April 8, 2001
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The sixth-ranked Notre Dame baseball team rallied for three ninth-inning runs and worked out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the 10th before defeating host Rugers in the 11th, 5-4, giving the Irish a three-game series sweep of the defending BIG EAST Conference champions Sunday at the Class of ’53 Field.
Notre Dame (25-5-1, 8-2 BIG EAST) gained a firm hold on first place in the BIG EAST standings while Rutgers (24-10, 8-5) suffered its first three-game sweep in BIG EAST play since dropping three to Villanova late in the 1997 season. Prior to Saturday’s wins by Notre Dame (10-2, 8-2), the Scarlet Knights had played 23 consecutive BIG EAST doubleheaders without being swept while Sunday’s loss represented the first time RU had been swept in the last 20 BIG EAST three-game series.
The weekend also produced the first opponent sweep of a three-game series at Rutgers since RU joined the BIG EAST beginning with the 1996 season, with the Knights also owning a 31-5 record in their 36 BIG EAST home game prior to the ND series.
Irish senior righthander Danny Tamayo tossed seven solid innings (three runs allowed) without any run support while sophomore righthander Matt Laird (2-0) logged the final three innings to record the win. Several Notre Dame batters came through with clutch hits, led by junior catcher Paul O’Toole’s two-out, game-tying hit in the ninth and sophomore leftfielder Kris Billmaier’s go-ahead hit in the 11th.
Notre Dame is unbeaten in its last 10 extra-inning games (9-0-1)-with that two-year stretch including four extra-inning victories in the 2001 season. Nearly half of Notre Dame’s first 31 games have come versus teams that competed in the 2000 NCAAs, with the Irish owning a 12-3 record in those games vs. 2000 NCAA tournament teams.
“Our team faced a tremendous challenge this weekend and responded by posting three big wins,” said seventh-year Irish head coach Paul Mainieri, whose squads have won 20 of their last 23 BIG EAST series.
“Anybody who watched these games can see the character and hard-nosed attitude on this team and those are the keys to their success. There were countless heroes and clutch plays for us today and throughout the series, and that’s what you need to be a great team.”
Rutgers (24-10, 8-5)-which earlier this season posted a pair of wins over Miami (Fla.) plus a victory over Georgia Tech-plated three runs in the second inning and matched Notre Dame’s run in the eighth, with junior lefthander Tom Crohan tossing seven strong innings (one run allowed on three hits and two walks, with three strikeouts).
Junior centerfielder Steve Stanley ignited the ninth-inning rally versus senior righthander Eric Brown, after sending a 1-2 pitch up the middle and racing down the line to leg out the infield hit. Freshman second baseman Steve Sollmann then deposited the next pitch into the gap in right-center (Stanley held at second) but Brown struck out Alec Porzel for the first out.
RU head coach Fred Hill then played the percentages and replaced his closer Brown with junior lefthander Ryan Molchan to face dangerous lefthanded hitter Brian Stavisky. Malchon had pitched in both of Saturday’s games, forcing Stavisky into a foul popup and strikeout-but Stavisky won the third battle, taking the first pitch for a ball before singling through the right side to score Stanley.
The Irish then pulled off the double steal while Billmaier worked to a full count before lifting a sacrifice fly to left field, with Sollmann scoring for a 4-3 game. O’Toole followed with the game-tying single, slicing a 2-1 pitch to left-center for his only hit of the game.
Laird hit Wolski with a 1-0 pitch to open the bottom of the 10th and struck out Val Majewski before Billy McCarthy singled through the right side and took second when the rightfielder Stavisky tried to nail Wolski going to third. Mike Popowski then jumped ahead in the count (2-0) and the next two pitches produced an intentional walk, setting the stage for the bases-loaded drama.
Jeff Cerulo-a .167 hitter who was inserted into the game in the ninth as a defensive replacement in left field-took the next pitch for a ball before lifting a flyout to shallow left field. Laird then ended the threat by striking out Jeff Marcinak on three pitches, including called strikes at both ends of the K.
Sollmann-whose 2-for-5 dropped his average to .426-continued his impressive rookie season by leading off the 11th with a 1-0 single to center field. Molchan then induced flyouts from Porzel and Stavisky but Billmaier delivered on a 1-2 pitch, drilling the ball through the right side of the infield. The ball died in the damp grass and the rightfielder McCarthy misfired on his throw to the second baseman Wolski. Sollmann was gunning for home as the throw was in the air and slid home safely while first baseman Majewski’s relay throw skipped past the plate-setting off the Irish dugout in celebration.
Rutgers made one last push, after Laird hit leadoff batter Ryan Lillis with a 2-2 pitch and Tim Sweeney bunted the runner to second. But Brian Ciemniecki sent a high chopper to the mound and Laird jumped to his right before nailing pinchrunner Jamell Rosario at third base. Wolski then flew out to center field for the final out.
NOTES: UConn (9-4) has surged into 2nd in the BIG EAST standings following a sweep of Pittsburgh (3-10) while Rutgers is one of four teams tied for third with 8-5 records, joining St. John’s (which took two of three from 2-8 Boston College), Virginia Tech (which lost twice to visiting Villanova, now 5-8) and Seton Hall (which swept 3-10 Georgetown) … West Virginia (5-5) took its turn with a bye from BIG EAST play this week … ND now is 6-2 in games at RU (3-3 at home vs. the Knights) … the Irish have won four straight in the series vs. RU, for a 9-7 series lead … ND’s school-record scoring streak (now 153 games) was in jeopardy before the Irish pushed across the single run in the 8th … the ND pitchers have posted 107 shutout innings in the last 15 games (in 127 IP) … ND made just four errors in the series (the Irish have posted eight error-free games, 11 with one error and just two with more than two Es) … senior RHP Aaron Heilman’s win on Saturday gives him a 22-3 career record outside of Eck Stadium (14-4 at home), with Heilman winning 19 of his last 20 decisions outside the friendly home confine (he now is 11-1 in his ND career when pitching on the opponent’s field) … Heilman also is just the third Notre Dame pitcher to start a season 8-0 in the last 50 years (some game-by-game records are incomplete prior to 1950) … Tim Kraus won his first eight decisions of the 1994 season (in nine starts) and then finished the season with a 9-0 record, as the winner in an 8-1 victory at Clemson in the NCAAs … the only other ND pitcher in the last five decades to start 8-0 is Stan Konopka, who won his first eight decisions in the 1953 season before dropping a 4-2 game to Michigan State … Heilman already shares the ND record for consecutive wins in a seasaon (10, in 2000) with Frank Scanlan (who went 10-0 in 1908).
#6 Notre Dame (25-5-1, 8-2 BIG EAST) 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-1-3 0-1 - 5 10 0Rutgers (24-10, 8-5 BIG EAST) 0-3-0 0-0-0 0-1-0 0-0 - 4 11 0
Danny Tamayo, Drew Duff (8), Matt Laird (9, W, 2-0) and Paul O'Toole.Tom Crohan, Eric Brown (8), Ryan Molchan (9, L, 2-1) and Mike Popowski,Alberto Vasquez (11).Double: Billy McCarthy (RU).