May 27, 2000

vs. Mississippi State … NCAA Starkville Regional … May 27, 2000

TODAYS STARTER SCOTT CAVEY: Senior RHP Scott Cavey (Omaha, Neb.) heads into todays game with plenty of rest, as he has thrown just 1.2 innings during the previous 13 days (vs. Pittsburgh in the BIG EAST Tournament, an emergency relief appearance that yielded his sixth win of the season) … his 11 starts this season have included five wins (six overall), two losses and four no-decisions … Caveys last start was a solid no-decision in the 4-3 win over Rutgers (5-plus IP, 3 R, 7 H, 4 BB, 2 Ks) … he earned two BIG EAST pitcher-of-the-week awards this season while his biggest win was the 8-5 game vs. Wake Forest, in the Metrodome, at Minnesotas Hormel Foods Classic on March 3 (6 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 4 BB, 7 Ks) … Caveys .833 career winning pct. (15-3) ranks 4th all-time among ND pitchers with 16-plus decisions and is best at ND since 1924 … as a junior, he posted a dominating 10-1, complete-game win at Rutgers (7 IP, 22 BF, 74 pitches, 2 H, 0 BBs, 2 Ks, 10 groundouts) … Cavey has allowed just 35.3 pct. of leadoff batters to reach base this season (3rd-best on the staff) while lefthanders are hitting just .252 vs. him (2nd-best on the staff) … his career stats include a 4.01 ERA in 47 appearances (26 starts), with 134 Ks, 39 BB and 165 hits allowed in 159.1 IP (he is averaging just 2.20 BBs/9 IP for his career) … Cavey has averaged 5.8 IP in his 11 starts this season, with the following nine-inning averages: 8.1 Ks, 2.8 BB, 8.5 hits and 9.2 groundouts.

THE SPARK: Sophomore DH and leadoff batter Ken Meyer opened the Tulane game with a double off the walk in left-center, marking the ninth time this season that he has reached base in the first inning (in 28 starts as the ND leadoff batter) … Meyer leads all ND players with a 48.1 pct. on-base pct. when leading off the inning, including an eye-popping 8-for-10 in the last five games (3-for-4 vs. Rutgers, 1-for-2 vs. BC, 2-for-2 vs.. Pitt, 1-for-1 vs. BC and 1-for-1 vs. Tulane) … Meyers nine trips on base in the 1st inning this season have seen him score eight times … his 45 hits in 2000 have included 21 when leading off the inning (his leadoff ABs also include one walk, two times hit-by-pitch and two times reached on an error).

NOTES FROM THE TULANE GAME: The Irish improved to 27-4 this season when scoring six-plus runs and are 33-5 when making 0-1 errors in a game … NDs 44 wins equal the most in the six-year era of head coach Paul Mainieri (the 96 team was 44-18) … sophomore RHP Matt Buchmeier lowered his season ERA from 3.50 to 3.28, with just 48 hits allowed in 49.1 innings (plus 38 Ks and 14 walks) … ND now owns a 10-3-1 all-time record vs. Tulane and is 24-29 in all-time NCAA Tournament games, including wins in the last three openers (12-1 vs. Virginia in 96, 8-1 vs. Creighton in 99).

RECORD BOOK UPDATE: Senior 1B Jeff Felker made his 216th career start in the Tulane game, just two shy of tying Mike Coss (91) for 3rd in ND history … Felkers two hits give him 239, tied with Scott Sollmann (94-96) for 7th in ND history, just four behind former classmate Brant Ust (97-99) …junior RHP Aaron Heilmans season ERA dropped from 3.04 to 3.21 while his career ERA fell from 2.70 to 2.80 (6th-best in ND history) … his 68 career appearances rank 7th in ND history … Heilmans 103.2 innings in 2000 rank 6th in the ND record book (he threw 109 in 99) … he tied his own ND record with 118 Ks in a season while his 314 career Ks are one shy of the ND career record (David Sinnes, 90-93) … freshman RF Brian Staviskys 232 ABs are tied for the 5th-highest season total in ND history, three back of Randall Brooks 1997 total and 10 behind current sophomore CF Steve Stanleys record for an ND freshman … Stanleys two hits give vs. Tulane give him 80 for the season … sophomore C Paul OToole swiped his 16th base of the season vs. Tulane (in 17 att.) … NDs 51 double plays are tied for 5th in ND history.

BIG INNING: Notre Dame owns a 53-22 scoring edge in the 8th inning this season, including 16-0 in four postseason games … the 15-7 win over Pittsburgh in the BIG EAST Tournament saw the Irish surge ahead with 11 runs in the 8th, NDs highest-scoring inning in the six-year Paul Mainieri era … that rally saw eight straight ND batters reach base (with one out) while yesterdays five-run rally in the 8th inning of the Tulane game saw six straight Irish batters reach base with two outs.

POSTSEASON PERFORMERS: Notre Dames top postseason hitters include freshman LF Kris Billmaier (.571, 4-for-7, RBI, R), freshman RF Brian Stavisky (.471, 8-for-17, 2 2B, 4 RBI, 4 R) and sophomore CF Steve Stanley (.438, 7-for-16, RBI, 5 R, 2 BB) … NDs four-game postseason stats include a .313 team batting avg. and a .981 fielding pct. (3 errors) … Stanley is batting .435 (20-for-46) during the month of May this season, with hits in 21 of the last 23 games.

VS. LEFTHANDERS: Several teams have opted to start lefthanders this season vs. an ND lineup that includes five everyday lefthanded hitters … ND had posted nearly an identical record when the opponent has started a LHP (16-6, .727) as in games when facing an RHP (28-10, .737)-including yesterdays win vs. Tulane lefty Jared Berkowitz … NDs team batting avg. is just slightly lower vs. LHPs (.294) than vs. RHPs (.302).