Feb. 24, 2007
ND-TCU BOXSCORE
Download Free Acrobat Reader
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Matt Weglarz shook off his 0-for-9 start to the season by stroking doubles in each of his first three plate appearances and David Phelps logged another strong start on the mound, as the Notre Dame baseball team posted a 4-1 win on Saturday night over a TCU team that entered the week ranked as high as 12th in the nation. Notre Dame (2-3) – which has held the lead in all but one game this season – claimed an early lead on Ross Brezovsky’s two-run triple and went on to limit TCU (6-4) to six hits, two walks and an unearned run.
David Phelps was dealing throughout his six innings versus TCU, striking out five while limiting the Horned Frogs to five hits, one walk and an unearned run (photo by Pete LaFleur).
|
 |
Phelps posted his first win of the season while improving to 3-0 in his young college career. The sophomore righthander faced just 24 batters in 6.0 full innings, striking out five while allowing the unearned run, five hits and a single walk. Phelps located 65 percent of his pitches for strikes (57 of 88), with his 18 outs including seven groundballs. Junior righthander Joey Williamson closed out the final three innings for the first save of his career, facing just 11 batters over the final three innings with two strikeouts, one walk and one hit allowed.
Brezovsky’s triple plated Brett Lilley and Jeremy Barnes for the first-inning lead and the Irish went up 3-0 three innings later, after a Weglarz’s leadoff double down the leftfield line, Ryan Connolly’s bunt single and an RBI groundball off the bat of Michael Wright.
Weglarz – who had doubled to right field in the second inning – found the right-center gap in the fifth, bringing home Mike Dury for a 4-0 cushion. It marked the third straight season that an Irish player has delivered a three-double game, with current senior centerfielder Danny Dressman collecting three doubles in the 2006 series opener at Connecticut while former shortstop Greg Lopez had a three-double game versus Georgetown in 2005. Other recent Irish players with three doubles in a game have included outfielder Kris Billmaier (in 2003, vs. Georgetown) and first baseman Mike Holba (in 2002, vs. Rochester College).
Junior third baseman Brett Lilley led off the day for the Irish by getting hit with a 2-1 pitch from junior righthander Chris Johnson, placing Lilley 16th on the NCAA list for career HBPs with 55 (just four shy of 10th place). Dressman then advanced the runner with his 23rd career sacrifice bunt (good for 9th in ND history, two behind Lilley) and sophomore shortstop Jeremy Barnes then walked on five pitches. Two batters later, Brezovsky delivered with two outs by jumping on the first pitch and pulling the ball down the rightfield line for his fifth career triple with the Irish and the 2-0 lead.
Johnson jumped ahead of Weglarz to start the bottom of the 4th but the fifth-year catcher pulled the ensuing pitch down the leftfield line for a leadoff double. The speedy Connolly then beat out a bunt to the left side and Wright brought home the game’s third run with a groundball to the right side.
Dury led off the bottom of the 5th by dropping a 2-2 pitch into shallow center field. A fielder’s choice and passed ball then left Brezovsky at second base and sophomore first baseman Evan Sharpley walked before Weglarz drilled a 1-2 pitch into the right-center gap.
Brezovsky – who doubled later in the game – leads the team with a .375 season batting average (6-for-16, 3 RBI, 4 R), with four walks and just one strikeouts. Dury’s similar 2-for-4 game pushed the switch hitter to second on the team with a .368 season batting average (7-for-19, 4 RBI, 3 R, HR, 3B, 2B, 2 BB, 6 Ks, SB).
Ross Brezovsky watches his two-run triple rattle into the rightfield corner, as the Irish jumped out to a 1st-inning lead on TCU (photo by Pete LaFleur).
|
|
Phelps owns a lowly 0.82 ERA over the course of his two starts this season, with 12 Ks, just 3 walks and 11 hits allowed (.262 opp. batting avg.) in 11.0 innings. The Irish pitching staff has pieced together a 3.07 season ERA, with better than a 2-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (33/16) and a .250 opponent batting average.
Notre Dame’s pitchers have been particularly strong in the early innings this season, compiling a 1.20 ERA in the 1st-3rd innings (.130 opp. batting, 16 Ks, 8 BB in 15 IP).
Weglarz – who graduated from Missouri State in May of 2006 and currently is an MBA student at Notre Dame – now has totaled 42 career doubles, in just 150 games played.
TCU (6-4) 0-0-0 0-0-1 0-0-0 – 1 5 0
Notre Dame (2-3) 2-0-0 1-1-0 0-0-0 – 4 9 1
David Phelps (W, 1-0), John Williamson (7) and Matt Weglarz.
Chris Johnson (L, 1-1), Derek VerHagen (6) and Hunt Woodruff.
Triple: Ross Brezovsky (ND).
Doubles: Weglarz 3 (ND), Brezovsky (ND), Keith Conlon (TCU).