May 17, 2001
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. –
Chip Runyon struck out Alec Porzel with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth as fourth-seeded Virginia Tech held on to defeat top-seed Notre Dame, 4-3, in first-round action Thursday at the BIG EAST Conference baseball tournament.
Notre Dame (45-10-1) lost more than just a game, as freshman second baseman Steve Sollmann-the team’s third-leading hitter and the BIG EAST rookie of the year-suffered a season-ending left hand injury when he was hit by a pitch from lefthanded starter Joe Saunders during the Irish ninth-inning rally.
Senior utility player Ben Cooke is the likely replacement for Sollmann at second base, with the Irish set to return to Commerce Bank Park (home of the minor-league Somerset Patriots) on Friday for a noon elimination game versus second-seeded Rutgers.
The loss of Sollmann further depletes Notre Dame’s stock of righthanded batters, as sophomore leftfielder Kris Billmaier remains out indefinitely with a back injury (Cooke started in left vs. the Hokies, with juniors Matt Bok and Matt Strickroth the leftfield options for Friday’s action).
Seton Hall-which beat RU ace Bobby Brownlie, 4-2, in Thursday’s late game-will face Virginia Tech at 3:30, with the winner advancing to Saturday’s championship round in the double-elimination format. Rutgers likely will send lefthander Buddy Gallagher-who was roughed up in a 10-2 loss to Notre Dame earlier this season-versus the Irish on Friday.
The ND-RU winner and the SHU-VT loser will meet in a Friday night elimination game (7:00) to determine the other championship game participant.
The defeat was the seventh one-run loss of the season for Notre Dame, which elected to start Danny Tamayo rather than its other senior righthander Aaron Heilman, who will carry his 13-0 record and 1.50 ERA (sixth-best in the nation) into the showdown with Rutgers.
Virginia Tech (28-26-1), completing its first season of BIG EAST baseball, used a three-run fourth inning to seize a 3-1 lead before Kevin Bice homered in the seventh for what proved to be a valuable insurance run. The Hokies handed the Irish a pair of one-run losses (3-2, 9-8) on March 25 in Blacksburg, a galvanizing day that launched Notre Dame to 23 wins in its next 24 game and a BIG EAST record 18-game conference winning streak.
But the Irish rallied with one out in the bottom of the ninth, sparked by a double down the leftfield line from Paul O’Toole (who also hit a towering solo shot in the second). A fielding error by shortstop Spencer Harris and Matt Strickroth’s pinch-hit single kept the rally alive before Joe Thaman’s squibber fell into left field and plated Andrew Bushey for a 4-3 game.
Saunders (9-3)-whose 150-pitch outing included eight hits, three walks and four strikeouts-then induced a full-count flyout from BIG EAST co-player of the year Steve Stanley and the righthander Runyon came out of the bullpen with two righthanded batters due up for the Irish.
Sollmann fell behind in the count but Runyon loaded the bases when he hit the Irish batter with the next pitch. Porzel also worked ahead (2-0) and sandwiched a pair of foul hits down the third-base line around ball three before swinging at a breaking ball to end the game.
Tamayo (8-2)-who suffered his first loss since opening day-scattered 10 hits and no walks over the eight innings while matching his career high with his fifth 10-stikeout game of the season.
The Hokies’ three-run fourth inning included a leadoff double from Brad Bauder, RBI singles by Addison Bowman and Marc Tugwell and Christian Simmers’ run-scoring double down the leftfield line.
Notre Dame’s top five of the order-comprised of lefthanded bats Stanley and Brian Stavisky and righthanders Sollmann, Porzel and Ken Meyer-combined to hit just 1-for-20 with two walks.
The Irish stranded nine baserunners and hit into two double plays, the first ending a bases-loaded threat in the first when Meyer sent the ball to Saunders for the 1-2-3 rally killer.
VT HEAD COACH CHUCK HARTMAN: “Chip beat them in a complete game down at our place, I figured that he showed he could do it so let’s go with him. … I thought Tamayo pitched a great game, except for maybe one inning. We were very fortunate in the first inning. Joe is always a very slow starter. And then for some reason he seems to find his rhythm. When he got through (the first three innings) with only one run, I thought we were in pretty good shape and that he’d give us a chance to win. … You almost have to pitch a lefthander against them, because they have so many good lefthanded hitters. We thought it was a good fit for us. … The double play was kind to us again today. … I didn’t have the guts to call the last pitch. I told our pitcher to go out and ask Joe what he wanted to pitch. Runyon wanted to throw the breaking ball. That’s how simple it was. … Notre Dame is a very good baseball team. They are very deserving of their ranking. I don’t want to play them again tomorrow.”
ND HEAD COACH PAUL MAINIERI: “The plan was to have Heilman available to close this game. His arm is the kind that can bounce back where he could pitch the second game or the third day. … Tamayo has been like a co-ace for us all year and we didn’t really feel like we were dropping off all that much in terms of the caliber of the pitcher. With the exception of the one inning and then the home run, he pitched a good game. … We were just trying to strengthen our bullpen and get the most use out of our staff. Aaron’s arm is the most resilient in terms of bouncing back. … Tamayo pitched well enough to win but we just couldn’t do anything with Saunders. He was wild that first inning and it kind of took some of the aggressiveness out of our hitters. And then he settled into a groove and he was real tough. Our righthanded hitters didn’t have a very good game. … Our kids wanted to win today very badly. That kid just pitched a great game.”
NOTES: O’Toole’s 19 career home runs now include 10 during the month of May and six in the postseason … Cooke (2-for-3) was the only Irish player with multiple hits … Tamayo’s season totals now include 101 Ks and just 14 walks … the top three season K totals in ND history belong to Heilman (118 in 1999 and 2000) and Frank Carpin (102 in ’58) …ND’s last six losses in the BIG EAST Tournament have seen the opposing pitcher turn in a strong complete-game (or near-CG) effort … Porzel’s five at-bats give him 864 for his career, moving past J.J. Brock (`94-’98) atop the ND all-time ABs list.
VIRGINIA TECH (28-26-1) 0-0-0 3-0-0 1-0-0 – 4 10 2
NOTRE DAME (45-10-1) 0-1-0 0-0-0 0-0-2 – 3 8 0
Joe Saunders (W, 9-3), Chip Runyon (9, SV-4) and Kevin Bice.
Danny Tamayo (L, 8-2), Drew Duff (9) and Paul O’Toole.
Home Runs: Paul O’Toole, ND (solo in 2nd, 3rd of season), Kevin Bice, VT (solo in 7th, 4th of season).
Doubles: Andrew Bushey (ND), Paul O’Toole (ND), Brad Bauder (VT) and Christian Simmers (VT).