Feb. 27, 2001
Two Notre Dame baseball players were recognized by the BIG EAST Conference for their accomplishments during the week of Feb. 19-25, as junior centerfielder Steve Stanley (Upper Arlington, Ohio) was named the conference’s co-player of the week while senior righthander Danny Tamayo (Miami, Fla.) was tabbed the BIG EAST pitcher of the week.
Stanley led a Notre Dame offense that batted a combined .369 while winning three games at last week’s Alamo Invitational in San Antonio, Texas. The speedy lefthander posted a team-best .583 batting average (7-for-12) in those games, with four runs scored, two RBI, three stolen bases, two walks and a sacrifice bunt.
Tamayo was the winning pitcher in the 7-4 game versus Sam Houston State, outdueling Bearkats ace pitcher Joe Fowler (who beat Texas A&M earlier in the week, 2-1). Tamayo posted a career -best 10 strikeouts vs. SHSU, including five straight at one point and five “looking” during his six-inning outing (94 pitches). He allowed just three hits and one walk in the shutout stint while facing 20 batters (two over minimum), thanks to pair of double-play balls.
In other news this week, Notre Dame (5-1) maintained its No. 11 spot in the Baseball America poll while moving up from 12th to 11th in the Collegiate Baseball poll and jumping from 12th to 10th in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll.
Stanley currently ranks second among Notre Dame regulars with a .407 season batting average, trailing only the .650 mark owned by sophomore rightfielder Brian Stavisky (who last week was named the BIG EAST player of the week and national player of the week by CB). Stanley’s other season stats include seven runs scored, three RBI, a double, two walks and 3-of-5 on stolen base attempts.
Tamayo’s two starts in 2001 have yielded a 1-1 record and 1.64 ERA, plus 13 Ks, one walk and nine hits allowed in 11 innings pitched.
Stanley’s big game last week was a 4-for-5 effort in the 7-4 win over Sam Houston State. He helped put the Bearkats away with a single and run scored in the seventh inning (for a 5-1 lead) and an RBI single in the eighth (7-4).