May 1, 1997

Armhein Blasts 36th Homer to Lead Notre Dame

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Senior catcher Mike Amrheintook another step towards the Notre Dame career home run recordwhile freshman lefthander Tim Kalita turned in a solid seveninnings as the Irish held on to defeat visiting Chicago State,7-5, in non-conference baseball action at Eck Stadium.

Notre Dame (34-17) improved to 20-2 at home while posting its57th home run of the season–a solo shot by Amrhein–to movewithin seven of the Irish team record (set in 1993). NotreDame’s 9-for-32 night dropped the team’s season batting averageto .3341, just below the two best marks in recorded team history(.3342 in ’93 and .3344 in ’89).

Kalita (2-1) allowed just one earned run on four hits and fourwalks while striking out seven Cougars batters over the firstseven innings. O’Hagan recorded the final three outs of the gameto pick up his second save of the season.

Chicago State (13-31) rallied in the ninth inning, scoring fourruns on just one hit vs. junior lefthander Pat Davis andfreshman righthander Tom O’Hagan. Davis hit leadoff man ScottHordecki with a pitch and then gave up an RBI double to DonnyPowell before issuing walks to David Keltner and ScottBudesilich. O’Hagan then took the mound but walked Mike Callahanwith the bases loaded, cutting the lead to 7-3.

The Irish finally recorded an out when Bob Boye popped up toreserve third baseman Matt Nussbaum before O’Hagan hit MarkBinder with a pitch, plating Keltner and putting the tying runon base. Brian Naese then hit a run-scoring grounder toNussbaum, whose throw to first nearly pulled backup DanLeatherman off the base. With the tying run on second, CraigMajdecki sent a sinking popup to the right side of the infield,where second baseman Todd Frye was able to dive forward for thefinal out of the game.

The visitors opened the game with a run in the first before theIrish struck for three runs in the second, behind consecutivesingles from Brant Ust, Allen Greene and Jeff Felker. Ust stolesecond and scored on Greene’s ball up the middle before Felkerwent to the opposite left field, moving Greene to second. Frye’sgroundout moved the runners up and a wild pitch from seniorlefthander Donny Powell (1-5) allowed Greene to score. J.J.Brock then hit a slow two-out grounder to the left side butthird baseman Scott Hordecki threw wide of first, with Felkerscoring on the play and Brock scooting all the way to third.

Notre Dame tacked on three more runs in the sixth, with Amrheinsending a first-pitch, two-out blast over the leftfield fence.Greene later followed up walks by Jeff Wagner and Ust with atriple over the head of centerfielder Bob Boye (Greene’s fifthtriple of the season), giving the Irish a 6-1 lead.

Amrhein’s home run was his 13th of the season and 36th of hiscareer, leaving him one behind Frank Jacobs (1989-92) on theNotre Dame career home runs list. Amrhein and Wagner are thethird pair of Irish teamates to both hit 13-plus home runs in aseason (Edwin Hartwell and Eric Danapilis both hit 13 home runsin 1993 while Jacobs had 20 and Joe Binkiewicz hit 15 in 1991).

The Irish added what proved to be a valuable insurance run inthe seventh. Hot-hitting freshman rightfielder Jeff Perconte hita leadoff double to left-center and advanced to third onAmrhein’s flyout. Pinch-hitter John Corbin then drew a walk andUst brought home Perconte with a double to the gap inright-center field.

NOTES: Notre Dame moved senior centerfielder Randall Brooks backto the leadoff spot, where he opened the season before shiftingto the No. 2 spot in mid-March, when senior rightfielder PatO’Keefe moved into the starting lineup (after the ribcage injuryto Justin Scholl) … Perconte took over the No. 2 spot, going2-for-4 to give him a .591 batting average (13-for-22) in hislast six games as a starter … Ust went 2-for-3 with two runsand RBI, moving into a tie with Wagner for second on the teamwith a .376 batting average (Ust has hits in 22 of his last 24games) … Greene’s 2-for-4 day (which included three RBI and a run scored) boosted his season average to .339 … Greene hashits in 14 of his last 15 games, collecting six doubles, twotriples and two home runs during that stretch … Felker hashits in 15 of his last 18 games while going 11-for-24 in hislast seven games … the entire starting lineup continues to hitabove .300, with Frye dropping to .306 after an 0-for-3 night.

Chicago State 5 (13-31)                                  Univ. of Notre Dame 7 (34-17)Name (Pos)                 AB  R  H RBI  BB SO PO  A     Name (Pos)                 AB  R  H RBI  BB SO PO  A---------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------Bob Boye cf...............  4  0  0  0    1  1  1  0     Randall Brooks cf.........  3  0  0  0    1  1  4  0Mark Binder ss............  3  1  1  1    1  1  1  0     Dan Leatherman cf/1b......  1  0  0  0    0  1  2  0Brian Naese 2b............  5  0  1  1    0  0  4  0     Jeff Perconte rf..........  4  1  2  0    0  1  4  0Craig Majdecki c/3b.......  4  0  0  1    0  0  6  3     Larry Zimont ph/rf........  1  0  1  0    0  0  0  0Scott Hordecki 3b/c.......  3  1  0  0    0  0  2  0     Mike Amrhein c............  4  1  1  1    0  1  7  0Donny Powell p/dh.........  4  1  2  1    0  1  0  0     Mike Knecht c.............  1  0  0  0    0  0  0  0David Keltner rf..........  2  1  0  0    2  2  6  0     Jeff Wagner dh............  2  1  0  0    1  1  0  0Scott Budesilich lf.......  3  1  0  0    1  2  0  0     John Corbin ph............  0  0  0  0    1  0  0  0Derrick Felton 1b.........  0  0  0  0    1  0  1  0     Dan Stavisky pr...........  0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0Mike Callahan 1b..........  2  0  1  1    1  0  3  0     Brant Ust ss..............  3  2  2  1    1  1  0  1Dan Jackson p.............  0  0  0  0    0  0  0  1     Paul Turco ss.............  0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0Dan Simonetti p...........  0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0     Allen Greene lf...........  4  1  2  3    0  0  2  1Joe Bleers p..............  0  0  0  0    0  0  0  1     Jeff Felker 1b............  2  1  1  0    1  1  2  0Pat O'Keefe ph/cf.........  1  0  0  0    0  0  2  0Todd Frye 2b..............  3  0  0  0    1  0  3  1J.J. Brock 3b.............  3  0  0  0    0  0  0  0Matt Nussbaum ph/3b.......  0  0  0  0    1  0  1  1Tim Kalita p..............  0  0  0  0    0  0  0  1Mark Lapinskas p..........  0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0Pat Davis p...............  0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0Tom O'Hagan p.............  0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0Totals.................... 30  5  5  5    7  7 24  5     Totals.................... 32  7  9  5    7  7 27  5Score by innings:                      R  H  E----------------------------------------------Chicago State         100 000 004   -  5  5  1Univ. of Notre Dame   030 003 10    -  7  9  0----------------------------------------------E - S. Hordecki(11).DP - Irish 1. LOB - Chicago St. 8, Irish 8.2B - Donny Powell(5), J. Perconte(3), Brant Ust(13). 3B - Allen Greene(5).HR - Mike Amrhein(13).SB - Donny Powell(6), D. Keltner(21), D. Felton(1), Brant Ust(4), Jeff Felker(7). CS - Rand. Brooks(7), J. Perconte(2).SF - C. Majdecki(1).Chicago State          IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  AB  BF     Univ. of Notre Dame    IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  AB  BF-----------------------------------------------------     -----------------------------------------------------Donny Powell........  2.0   3   3   2   0   2  10  10     Tim Kalita..........  7.0   4   1   1   4   7  23  28Dan Jackson.........  3.0   1   0   0   1   4   8   9     Mark Lapinskas......  1.0   0   0   0   0   0   3   3Dan Simonetti.......  0.1   2   3   3   4   0   3   7     Pat Davis...........  0.0   1   4   4   2   0   1   4Joe Bleers..........  2.2   3   1   1   2   1  11  13     Tom O'Hagan.........  1.0   0   0   0   1   0   3   5Winner - Tim Kalita 2-1.  Loser - Donny Powell 1-5.  Save - Tom O'Hagan (2).WP - Donny Powell(5), Pat Davis(3).HBP - by Pat Davis (S. Hordecki), by Tom O'Hagan (Mark Binder).Start: 6:00   Time: 2:59   Attendance: 53Game Notes:Amrhein's home run was the 36th of his career, one behind Frank Jacobs'career record of 37.Pat Davis faced 4 batters in the 9th.

Play-by-play

Chicago State inning 1

Bob Boye flied out to lf. Mark Binder walked. Brian Naese singled to rightcenter; Mark Binder advanced to third. C. Majdecki flied out to cf, SF,RBI; Mark Binder scored. S. Hordecki flied out to rf. 1 run, 1 hit, 0errors, 1 LOB.

Univ. of Notre Dame inning 1

Rand. Brooks flied out to rf. J. Perconte struck out. Mike Amrhein fliedout to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Chicago State inning 2

Donny Powell singled to center field. D. Keltner struck out. Budesilichlined out to 2b. D. Felton walked; Donny Powell advanced to second. D.Felton stole second; Donny Powell stole third. Bob Boye lined out to cf. 0runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Univ. of Notre Dame inning 2

Jeff Wagner flied out to rf. Brant Ust singled to center field. Brant Uststole second, failed pickoff attempt. Allen Greene singled to center field,RBI; Brant Ust scored. Jeff Felker singled to left field; Allen Greeneadvanced to second. Todd Frye grounded out to 1b unassisted; Jeff Felkeradvanced to second; Allen Greene advanced to third. Jeff Felker advanced tothird on a wild pitch; Allen Greene scored on a wild pitch. J.J. Brockreached on an error by 3b, advanced to third on the error; Jeff Felkerscored on the error, unearned. Rand. Brooks struck out. 3 runs, 3 hits, 1error, 1 LOB.

Chicago State inning 3

Mark Binder struck out looking. Brian Naese flied out to rf. C. Majdeckigrounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Univ. of Notre Dame inning 3

Donny Powell to dh. Dan Jackson to p. J. Perconte singled to shortstop.J. Perconte out at second c to 2b, caught stealing. Mike Amrhein struckout. Jeff Wagner struck out. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Chicago State inning 4

S. Hordecki flied out to cf. Donny Powell grounded out to ss. D. Keltnerwalked. D. Keltner failed pickoff attempt. Budesilich struck out. 0 runs,0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Univ. of Notre Dame inning 4

M. Callahan to 1b for D. Felton. Brant Ust struck out. Allen Greenegrounded out to 1b unassisted. Jeff Felker struck out looking. 0 runs, 0hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Chicago State inning 5

M. Callahan flied out to rf. Bob Boye walked. Mark Binder singled to rightfield; Bob Boye advanced to second. Brian Naese flied into double play lfto 2b; Bob Boye out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Univ. of Notre Dame inning 5

Todd Frye grounded out to p. J.J. Brock lined out to cf. Rand. Brookswalked. Rand. Brooks out at second c to 2b, caught stealing. 0 runs, 0hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Chicago State inning 6

C. Majdecki lined out to cf. S. Hordecki flied out to rf. Donny Powellstruck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Univ. of Notre Dame inning 6

D. Simonetti to p for Dan Jackson. C. Majdecki to 3b. S. Hordecki to c.J. Perconte lined out to 2b. Mike Amrhein homered to left field, RBI. JeffWagner walked. Brant Ust walked; Jeff Wagner advanced to second. AllenGreene tripled to center field, 2 RBI; Brant Ust scored; Jeff Wagner scored.Jeff Felker walked. Jeff Felker stole second. Todd Frye walked. JoeBleers to p for D. Simonetti. J.J. Brock reached on a fielder’s choice;Todd Frye advanced to second; Jeff Felker advanced to third; Allen Greeneout at home p to c. Rand. Brooks grounded out to 3b. 3 runs, 2 hits, 0errors, 3 LOB.

Chicago State inning 7

Leatherman to cf for Rand. Brooks. D. Keltner struck out. Budesilichstruck out. M. Callahan singled to shortstop. Bob Boye struck out looking.0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Univ. of Notre Dame inning 7

J. Perconte doubled to left center. Mike Amrhein flied out to rf; J.Perconte advanced to third. John Corbin pinch hit for Jeff Wagner. JohnCorbin walked. D. Stavisky pinch ran for John Corbin. Brant Ust doubled toright center, RBI; D. Stavisky advanced to third; J. Perconte scored. AllenGreene popped up to ss. Pat O’Keefe pinch hit for Jeff Felker. Pat O’Keefeflied out to rf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Chicago State inning 8

Leatherman to 1b. Mike Knecht to c for Mike Amrhein. Paul Turco to ss forBrant Ust. Pat O’Keefe to cf. M. Lapinskas to p for Tim Kalita. MarkBinder flied out to cf. Brian Naese flied out to cf. C. Majdecki groundedout to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Univ. of Notre Dame inning 8

Todd Frye popped up to 2b. M. Nussbaum pinch hit for J.J. Brock. M.Nussbaum walked. Leatherman struck out looking. L. Zimont pinch hit for J.Perconte. L. Zimont singled to right field; M. Nussbaum advanced to second.Mike Knecht flied out to rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Chicago State inning 9

L. Zimont to rf. M. Nussbaum to 3b. Pat Davis to p for M. Lapinskas. S.Hordecki hit by pitch. Donny Powell doubled down the lf line, RBI; S.Hordecki scored. Donny Powell advanced to third on a wild pitch. D.Keltner walked. D. Keltner stole second. Budesilich walked. Tom O’Haganto p for Pat Davis. M. Callahan walked, RBI; Budesilich advanced to second;D. Keltner advanced to third; Donny Powell scored. Bob Boye popped up to3b. Mark Binder hit by pitch, RBI; M. Callahan advanced to second;Budesilich advanced to third; D. Keltner scored. Brian Naese grounded outto 3b, RBI; Mark Binder advanced to second; M. Callahan advanced to third;Budesilich scored. C. Majdecki popped up to 2b. 4 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2LOB.