Feb. 28, 2009
TEMPE, Ariz. – Senior Jeremy Barnes (Garland, Texas) went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI, while four others each knocked in a pair to lead Notre Dame past Dayton, 14-5, in college baseball action from Diablo Stadium Saturday night. The Irish improved to 3-2 with the victory. Dayton dropped to 2-3.
Barnes, who finished just a home run short of the cycle, had a RBI triple and two-run double. Junior Ryne Intlekofer (Moorpark, Calif.) went 1-for-5 with a two-run double. Junior A.J. Pollock (Hebron, Conn.) went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI, while junior Brayden Ashdown (Tucson, Ariz.) and junior Casey Martin (Chesterton, Ind.) each drove in two. Sophomore Greg Sherry (Mendham, N.J.) went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a RBI.
Sophomore Brian Dupra (Rochester, N.Y.) picked up the victory. The righty (1-1) went 5.1 innings and allowed five earned runs on 10 hits. Dupra was cruising until tiring in the sixth inning. He struck out a career-high six.
The Irish got another great effort from their bullpen as junior David Mills (Battle Creek, Mich.), freshman Will Hudgins (Richmond, Va.) and senior Sam Elam (Mesquite, Texas) combined to throw 3.2 scoreless innings of relief. Elam also fanned a pair in his inning of work.
The Irish grabbed a 1-0 lead thanks to a pair of two-out base hits. Pollock pulled a single through the left side of the infield and promptly stole second. He again took off to steal third base, but Barnes belted a triple into the right centerfield gap to plate Pollock. The triple was Barnes’ second of the year and 11th of his career which moved him into a tie with Gene Duffy (1957-59) for 13th on the all-time list.
Pollock pushed the Notre Dame advantage to 2-0 with an RBI single to plate Sherry, who opened the third inning with a single. Sophomore Golden Tate (Hendersonville, Tenn.) followed with another hit before Pollock ripped a run-scoring single to left field. Barnes then singled to load the bases with one out. After junior Matt Grosso (Hebron, Conn.) struck out and Ashdown walked to score another run, Martin came through with a two-run single (the fifth hit of the inning) to plate Pollock and Barnes to make the score, 5-0.
Dayton did scratch across a run in the bottom of the third inning with bloop RBI single off the bat of Ryan Nevill. Dupra struck out Marshall MacDonald with runners on the corners to end the Flyers’ scoring threat.
The Irish blew the game wide open with seven more runs in their half of the fourth inning. Notre Dame got a two-run double from Intlekofer, another two-run double from Barnes, an RBI double from Ashdown, who scored on a wild pitch, and Sherry capped off the explosion with an RBI double — Notre Dame’s fourth two-bagger of the inning.
Notre Dame returns to action tomorrow morning with the third and final game of the tournament against Creighton. First-pitch between the Irish and Bluejays is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. at Marich Field in Phoenix on the Phoenix College campus.