NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH

(as of May 25)

Location: Notre Dame, Ind.
Founded: 1842
Enrollment: 10,359
Nickname: Fighting Irish
Colors: Gold and blue
President: Rev. Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C.
Athletic Director: Mike Wadsworth (Notre Dame ’66)
Baseball Administrator: Bill Scholl

Notre Dame Baseball Team Photo

Head Coach: Paul Mainieri (Florida International ’80)
Career Record: 540-370 (17 seasons)
Record at Notre Dame: 208-90 (five seasons)
Assistant Coaches: Brian O’Connor (Creighton ’93), Cory Mee (Notre Dame ’92)
Athletic Trainer for Baseball: Mike Bean
Baseball SID: Pete LaFleur

Conference: BIG EAST
Home Stadium (Capacity): Frank Eck Stadium (2,100)
Surface, Dimensions: Grass, 331-381-401-381-331
1998 Record: 41-17

1998 Conference Record, Finish: 15-4, 2nd
1998 Postseason: 3-2 BIG EAST Tournament (runner-up)
Position Starters Returning from 1998: 5
Pitchers Returning/Lost from 1998: 11/5
Letterwinners Returning/Lost from 1998: 16/8

1999 Record: 42-16
1999 Conference Record, Finish: 20-5, 1st
1999 Conference Tournament: 1-2

NCAA HISTORY

• Notre Dame is one of six schools hosting an NCAA Baseball Regional for the first time, since the tournament shifted from a district to regional format in 1975. Notre Dame previously played host to NCAA tournament games following the 1949 and 1959 seasons.

• The Irish will be making their 14th appearance in the NCAAs and first since 1996, when Notre Dame traveled to Tuscaloosa, Ala.
• Notre Dame has made one appearance in the College World Series, doing so in 1957.
• Notre Dame’s other NCAA seasons came in 1949, ’56, ’57, ’58, ’59, ’60, ’63, ’70, ’89, ’92, ’93 and ’94.
• The Irish reached the title game in the 1992 NCAA Atlantic Regional, losing 5-1 to host Miami in the second championship game.

TEAM NOTES

• Notre Dame ranks as the seventh winningest team in NCAA Division I baseball for the decade of the 1990s, with a .726 winning percentage (439-166).
• The Irish carry an overall record of 42-16 and posted a 20-5 record as the regular season champion of the BIG EAST Conference, becoming the first BIG EAST team ever to win more than 18 conference games in a season.

• Notre Dame’s 41 regular-season wins rank second in the program’s 107-year history.
• Notre Dame has posted 40-plus victories in each of the past 11 seasons.
• The team’s late-season highlights include a 1-0, near-no-hit win over No. 2 Miami (the Hurricanes secured their lone hit with two out and two strikes in the ninth).
• Notre Dame’s team stats for 1999 include a .309 batting avg., 66 home runs, 82 stolen bases, a 5.15 ERA and a .955 fielding percentage.
• Notre Dame has posted 19 comeback victories in 1999, including 13 in its final turn at bat. The Irish are 17-6 in games decided by 1-2 runs (10-4 in one-run games).
• The Irish have set the team record for strikeouts thrown for the third straight season (462, in 487.2 innings) while the team’s 66 home runs are tied for second in team history (the 1998 team hit 73).

Notre Dame has boosted its stolen base total from 61 to 82, led by five players with double-digit SBs. Steve Stanley’s 23 SBs are three shy of tying the Notre Dame freshman record, set by Scott Sollmann in 1994.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Top Irish players include: junior SS Brant Ust (.370, 17 HR, 56 RBI, 10 SB), junior 1B Jeff Felker (.353, 9 HR, 40 RBI), freshman CF Steve Stanley (.333, 29 RBI, 48 R, 23 SB) and sophomore 2B Alec Porzel (.329, 12 HR, 55 RBI, 10 SB).
• The top Irish pitchers include sophomore RHP Aaron Heilman (3.33, 10-2, 100 IP, 111 Ks, 31 BB, 84 H) and junior LHP Tim Kalita (4.92, 4-1, 86 IP, 91 Ks, 42 BB, 88 H).
• Heilman broke the 41-year-old Irish record for single-season strikeouts (102, by Frank Carpin in 1958).

Notre Dame was one of seven Division I schools that returned multiple All-Americans from the 1998 season (Ust and Heilman).

• Heilman led the nation with a 1.61 ERA in 1998 while his 2.64 career ERA ranks fifth in Notre Dame history and is best ever by an Irish pitcher with 150-plus innings.
• Three starting position players have combined to miss 83 games due to injury: DH/1B Jeff Wagner (34 games, foot), Perconte (25, shoulder) and freshman 3B Andy Bushey (24 games, knee), while senior RHP Alex Shilliday missed a month with a shoulder injury.
• Baseball America projects Heilman as being college baseball’s No. 9 pro prospect for the year 2000.