March 25, 2011
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NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Sophomore 2B Frank DeSico drew a bases loaded walk with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Notre Dame a 3-2 victory over Georgetown in the Eck Stadium and BIG EAST opener Friday night. The Irish improved to 8-10-1 overall and 1-0 in the BIG EAST, while the Hoyas dropped to 15-8 and 0-1. Notre Dame snapped Georgetown’s seven-game winning streak, which was its longest since 1995.
Irish freshman LHP Anthony McIver picked up the victory in relief. The southpaw tossed 1.2 scoreless innings of relief and improved to 1-1 on the year. McIver yielded three hits without a walk and struck out one.
Georgetown reliever Mike Seander was charged with the loss. He walked a pair, including the eventual winning run, in 0.1 inning of work. Seander dropped to 0-1 on the campaign.
Freshman OF Eric Jagielo was the lone Notre Dame player with more than one hit. He went 2-for-4 with a couple singles. DeSico went 1-for-4 with a run scored and RBI, while fifth-year senior OF Herman Petzold went 1-for-3 with a run scored and RBI.
Notre Dame senior RHP Brian Dupra returned to form following his difficult last outing against Iowa. The right-handed hurler did not allow an earned run in 7.1 innings of work. Dupra struck out nine and walked two. He did scatter eight hits on the night, but kept the Hoyas scoreless until the seventh inning. Dupra has worked into the seventh inning for the fourth time in six starts and registered his fifth quality start of 2011.
Dupra was victimized by an Irish error in the seventh that allotted for Georgetown’s only two runs. Andy Lentz reached to open the seventh inning when his fly ball was dropped. Dupra rebounded and got back-to-back outs, but Mike Garza’s double cut the Notre Dame lead to 2-1 and Rand Ravnaas’ RBI triple tied the game, 2-2.
Dupra struck out Sean Lamont to end the inning with the go-ahead run just 90 feet away. He retired Dan Capeless to open the eighth before leaving the contest.
McIver allowed a single to Erick Fernandez on a 0-2 change-up, but Irish sophomore catcher Joe Hudson gunned down Fernandez trying to steal second base. Corbin Blakey followed with a pinch-hit single, but McIver picked him off to end the inning.
McIver did allow a harmless two-out single in the top of the ninth, but that was all for the Hoyas to set the stage for the Irish rally in the home half of the ninth.
Seander replaced Georgetown starter Alex Meyer and retired Notre Dame pinch hitter Matt Grosso to open the inning, but Petzold and Hudson followed with back-to-back walks.
The Hoyas then went to closer Neal Dennison, who promptly struck out sophomore OF Adam Norton. After a passed ball allowed both runners to advance, senior 3B Greg Sherry drew a walk to load the bases for DeSico.
Meyer deserved a better fate. The Hoyas southpaw handcuffed the Irish over 8.0 innings. Meyer limited Notre Dame to a pair of earned runs on eight hits. He struck out six and walked only one.
Notre Dame and Georgetown return to the diamond at 2:05 p.m. ET on Saturday at Frank Eck Stadium. The game can be heard on WHME Harvest 103.1 FM and UND.com. Senior RHP Cole Johnson will take the mound for the Irish.
— ND —