Irish show command with Big East sweep of Rutgers
By CHRIS FEDERICO
Sports Writer
The headed into Piscataway, New Jersey for a crucial three-game series with Big East rival Rutgers last weekend.
Walking away Sunday afternoon with three wins, the Irish completed their first ever sweep of a Notre Dame-Rutgers series, and started on the inside track to the regular season Big East title.
The Irish blew away the Scarlet Knights Saturday, winning the two games of the double-header, 10-2 and 8-2. On Sunday, the team showed great poise mixed with some clutch hitting to pull out an eleven-inning 5-4 victory.
The three wins of the weekend improved Notre Dame's record to 25-5-1. The Irish were rewarded for their great play with their highest ever ranking in the collegiate polls. Notre Dame now holds respective rankings of 4, 6 and 7 in the College Baseball, USA Today/Coaches and Baseball America Polls.
"It was as good of a series as I've ever seen at my tenure at Notre Dame," stated Coach Paul Mainieri. "The overall team effort was great. Everyone got involved to do something to help us win. Pitching, defense, hitting, base running — we did everything well."
The team contributions were evident in the numbers from the series. In the three games, 10 different players got hits while nine contributed RBIs to the team's 23 total runs.
Six different members of the Irish pitching staff put together three more brilliant outings, only allowing eight runs in the series.
In the first game of the double-header, Notre Dame ace Aaron Heilman pitched his fifth complete game of the season, allowing two runs on only three hits.
The right-handed senior improved to 8-0 on the year. The win was also his 18th career Big East victory, moving him into first place all-time in that category.
The game had been knotted at 2-2 until the Irish bats exploded in the sixth inning, bringing eight runs across the plate. The inning began when freshman Steve Sollmann, leading the team in batting with a .426 average, slapped a lead off single. After right fielder Brian Stavisky walked, Kris Billmaier broke open the tie with a two-run single. The RBIs were two of the four in the series for Billmaier, who is batting .324 with runners in scoring position-seventy points above his normal average.
Junior Ken Meyer brought in another run with a hard ground ball that was followed by a double from first baseman Joe Thaman. Center fielder Steve Stanley then brought in Meyer and Thaman with another single.
Appropriately, Sollmann capped off the inning that he started with his third homerun of the season, pacing the Irish in that category as well.
The Irish carried the momentum of the first game into the nightcap, kicking off the game with five runs in the team's first turn at bat. In this inning, third baseman Andrew Bushey had a bases loaded double that provided three of his five RBIs on the day. Notre Dame added two more runs in the inning on singles by DH Matt Bok and Thaman. Sophomore J.P. Gagne improved to 2-2 on the year with his six-inning performance, and classmate Brandon Viloria earned the save by pitching three scoreless innings in relief.
In the game Sunday, the Irish demonstrated the poise that will make them a contender this year for the national title, battling back from a 3-0 deficit in the eighth inning to steal a game from Rutgers on their own field.
"Sunday we showed a really great attitude," commented Mainieri. "Our guys never threw in the towel, and they ended up fighting back for the win."
It was not until their last at bat that the Irish would make their move.
It all began with the top of the lineup that has been such a key to igniting the Irish offense this year. The first and second hitters, Stanley and Sollmann, once again put together back-to-back singles. Stavisky then slapped a single to score Stanley. After a double steal, Billmaier brought home Sollmann with a sacrifice fly; however, there were two outs in the inning. One out away from a loss, catcher Paul O'Toole — 0-3 on the day-came through with a great piece of clutch hitting, knocking a single to tie the game.
Notre Dame avoided a scare in the tenth inning when sophomore Matt Laird got out of a one-out bases loaded jam. Laird got Rutgers' left fielder Nick Cerulo to pop out to shallow left and then struck out DH Jeff Majewski.
In the 11th inning, the Irish went on top for good when Sollmann singled to start the inning. Billmaier then came through with another clutch RBI, getting a single that would score Sollmann all the way from first with the help of some errant throws by the Rutgers fielders.
The Irish don't plan on letting these big wins go to their heads, however, as there is much baseball left to play, especially in the Big East.
"We're not looking past anyone on our schedule," said Mainieri. "We have got a lot of tough games this week and a few injuries to deal with. Our guys will just play every game as its own."
Notre Dame has a busy week ahead, facing two non-conference opponents, Cleveland State and Detroit, on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then the Irish return to Big East play with doubleheaders against Georgetown on Thursday and West Virginia on Saturday.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, April 10, 2001
