Feb. 23, 2006
MILLINGTON, Tenn. – Tom Thornton’s seven shutout innings and a home run from Matt Bransfield highlighted a strong showing from the senior class, as the 22nd-ranked Notre Dame baseball team opened its 2006 season with a 3-0 victory over Indiana State in Thursday afternoon action at USA Baseball Stadium. The Irish won their season opener for the fifth straight season and improved to 8-1 in their past nine season-opening games.
Thornton picked up his 21st career victory while registering a strong opening-week start for the third straight season. The 6-foot-6 lefthander avoided any major trouble en route to scattering seven hits over the seven innings, with five strikeouts and no walks. The economical 76-pitch outing saw Thornton locate 74-percent of his pitches for strikes (56) while registering nine of his outs via groundballs.
Notre Dame traditionally has held its pitchers to low pitch counts early in the season and such was the case in Thursday’s game, as freshman righthander Kyle Weiland relieved Thornton to pick up the save. Weiland faced seven batters, allowing two hits but striking out three while serving up the Irish defense’s third double play of the game.
Tom Thornton’s seven shutout innings vs. Indiana State marked his third straight strong outing in an opening-week start with the Irish (all photos by Pete LaFleur).
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Sophomore righthander Ryan Tatusko took the loss, after allowing the three runs on seven hits and one walk (with three Ks).
All of Notre Dame’s big hits came off the bats of seniors, a group which comprised two-thirds of the opening-day lineup. Designated hitter Steve Andres sparked the three-run bottom of the second by pulling a 1-1 pitch into the right-center gap for a leadoff double. Another senior, shortstop Greg Lopez, then bunted the runner to third – setting up the sacrifice fly option – but Bransfield had other things in mind, connecting firmly on the next pitch from Tatusko for a home run over the leftfield fence.
The home run provided a more memorable first plate appearance of the season for Bransfield than in 2005, when he suffered a broken hand after being hit with a pitch on his first swing in a game versus Florida A&M. That injury hampered Bransfield’s power stroke throughout his junior season, a 63-game stretch that yielded no home runs just one year removed from his 12 home run output in 2004.
Alex Nettey followed moments later with out, sending a gapper deep to left-center that tipped off the glove of his lunging counterpart, centerfielder Cory Kral, for a first-pitch double. Yet another senior outfielder, Cody Rizzo, then delivered his own two-out hit, slapping a 1-0 pitch into shallow right field for an opposite-field RBI single (Rizzo also made a couple of his trademark tough catches, one in the gap and one down the line)..
Cody Rizzo made several tough defensive plays in the soggy right field and capped the game’s only scoring inning with a two-out, opposite-field single that plated classmate Alex Nettey.
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Sophomore third baseman Brett Lilley made two strong defensive plays in the game, stabbing a linedrive off the bat of Caleb Schmidt and firing to first base to double up Tim Brewer after a single that opened the game. Kral then tried to pull off surprise bunt single with a runner on first and two outs in the fifth inning, but Lilley charged and completed the throw in one motion to end the threat.
Indiana State (0-1) also saw Andrew Strange hit a leadoff single in the third but Thornton rolled up the rare 3-6 double play, with senior Craig Cooper executing the tricky play at his new position of first base.
Steve Andres is congratulated by assistant coach Cliff Godwin after his perfectly executed hit-and-run single.
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Notre Dame had a chance to pad its lead in the sixth, after junior catcher Sean Gaston’s leadoff walk and a one-out single from Andres, who sent the ball into the opposite left-center field as Gaston motored to third on the hit-and-run. But Tatusko served up a foulout and flyout to keep the deficit at three runs.
Weiland allowed a leadoff single in the eighth but quickly settled down with a double-play ball and strike out, as Kral went down looking. Jake Eigsti kept ISU alive with a two-out single in the ninth but Josh Abercrombie struck out looking to end the game.
NOTES – Thornton also had strong opening-week starts earlier in his career at USC (in ’04) and at Central Florida (’05), with his combined stats in his past three opening-week starts now including a 1.00 ERA, 12 Ks, 5 walks and 16 hits allowed in 18 innings … ND’s previous opening-day shutout also came at USA Baseball Stadium (6-0 vs. Air Force, in 2000) … after losing the first three season openers of the Paul Mainieri era, the Irish now are 8-4 in season openers during the past 12 seasons … Notre Dame’s new-look batting order included Gaston in the 2-hole, Cooper in the 3rd spot and Lopez batting 5th … this marks just the third season in the Mainieri era (and second since his debut season, in ’95) that the Irish have not featured at least one freshman starting position player … Thornton dropped his impressive career walk average below 2.00 per 9 IP (1.99; 57 BB in 257.1 IP) … Thornton has tied former teammate Chris Niesel (21-4) for 12th on the Notre Dame career victories list … he has the sixth-most wins of any Mainieri-era pitcher, behind Aaron Heilman (43-7), Darin Schmalz (30-13), J.P. Gagne (25-16), Alex Shilliday (25-17) and Niesel … ND now is 44-9 vs. fellow Indiana-based teams during the Mainieri era.
Kyle Weiland struck out three of the seven batters he faced and rolled up a double-play ball en route to picking up the save.
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Indiana State (0-1-0) 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 – 0 7 0
Notre Dame (1-0-0) 0-3-0 0-0-0 0-0-X – 0 7 1
Ryan Tatusko (L, 0-1), Adam Tyler (8) and Nevin Ashley.
Tom Thornton (W, 1-0), Kyle Weiland (SV, 1) and Sean Gaston.
Brett Lilley served as the Irish leadoff hitter and made a couple strong defensive plays at the hot corner.
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Home Run: Matt Bransfield, ND (1 on in 2nd; 1st of season, 13th of career)
Doubles: Steve Andres (ND), Alex Nettey (ND).