Feb. 14, 2007

With the first game of the Dave Schrage era now just three days away, the Notre Dame baseball team has released its probable opening-week rotation and probable starting lineup for the season opener in San Antonio. Junior lefthander Wade Korpi is slated to start the opener versus Prairie View A&M while two sophomores – RHP David Phelps and LHP Sam Elam – are the likely starters for the games against Texas State. The probable opening-day lineup includes just one player – junior second baseman Ross Brezovsky – returning to his primary position from the 2006 season while three freshmen and veteran newcomer Mayy Weglarz all are likely to be in the game-1 starters group.

In addition to Brezovsky, three others with significant starting experience are stenciled in to start game-1: junior shortstop Brett Lilley, senior centerfielder Danny Dressman and sophomore first baseman Jeremy Barnes (the likely 1-2-3 hitters). Lilley started each of the past two seasons (primarily at third base) while Dressman’s 87 career starts with the Irish have included 32 in right field, 31 in center and 10 in left (29 of his 31 starts in center came during the ’04 or ’05 seasons). Barnes led the Irish in RBI during the 2006 season, with most of his starts coming at DH and second base.

Switch-hitting senior Mike Dury is the probable opening-day starter at the designated hitter position while Wegalrz – who graduated from Missouri State in May of 2006 – likely will get the game-1 nod behind the plate. Dury and Weglarz could prove to be key power hitters for the 2007 Irish offense.

Freshman A.J. Pollock has assumed Lilley’s role at third base while his classmate Billy Boockford is the probable opening-day starter in right field. Two freshmen, lefthanded-hitting Michael Wright and righthanded bat Brayden Ashdown, have emerged as the top day-1 options in left field. Wright – who will join Elam, Barnes and two others (junior OF/LHP Tony Langford and freshman RHP Steven Mazur) in making a return this weekend to their home state of Texas – could provide a “second leadoff hitter” look in the 9-hole, a role filled on past Notre Dame teams by the likes of J.J. Brock, Jeff Perconte and Cody Rizzo.

The probable opening-day starting infield is set to include four players – Barnes, Brezovsky, Lilley and Pollock – who each were all-state shortstops during their high school careers.

The 13 current players mentioned above (probable rotation and starting lineup) hail from nine different home states: Florida (2), Texas (3), Missouri (2), Ohio, California, Indiana, Connecticut, Illinois and Arizona.

Starting rotations for Notre Dame’s upcoming opponents are expected to be announced later today and will be added to this release at that time. Prairie View has indicated that it will start a righthander while Texas State still is finalizing its rotation, following last night’s tough loss at the hands of Baylor (10-4, after leading 2-1 in the 7th).

Notre Dame’s first two opponents actually will face each other Friday night, in San Marcos. Prairie View already has played 11 games – including a pair of losses last week at Texas State (2-7, 4-9) – while the Bobcats carry a 5-2 record that includes impressive wins over Oklahoma (8-3) and top-ranked Rice (3-2).

Irish baseball fans in the South Bend area should take note that this weekend’s games will air on two different radio stations, due to a conflict with the Notre Dame women’s basketball schedule. Saturday’s game versus Prairie View A&M will air on 1620 AM (WWLV) while the other Texas State games will be on the usual station, ESPN 1490.

Internet audio broadcasts for all Notre Dame baseball games are available free of charge on und.com (see the All-Access page, linked via the gold “Mutlimedia” button). Fans also are reminded that the free Irish Alert text-messaging service will be returning in 2007, after an impressive debut in 2006 that featured more than 500 users signed up to receive the baseball text updates (three per game).

Signup links for the audio and text-message updates are included below:

http://und.cstv.com/allaccess/

http://my.textcaster.com/ServePopup.aspx?id=535

Notre Dame Probable Starting Rotation – San Antonio trip

• Game 1 (vs. Prairie View A&M; Sat., Feb. 17; noon CST)
Junior LHP Wade Korpi (5-10/180; Lake Worth, FL/Santaluces HS)
2006 stats: 2.00 ERA, 7-2 record, 94 strikeouts, 8 walks, 55 hits allowed in 76.1 innings, .260 opp. batting avg., 1 home run allowed, 1 wild pitch, 3 hit batters
career stats: 3.44, 11-5, 126 Ks, 41 BB, 128 H, 130.2 IP, .260, 4 HR, 5 WP, 10 HB

• Game 2 (vs. Texas State; Sat., Feb. 17; 3:00 p.m. CST)
Sophomore RHP David Phelps (6-3/185; Hazelwood, MO/Hazelwood HS)
2006 stats: 7.09, 2-0, 23 Ks, 10 BB, 30 H, 26.2 IP, .280, 0 HR, 2 WP, 5 HB

• Game 3 (vs. Texas State; Sun., Feb. 18; noon CST)
Sophomore LHP Sam Elam (6-4/210; Mesquite, TX/Poteet HS)
2006 stats: 2.19, 0-0, 19 Ks, 6 BB, 8 H, 12.1 IP, .178, 0 HR, 0 WP, 3 HB

Notre Dame Probable Starting Lineup – San Antonio trip

Junior SS Brett Lilley (bats left; 5-8/170; North Canton, OH/Hoover HS)

Senior CF Danny Dressman (bats left; 5-8/180; San Jose, CA/Archbishop Mitty HS)

Sophomore 1B Jeremy Barnes (bats right; 5-11/200; Garland, TX/South Garland HS)

Senior DH Mike Dury (bats switch; 6-5/240; Indianapolis, IN/Bishop Chatard HS)

Grad. student C Matt Weglarz (bats right; 6-3/220; 6-3/220; Kansas City MO/Missouri State ’06 grad./Rockhurst HS)

Junior 2B Ross Brezovsky (bats left; 5-9/170; Naples, FL/Barron Collier HS)

Freshman 3B A.J. Pollock (bats right; 6-1/190; Hebron, CT/RHAM HS)

Freshmna RF Billy Boockford (bats right; 6-2/195; Glen Ellyn, IL/Glenbard West HS)

Freshman LF Michael Wright (bats left; 5-7/160; Lockhart, TX/Lockhart HS)
or Freshman LF Brayden Ashdown (bats right; 6-1/175; Tucson, AZ/Catalina Foothills HS)