NOTRE DAME BASEBALL GAMES NOTES Vs
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NOTRE DAME BASEBALL GAMES NOTES vs. Western Michigan (April 9, 2003) The Notre Dame baseball team (18-6, 5-1 BIG EAST) – ranked as high as 16th in the national polls – returns home this week for three scheduled games vs. Western Michigan (Wed., April 9; 5:05 p.m.) and vs. Chicago State and Bowling Green in a split doubleheader (Thur., April 10, starting at 4:05, both games seven innings) … the Irish are riding an 11- game winning streak (4th-longest in the Paul Mainieri era), including a 7-0 homestand, and have won 14 of the last 15 (18-2 since the challenging season start that included two losses at Arizona State and losses to Nebraska and host Minnesota at the DQ Metrodome Classic) … sophomore RHP John Axford (2.31, 5-0, 35 Ks, 16 BB, 28 H, .222 opp. batting in 35 IP) is slated to start vs. WMU while the Broncos will counter with senior RHP Keith Perez (5.52, 2-2, 30 Ks, 17 BB, 29 H, .248 opp. avg. in 29.1 IP) … sophomore RHP Martin Vergara and freshman LHP Tom Thornton then are scheduled to start vs. Chicago State and Bowling Green, with the weekend rotation including sophomore RHP Chris Niesel and senior RHP Ryan Kalita vs. Creighton (in Omaha). IRISH ADD THREE MAKEUPS – In addition to rescheduling of the Bowling Green game, ND has added two makeup games to replace last week’s cancelled doubleheader vs. Boston College … the Irish will play host to Central Michigan on Monday, April 14, while IPFW will make a visit to Eck Stadium on Thursday, April 24 (both games start at 5:05). RADIO & LIVESTAT INFORMATION – All of ND’s 2003 regular-season and postseason games again will be broadcast by South Bend-based WDND 1620 AM (and its sister station, WNDV 1490) … the broadcasts are available at www.und.com (College Sports Pass subscription required) … und.com also provides GameTracker livestats on the website’s main page, for all home games and select road games (including this weekend’s pair of games vs. Creighton). DOUBLE-DIGIT WIN STREAKS – Notre Dame is in the midst of the eighth 10-plus-game winning streak of the nine- year Paul Mainieri era, with the previous double-digit runs including a 16-game streak in 2002 (tied for 3rd-longest in ND history), a 15-game run in ’01 and a 13-game streak in ’98 (plus 11-game streaks in ’95 and ’99 and 10-game streaks in ’96 and ’98). BIG EAST STAT LEADERS • Sophomore 3B/1B Matt Edwards ranks 8th among BIG EAST players in batting average (.385) and is 2nd among the conference's players in RBI (32) and slugging pct. (.615). • Junior 2B Steve Sollmann also remains among the league leaders in several categories, including 1st in stolen bases (16) and runs scored (32), 3rd in total bases (65) and hits (44), 5th in slugging (.591) and 6th in batting (.400) • Freshman CF Brennan Grogan continues to lead the BIG EAST with five triples. • ND's current three-man rotation likewise rates among the BIG EAST's bests … senior RHP Ryan Kalita and sophomore RHP John Axford are tied for the league's 2nd-best ERA (2.31, with Virginia Tech's Ryan Kennedy at 1.72) while sophomore RHP Chris Niesel is 9th on the league's ERA charts at 3.11 … Kalita also ranks 3rd in low opponent batting avg. (.208) and 4th in wins (4-0) while Axford is 1st in wins (5-0), 9th in strikeouts (350 and 7th in opponent batting (.222) … Niesel checks in at 2nd in Ks (45, two back of BC's Chris Lambert), 8th in opponent batting (.225) and 3rd in innings pitched (46.1) … senior closer J.P. Gagne ranks 5th among BIG EAST pitchers in saves (4). John Axford – Career Stats Year ERA W-L GP/GS CG SV IP H R ER BB K 2B-3B-HR BF/B/Avg WP HB 2002 3.95 5-2 17/12 0 0 70.2 59 45 31 59 64 15-2-1 324/.231 7 6 2003 2.31 5-0 6/6 0 0 35.0 28 11 9 16 35 5-2-1 147/.222 6 2 Totals 3.41 10-2 23/18 0 0 105.2 87 56 40 75 99 20-4-2 471/.228 13 8 John Axford – 2003 game-by-game (all starts, WFU game at Metrodome) Date Opponent IP H R ER BB K HR WP HB DP Score W-L ERA 2/22 vs. Newman (@ASU) 6.0 8 2 2 2 1 0 1 0 0 15-5 W 3.00 3/2 vs. Wake Forest 7.0 4 1 1 2 4 0 1 0 0 2-1 – 2.08 3/10 vs. Navy (@UNF) 5.0 6 3 2 1 7 0 0 0 0 7-3 W 2.50 3/15 vs. Creighton (@JU) 6.0 5 2 2 2 8 1 3 0 1 10-3 W 2.62 3/23 at Villanova 5.0 2 1 1 4 7 0 0 0 0 3-2 W 2.48 3/29 Georgetown 6.0 3 2 1 5 8 0 1 0 1 13-3 W 2.31 Totals 35.0 28 11 9 16 35 1 6 0 2 5-0 2.31 Situational Pitching: .175 opp. batting with runners on, .289 with 2 outs … 42.9% leadoff batters on base (3.8 per 9 1P) … 35 groundouts, 26 flyouts Axford’s Nine-Inning Averages in 2003: 7.2 hits, 4.1 walks, 9.0 Ks, 9.0 groundouts (5.2 IP per start) Axford’s Nine-Inning Averages in 2002: 7.5 hits, 7.5 walks, 8.2 Ks, 9.6 groundouts (4.2 IP per start) QUICK NOTES ON THE ND HITTERS (in probable batting order) Steve Sollmann (Jr., 2B; Cincinnati, OH) * Riding nine-game hitting streak, with multiple hits in five of last six games * Leads team in batting (.400), runs (32), hits (44), total bases (65), walks (12), stolen bases (17) and leadoff on-base pct. (.615), 2nd in triples (3), slugging pct. (.591), on-base pct. (.459), RBI (24) and batting with runners in scoring pos. (.417) * Joins classmate Javi Sanchez (11 BB/6 Ks) as only ND batters with more walks (12) than Ks (8) in 2003 * Has collected hits in 21 of 26 games, with 16 multi-hit games (five 3-hit games, plus 4-for-4 in gm 2 vs. Georgetown) * Twice BIG EAST player of the week (8-for-17 in week one, then 11-for-23 in first six games of Spring Break trip) * Hit 3-run inside-the-park HR in 3-2 win over Eastern Illinois Brennan Grogan (Fr., CF; Tequesta, FL) * Has hits in 14 of the last 16 games (10 of them 1-hit games) * First on team in triples (5), sac. bunts (5) and 2-out batting (.429), 2nd in stolen bases (7), 3rd in runs (21) and batting with runners in scoring position (.393), 5th in batting avg. (.316) and RBI (14) * Made switch to CF and 2-hole on Spring Break trip * Hit go-ahead triple in 13th inning of 3-1 win over Vanderbilt Matt Edwards (So., 3B/1B; Mechanicsville, VA) * Hit 15-for-15 (.600) in the last seven games, with nearly three RBI per game in that stretch (19) * Already has totaled 11 multi-RBI games, including four 3-RBI games and 4 RBI in second game vs. Georgetown. * Riding eight-game hitting streak * First on team in home runs (4), slugging pct. (.615), doubles (8), RBI (32), 2-out RBI (14) and batting with runners in scoring pos. (.487), 2nd in batting avg. (.385), hits (40), total bases (59) and 2-out batting (.412), 3rd in on-base pct. (.450) * Missed most of 2002 season due to broken leg Kris Billmaier (Sr., RF; Woodinville, WA) * Looking to snap out of 5-for-25, 2-RBI slump in last six games ... has just two multi-hit games in last 11, with only one multi-RBI game in the last 12 * First on team in doubles (8), 2nd in home runs (3), 3rd in hits (34), RBI (21), total bases (53) and leadoff on-base pct. (.500), 5th in slugging (.491) Javi Sanchez (Jr., C; Miami, FL) * Has gone hitless in consecutive games just once all season (vs. Detroit and Valparaiso) * 2nd on team in walks (11), 4th in runs (20) hits (30), doubles (6) and total bases (41), 5th in on-base pct. (.400) * Joins classmate Steve Sollmann (12 BB/8 Ks) as only ND batters with more walks (11) than Ks (6) in 2003 * Prep 2B who started at SS in 2002 after injuries to Matt Macri and Matt Edwards Matt Macri (So., SS; Clive, IA) * Went hitless in St. John’s doubleheader, after collecting hits in seven previous eight games (four multi-hit games) * 2nd on team in walks (11), 3rd in sac bunts (4), 4th in doubles (6) * Missed most of 2002 season due to “Tommy John” reconstructive elbow surgery * Nation’s No. 2-rated college SS prospect for 2003 draft (per Baseball America) Cody Rizzo (Fr., DH/LF; Temecula, CA) * Looking to end 3-for-14 slump in last five games, still scoring 7 runs with 5 RBI in those games. * Leads team in hit-by-pitch (9), 2nd in runs (18), 3rd in doubles (7), 4th in RBI (16) and on-base pct.