March 28, 2003
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Notre Dame vs. Georgetown Game Notes (see PDF for complete gameday program)
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHER ROTATIONS
Notre Dame – Chris Niesel (So., RHP; 3.24), John Axford (So., RHP; 2.48), Ryan Kalita (Sr., RHP; 3.27)
Georgetown – Eduardo Pena (So., RHP; 8.22), Travis Danysh (So., LHP; 5.59), Warren Sizemore (Fr., RHP; 3.56)
THE SERIES – ND has won 18 of 20 previous games vs. Georgetown (17 straight since ’96) … this marks the first three-game series between ND and GU since ’99, with doubleheaders in 2000 (5-1, 12-1 at GU), ’01 (15-4, 17-10 at ND) and ’02 (10-6, 12-3 in Bethesda, Md.) … ND’s four returning starters in the field have combined to hit 26-for-57 (.456) vs. GU in their careers: Kris Billmaier (9-for-18, 6 R, 7 RBI, 2 HR, 2 2B, 5 BB, SB), Javi Sanchez (5-for-10, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR, BB), Joe Thaman (5-for-12/.417, 5 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB) and Steve Sollmann (7-for-17/.412, 5 R, 5 RBI, 2 2B, SB) … the sweep of GU last season sparked ND’s recovery from a 9-10 start … ND hit .461 while totaling 35 hits in those games (22 in the nightcap, then the most by an Irish team since ’99) while Chris Niesel (5.2 IP, 4 R/3 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, HB, 2 Ks, 9 groundouts) and John Axford (6 IP, 2 R/1 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 9Ks, 7 groundball outs) were strong on the mound … top hitters in the 2002 ND-GU doubleheader included five-hit games from Andrew Bushey (7 ABs, 2 HR, 2 2B, BB), Sanchez (8 ABs, 3 RBI, HR), Paul O’Toole (8 ABs, 6 R, 3 RBI, 2B, SB), Sollmann (9 ABs, 3 R, 2 RBI) and Steve Stanley (10 ABs, RBI, 2 R, 2B, SB) … GU staged a late rally in the opener but managed just seven hits in the nightcap, vs. Axford, Peter Ogilvie and Ryan Kalita … the Irish opened both games by putting five runs on the board (also five runs scored in the 6th inning of game 2).
HOYAS NOTES – Georgetown (6-12, 1-5) opened BIG EAST play by dropping 2-of-3 to BC (1-4, 1-5, 11-4) and being swept by UConn (2-6, 5-9, 4-6) … the Hoyas own wins over William & Mary (18-17, also 13-15 loss), Rollins (8-3, also 1-2 loss), Toledo (5-4, 13-12 in 11) and Coppin State (11-5), with other losses to Lehigh (2-9), Evansville (5-10, 4-11, 4-7) and George Washington (8-13) … GU returned 19 of 26 letterwinners from its 2002 team (9-47, 2-24 BIG EAST), led by third team all-BIG EAST selection Billy Quinn … Ron Cano’s 21 stolen bases in 2001 ranked third among BIG EAST players.
IRISH NOTES – Ninth-year head coach Paul Mainieri enters the GU series one win shy of his 700th career coaching victory (180-121 at St. Thomas, 152-158 at Air Force, 367-148-1 at ND) … the Irish faced a daunting early schedule but have won 11 of the last 13 … over the past 13 games, the ND pitchers own a 1.95 staff ERA, .202 opp. batting avg., 117 Ks and just 36 walks in 124 IP … Cody Rizzo is batting 6-for-10 in the last three games … Chris Niesel is 23-2 in his last 25 decisions (since HS senior) … John Axford is averaging just 3.4 BB per 9 IP (7.5 in ’02) … Steve Sollmann has 11 multi-hit games in ’03 (four 3-hit) … SS Matt Macri (elbow) and 3B/1B Matt Edwards (broken leg) missed most of ’02 due to injury (first-year catcher Javi Sanchez served as the Irish SS in ’02)… J.P. Gagne (23-13,10 SV) has joined Chris Michalak and Aaron Heilman as the only ND pitchers ever to post 20-plus wins and 10-plus saves … ND’s Brennan Grogan and GU’s Ryan Craft were prep teammates.