .384 career batting avg.

WHO’S HOT?

* Sophomore 2B Steve Sollmann is batting .400 (12-for-30) in the last eight games (hits in seven), with 11 RBI, 10 R, HR, 3B, 3 2B, 3 BB.

* Senior 3B Andrew Bushey: 9-for-20 (.450) in last six games (11 RBI, HR, 4 2B, 3 BB).

* Sophomore SS Javier Sanchez: riding team’s longest active hitting streak (7 games, plus runs scored in last 8), batting 9-for-22 in the streak (11 R, 3B, BB, HP, SAC).

* Junior LF Brian Stavisky: 17-for-37 (.460) with 27 total bases and a .730 slugging pct. in the last 9 games (16 RBI, 14 R, HR, 2 3B, 3 2B, 3 BB).

* Sophomore 1B Joe Thaman: 9-for-18 (.500) in the last 7 games (12 RBI, 8 R, 4 HR, 4 SAC)

WHO’S DUE?

* Sophomore RF Kris Billmaier: 7-for-39 (.180) in last 11 games (6 RBI, 2B).

* Senior C Paul O’Toole: 3-for-24 (.125) in last 10 games (6 RBI, HR, 3 SF).

OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: Notre Dame cashed in eight hits for eight runs in the win over Rutgers, with just six runners left on base … after struggling to convert its scoring chances during the first half of the season, the Irish now have totaled 39 more runs (181) than runners left on (142) during the last 21 games (since the April 17 Toledo game) – with the team batting .382 with runners in scoring position during that 21-game span (53 points higher than the .329 overall avg. in those 21 games) … by contrast, ND’s first 35 games included a -64 ratio of runs (226) to runners stranded (290), with just a .302 batting average with runners in scoring position (below the .313 overall avg. in those games).

FRESHMAN STARTERS A RARITY: Notre Dame’s first 24 BIG EAST Tournament games featured just three freshman starters on the mound, with the Irish sending their second rookie to the hill in today’s action … ND’s previous four freshman pitchers to start in the BET are as follows:

* RHP Alex Shilliday (7-4 loss to West Virginia in 1996 title game) – 3 IP, 4 R

* LHP Tim Kalita (no decision in 5-4, 11-inning elimination loss to Villanova, in ’99) – 7 IP, 5 H, 4 R/3 ER, 5 BB, 7 K

* RHP J.P. Gagne (no decision in 4-3 opening loss to BC, in 2000) – 6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K

* RHP Grant Johnson (8-3 in 2002 opening win over Rutgers) – 7 IP, 9 H, 2 R/1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K

DECEPTIVE ON THE BASES: Senior C Paul O’Toole is 6-for-6 in stolen bases during 10 career BIG EAST Tournament games, tying a BET record set by former St. John’s player Tony Bonura.

CAREER BIG EAST TOURNAMENT STATS

Player GP/GS AB R H 2B/3B/HR BB/K RBI SB AVG.

*Stavisky … 7 GS/7GS, .345 (10-for-29), 5 RBI, 4 R, HR, 3B, 3 2B, 4 K, 2-2 SB

Stanley … 10 GS, .325 (13-for-40), 3 RBI, 8 R, 3B, 2B, 5 BB, 2 K, 0-3 SB

O’Toole … 10 GS, .324 (12-for-37), 7 RBI, 12 R, 2 HR, 3 2B, 3 BB, 5 K, 6-6 SB

Thaman … 4 GS, .286 (4-for-14), 2 RBI, 2 H, 2B, K

Sollmann … 2 GS, .286 (2-for-7), 3 RBI, R, BB, K

Billmaier … 4 GP/1 GS, .143 (1-for-7), RBI

Meyer … 5 GP/3 GS, .250 (6-for-24), 2 RBI, 5 R, HR, 3 K

Sanchez … 1 GS, .250 (1-for-4), R, K

Strickroth … 7 GP/5 GS, .222 (4-for-18), 2 RBI, 3 R, HR, 2B, BB, 8 K

Bushey … 10 GS, .167 (6-for-36), 3 RBI, 3 R, 2 2B, 3 BB, 6 K, 1-1 SB

Bok … 2 GS, .167 (1-for-6), 2 BB, K

*Stavisky .621 slugging pct. (18 total bases)

ND PLAYERS VS. CHIP RUNYON

Stanley – 2-4, R, K (KS, 1B-4, 1-3, 1B-LS)

Sollmann – 1-2, R, BB, HP, CS (BB, 1B-RS, FC … HP)

Stavisky – 1-3 (P-6, 1B-RS, 1-3)

Bushey – 1-3 (1B-8, P-6, L-9 RC)

O’Toole – 0-4, RBI, K (KS, 4-3, F-7, 4-3)

Billmaier – 1-3, K (E5F, 1B-LS, KS)

Thaman – 1-3 (F-7 LL, 1-3, 1B-8)

Meyer – 0-3, K (KS, 5-3, 4-3)

Runyon vs. ND: 2 GP/1 GS, 1.23, 1-0, SV, 7 H, 2 R/ER, BB, 6 K, HB

RECORD BOOK WATCH

* Senior CF Steve Stanley (244) is on the verge of claiming another ND career record, needing just two more runs to match Pat Pesavento’s standard (246, from ’86-’89).

* Stanley’s 435 total bases leave him five shy of ND career home run leader Jeff Wagner (’99) for fifth on the ND career TB list.

* Senior C Paul O’Toole will be making his 218th career start in today’s game, tying him with Mike Coss (’88-’91) for sixth in ND history.

* O’Toole’s 186 career runs scored rank 8th in ND history, one behind Scott Sollmann’s total from 1994-96 (187) … his 47 doubles rank 11th in the ND record book, one behind ’92 graduate Joe Binkiewicz.

* ND’s strong offensive execution includes a team-record number of total sacrifices (86, besting the 76 in 1988), including 53 sac. bunts (four shy of the ’89 record) and 33 sac. flies (five off the ’94 record).

* The ND pitchers (402) have cracked 400 Ks for the fifth time in ND history (the 2001 staff had 420 Ks).