May 20, 2000
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. – Boston College overcame an early 5-2 deficit and rode the first complete game of the season from senior lefthander Brendan Nolan en route to a 6-5 victory over Notre Dame, in a BIG EAST Tournament elimination game played late Friday night at Somerset Ballpark.
Notre Dame (42-16) now must await the announcement of the 64-team NCAA Tournament field, which will be made Monday afternoon.
The Irish scored twice in the first inning and three times in the third to claim a 5-2 but the Eagles surged ahead with two runs in both the fifth and sixth while Nolan held Notre Dame to three hits and one other baserunner over the final six innings.
Notre Dame junior righthander Danny Tamayo (2-1) yielded the six runs on 12 hits and two walks over six innings, with two strikeouts.
Notre Dame was fortunate to be within striking distance in the late innings, as the Eagles left 14 baserunners on base during the game (the Irish stranded just five). In addition to compiling 14 hits and six walks, the BC attack was boosted by two wild pitches, two stolen bases and a pair of throwing errors by catcher Paul O’Toole.
Each of Notre Dame’s last five losses in the BIG EAST Tournament have seen the opposing pitcher turn in a complete game. Nolan (4-4) scattered nine hits and just one walk over the nine innings, with six strikeouts, 10 groundouts and 10 flyouts (one of ND’s runs was unearned).
The Eagles also received an assortment of stellar defensive plays, most notably from third baseman Eric Olson, second baseman Mike Gambino and first baseman Steve Langone.
Notre Dame’s five trips to the BIG EAST Tournament have included four tournaments in which the same team has handed the Irish both of their losses (West Virginia in ’96, Villanova in ’97, Rutgers in ’98 and BC in 2000).
Notre Dame sophomore centerfielder Steve Stanley continued his strong play vs. BC, batting 4-for-4 with two runs scored (he is batting 18-for-30 in eight career games vs. BC). Senior first baseman Jeff Felker chipped in a two-run single with the bases loaded and also had a sacrifice fly.
BC senior rightfielder Mike Quirk-who hit the two-run, game-winning home run vs. the Irish on Wednesday (4-3)-had another solid game, batting 3-for-6 with a pair of runs scored.
An updated story and game notes, plus boxscore and play-by-play, will be posted on the Notre Dame website on Saturday (the game ended at 11:45 eastern).
Boston College 0-0-2 0-2-2 0-0-0 – 6 14 3 Notre Dame 2-0-3 0-0-0 0-0-0 – 5-9-2 Nolan and Mackor. Tamayo, Duff (7), Corbin (8) and O’Toole.