Baseball: Axford K's his way to 12th straight Irish win
By BRYAN KRONK
Senior Staff Writer
When the hitting got cold for the Irish, John Axford got hot.
The sophomore right-hander struck out 12 batters, and some key defensive plays kept the Irish in the game before a late offensive rally boosted Notre Dame to a 7-1 victory over Western Michigan at Eck Stadium Wednesday night.
"[Assistant coach David Grewe and I] both thought that it was going to be a low-scoring game," head coach Paul Mainieri said. "That kid [Broncos' starter Keith] Perez is a good pitcher — he beat us in Kalamazoo a couple years ago. We just had the feeling it was going to be a low-scoring game."
And it was a low scoring game for much of the duration. The Irish were able to manufacture single runs in the first and fifth innings, while a solo home run in the third for Western Michigan tied the game for a while.
Not that either team didn't produce any opportunities.
Two key scoring opportunities by the Broncos late in the game were thwarted by impressive defensive plays by the Irish.
With a runner on second and two outs in the top of the seventh, a Western Michigan player singled to center field. The runner rounded third as center fielder Brennan Grogan fired his relay throw, which arrived in plenty of time for catcher Javi Sanchez to tag the runner out at home.
"Grogan made a major league play throwing the guy out at the plate," Mainieri said. "Perfect throw, hit the cutoff man on one bounce, great catch by Javi. Kept the game 2-1 and kept Axford in line for a win."
One inning later, a fly ball to right field off the bat of another Western Michigan batter seemed destined for extra bases. However, Kris Billmaier, looking directly into the sun and fighting a stiff breeze, reeled in the ball to prevent the game-tying run from getting on base.
"The play by Billmaier leading off the 8th inning … again in a 2-1 game … he makes a play to stop a rally before it even began," Mainieri said.
However, the story for the Irish was the dominating pitching duo of Axford and J.P. Gagne.
In addition to his 12 strikeouts, Axford also allowed only one earned run on six hits while walking none.
Gagne came in to relieve Axford in the top of the eighth, with only a two-out single in the ninth preventing Gagne from retiring the side in order both innings.
"J.P. Gagne is our security blanket, he is so poised and has such great composure," Mainieri said. "He just comes in throwing strikes."
It was more than enough for the Irish to win their 12th straight game, as they pushed five more runs across in the bottom of the eighth to seal the victory.
Two walks and a single loaded the bases before an RBI single by Sanchez brought in the first run.
Cody Rizzo was hit by a pitch to drive in another run, before a bases-loaded single to left by Matt Macri, combined with an error by the left fielder on the play, plated three more runs and more than enough insurance for Gagne to close out the Broncos.
""I think the story of the game was John Axford and J.P. Gagne, particularly Axford. … [Pitching coach] Brian O'Connor said after the game that that was as well as Axford has ever thrown, which is quite a statement because he's thrown some great games for us."
The Irish, now 21-6 on the season, face a doubleheader tomorrow at Eck Stadium, meeting Chicago State at 4:05 and Bowling Green immediately following.
All Sports Stories for Thursday, April 10, 2003
