Panthers' 6-run inning sparks comeback in first game of Big East doubleheader
By: JOE HETTLER
Assistant Sports Editor
For a head coach whose team had just beaten a conference rival by 10 runs, Paul Mainieri was surprisingly frustrated.
The Notre Dame coach's aggravation stemmed from his teams missed opportunities in the first game of a double header against Pittsburgh on Thursday, when the Irish let a 4-0 lead vanish and left 11 players on base, en route to a 7-5 loss.
Despite bouncing back with a 12-2 pounding of the Panthers in the second game, Mainieri knows his team must start playing more consistently in the Big East conference.
"We need to play better than a .500 team to get over the hump," Mainieri said.
"Today we had one nice win, but it was a lost opportunity in the first game, and we're going to have to, sooner or later, win a couple of games in a day."
In the first contest, freshman right-handed pitcher Grant Johnson took the hill for the Irish and was nearly untouchable in the first three innings, striking out seven batters.
Johnson continued to cruise through Pittsburgh's lineup through five innings, but Notre Dame's offense struggled to break the game open.
Left fielder Brian Stavisky led the Irish with three hits, including an RBI single in the first inning. He also added his fourth home run of the season, a solo shot, in the fifth inning. Catcher Paul O'Toole then smacked a double to center field and was knocked in by shortstop Javier Sanchez. However, the Irish left two men on base in each of the third, fourth and fifth innings, heading into the decisive sixth.
In the sixth, Johnson seemed to tire, as he allowed a leadoff single to Pittsburgh's Bryan Spamer before giving up a two-run home run to third baseman Rolando Bello, which cut the Notre Dame lead in half to 4-2. The next batter, left fielder Stuart Ryaceski, singled, while the following two batters made outs.
But Johnson walked center fielder Tony railing and allowed a base hit to right fielder Michael Bell before being pulled in favor of relief pitcher Matt Buchmeier. The first batter Buchmeier faced was Brant Colamarino, who drilled a three-run home run down the right field line, completing the six-run sixth inning to make the score 6-4.
Mainieri believes this situation should never have occurred in the first place, if the Irish had collected a few more clutch hits.
"That game should not have been a 4-0 game in the sixth inning," Mainieri said. "We should have had least another four runs if we would have rose to the occasion and come through in the clutch. So what happens is we put pressure on the freshman pitchers to go out and pitch these low run games. Grant Johnson pitched his heart out. He pitched clearly good enough to win today. It's heartbreaking for Johnson."
The Irish added another run in the bottom of the sixth, but the Panthers answered with their own run in the top of the seventh.
Mainieri felt bad for his freshman pitcher, who he thinks had a strong performance despite picking up the loss.
"It was really a shame, because I thought Grant Johnson just pitched his heart out out there," Mainieri said. "Unfortunately, he had to throw a lot of pitches to strike out as many batters as he did, and he just kind of ran out of gas there in the sixth inning."
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Irish took the early lead after center fielder Steve Stanley singled and O'Toole crushed a two-run home run in the first inning. Both Stanley and O'Toole came with in a hit of hitting for the cycle, each missing the feat by a triple and a single, respectively.
With the four hits, O'Toole is now batting .432 in his career in Big Eat play with 17 RBI and a .886 slugging percentage.
Pittsburgh added a run of it's own off of Irish starter John Axford when Joe Thaman booted a hard grounder, allowing lead off man Bello on base in the second inning. Bello scored three batters later on a Rob Beahn ground out. The Panthers tied the game in the when Bell doubled in Beahn.
Axford settled down to get out of that inning and keep the game tied.
The Irish busted the game wide open in the sixth by batting around and scoring seven runs to take a 9-2 lead. Stavisky walked to start the inning, O'Toole doubled him in, third baseman Andrew Bushey sacrificed O'Toole over to third and second baseman Steve Sollmann got him home on a fielder's choice via the suicide squeeze.
Sanchez followed with a double before designated hitter Mike Holba ripped another double down the left line to score both Sollmann and Sanchez and give Notre Dame a 6-2 lead. Thaman then walked to put two men on base for Stanley. The All-American then deposited a three-run homer over the right field wall for his second career round-tripper to end the scoring in the inning.
The Irish went on to add three more runs before the final out and improved to 19-12 overall and 6-6 in Big East play.
Despite the impressive win, Mainieri knows his team must play better if they hope to make a run in the Big East tournament as well as the NCAA tournament.
"I just know that we are better than we're playing right now," Mainieri said. "We just need to be a better team in the clutch. Guys that have been great clutch hitters with us their whole careers just aren't rising to the occasion."
The Irish will face two more Big East games today when they take on Virginia Tech. First pitch of the first game of the doubleheader is set for 5 p.m.
All Sports Stories for Friday, April 12, 2002
