March 21, 2012
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame 2B Frank DeSico (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Ignatius) knocked in a career-high five RBI and the Irish pitching staff allowed just one run on seven hits in an 8-1 non-conference victory over IPFW inside Eck Stadium Monday night.
With the win, the Irish improved to 12-7 and Patrick Veerkamp (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) (2-0) earned his second victory of 2012 after pitching 5.0 innings and fanning four. The Mastodons, meanwhile, fell to 4-14 with Daniel Tursell dropping his record to 0-2.
IPFW jumped on top of Notre Dame in the first on a Carter DeBoe RBI single, which plated Clay Hathaway, who was hit by a pitch to leadoff the game.
Veerkamp would settle down, as he did not allow another Mastodon runner to get past second base.
The Irish would even the game at 1-1 in the second on an RBI single by DeSico, who would break the tie two innings later.
In the fourth inning with the contest still tied, DeSico took a full count pitch and lined it back up the middle to drive in a pair of runs, and the Irish would add one more run in the fourth on an sophomore 3B Eric Jagielo (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) double.
Notre Dame added another tally in fifth after freshman LF Conor Biggio (Houston, Texas/St. Thomas) reached safely on an infield single, which forced a bad throw from the IPFW second baseman and scored freshman C Alex Carter (Winter Park, Fla./Orangewood Christian), who came home from second on the error.
The Irish bullpen kept Notre Dame’s lead intact, as the unit combined to go 4.0 scoreless innings, scattered two hits and struck out five Mastodon batters.
Notre Dame’s pitching staff also did not allow an extra base hit by IPFW, while Notre Dame totaled three doubles.
The Irish offense added three more runs in the seventh, when Biggio knocked in his sixth run of the season and DeSico added two more RBI to his total.
Notre Dame’s next action will be Friday when it opens BIG EAST play at home against Pittsburgh beginning at 5:35 p.m.
Notre Dame returns to action this weekend with its BIG EAST series opener against Pittsburgh. The Irish and Panthers open the series at 5:35 p.m. ET on Friday. In-game updates will be available on twitter at @NDBaseball and facebook at NDBaseball while fans can listen to all the action locally on 103.1 FM and on the internet at UND.com.
— ND —