Feb. 11, 2007
Notre Dame Baseball 2006 Review, in PDF format (includes review story, stats, game-by-game results with notes, and BIG EAST recap page)
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Notre Dame’s 2006 baseball campaign truly was a season of streaks, as the Irish set the Notre Dame record for consecutive wins (23) – including 14 straight in BIG EAST Conference play (with four consecutive 3-0 series sweeps) – en route to winning a fifth straight BIG EAST Tournament title and advancing to the NCAAs for the eighth straight season.
The Irish (45-17-1) fielded an everyday lineup that was stocked with veteran experience while also trotting out one of the best weekend three-man rotations in the program’s history. Notre Dame ended up among the national leaders in all three major categories – staff ERA (21st, 3.52), fielding percentage (23rd, .972) and batting average (40th, .313) – and the Irish offense’s focus on plate discipline yielded a triple-digit total in times hit-by-pitch for the third straight season (100).
The promising and exciting season had a frustrating finish, as Notre Dame came out on the wrong end of one of the longest games in NCAA Tournament history (a 16-inning, 5-4 game with the College of Charleston) before seeing its season end with a loss to homestanding Kentucky. The season of streaks saw two noteworthy marks come to an end that weekend in Lexington, with Notre Dame going 0-2 at a postseason tournament for the first time in 46 years and failing to reach an NCAA Regional final game for the first time since 1999.
Here’s a closer look at the record-setting 2006 Notre Dame baseball season:
EARLY CHALLENGES – Notre Dame entered the 2006 season minus two injured players, junior pitcher Dan Kapala (shoulder) and sophomore outfielder/pitcher Tony Langford (elbow), who were sidelined with season-ending surgery. A hard-luck start to the season then saw the Irish suffer a rare five-game losing streak that included late-game comebacks in Millington, Tenn. – by Memphis (6-7, in 10 innings) and Oklahoma (3-4) – plus the team’s first shutout loss in 215 games (0-8 vs. Minnesota, ending the second-longest scoring streak in the program’s history) and a 10-inning loss to Arizona (0-2, at the Metrodome).
The Irish rebounded by going 7-1 over spring break, in the familiar surroundings of San Antonio’s Wolff Stadium. The key win of the trip came in the first game, as the Irish used a late rally to knock off 15th-ranked Texas A&M (5-4).
SILVER STREAK – Notre Dame rattled off 23 consecutive victories from March 25-April 25, representing the longest winning streak in the program’s 114-year history. The Irish batted .353 during the streak while compiling a 2.81 staff ERA and making just 24 errors. Notre Dame outscored its opponents by a total of 110 runs during the win streak, with 12 of the wins coming by a margin of 5-plus runs and 14 of the games in the streak featuring first-inning runs by the Irish. The win streak was one of the longest in Notre Dame athletics history, ranking alongside streaks by the softball (33), women’s soccer (24), football (23), women’s basketball (23), and men’s basketball (22) programs, among team-oriented sports. Notre Dame’s won-loss record stood at just 10-8 before the 23-game win streak, which began with a 12-2 victory in the second game of a doubleheader at Georgetown. The Irish then returned home for wins over Valparaiso (12-0) and Western Michigan (2-0), followed by a sweep of Pittsburgh (6-1, 4-3, 9-8) – with the 3,028 fans on hand for the Friday-night opener setting an Eck Stadium record that would be bested six times later in the season). The wild finish to the series saw both teams score twice in the 8th before Pitt went ahead with three runs in the 9th (8-7) – but the Irish had the final answer, thanks to a Greg Lopez single, walks by Craig Cooper and Danny Dresssman, and a 2-run single off the bat of Jeremy Barnes to end the game.
The streak continued during 6-4 wins over Chicago State and Ball State – with the Cardinals scoring three in the 7th for a 4-3 lead before the Irish answered with three runs of their own (thanks to Matt Bransfield’s RBI double and a two-run blast by sophomore second baseman Ross Brezovsky).
A dominant series from Cooper (9-for-14) and Brett Lilley (9-for-13) paced the sweep at South Florida (9-5, 10-4, 10-1) and the wins kept coming as a 10-game homestand opened with victories over Oakland (15-1), Manchester (8-2) and St. John’s (9-2, 13-7, 7-5). The Red Storm were poised to end the streak in the series finale – taking a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the 9th – but junior catcher Sean Gaston drew a leadoff walk, Brezovsky followed with a game-tying triple and senior centerfielder Alex Nettey became an all-time Eck Stadium hero by depositing the next pitch over the leftfield fence for the game-ending home run.
The streak neared 20 games after two more midweek wins (8-2 vs. Toledo and 4-3 vs. IPFW, in 10 innings), followed by an offensive explosion that swept away BIG EAST rival Rutgers (11-5, 15-3, 14-12). Cooper’s hot bat yielded an 8-for-12 series versus the Knights while an Eck Stadium record crowd of more than 10,000 fans filed in for the series. Sophomore lefthander Wade Korpi’s next start saw him shut down Purdue (7 IP, unearned run, H, BB), striking out 11 for a 2-1 win that featured an early 2-run double from Lopez. The streak finally came to an end in an 11-8 loss to Bowling Green, with a pair of untimely unearned runs helping give the Falcons a more comfortable final cushion.
Fans flocked to Eck Stadium in record numbers during the 2006 season (photo by Matt Cashore).
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RECORD ATTENDANCE – Fans flocked to Eck Stadium throughout 2006 as the Irish set Notre Dame records for season overall (60,334) and average (2,514) attendance. The seven largest attendance numbers in Eck Stadium history – and 14 of the 20 biggest crowds – all came in 2006, including an all-time high of 3,507 for the Friday-night game versus Rutgers on April 21.
ANOTHER 40-WIN SEASON – Notre Dame totaled 40-plus wins for the 17th time in the past 18 seasons while reaching 45 wins for the 12th time in the history of the program. The 2006 team’s 41 regular-season wins havw been bested just three times in Irish history.
REGULAR-SEASON CHAMPS – Notre Dame used five 3-0 sweeps to help fashion the second-highest conference win total in BIG EAST history (21-5-1) while claiming the sixth BIG EAST regular-season title in the program’s history. A showdown series at runner-up Connecticut proved to be the key weekend, with the Irish sweeping the doubleheader (7-6, 7-3) before the finale ended in a 13-inning, 1-1 tie. A 9th-inning rally helped win the opener, with Cooper’s walk and Lilley’s single preceding RBI hits from Dressman (double) and Brezovsky. Cooper had the first 5-hit game of his career in game-2 before Korpi’s rare BIG EAST start (7 IP, R, 6 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks) and a gutsy five innings from freshman closer Kyle Weiland (2 H, 2 BB, 7 Ks) helped secure the rare tie.
Notre Dame had a cushion in the standings with three weeks to play but Louisville staged late comebacks to win the final two games the next weekend (11-3, 4-5, 6-9), just the third time the Irish had lost a BIG EAST home series. Two more close losses followed at Seton Hall (6-7, 14-12, 1-2) but the Irish clinched the title on the road versus Villanova (3-1, 6-2, 12-1). There still was drama in the 12-1 game – as Cooper’s 3-for-4 game edged him atop the BIG EAST career batting charts (.444).
Wade Korpi’s strong 2006 season included MVP honors at the BIG EAST Championship (photo by Pete LaFleur).
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FIVE-PEAT A RARE FEAT – The Irish opened at the 2006 BIG EAST Tournament in Clearwater, Fla., with wins over South Florida (3-1) and West Virginia (12-4) before bouncing back from a 10-1 loss to St. John’s to beat the Red Storm in a 5-3 elimination game. Notre Dame then claimed its fifth straight BIG EAST title with a 7-0 victory over Louisville. Oral Roberts (9) is the only team in the nation with a longer active streak of conference tournament titles than Notre Dame. The Irish extended their win streak in the tournament to nine games (’04-’06), longest in the 22-year history of the event (no other team has won more that two straight BIG EAST Tournament titles).
Tournament MVP Korpi had the wins in the 3-1 opener over South Florida (6 IP, R, 4 H, 3 BB, 11 Ks) and in 7-0 title game with Louisville (5 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 Ks). Home runs by Bransfield and Brezovsky sparked the game-2 win over West Virginia (12-4) while senior lefthander Tom Thornton (7 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 3 Ks) delivered another clutch postseason start, in the elimination-game win over St John’s.
EIGHTH STRAIGHT NCAA TRIP – Notre Dame advanced to the NCAAs for the eighth straight season in 2006, as one of 10 teams in the to appear in the NCAAs every year since 1999. The 15th-ranked Irish faced a challenging draw as the third seed in the regional at Kentucky, losing a 16-inning heartbreaker to 25th-ranked College of Charleston (5-4) and dropping a 10-4 game to the 13th-ranked hosts. It marked the first time since 1960 that a Notre Dame team had gone 0-2 at a postseason tournament (spanning 36 tournaments on the conference and NCAA levels). The game with Charleston ranked as one of the longest in NCAA baseball tournament history and featured a courageous outing by Weiland, who logged 7.0 innings and struck out seven while allowing just four hits, a walk and the final run (the only score by either team in the final 10 innings).
GOLDEN GLOVES – The 2006 Notre Dame defense totaled just 69 errors in the 63-game season while compiling the best season fielding percentage (.972) in the program’s history.
CONTROL FREAKS – The 2006 Notre Dame pitching staff’s pinpoint accuracy yielded a team record for strikeouts (504) and K-to-walk ratio (2.95), plus just 24 wild pitches and 51 hit batters. The Irish pitchers also allowed only 2.69 walks per 9.0 innings (third-best in Notre Dame history) and allowed just 18 home runs all season, including a 25-game stretch (nearly 1,000 batters faced) without surrendering a ball over the fences.
Craig Cooper
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ALL-AMERICA SLUGGER – Cooper was one of four position players nationwide listed on the top All-America lists when the 2006 postseason honors rolled around. The senior first baseman led the nation in scoring (1.79 runs/gm; 79 total) and ranked sixth nationally in batting average (.425) while posting nearly a 3-to-1 walk-to-strikeout ratio (38/14) and 17 more extra-base hits (31) than strikeouts. He became the league’s all-time leader for career batting average in BIG EAST games (.444) and claimed an unprecedented third BIG EAST batting title in ’06 (.481). Cooper led the 2006 offense in 20 categories, including the third-best on-base percentage in Notre Dame history (.522). He reached base in 55 of 57 games played and tied an Irish record with his 21-game hit streak. He was named national player of the week in mid-April, after hitting a combined 10-for-19 with 13 RBI (9 runs, 4 home runs, 2 doubles, 5 walks) in a five-game span that included games with Toledo and IPFW and the series sweep of Rutgers.
STRIKEOUT KING – Pitcher Jeff Manship joined Cooper in receiving All-America honors, as a third-team honoree from Collegiate Baseball magazine. The junior righthander’s 111 strikeouts in ’06 were seven shy of the Notre Dame record while his career rate of 10.11 strikeouts per 9.0 innings was second-best by a Notre Dame pitcher in the past 40 years. Manship finished fourth among the BIG EAST leaders for overall season ERA (3.26) and was the league leader for wins (9-2) and strikeouts.
SHORTSTOP SCHOLAR – Lopez was recognized by the College Sports Information Directors of America as a third team Academic All-American before graduating with a 3.39 cumulative grade-point average as a double major in pre-professional studies and anthropology. The senior shortstop’s busy final semester included being accepted into medical school while batting .304 with just 12 errors in 58 games played and a .356 batting average with runners in scoring position.
Greg Lopez
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NINE BIG EAST HONOREES – Cooper and Manship became the fifth set of teammates to sweep the BIG EAST player- and pitcher-of-the-year awards and were joined by junior righthander Jeff Samardzija as Notre Dame’s first team all-BIG EAST honorees. Five others were second-team selections: Lopez, junior outfielder Dressman, sophomore third baseman Lilley, Weiland and freshman DH Barnes. Senior leftfielder Bransfield rounded out the all-conference selections as a third-teamer. The nine selections were one shy of the conference’s all-time high-water mark set by Notre Dame’s record-setting 2001 team (10).
SUPER SAVER – Weiland finished third in the nation with 16 saves, surpassing the previous Notre Dame record by three and placing him just four shy of the career mark. He went on to earn first team Freshman All-America honors and was invited to the USA Baseball National Team tryouts. The staff’s primary setup man, junior lefthander Mike Dury, shared in Weiland’s record-setting season – with Dury posting a 2.17 ERA to go along with a lowly .208 opponent batting average.
SERVICE HONORS – The baseball program was chosen as the 2005-06 team to be honored by the athletics department for community service excellence. Thornton took home two top honors from the athletics department: the Byron Kanaley Award (exemplary student leader) and the Chris Zorich Award (community service). Former basketball standout Ruth Riley is the only other student-athlete to receive both of those awards.
Jeff Samardzija
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FEELING A DRAFT – Notre Dame’s five selections in the 2006 Major League draft were one shy of the team record (6), set in 2001. Samardzija (5th round; Chicago Cubs) and Cooper (7th round; San Diego Padres) both were selected in early rounds, followed by Manship (14th round; Minnesota Twins), Thornton (21st-round; Detroit Tigers) and Lopez (33rd round; Toronto Blue Jays). It marked the first time that three Notre Dame pitchers were selected in the same Major League draft.
2006 Irish Baseball Honors and Awards
Craig Cooper (Sr., 1B)
• Second Team All-American (Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and Rivals.com)
• Third Team All-American (National Collegiate Baseball Writers)
• All-American (College Baseball Foundation)
• BIG EAST Player of the Year
• First Team All-BIG EAST
• Notre Dame Team MVP
• National Player of the Week, May 23 (Collegiate Baseball, NCBWA and Rivals.com)
• NCAA Lexington Regional All-Tournament Team
• CBF National Team of Week (April 9 and 23)
• BIG EAST Player of the Week (April 9 and 23)
• MLB Draft Selection – San Diego Padres (7th round)
Jeff Manship
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Jeff Manship (Jr., RHP)
• Third Team All-American (Collegiate Baseball)
• BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year
• First Team All-BIG EAST
• BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (April 16)
• Irish Baseball Classic All-Tournament Team
• MLB Draft Selection – Minnesota Twins (15th round)
Jeff Samardzija (Jr., RHP)
• First Team All-BIG EAST
• MLB Draft Selection – Chicago Cubs (5th round)
Greg Lopez (Sr., SS)
• Third Team Academic All-American
• Second Team All-BIG EAST
• BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (April 16)
• Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award
• Team Co-Captain
• MLB Draft Selection – Toronto Blue Jays (33rd round)
Brett Lilley (So., 3B)
• Second Team All-BIG EAST
• BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (April 9)
Danny Dressman (Jr., OF)
• Second Team All-BIG EAST
• BIG EAST Player of the Week (March 12)
Kyle Weiland (Fr., RHP)
• Freshman All-American
• Second Team All-BIG EAST
• BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (April 30)
Jeremy Barnes (Fr., DH/2B)
• Second Team All-BIG EAST
Matt Bransfield (Sr., LF)
• CoSIDA First Team Academic All-District V
• Third Team All-BIG EAST
• Notre Dame Student-Athlete Award
• CBF National Team of the Week (March 19)
• Irish Baseball Classic MVP
• Free-Agent Signee – Gateway Grizzlies
Tom Thornton
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Tom Thornton (Sr., LHP)
• CoSIDA First Team Academic All-District V
• BIG EAST Pitcher of Week (Feb. 26, March 19)
• Irish Baseball Classic All-Tournament Team
• ND Athletics Kanaley Leadership Award
• ND Athletics Zorich Service Award
• MLB Draft Selection – Detroit Tigers (21st round)
Wade Korpi (So., LHP)
• BIG EAST Tournament MVP
• BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (April 2 and 30)
Alex Nettey (Sr., CF)
• NCAA Lexington Regional All-Tournament Team
• Irish Baseball Classic All-Tournament Team
Ross Brezovsky (So., 2B)
• Irish Baseball Classic All-Tournament Team
Cody Rizzo (Sr., RF/C)
• Irish Baseball Classic All-Tournament Team