May 1, 2011
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NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Yesterday, it was Notre Dame freshman Eric Jagielo that delivered a walk-off RBI single. Sunday was fellow Irish rookie Trey Mancini’s turn. The first baseman absolutely crushed a three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Notre Dame a thrilling come-from-behind, 5-4, victory over Seton Hall at Frank Eck Stadium.
The Irish improved to 16-21-1 overall and 7-10 in the BIG EAST, while the Pirates dropped to 20-21 and 7-11. Notre Dame took two of three from Seton Hall this weekend and moved into sole possession of eighth place in the conference standings.
The Irish found themselves down 3-0 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Seton Hall starting pitcher Brian Gilbert had retired 11 of the last 12 Notre Dame batters before junior CF Alex Robinson’s single to right field. Sophomore DH Adam Norton deposited Gilbert’s 1-0 offering just over the left field wall for his second home run of the season and brought the Irish within one run, 3-2.
Seton Hall quickly answered with a run in the top of the eighth inning to push its lead to 4-2. The run came off freshman RHP Dan Slania and snapped the Notre Dame bullpen scoreless streak of 21.1 innings of work.
Sophomore 2B Frank DeSico, who remained in the game clearly favoring a leg injury that had occurred in the bottom of the third inning, singled back up the middle with one out in the eighth. DeSico was removed for junior pinch runner Tommy Chase. After a wild pitch and ground out moved Chase to third base, Rick Mangione replaced Gilbert and promptly walked Jagielo to bring the go-ahead run to the plate.
Seton Hall went to its bullpen once again and called upon closer Matt Harvey. Harvey entered the contest with 46 strikeouts in 27.2 innings of work, including five punch outs in 2.2 innings of work en route to his fourth save of the season on Friday night, but Mancini took a slider for a ball before hammering a fast ball over the batter’s eye in left centerfield to give the Irish their first lead of the game.
Slania retired the Pirates in order in the ninth inning to collect his first victory of the year. He improved to 1-2 on the season. Slania allowed one earned run on three this in 2.1 innings of work. He struck out one and did not issue a walk.
Harvey took the loss and dropped to 3-2. He allowed one run on two hits and one walk in 0.1 innings.
Senior 3B Greg Sherry, Mancini, Robinson and Norton each had multiple hits. Sherry went 2-for-4 with a double. Mancini went 2-for-4 with a run scored and three RBI. The home run was his team-leading seventh of the season. Robinson went 2-for-4 with a run scored and Norton went 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI.
Senior RHP Todd Miller, who had not worked in exactly two weeks, was a bit rusty to open the game. Seton Hall grabbed a 2-0 advantage in the first inning thanks to three hits, including a solo home run off the bat of Sean Gusrang.
Miller did find his groove following the Gusrang homer and retired the next seven Pirates before allowing another run in the top of the fourth.
Miller would not factor in the decision, but tossed 5.1 innings of work and allowed three earned runs on six hits. He struck out one and did not issue a walk.
Junior RHP Will Hudgins and freshman LHP Anthony McIver combined to throw 1.1 innings of scoreless relief despite walking four.
Notre Dame opens a home-and-home two-game series with rival Michigan at 6:35 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 3. The Irish and Wolverines will face off at 5:35 p.m. on Wednesday at Frank Eck Stadium. Each game will be 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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