May 10, 1997

Irish Tie Home Run Record in Regular Season Finale

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Sophomore left fielder Allen Greene and junior second baseman Todd Frye supplied the timely hits as the University of Notre Dame held off the visiting University of Chicago, 3-1, in the final regular season game for both teams Saturday at Eck Stadium.

Notre Dame (39-17) finishes 25-2 at home this season and has won 30 of its last 36 games, since dropping a three-game series at Seton Hall on March 22-23. The rest of the Irish season will come on the road, beginning with their opening game in the double elimination BIG EAST Tournament vs. Villanova (on Tuesday, March 13, in Norwich, Conn.).

Chicago (22-8) proved its worth as one of the nation’s top Division III programs, as junior righthander Adam Hughes (6-2) limited the Irish to seven hits and three walks, with seven strikeouts. Hughes was touched for a total of just two hits by Notre Dame’s #1-#5 batters. The Maroons totaled eight hits against four Irish pitchers but left seven runners on base.

Freshman lefthander Tim Kalita (3-1) worked out of several jams while picking up the win. Kalita allowed the one earned run on four hits and four walks over six and one-third innings, with six strikeouts. Another freshman, righthander Tom O’Hagan, picked up his third save of the game, after inheriting a two-runners-on and no outs situation in the eighth.

Greeene went 2-for-3 while blasting a solo home run in the fourth inning, his seventh home run of the season and fifth in the last nine games. The home run was Notre Dame’s 64th of the season, equaling the team record set by the 1993 Irish squad. Notre Dame’s current averages of 1.14 home runs per game and 29.49 at-bats per home run also would set new team records.

Frye, batting from the #8 spot, enjoyed a 2-for-2 day, including a two-out single that preceded the game-winning hit from senior third baseman J.J. Brock.

The visitors jumped ahead in the top of the first, as NCAA “triple crown” hopeful Mark Moshier blasted a two-out, solo shot over the fence in right-center field. Moshier, a righthanded-hitting senior, came up hitless in his next two at-bats, after entering the day with a .500 batting average, 14 home runs and 56 RBI.

The Irish tied the game in the bottom of the inning, with senior centerfielder Randall Brooks drilling a leadoff triple to the gap in right-center field and scoring on senior DH Mike Amrhein’s one-out groundout to third base. Notre Dame edged ahead with a run in the second. Greene reached on a one-out single but was forced out when freshman first baseman Jeff Felker hit into a fielder’s choice. Frye then poked a two-out single into left field. moving Felker to second, before Brock delivered an RBI single to center.

Greene capped the scoring in the fourth, sending a one-out fastball from Hughes over the fence in right field.

The Maroons nearly rallied in the eighth, as leadoff man Tom Costello greeted freshman lefthander Mark Lapinskas with a single to center before Tom Kadaras sent a hard-hit ball to the left side, with freshman shortstop Brant Ust making the error when he failed to come up with the ball. O’Hagan then came on and Mosier drilled a shot at Ust, who gained instant redemption after catching the ball and diving to the second base bag for an unassisted double play. O’Hagan then induced a flyout by Bill Robinson, ending the threat.

NOTES

• The Notre Dame pitching staff totaled nine strikeouts in Saturday’s game, giving the Irish 373 for the season, second-most in team history and just 19 off the record mark of 392, set by the 1993 staff.
• Amrhein sent a patented double down the opposite rightfield line to open the sixth inning for his 87th hit of the season, moving him into a tie with Pat Pesavento (’88) for 9th on the Irish all-time single season charts (he is just two more hits out of 6th and three out of 5th) … the double was the 49th of Amrhein’s career, one behind Craig Counsell for 3rd in Irish history.
• Amrhein continues to have the rare distinction of leading the Irish in runs (67) and RBI (68) … he is on the verge of becoming the third Irish player ever to total 70 runs and 70 RBI in the same season.
• Brooks moved into a three-way tie with Ust and sophomore DH Jeff Wagner for second on the team in hits, as each has 79.
• Frye boosted his season batting average to .319, still only good for ninth-place among the deep Irish starting lineup … the hot-hitting Greene saw his season batting average climb to .361.
• Notre Dame’s batting average fell just one point (to .339) while the team’s slugging pct. fell two points (to .541) … both marks are still comfortably ahead of the respective school records (.334 and .519).
• Notre Dame’s team ERA now stands at 4.66, the lowest it has been since March 22 (4.62) … the Irish have allowed just three earned runs in the last five games (43 innings).
• O’Hagan lowered his season ERA to 3.26 (in 19 and a third innings) while Kalita’s dropped to 3.64 (42 innings).
• Amrhein’s double and Brooks’ triple give the Irish 120 and 35, respectively, for the season, both second-most in Irish history (the ’93 team had 125 doubles while the ’94 Irish totaled 41 triples).
• Notre Dame finishes the regular season with six players hitting above .345 (Brooks was the only Irish player to do so last year, at .396): Amrhein (.407), Wagner (.389), Ust (.383), Brooks (.366), Greene (.361) and Brock (.354) … Felker now stands at .329 while freshman rightfielder Jeff Perconte has slipped to .319.

Box Score

Univ. of Chicago 1 (22-8)                                  Univ. of Notre Dame 3 (39-17)Name (Pos)                 AB  R  H RBI  BB SO PO  A       Name (Pos)                 AB  R  H RBI  BB SO PO  A---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tom Costello cf...........  2  0  1  0    2  1  2  0       Randall Brooks cf.........  3  1  1  0    1  1  3  0Tom Kadaras ss............  4  0  0  0    0  0  3  2       Jeff Perconte rf..........  4  0  0  0    0  2  3  0Mark Mosier 2b............  3  1  1  1    1  0  2  2       Mike Amrhein dh...........  4  0  1  1    0  0  0  0Bill Robinson 1b..........  4  0  1  0    0  0  8  1       Jeff Wagner c.............  3  0  0  0    1  1  9  0Mark Surawski dh..........  4  0  0  0    0  3  0  0       Brant Ust ss..............  4  0  0  0    0  1  3  1Joe Porten rf.............  4  0  1  0    0  0  2  0       Allen Greene lf...........  3  1  2  1    0  0  1  0Ben Albrecht c............  4  0  3  0    0  1  5  2       Jeff Felker 1b............  3  1  0  0    0  1  4  2Mitch Nelms lf............  4  0  0  0    0  3  2  1       Todd Frye 2b..............  2  0  2  0    1  0  3  1Geoff Campen 3b...........  2  0  1  0    1  1  0  3       J.J. Brock 3b.............  3  0  1  1    0  1  1  2Adam Hughes p.............  0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0       Tim Kalita p..............  0  0  0  0    0  0  0  4 Wally Widelski p.......... 0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0 Mark Lapinskas p.......... 0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0 Tom O'Hagan p............. 0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Totals.................... 31  1  8  1    4  9 24 11       Totals.................... 29  3  7  3    3  7 27 10Score by innings:                      R  H  E----------------------------------------------Univ. of Chicago      100 000 000   -  1  8  1Univ. of Notre Dame   110 100 00    -  3  7  1----------------------------------------------E - Tom Kadaras (13), Brant Ust (17).DP - Chicago 2, Irish 2. LOB - Chicago 7, Irish 5.2B - Mike Amrhein (13). 3B - Rand. Brooks (7).HR - Mark Mosier (15), Allen Greene (7).SB - Todd Frye (5). CS - B. Robinson (2), Mitch Nelms (1).Univ. of Chicago       IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  AB  BF      Univ. of Notre Dame    IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  AB  BF---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Adam Hughes.........  8.0   7   3   3   3   7  29  32      Tim Kalita..........  6.1   4   1   1   4   6  19  23Wally Widelski......  0.2   2   0   0   0   2   4   4Mark Lapinskas......  0.0   1   0   0   0   0   2   2Tom O'Hagan.........  2.0   1   0   0   0   1   6   6Winner - Tim Kalita 3-1.  Loser - Adam Hughes 6-2.  Save - Tom O'Hagan (3).Start: Noon   Time: 2:22   Attendance: 150M. Lapinskas faced 2 batters in the 8th.

Play-by-play

Univ. of Chicago inning 1

Tom Costello struck out. Tom Kadaras flied out to lf. Mark Mosier homeredto right center, RBI. B. Robinson singled to left field. B. Robinson outat second p to 1b to ss to 2b, picked off, caught stealing. 1 run, 2 hits,0 errors, 0 LOB.

Univ. of Notre Dame inning 1

Rand. Brooks tripled to right center. J. Perconte struck out. Mike Amrheingrounded out to 3b, RBI; Rand. Brooks scored. Jeff Wagner struck out, outat first c to 1b. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Univ. of Chicago inning 2

M. Surawski struck out. Joe Porten grounded out to 3b. Ben Albrecht struckout. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Univ. of Notre Dame inning 2

Brant Ust flied out to cf. Allen Greene singled to right field. JeffFelker reached on a fielder’s choice; Allen Greene out at second 1b to ss.Todd Frye singled to left field; Jeff Felker advanced to second. J.J. Brocksingled to center field, RBI; Todd Frye advanced to second; Jeff Felkerscored. Rand. Brooks grounded out to 2b. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Univ. of Chicago inning 3

Mitch Nelms struck out looking. Geoff Campen singled to left center. GeoffCampen out at first p to 1b, picked off. Tom Costello walked. Tom Kadarasflied out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Univ. of Notre Dame inning 3

J. Perconte flied out to lf. Mike Amrhein flied out to cf. Jeff Wagnerflied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Univ. of Chicago inning 4

Mark Mosier flied out to rf. B. Robinson flied out to cf. M. Surawskistruck out. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Univ. of Notre Dame inning 4

Brant Ust fouled out to 1b. Allen Greene homered to right field, RBI. JeffFelker flied out to rf. Todd Frye singled to left center, out at second lfto ss. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Univ. of Chicago inning 5

Joe Porten grounded out to p. Ben Albrecht singled to left center. MitchNelms reached on a fielder’s choice; Ben Albrecht out at second 3b to 2b.Mitch Nelms out at second p to 1b to ss, picked off, caught stealing. 0runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Univ. of Notre Dame inning 5

J.J. Brock struck out. Rand. Brooks struck out, out at first c to 1b. J.Perconte struck out. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Univ. of Chicago inning 6

Geoff Campen walked. Tom Costello walked; Geoff Campen advanced to second.

Tom Kadaras reached on a fielder’s choice; Tom Costello advanced to second;Geoff Campen out at third 3b unassisted. Mark Mosier walked; Tom Kadarasadvanced to second; Tom Costello advanced to third. B. Robinson groundedinto double play 2b to 1b; Mark Mosier out on the play. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0errors, 2 LOB.

Univ. of Notre Dame inning 6

Mike Amrhein doubled to right field. Jeff Wagner walked. Brant Ust struckout. Allen Greene lined into double play ss to 2b; Mike Amrhein out on theplay. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Univ. of Chicago inning 7

M. Surawski struck out. W. Widelski to p for Tim Kalita. Joe Portensingled to right field. Ben Albrecht singled to left field; Joe Portenadvanced to second. Mitch Nelms struck out. Geoff Campen struck outlooking. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Univ. of Notre Dame inning 7

Jeff Felker struck out looking. Todd Frye walked. Todd Frye stole second.J.J. Brock flied out to rf; Todd Frye advanced to third. Rand. Brookswalked. J. Perconte grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Univ. of Chicago inning 8

M. Lapinskas to p for W. Widelski. Tom Costello singled to center field.Tom Kadaras reached on an error by ss; Tom Costello advanced to second. TomO’Hagan to p for M. Lapinskas. Mark Mosier lined into double play ssunassisted; Tom Costello out on the play. B. Robinson flied out to rf. 0runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.

Univ. of Notre Dame inning 8

Mike Amrhein grounded out to 3b. Jeff Wagner reached on an error by ss.Brant Ust grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b; Jeff Wagner out on theplay. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 0 LOB.

Univ. of Chicago inning 9

M. Surawski flied out to rf. Joe Porten flied out to cf. Ben Albrechtsingled to left field. Ben Albrecht advanced to second. Mitch Nelms struckout. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

M. Lapinskas faced 2 batters in the 8th.