May 2, 2015
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Northwestern State plated six runs in the first three innings and got a solid effort from righty Josh Oller on the mound to beat the University of Notre Dame baseball team, 8-2, Saturday afternoon at Frank Eck Stadium and tie the three-game, non-conference series at a game apiece.
The Irish (30-17) and the Demons (25-19) will play the rubber game at 11:35 a.m. (ET) Sunday. Fans can follow the game through WatchND’s free online video stream (WHME 103.1 FM in South Bend) or by tracking live stats. Links for both are on UND.com.
After Notre Dame picked up a 4-1 win Friday night, Northwestern State looked ready to go Saturday, as the Demons plated three runs in both the second and third innings to take an early 6-0 lead. Highlighting the second inning was a two-RBI double by Garrett Logan that came about after an Irish error, while the third frame saw David Fry get hit by a pitch with the bases loaded before CJ Webster notched a sac fly.
Oller (8-1) gave up a pair of runs, but had an otherwise solid outing, scattering six hits and three walks over 6.2 innings of work.
Notre Dame starter Brandon Bielak (4-2) suffered the loss after going seven innings and allowing seven runs (4 ER), nine hits and two walks while throwing two wild pitches and hitting two batters.
Freshman Charlie Vorsheck (0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 SO) and senior Matt Ternowchek (1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 SO) relieved Bielak over the final two innings.
The Irish scored one run in the third on a Robert Youngdahl RBI double and another in the fourth on a Jake Shepski sac fly to bring in Ryan Lidge.
Sophomores Cavan Biggio (2-for-4), Kyle Fiala (1-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB) and Lidge (1-for-2, 1 R, 2 BB) led the way for the Irish at the plate. With Fiala’s walk in the first inning, he extended his on-base streak to 36 games, which ties former All-American Eric Jagielo for the longest single-season streak for the Irish since 2007.
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While the on-field performance was certainly disappointing for Notre Dame, not even a loss could put much of a damper on what was otherwise a spectacular day at The Eck.
A little over 600 fans came out on a pretty perfect day for baseball (71 and sunny) for Notre Dame’s third-annual ALS Game with funds going directly to the Pete Frates #3 Fund. In their third-annual ALS Game, the Irish wore special Under Armour red jerseys for the game to raise awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which is better known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Frates, a former team captain under Irish head coach Mik Aoki has been a leader in the ALS awareness movement after being diagnosed with the disease in 2012.
Following the game, Aoki, several members of the team and local television and radio personalities took part in a bigger version of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, as a dunk tank filled with ice and water was brought in. Fans looking to dunk anyone and everyone raised almost 1,000 dollars for the cause.
For more information on Frates and ALS, check out PeteFrates.com.
–Russell Dorn, Assistant Media Relations Director
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