Feb. 22, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Overall Record: 3-0, 0-0 BIG EAST
Last Week’s Record: 3-0, 0-0 BIG EAST
Recent Results:
February 19 – Notre Dame 12, Mississippi Valley State 4 – Magnolia Field in Itta Bena, Miss.
February 20 – Notre Dame 8, Mississippi Valley State 3 – Legion Field in Greenville, Miss.
February 21 – Notre Dame 19, Mississippi Valley State 3 – Legion Field in Greenville, Miss.
Upcoming Games:
February 26, 4:30 p.m. (ET) – Notre Dame vs. Illinois – Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater, Fla.
February 27, 4:00 p.m. (ET) – Notre Dame vs. Ohio State – Bright House Networks Field in Clearwater, Fla.
February 28, 10:00 a.m. (ET) – Notre Dame vs. Penn State – Naimoli Complex in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Star Watch:
Name Avg. AB R H HR RBI TB SLG% BB HBP OBP SB-ATTCasey Martin .500 16 4 8 2 7 15 .938 0 1 .529 0-0Cameron McConnell .400 10 3 4 0 2 4 .400 0 0 .400 0-0David Mills .300 10 2 3 0 4 4 .400 3 0 .429 4-4Charlie Markson .667 3 2 2 0 3 3 1.000 0 0 .667 0-0Matt Grosso .600 5 3 3 0 2 3 .600 3 0 .750 0-0Joe Hudson .500 4 1 2 0 2 2 .500 0 0 .333 0-0David Casey .500 4 3 2 0 2 2 .500 2 2 .750 0-0
Name ERA W-L App GS CG SV IP H R-ER BB-SO BAvg.Eric Maust 0.00 0-0 1 0 0 0 3.0 1 0-0 0-1 .111Steve Sabatino 0.00 1-0 1 1 0 0 3.0 0 0-0 3-5 .000Cole Johnson 3.38 1-0 1 1 0 0 5.1 5 2-2 0-2 .263Will Hudgins 0.00 0-0 1 0 0 0 2.0 1 0-0 0-2 .125Todd Miller 0.00 0-0 1 0 0 1 2.0 3 0-0 1-2 .375Steven Mazur 0.00 0-0 2 0 0 0 2.0 0 1-0 0-2 .000Billy Boockford 0.00 1-0 1 0 0 0 1.2 0 0-0 1-1 .000Joe Spano 0.00 0-0 2 0 0 0 1.1 0 0-0 1-2 .000Ryan Richter 0.00 0-0 1 0 0 0 0.2 0 0-0 0-0 .000
Player of the Week Nominee:
Casey Martin – Senior – First Baseman – Chesterton, Ind.
Date Opponent Score AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SB-A AVG2.19 MVSU W, 12-4 5 2 4 2 0 0 1 0 0-0 .8002.20 MVSU W, 8-3 5 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 0-0 .6002.21 MVSU W, 19-3 6 1 2 4 1 0 0 0 0-0 .500Totals 16 4 8 7 1 0 2 0 0-0 .500
Senior 1B Casey Martin (Chesterton, Ind.) paced the Notre Dame offensive attack and helped the Irish to a three-game sweep at Mississippi Valley State. It marked Notre Dame’s first 3-0 start since 2004 and its first ever road three-game series sweep to open a season in the now 118-year history of Irish baseball. Martin batted .500 (8-for-16) for the weekend with two home runs and seven RBI. He homered on consecutive days to open the year becoming the first Notre Dame player to do so since Kris Billmaier hit three long balls over Notre Dame’s first two games of 2003. Martin went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI in the season opener, 2-for-5 with a solo home run in game two of the series and closed the weekend with a double, run scored and four more RBI (also went 2-for-6). The four RBI were one shy of his career high. Martin registered a .938 slugging percentage and a .529 on-base percentage.
Weekly Recap:
The Notre Dame baseball team opened its season with a three-game series sweep of Mississippi Valley State this past weekend. The Irish outscored the Delta Devils, 39-10, along the way and secured their first 3-0 start to a season since 2004. In fact, it is the first ever three-game series sweep away from home to open a season in the 118-year history of Irish baseball.
Notre Dame came into the season with the mantra, “898 committed to win … one team rock solid.” The coaching staff generated the number 898 by adding up every player’s jersey number on the roster. The message being pushed by the coaches and players since the opening of practice has been it will take contributions from every player to have a winning season. Well, the Irish mantra was in full effect this weekend.
Notre Dame used 32 players this weekend in the series sweep, including 12 pitchers. The Irish had seven different players with at least one hit in each of the first two victories and then topped that total in the series finale when 11 different players had base hits in the 19-3 rout of Mississippi Valley State. In fact, Notre Dame also had 15 separate players account for its 19 runs scored. The team effort was also evident with the Irish pitching staff. Those 12 pitchers combined to make 14 appearances and nine of which were scoreless outings.
The Irish pitching staff also displayed significant improvement in control. Notre Dame averaged just over 3.8 walks per nine innings in 2009, the highest by an Irish staff since 1999. Notre Dame’s pitchers walked just seven batters in 27.0 innings of work over the weekend – good for just 2.3 walks per nine innings.
Notre Dame returns to action next weekend at the Big Ten/BIG EAST Baseball Challenge. The Irish will face Illinois (Fri., 4:00 p.m.), Ohio State (Sat., 4:30 p.m.) and Penn State (Sun., 10:00 a.m.). Notre Dame’s tilt with the Illini is scheduled for Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater. The Irish and Buckeyes will meet at Bright House Networks Field (home of the 2008, 2009 and 2010 BIG EAST Tournaments) in Clearwater. Notre Dame and the Nittany Lions will conclude the challenge at the Naimoli Complex in St. Petersburg.
— ND —