Mar. 10, 1997

Texas-Pan American Sweeps Notre Dame Baseball

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – A pair of Texas-Pan American senior pitchers – lefthander Mike Karow and senior righhander Ralph Dillard – combined to hole Notre Dame to seven hits and the Broncs defense turned five double plays while making only tow errors, as UTPA took a doubleheader from the Irish, 2-0 and 5-2, Monday at Wolff Municipal Stadium.

The opening loss in the pair of seven-inning games resulted in Notre Dame’s first scoreless game during Paul Mainieri’s three years as the Irish head coach (spanning 133 games).

Notre Dame (5-6) made two errors in the first game, leading to one unearned run, before making five defensive miscues in the second game that yielded four more unearned runs.

The first game provided UTPA head coach Al Ogletree with his 1,200th career-coaching victory. Ogletree – now in his 41st season overall and 29th at UTPA – is the leading active coah atop the Division I baseball charts.

Sophomore lefthander Chris McKeown suffered the opening loss in his first decision of the season, despite scattering seven hits and three walks over six and two-thirds innings (with two K’s). Another sophomore, righthander Alex Shilliday (0-1), took the loss in the second game despite eight K’s and no walks. Shilliday held UTPA to six hits over six and one-thirds innings but Irish errors led to four unearned runs (of five) credited to Shilliday.

Karow (3-2) faced just 23 batters – two above the seven-inning minimum – after allowing two runs and three hits while striking out five Irish batters. Notre Dame freshman Jeff Felker walked to open the third, but senior J.J. Brock hit into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning. Sophomore Jeff Wagner then drew a one-out walk in the fourth, but senior Justin Scholl hit into another inning-ending, 5-4-3 double play. The Irish then had another baserunner in the fifth, after sophomore Allen Greene drew a one-out walk, but a throw from Karow caught Greene in a rundown.

Both of Notre Dame’s hits came in the first inning, on consecutive singles from freshman Brant Ust and senior Mike Amrhein, but Wagner struck out and Scholl ground out to end the inning.

UTPA (14-10) went ahead 1-0 in the second inning. After McKeown hit leadoff man Steve Redeen with a pitch, T.D. Taylor legged out a one-out bunt single and Mike Holder and Jeff Pool drew two-out walks. The Broncs added a run in the seventh, behind a single from Jeff Moore, an errant pickoff throw from McKeown and a run-scoring single from Leo Salinas.

Dillard (3-2) allowed five hits, four walks and two runs (both earned) wile striking out four Irish batters, with senior righthander Shelby Thomas closing out the seventh.

Both teams scored a run in the second before UTPA surged ahead with a three-run fourth. Three Irish errors helped the Broncs score in the second before Greene blasted his first home run of the season in the bottom of the inning, a full-count blast to deep right-center field.

In the decisive top of the fourth, Shilliday hit leadoff man T.D. Taylor with a pich but retired the next two UTPA batters. Moore then doubled down the leftfield line, scoring Taylor, and second baseman Brock couldn’t come up with a shot to the right side from Gabe De La Garza, with two runs coming home on the second error of the inning.

The Irish scored in the sixth, after a leadoff walk by senior Randall Brooks, a wild pitch from Dillard, a single form Amrhein and a fielder’s choice from Wagner that scored Brooks. UTPA added a run in the seventh to cap the day scoring.

Freshman righthander Scott Cavey took the mound to retire the final UTPA batter in the first game while freshman lefthander Mark Lapinskas mad his Irish debut in the second game, facing four batters (with one walk and one K).

Notes: Ust hit safely in both games, extending his hitting streak to nine games. Ust is batting 9-for-17 through the first five games if the 11-game Spring Break trip and shares the overall team batting lead with Amrhein (.462)…Nearly 40 percent of the opponent runs this season (25-of-66) have been unearned, as a result of 30 Irish errors in 11 games…The Irish pitching staff has posted a 2.63 team ERA and allowed just a .242 opponent batting average in 41 innings thus far on the spring trip while the Notre Dame offense has posted a batting average of just .265 on the trip…Grene is batting 6-for-13 on the trip, boosting his season average to .303.

Game 1Texas-Pan American 2, Notre Dame 0UTPA          010 000 1  -  2 7 0Notre Dame    000 000 0  -  0 2 2ND: McKeown, Cavey (7) and Wagner.UTPA: Karow and Phillips. 2B:None. 3B: None. HR: None.WP: Karow (3-2). LP: McKeown (0-1). Game 2Texas-Pan American 5, Notre Dame 2UTPA         010 300 1  -  5 6 2 Notre Dame   010 001 0  -  2 5 5ND: Shilliday, Lapinskas (7) and Amrhein. UTPA:Dillard, Thomas (7) and Aguilar. 2B: Salinas(UTPA), Moore (UTPA), Wagner (ND). 3B: None. HR:Greene (ND).WP: Dillard (3-2). LP: Shilliday (0-1).