April 4, 2006

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The Notre Dame baseball team (17-8) has set its week-seven pitching rotation, with three of the five slots remaining the same as in the previous week. Sophomore lefthanders David Gruener (Tues., April 4, vs. Chicago State) and Wade Korpi (Wed., April 5, vs. Ball State) again will draw the midweek starts while junior righthander Jeff Samardzija will made his second straight Friday-night start, on April 7 at South Florida. Senior lefthander Tom Thornton will shift into the Saturday start at USF, with junior RHP Jeff Manship slated to start the series finale on Sunday.

Here’s a look at this week’s probable pitching matchups, with the Irish set to face preseason BIG EAST pitcher of the year Casey Hudspeth of USF one week after tangling with the league’s preseason player of the year Jim Negrych of Pittsburgh (he hit 3-for-9 in the series vs. ND, with just a single RBI, a pair of runs scored, a double, two walks, two HBPs, three Ks, a sac. fly and a pair of errors).

Probable Week-Seven Pitching Matchups

Tues., April 4 – Chicago State senior RHP Jonathan Kohn (4.25 ERA, 1-3 record, 36 IP, 6 GP/5 GS, 32 Ks, 20 BB, 39 H, .291) … ND sophomore LHP David Gruener (1.80, 1-0, 10 IP, 7 GP/1 GS, 8 Ks, 4 BB, 6 H, .167)

Wed., April 5 – Ball State freshman LHP Ryan Schmidt (3.18, 0-0, 11.1 IP, 4 GP/3 GS, 11 Ks, 9 BB, 14 H, .298) … ND sophomore LHP Wade Korpi (2.73, 2-1, 26.1 IP, 5 GP/4 GS, 36 Ks, 8 BB, 23 H, .232)

Fri., April 7 – USF junior RHP Casey Hudspeth (3.99, 3-3, 49.2 IP, 8 GS, 57 Ks, 20 BB, 47 H, .250) … ND junior RHP Jeff Samardzija (3.16, 3-1, 37.0 IP, 6 GS, 18 Ks, 15 BB, 34 H, .252)

Sat., April 8 – USF sophomore RHP Daniel Thomas (3.77, 1-3, 45.1 IP, 8 GS, 37 Ks, 26 BB, 54 H, .303) … ND senior LHP Tom Thornton (3.02, 4-1, 41.2 IP, 6 GS, 31 Ks, 3 BB, 37 H, .243)

Sun., April 9 – USF sophomore LHP David Billardello (3.83, 1-1, 44.2 IP, 9 GP/7 GS, 31 Ks, 17 BB, 51 H, .287) … ND junior RHP Jeff Manship (2.13, 3-1, 38.0 IP, 6 GS, 50 Ks, 9 BB, 28 H, .199)

Korpi and senior first baseman Craig Cooper both were named to the BIG EAST Conference Honor Roll for the week of March 28-April 2, as two of seven total players recognized by the BIG EAST for their strong efforts last week. Here’s a summary of Cooper and Korpi’s noteworthy efforts:

Craig Cooper (1B, Sr.; Plainview, NY) – Led team during 5-0 week in batting avg. (.529), slugging pct. (.824), hits (9-for-17), doubles (2) and total bases (14) while hitting ND’s only home run in seven home games this season … 2nd on team during week in on-base pct. (.579) and runs (5), 4th in RBI (3) and walks (2) … had multiple hits in all four games he played during the week … reached 4-of-6 times when leading off an inning while batting 2-for-5 with runners on base and 4-for-9 with 2-outs … capped week by leading Irish to sweep of Pittsburgh in 9-8 game with Pittsburgh, batting 3-for-5 (3 R, HR, 2B, BB) … opened that game with double and run scored, adding solo HR in 5th and single in the 6th before walking and scoring winning run in the 9th … had a 5th-inning walk in 6-1 opener vs. Pitt, adding single and run scored in 7th for 3-1 lead (also 1B/SB in 8th) … also singled in first two innings of 4-3 win over Panthers … had leadoff double and 1st-inning run scored for 1-0 lead in 2-0 win over Western Michigan, adding another single in that close win … pushed his career batting avg. vs. Pitt to .462 (18-for-39) in 10 games (10 RBI, 12 R, 4 HR, 2 2B, 5 BB, SB) … his strong play at the top of the order has included reaching base in the 1st inning 14 times in 16 starts as the leadoff batter (4 doubles, 4 singles, 4 walks, HR, HBP) … also is batting .539 (14-for-26, 2 HR, 4 2B) with a .631 on-base pct. (4 BB, HBP) when leading off any inning this season.

Wade Korpi (LHP, So.; Lake Worth, FL) – Joined senior LHP Tom Thornton (one in both ,04 and ,05) as only ND pitcher since 2002 to throw a nine-inning solo shutout, helping secure narrow win over Western Michigan (2-0) … held the Broncos to 3 hits while racking up a career-best 11 strikeouts in that game, most by an ND pitchers since Thornton had 12 Ks vs. Kent State in the 2004 NCAAs … faced just 31 batters (4 over the minimum) while limiting WMU to 3 H, 2 walks and 6 total baserunners (only one reached third base, two others reached second) … his 27 outs included the 11 Ks (2 looking), 6 groundouts, 2 infield popups, a pair of pickoffs and an infield lineout … faced just 19 batters in final 6 IP, at one point striking out 6-of-7 batters spanning the 6th-8th innings … located 70% of pitches for strikes (77 of 114) while helping ND post second straight shutout, 3rd in span of 8 games and 4th of season … his 11 Ks match Christian Parker (,96, vs. Georgetown) as most by an ND pitcher in a 9-inning solo shutout during the Paul Mainieri era … the 11 Ks have been bested just nine times by an ND pitcher in the Mainieri era (12 would have tied him for 2nd-most) … dropped his season ERA to 2.73 while boosting his K avg. to 12.31 per 9 IP (36 in 26.1), which would rank 2nd in the ND record book … his stats in 4 starts this season include a 1.80 ERA, .226 opp. batting avg., nearly a 6-1 K-to-walk ratio (34/6) and just 21 H allowed in 25 IP … has held opponent off the scoreboard in 23 of 25 innings as a starter … he and Thornton (5-hitter vs. SIU, in 3-0 win) are fourth pair of ND teammates in Mainieri era to post 9-inning solo shutouts in same season … his shutout pushed the ND staff,s streak of not allowing an earned run to 29 innings (scoreless in 35 of 37 innings) … owns one of 14 total 9-inning solo shutouts in the 12-year Mainieri era.

College Baseball at The Eck – Chicago State Cougars (3-16) and Ball State Cardinals (11-14, prior to April 4 game) vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (17-8, prior to April 4 ) … Tuesday & Wednesday, April 4 and 5, 2006 … Frank Eck Stadium (Notre Dame, Indiana)

Tale of the Tape

2005 Final Records – CSU 6-50, ND 38-24-1, BSU 38-18
Lettermen Ret./Lost – CSU 14/16, ND 21/7, BSU 22/6

CURRENT STATS (prior to April 4 games)
Batting Average – CSU .230, ND .305, BSU .251
Runs Per 9 Innings- CSU 4.0, ND 6.0, BSU 4.9
Home Runs- CSU 7, ND 9, BSU 11
Slugging Percentage- CSU .308, ND .400, BSU .341
Batters’ BB+HBP-K Margin- CSU -104, ND +18, BSU -48
On-Base Percentage- CSU .301, ND .398, BSU .330
Stolen Bases-Attempts- CSU 7-9, ND 35-55, BSU 13-24
Stolen Base Percentage- CSU .778, ND .636, BSU .54
Team ERA- CSU 8.25, ND 3.31, BSU 3.42
Opponent Batting Average- CSU .355, ND .238, BSU .250
Pitchers’ K-BB Ratio- CSU 0.9, ND 2.8, BSU 1.8
Pitchers’ Ks Per 9 Innings- CSU 5.6, ND 8.1, BSU 6.7
Pitchers’ BB Per 9 Innings- CSU 6.0,, BSU ND 2.9 3.8
Fielding Pct. (Errors)- CSU .932 (48), ND .972 (27), BSU .976 (23)
Double Plays Turned- CSU 16, ND 18 , BSU 24
Record at Home- CSU 0-0, ND 6-1, BSU 4-0
Record on Road (incl. neutral)- CSU 3-16, ND 11-7, BSU 10-11
Record in One-Run Games- CSU 1-4, ND 3-2, BSU 4-3
Record in Extra Innings- CSU 0-3, ND 0-2, BSU 2-0

IRISH NOTES – Notre Dame sold an Eck Stadium record 3,028 tickets for last Friday’s game vs. Pittsburgh … that game saw the ND staff’s shutout streak end at 22 innings (first earned run allowed in 33 IP) … the Irish enter the week riding a 7-game win streak and are 15-3 since a challenging first two weeks (2-5) … Craig Cooper hit 7-for-12 vs. Pitt, owns a .461 career batting avg. vs. the Panthers (18-for-39, 10 RBI, 4 HR, 2 2B, 5 BB) and is 3rd in BIG EAST history with a .425 career batting avg. in conference games (77-for-181) … Cooper has reached on 14-of-16 leadoff trips in the 1st inning this season and is batting .539 overall when leading off any inning (.631 on-base pct.) … Jeremy Barnes already has made seven starts in the 3-hole (most by an ND freshman since Matt Macri’s eight starts as the 3-hole hitter in ’02) … Barnes owns an 8-game hitting streak and had the 2-run, 9th-inning single that completed the sweep of Pitt (9-8) … ND is 6-1 this season when hitting a home run, 0-3 when allowing a HR … the ND pitchers have not allowed a HR in the past 20 games and are allowing just 0.12 HRs/gm, on pace to break the team record (0.16, in ’75) … the Irish are 12-2 this season when collecting double-digit hits … David Gruener, Brett Graffy, David Phelps, Sam Elam and Mike Dury combined for the 3-hit shutout of Valparaiso (12-0; 9 Ks, 3 BB) while Wade Korpi went the distance in the 3-hitter vs. Western Michigan (2-0; career-best 11 Ks), ND’s first back-to-back shutouts since ’02 … ND has lost just 13 series in 11 BIG EAST seasons, winning 68 (43 sweeps) … the Irish outhit Pitt .358-.237 in the series … ND’s top four starting pitchers – Tom Thornton, Jeff Manship, Jeff Samardzija and Korpi – have combined for a 2.61 ERA, 12-4 record, .228 opp. batting avg., a 4.0 K-to-walk ratio (133/33) and 22 more innings (141.2) than hits allowed (119) in their 22 starts … Manship’s has posted 8-plus Ks five times in ’06 … Samardzija matched his career-high with 8 Ks vs. Pitt … ND is batting .396 in the 8th (29-10 scoring edge) … the Irish own a 25-8 scoring edge in the 1st, including a recent streak of seven straight games with a 1st-inning run (longest since ’01) … Greg Lopez (.458), Cooper (.429) and Barnes (.417) are batting above .400 in ’06 BIG EAST play … the recent 6-3 win over Georgetown was Paul Mainieri’s 500th at ND (505-204-2; 836-483-3 overall in 24 seasons) … the Mainieri era has included an average of 44-plus wins per season, eight NCAA trips, eight conference titles, 43 players drafted/signed as free-agents, 12 All-America seasons and nine Academic All-America honors (all 63 of his four-year players have graduated) … the Irish played 17 of their first 20 on the road but now are playing 19 of 22 at home … Cody Rizzo is 3rd in NCAA history with 74 career HBPs … ND leads the Chicago State series 24-2 (11-1 in Mainieri era, with 6-4 loss in ’99) … see April 5 game-program stat sheet for updated notes on ND and the ND-BSU series.

BIG EAST Standings (as of April 3
1. St. John’s – 6-0 (1.000), 18-7
2. Notre Dame – 5-1 (.833), 17-8
West Virginia – 5-1 (.833), 23-4
4. Connecticut – 6-3 (.667), 16-9
Louisville – 4-2 (.667), 12-16
6. South Florida – 5-4 (.556), 14-15
7. Cincinnati – 3-3 (.500), 16-10
8. Rutgers – 2-4 (.333), 9-14-1
9. Pittsburgh – 2-7 (.222), 11-15
Seton Hall – 2-7 (.222), 8-17
11. Villanova – 1-5 (.167), 12-13
Georgetown – 1-5 (.167), 12-17

LAST WEEK IN THE BIG EAST – ND swept Pitt (6-1, 4-3, 9-8) … St. John’s swept Georgetown (10-3, 15-9, 9-3) …WVU won 2-of-3 at SHU (7-5, 28-8, 0-6) … UConn won 2-of-3 at Louisville (10-2, 2-3/12, 11-10) … Cincinnati swept USF (9-4, 7-4, 11-10) … Rutgers won 2-of-3 vs. Villanova (1-0, 6-8, 5-3)

THIS WEEK IN THE BIG EAST – Notre Dame at South Florida … St. John’s at Pittsburgh … West Virginia at Rutgers … Villanova at UConn … Louisville at Georgetown … Cincinnati at Seton Hall

** Note: see PDF for complete full-color midweek game program **