April 1, 2001
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Sophomore righthander J.P. Gagne turned in the latest strong performance by a Notre Dame pitcher while the offense erupted for 19 hits and 29 total bases, as the 13th-ranked Irish completed a three-game sweep of visiting Seton Hall, 15-3, in BIG EAST Conference action Sunday at Eck Stadium.
Notre Dame (21-4-1, 5-2 BIG EAST) moved into second place in the wide-open BIG EAST standings while posting season highs in hits and runs. Ten Irish batters contributed to the offense, led by three-hit days from junior catcher Paul O’Toole, sophomore rightfielder Brian Stavisky and freshman second baseman Steve Sollmann (who joined Stavisky in extending his hitting streak to seven games).
The three-game BIG EAST sweep is the first for Notre Dame in nine tries, dating back to three wins at Georgetown late in the 1999 season (the Irish won every BIG EAST series in 2000 but failed to register a three-game sweep).
Gagne (1-2) finally picked up his first win of the season after his third consecutive solid outing (he had no decision in the 5-4 win at Fresno State and was the hard-luck loser in the 3-2 game at Virginia Tech). Gagne gave up a single and walk in the first inning before retiring 13 straight batters, with his six innings including three hits and two walks allowed, plus three strikeouts.
The Irish jumped all over Seton Hall (12-13, 5-5) in the early innings, with three runs in the first inning and two each in the second and third. Notre Dame then stretched to a 12-0 cushion with a run in the fourth and four more in the fifth, with the Pirates scoring single runs in the sixth, eighth and ninth.
Senior shortstop Alec Porzel (Lisle, Ill./Naperville North HS)-who reached base three times and scored three times-set the Notre Dame record for career doubles (62, including a team-best 12 this season), after sending the first pitch in the bottom of the seventh into shallow left field. Eric Danapilis held the previous record, with 61 doubles from 1990-93.
Junior third baseman Andrew Bushey continues to be one of the team’s most consistent offensive performers, extending his career-best hitting streak to 13 games (easily the best by an Irish player this season) while pushing his season average to .352, after batting 2-for-5 on Sunday with a two-run double and RBI triple.
Freshman first baseman Joe Thaman now owns the second-longest hitting streak by an ND player this season (8 games), after singling in the third inning.
The current .827 winning percentage (21-4-1) is the best 26-game mark by any Notre Dame team in the 109-year history of the program, with the previous best 26-game records being shared by the 1928 and ’59 squads (both were 20-6).
Nearly half of Notre Dame’s games this season have come versus teams that competed in the 2000 NCAAs, with the Irish posting an 9-3 record in those games (loss to New Orleans, 2-0 vs. Mississippi State, wins over Florida Atlantic, Fresno State, Miami of Ohio and Illinois, 0-2 at Virginia Tech and 3-0 vs. SHU).
Notre Dame should be among the national leaders in team ERA, when the first NCAA rankings of the season are released this week. The Irish staff ERA rose slightly on Sunday (from 2.50 to 2.52), with the Notre Dame pitchers co mbining to post 70 shutout innings in the last 10 games (in 83 innings pitched, with a 1.98 ERA during that 10-game span).
Notre Dame’s three-run first inning included Stavisky’s full-count, two-run double down the rightfield line and junior DH Matt Bok’s run-scoring single up the middle. Sollmann then led off the second inning by going the other way with a 1-0 pitch from senior righthander Mike Wren (2-3), depositing his second home run of the season over the righfield fence, 20 feet inside the foul pole.
Stavisky and Porzel each batted 6-for-10 in the SHU series, with Stavisky collecting seven RBI while posting a double in each game (he had four in the series). The 6-3, 230-pound lefthander had a hand is six of the 15 Irish runs on Sunday, including two runs scored, an RBI triple in the fourth and a run-scoring single in the seventh.
The Irish batted .363 as a team in the three games versus the Pirates-despite the fact that second-leading hitter Steve Stanley hit just 2-for-12 in the series.
In addition to claiming the Irish career doubles record, Porzel (who has eight doubles in the last eight games) is tied with Frank Jacobs (’91) and Craig Counsell (’92) for eighth on the ND career RBI list (166, four behind former teammate Brant Ust). He also edged past Mike Amrhein (’97) into 5th on the ND career at-bats list (748) and is batting 10-for-23 during his current six-game hitting streak.
SETON HALL (12-13, 5-5 BIG EAST) 0-0-0 0-0-1 0-1-1 – 3 8 2
NOTRE DAME (21-4-1, 5-2 BIG EAST) 3-2-2 1-4-0 3-0-X – 15 19 0
Mike Wren (L, 2-3) , Matt Skrypack (3), Joe Scott (6), Isaac Pavlik (8) and Adam Arslanian.
J.P. Gagne (W, 1-2), Mike Naumann (7), Aaron Edwards (9) and Paul O’Toole, Soran Leahy (7).
Home Run: Steve Sollmann, ND (solo in 2nd, 2nd of season).
Triple: Brian Stavisky (ND).
Doubles: Paul O’Toole (ND), Alec Porzel (ND), Brian Stavisky (ND), Andrew Bushey (ND).