Senior RHP Brian Dupra.

Trey Mancini Named BIG EAST Rookie of the Year

May 24, 2011

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Notre Dame freshman 1B Trey Mancini earned BIG EAST Rookie of the Year as voted on by the league’s 12 head coaches. Mancini and senior RHP Brian Dupra were each also named to the all-BIG EAST third team.

Mancini leads the Irish in batting (.333), hits (59), triples (three), home runs (nine), RBI (34), total bases (106), slugging percentage (.599) on-base percentage (.398), multiple hit games (17), multiple RBI games (nine) and runs scored (33). He also ranks fifth in the BIG EAST in slugging percentage, tied for fifth in home runs, tied for 10th in triples and 11th in total bases. Mancini earned BIG EAST honor roll three times this season. The BIG EAST has honored no player more this season in terms of Player of the Week/Honor Roll than Mancini.

Mancini is the first Notre Dame freshman and eighth player in program history to lead the Irish in all three triple-crown categories (batting average, home runs and RBI). Only seven players have accomplished the feat since 1948. The other players to lead Notre Dame in all three categories included Ryan Connolly (2010), Dan Peltier (1989), Mike Trudeau (1985), George Sefcik (1962), Dick O’Leary (1961) and Elmer Kohorst (1956, although tied for home run lead).

Mancini follows Jeff Wagner (1996), Brant Ust (’97), Steve Sollmann (’01) and Brett Lilley (’05) as the program’s fifth player to earn BIG EAST Rookie of the Year since Notre Dame joined the conference in 1995-96. The Irish have the most such award winners in the 27-year history of BIG EAST baseball.

Dupra, an all-BIG EAST third team selection, went 3-6 with a 3.06 earned-run average in 2011. The co-captain leads or is tied for the team-lead in innings pitched (97.0), starts (14), quality starts (10) and strikeouts (88). Dupra ranks fourth in the BIG EAST in strikeouts, fourth in strikeouts looking (31) and fifth in innings pitched. He has allowed no earned runs on five different occasions, one earned run once and two earned runs three times. He has struck out 10 or more in three separate starts this year.

Dupra is the fifth pitcher in Notre Dame history to record 50 career starts. He also became the seventh Irish hurler to ever eclipse 300.0 career innings.

Notre Dame opens the BIG EAST tournament against top-seed Connecticut at 8:00 p.m. ET on Wed., May 25. The game can be heard in South Bend on WHME / Harvest 103.1 FM and around the world at UND.com.

As always, please visit UND.com regularly for full coverage of all Notre Dame athletics news and events.

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