April 7, 2001
There were plenty of individual accomplishments and unprecedented series happenings in Saturday’s baseball doubleheader between sixth-ranked Notre Dame and BIG EAST rival Rutgers, but at the end of the day the most important numbers were 10-2 and 8-2-as the Irish swept both games at the Class of `53 Field to claim first place in the conference standings.
Notre Dame (24-5-1, 7-2 BIG EAST) became the first team in the history of the ND-RU series to sweep a doubleheader and the first to win three consecutive games in the series (the Irish also won the teams’ final two meetings in 2000). Notre Dame likewise claimed its first lead (8-7) in the six-year history of the series.
“I can’t remember a BIG EAST doubleheader in which we have played so well, particularly with so much at stake,” said seventh-year Irish head coach Paul Mainieri, whose squads have won 20 of their last 23 BIG EAST series while being swept by the opponent just three times in 46 all-time BIG EAST doubleheaders (with 25 Irish sweeps and 18 splits).
“The most encouraging thing about our effort was the timely offensive contributions from players throughout the lineup. We continue to have one of the nation’s best pitching and fielding teams and there’s no reason that our offense can’t keep pace with that level of excellence because there’s a lot of talent in that lineup.”
Senior righthander Aaron Heilman (8-0, 36-7 career) avenged the only loss in his last 19 decisions by tossing a three-hitter in the seven-inning opener. Heilman-who owns 19 complete games in his career, five in 2001-entered the game ranked ninth in the nation for ERA (1.17) and ended the game as the BIG EAST recordholder for most career victories (18-4) in BIG EAST regular-season play.
Heilman’s first three BIG EAST starts this season have yielded three complete games (two of them shutouts), with just two runs and nine hits allowed in 23 innings pitched.
The Irish opted to start sophomore righthander J.P. Gagne (2-2) in the second game, with hopes of bringing him back for Thursday’s DH versus Georgetown (Danny Tamayo is slated to start Sunday’s series finale). Gagne-who beat RU with four shutout relief innings last season-responded with six strong innings, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks while helping lower the nation’s second-best team ERA from 2.45 to 2.44.
The Notre Dame offense erupted for eight runs in the sixth inning of the opener and carried that momentum into the second game by putting five runs on the board in the first inning of the nightcap. Sophomore leftfielder Kris Billmaier provided the big two-run single in the first game while junior third baseman Andrew Bushey plated three runs with a bases-loaded double in the second game.
Rutgers (24-9, 8-4) saw its 10-game winning streak come to an end while continuing to play without injured All-America pitcher Bobby Brownlie. Sophomore lefthander Buddy Gallagher (5-1) was touched for nine hits and nine runs in the opener-with errors in the fifth and sixth hurting the RU cause (just one of the Irish runs ended up being unearned). Junior righthander Tom Wheeler (3-2) then dropped the nightcap, after yielding three walks and four hits in the five-run first inning.
RU claimed a 2-1 lead in the third inning of the opener and was nine outs away from beating Heilman before the Irish forged a tie in the fifth, thanks to a two-out fielding error by second baseman Matt Wolski.
Irish freshman second baseman Steve Sollmann-who entered the day with a team-best .432 batting average-ignited the eight-run top of the sixth with a leadoff single through the left side of the infield. A groundout, intentional pass to Brian Stavisky and daring double steal then were followed by Billmaier’s two-run single down the leftfield line.
The Irish then chased Gallagher from the game, thanks to Ken Meyer’s run-scoring smash off the third baseman, Joe Thaman’s RBI double that landed just inside the leftfield line and Steve Stanley’s two-run single to left. RU opted to bring in righthanded closer Eric Brown but Sollmann went with a 2-1 pitch and sent the ball over the rightfield fence for his team-leading third home run of the season (all have gone to the opposite field).
Wheeler’s 32-pitch first inning in the nightcap included three walks to load the bases before Bushey came through with two outs, sending a 1-1 pitch down the rightfield line for an early 3-0 lead. Matt Bok and Thaman-who extended his hitting streak to 12 games-followed with RBI singles to provide the early five-run cushion.
NOTES: ND now is 5-2 in games at RU (3-3 at home vs. the Knights) … all but five of Heilman’s 21 outs came via the strikeout (6) or groundout (10), plus an infield popup … Heilman now owns163 career Ks in BIG EAST games (one shy of the BIG EAST record set by former Seton Hall player and current Major Leaguer Jason Grilli) … Heilman owns a 22-3 career record away from home, 14-4 at Eck Stadium … Bushey did no play vs. RU in 1999 (due to injury) and was 0-for-10 in the 2000 RU series before batting 3-for-9 on Saturday (with a career-best five RBI in the nightcap) … Gagne owns a 2-1 record and 3.20 season ERA in his four starts this season (25.1 IP, 18 K, 9 BB) … Billmaier entered the day batting 69 points higher with runners in scoring position than overall (.314 to .245) … ND’s pitching staff continues to register strong starting performances (1.92 ERA by the starters in first 30 games) … the ND pitchers have posted 98 shutout innings in the last 14 games (in 116 IP, with a 1.94 ERA in that span) … Thaman’s 12-game hitting streak is one shy of Bushey’s ND season best while Alec Porzel has hit safely in 10 straight games (15-for-39, .385) … ND made just one error in each game Saturday (the Irish have posted seven error-free games, 11 with one error and just two with more than two Es).
#6 Notre Dame 1-0-0 0-1-8 0 – 10 11 1
Rutgers 0-0-2 0-0-0 0 – 2 3 4
Aaron Heilman (W, 8-0) and Paul O’Toole.
Buddy Gallagher (L, 5-1), Eric Brown (6), Ryan Molchan (7) and Mike Popowski.
Home Run: Steve Sollmann, ND (solo in 6th, 3rd of season).
Doubles: Joe Thaman (ND), Val Majewski (RU).
#6 Notre Dame (24-5-1, 7-2 BIG EAST) 5-1-0 0-0-0 2-0-0 – 8 8 1
Rutgers (24-9, 8-4 BIG EAST) 0-2-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 – 2 6 2
J.P. Gagne (W, 2-2), Brandon Viloria (7, SV-2) and Paul O’Toole.
Tom Wheeler (L, 3-2), Ryan Molchan (7) and Alberto Vasquez.
Doubles: Paul O’Toole (ND), Andrew Bushey (ND), Matt Bok (ND), Todd Speedy (RU), Alberto Vasquez (RU).