BASEBALL: Irish overcome 5 run deficit in 10-9 victory
By JOE HETTLER
Assistant Sports Editor
When Notre Dame played Central Michigan last year, the Irish had four straight runners reach base with two outs and two strikes on each, only to have the last one, Ken Meyers, blast a game-winning grand slam in one of the most dramatic comebacks in Irish baseball history.
This year against the Chippewas, the Irish needed a comeback to win, but one that was not quite as dramatic. Down 7-2 early, Notre Dame fought back and hung on for a 10-9 victory to improve to 22-12 overall on the season.
"The credit all goes to our players," Irish coach Paul Mainieri said. "They came back and they fought and they got hits when we needed them. We knew that if we went up there and kept battling and made tough outs we had a chance to rally to win this game."
With the score tied in the bottom of the second inning, shortstop Javier Sanchez blasted his second home run of the season to give the Irish the early 2-1 advantage.
However, Central Michigan roared back to score six straight runs, knocking Irish starter Martin Vergara out of the game in the third inning.
The Chippewas scored four runs in the top of the third when third baseman Tim Bullinger walked, center fielder Tommy Grubb singled and right fielder Danny Gibbons crushed a two-run double. Three batters later, left fielder Tim Grove hit an RBI single that scored Gibbons and sent Vergara out of the game.
Scott Bickford came in and pitched three solid innings, with his only blemish being a two-run home run by Gibbons in the fourth inning. Bickford also went on to pick up the win in relief.
Notre Dame started their comeback in the bottom of the fourth by scoring two runs and then took command of the game for good in the fifth.
Third baseman Andrew Bushy walked to start the inning and was followed by second baseman Steve Sollman's perfect bunt single down the third base line.
Irish right fielder Kris Billmaier was then hit by a pitch, which loaded the bases for Sanchez. Sanchez came through with a two-run single that cut the Chippewas' lead to 7-6.
First baseman Joe Thaman then sacrificed the runners to second and third and set up center fielder Steve Stanley's RBI single that tied the game at 7-7. Two batters later, left fielder Brian Stavisky singled in Stanley to give the Irish the lead.
Notre Dame would add two more runs in the bottom of the sixth to give them the 10-7 advantage heading into the final few innings.
In the top of the eighth, Irish relief pitcher Drew Duff had trouble finding his groove, giving up a solo home run to second baseman David Latour, a double to shortstop Steve Sanifilippo and an RBI single to Bullinger. However, Duff settled down and finished the game with no other problems.
Despite giving up nine runs and struggling at the beginning, Mainieri feels his team played well overall.
"Some nights your pitching is great and there's no hitting and some days your hitting is good, but your pitching struggles but that's what makes you a team," Maineri said. "You have to find a way to win whichever part of the game is on."
The Irish will do battle against two more Mid-American conference foes this week when they face Ball State tonight and Toledo on Wednesday before heading to New Jersey to face Big East rival Seton Hall this weekend.
Tonight's game is scheduled to start at 6:05 p.m.
Contact JOE HETTLER at jhettler@nd.edu
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, April 16, 2002
