Feb. 22, 2009
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Junior Brayden Ashdown (Tucson, Ariz.) came off the bench with a huge pinch hit two-run single and added another RBI base hit in the five-run 10th inning as the Irish rallied past Purdue, 9-4, in final day action from the 2009 BIG EAST / Big Ten Baseball Challenge. Notre Dame improves to 2-1 on the year, while the Boilermakers drop to 1-3 on the campaign.
Junior reliever Steven Mazur (Round Rock, Texas) picked up the victory. The right-handed hurler tossed 2.0 hitless innings of relief. Mazur struck out one and walked one.
Sophomore Mick Doyle (LaGrange, Ill.), sophomore Golden Tate (Hendersonville, Tenn.), junior Ryne Intlekofer (Moorpark, Calif.) and senior Jeremy Barnes (Garland, Texas) all chipped in with two hits apiece.
Notre Dame rallied from a 4-1 deficit with three two-out runs in the top of the eighth inning to tie the score, 4-4. After the first two Irish batters of the inning were retired, sophomore Cameron McConnell (Bannockburn, Ill.) singled and junior Casey Martin (Chesterton, Ind.) followed with a walk. Both McConnell and Martin advanced a base on a throwing error (a failed pickoff attempt) from the Purdue catcher.
Ashdown stepped up and ripped a two-run single plating McConnell and Martin to bring the Irish within a run, 4-3. Ashdown scampered into scoring position on a wild pitch and came around to score on Doyle’s game-tying RBI single.
The game remained tied into the top of the 10th inning when the Irish exploded for five runs. After Ashdown gave the Irish their first lead of the afternoon, 5-4, with an RBI single, Tate laced a two-run double, Intlekofer followed with a sacrifice fly and Pollock closed the scoring with a RBI single.
Mazur retired Purdue in order in the bottom of the 10th inning to secure the victory.
Notre Dame got a pair of stellar relief outings from two freshmen in their Irish debuts. Southpaw Joe Spano (Verona, N.J.) and right-handed hurler Will Hudgins (Richmond, Va.) combined to throw 2.0 hitless innings of relief.
Notre Dame’s bullpen did not allow a hit over the final 4.0 innings of the game.
Notre Dame returns to action next weekend at the Phoenix Classic hosted by the University of Dayton. The Irish will face Gonzaga (Fri., 6:00 p.m. MT), Dayton (Sat., 6:00 p.m. MT) and Creighton (Sun., 10:00 a.m. MT). Notre Dame’s first two games of the weekend will be played at Diablo Stadium in Mesa, Az. – the spring training home of the Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim. The final game of the weekend will return to Phoenix and the Phoenix College campus.