Notre Dame heads to Alamo Invitational ranked No. 11
By NOAH AMSTADTER
Assistant Sports Editor
Brian Stavisky and the Irish baseball team are on fire, and heading into the heat of San Antonio.
The 2-1 Irish enter the Alamo Invitational ranked 11th in the country according to Baseball America. The team moved up slightly from the previous week thanks to two wins over No. 16 Mississippi State.
Stavisky enters the weekend with a blistering .692 batting average. At one point last weekend, Stavisky reached base in 10 consecutive plate appearances. Collegiate Baseball Magazine named Stavisky the National Player of the Week for his efforts. Stavisky also earned the first Big East Player of the Week honors of 2001.
This weekend's games pit the Irish against three tough opponents. Tonight, senior right-hander Aaron Heilman goes for his second win of the season against Texas-San Antonio.
In his first start of the season against Mississippi State, Heilman pitched six innings, allowing only one earned run and striking out six batters. Heilman became Notre Dame's all-time strikeout leader in the game as he notched punch-out number 320 for his career.
The contest marks the first time Notre Dame will take on Texas-San Antonio since March 19,1995. In that game, the Roadrunners topped the Irish 7-3.
The Roadrunners return 17 of 27 letter-winners from 2000. Last year, they went 17-37, finishing 10th in the Southland Conference. Having already played a few games thanks to their warm weather climate, the Roadrunners bring in a 4-7 record this season, highlighted by two victories over Alabama.
Saturday afternoon, Notre Dame takes on Texas-Pan American. Matt Buchmeier takes the mound for the second game of the weekend. The independent Broncs finished 31-19-1 last season, and return 14 of 25 letter-winners from that weekend.
However, the Broncs have run into some tough luck so far this season, compiling a 1-8 overall record. In the six times the Irish and Broncs have met, each team has come away with three victories.
Buchmeier started in the second game against Mississippi State last weekend, pitching four scoreless innings in the win. The game was only the junior's fourth career start.
The final game of the weekend matches the Irish against the Bearkats of Sam Houston State Sunday at 11 p.m. 17 of 23 players return from a team that went 25-29 last season.
Senior right-hander Danny Tamayo starts that final game of the weekend for the Irish. Tamayo suffered the only loss of the season for the Irish thus far last weekend despite giving up only two earned runs over six innings against New Orleans.
All Sports Stories for Friday, February 23, 2001
