April 10, 2011
Box Score | Box Score in PDF Format
| Notes
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame took advantage of three Connecticut errors in the bottom of the first inning to grab a 5-0 lead and never looked back. Freshman 1B Trey Mancini and fifth-year senior RF Herman Petzold each drove in four runs as the Irish routed the Huskies, 14-4, and salvaged the final game of a three-game series at Frank Eck Stadium Sunday afternoon. Notre Dame improved to 13-16-1 and 4-5 in the BIG EAST, while Connecticut dropped to 17-11-1 and 7-2.
Senior RHP Todd Miller picked up the win and improved to 3-2 on the season. He limited the potent Huskies’ lineup to just two earned runs on eight hits in 6.2 innings of work. Miller struck out two and walked one. He has collected his sixth quality start of 2011 (in eight outings). Miller did issue a walk to open the game, but did not issue another free pass the rest of the afternoon. He has now walked only seven batters in 53.0 innings this year.
UConn southpaw Greg Nappo was charged with the loss and dropped to 3-2. He was victimized by an assortment of errors. Nappo allowed nine runs, only three earned, on five hits in 2.2 innings of work. He struck out two and walked two.
Connecticut finished the game with six defensive miscues.
Mancini and Petzold provided most of the Irish offense, but senior 3B Greg Sherry added three hits and sophomore C Joe Hudson and junior LF Alex Robinson chipped in with two hits apiece.
The 14 runs and 13 hits for Notre Dame were the most since they registered season-highs of 19 and 25 in a rout of Purdue on Feb. 19.
Mancini went 2-for-4 with three runs scored and his team-high fifth home run of the season. Petzold also went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a bases-clearing, three-run double. Sherry went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Hudson and Robinson each went 2-for-4. Hudson drove in a run and scored twice, while Robinson scored a run and drove in a run.
The Irish raced out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning on just two hits, but used three Huskies errors. The five-run first inning was the largest first inning outburst for Notre Dame since they plated five in the opening frame on March 4, 2007, against Nebraska in Deland, Fla. The Irish went on to upset the #7 Cornhuskers, 16-6.
Notre Dame put the game away with four more runs in the bottom of the third inning to grab a 9-0 advantage.
Freshman RHP Sean Fitzgerald allowed two earned runs on three hits in 1.1 innings, while freshman RHP Dan Slania tossed a scoreless inning of relief.
Notre Dame returns to action at 7:00 p.m. on Friday at Frank Eck Stadium for the opening tilt of a three-game series with BIG EAST rival West Virginia. The game will be televised on ESPNU. The game will also broadcasted live on WHME Harvest 103.1 FM and will be available online at UND.com. Live stats will also be available on GameTracker.
As always, please visit UND.com regularly for full coverage of all Notre Dame athletics news and events.
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