March 29, 2000
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Senior righthander Chad Sadowski tossed five solid inning while contributing at the plate as well and junior shortstop Scott Gillitzer fueled a 20-hit attack, as visiting Wisconsin-Milwaukee posted a 14-3 victory over Notre Dame in non-conference baseball action Wednesday night at Eck Stadium.
Notre Dame (15-5) held an early 2-0 lead but managed just four hits over the final seven innings while leaving seven runners on base during the game. Sophomore righthander Matt Buchmeier (2-1) suffered the loss in relief of freshman J.P. Gagne, who gave up three runs on six hits and one walk over four innings (with five strikeouts). Buchmeier then yielded four runs (three earned) on six hits and one walk in two and two-thirds innings of work.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee (7-12) pounded out the most hits allowed by a Notre Dame pitching staff in 132 games, since the Miami Hurricanes totaled 22 hits versus the Irish on Feb. 21, 1998. Gillitzer collected five hits in six at-bats, with two RBI and two runs scored. The Panthers accumulated 30 total bases, with junior first baseman Eric Goerdt and junior centerfielder Darin Haugom each hitting leadoff home runs.
Sadowski (2-5)-who tossed a complete-game victory versus No. 1-ranked Rice in the 1999 NCAA Tournament-allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits and one walk over the first five innings while also registering the go-ahead double in the sixth winning. Three UWM righthanders-Matt Freisleben, J.J. Kotarak and Quintin Oldenburg-then held the Irish scoreless, with one hit and one walk, over the final four innings.
All nine UWM starters and reserve Mike Oiler registered hits, including six players with two hits each to back up Gillitzer’s big night. Five Panthers players also shared for the team lead with two RBI while all 10 UWM batters scored at least one run.
Senior leftfielder Matt Nussbaum was the only Irish player with multiple hits (2-for-4) while freshman rightfielder Brian Stavisky singled in the third to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. The Irish continue to look for big-game contributions from anywhere in the lineup, as the team’s 20 games have produced just six individual efforts of three-plus hits in a game and just four with three-plus RBI.
Three Notre Dame errors led to six unearned runs, with the Irish making three-plus errors for just the fourth time in the 2000 season (but the second straight game).
The lopsided loss is a rarity for Notre Dame at Eck Stadium, as the Irish have won 82 percent of their home games in seven seasons at the facility (151-34) while losing by seven-plus runs just three times previously at The Eck. Wednesday’s loss was just the second double-digit defeat ever for the Irish at Eck Stadium and the first in 183 home games-stretching back to the second game ever played at the stadium (a 19-7 loss to the Miami Hurricanes).
Notre Dame’s previous 33 losses at Eck Stadium came by an average margin of just 3.5 runs, including six one-run losses, eight by two runs and eight by three runs. In addition to the UWM loss and the 1994 loss to Miami, the only other times that the Irish have lost by more than seven runs at The Eck were a 9-1 defeat to Alabama in 1995 and a 12-3 loss to Northwestern in ’96.
UWM is just the third team to post three-plus victories over the Irish at Eck Stadium (also in ’95 and ’97), joining the University of Miami (4) and West Virginia (3) in that distinction. Just four other teams even own multiple wins at The Eck (two each): Detroit, Wright State, Rutgers and St. John’s.
SCORING RECAP
- The Irish claimed a 2-0 lead in the second, with sophomore C Paul O’Toole sending the first pitch up the middle before alertly motoring to third on the hit-and-run, with sophomore DH Matt Bok going with a first-pitch offering for a single through the left side (he was thrown out trying to advance to second) … Nussbaum then sent an RBI single to right field , followed by a wild pitch and a groundout from sophomore 3B Ed Golom (who was subbing for dinged-up classmate Andrew Bushey) … the second Irish run came unearned, when the SS Gillitzer threw errantly on a groundball off the bat of senior 2B Jeff Perconte.
- UWM surged to a 3-2 lead in the third, with Goerdt lifting the first pitch over the rightfield fence for his third home run of the season … the rightfielder Kotarak sent the next pitch up the middle before Haugom beat out a roller to the pitcher Gagne … Matt Houk then bunted the runners over before a passed ball allowed Kotarek to score … Gillitzer plated the go-ahead run with a first-pitch, two-out single down the leftfield line.
- ND re-tied the game in the fourth, with Bok walking on four pitches to lead off the inning, Nussbaum singling to center on a 2-2 count, Golom advancing the runners again on a groundout and Perconte adding an RBI groundout to the right side.
- Sadowski helped himself with no outs in the sixth, parking a 1-2 pitch over the head of sophomore CF Steve Stanley to plate Gillitzer (who had hit a leadoff single to right-center) from first base … UWM added two more runs in the inning, including an RBI single from Goerdt.
- Steve Tylke singled home Gillitzer in the seventh while Haugom led off the eighth with his second home run of the season, to right-center on a 2-1 pitch from junior LHP Mike Naumann
- UWM put the game out of reach with six runs in the ninth (five of them unearned) … Todd Ludwig provided the big hit, on a two-out, two run double to right field.
WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE 0-0-3 0-0-3 1-1-6 - 14 20 2NOTRE DAME 0-2-0 1-0-0 0-0-0 - 3 8 3
Sadowski, Freisleben (6), Kotarak (8), Oldenburg (8) and Ludwig.
Gagne, Buchmeier (5), Naumann (7) and O’Toole.