Baseball: Irish down, but not out
BY BRYAN KRONK
Senior Staff Writer
The locker room after the game was silent, but not empty.
Irish coach Paul Mainieri was fielding questions following Notre Dame's first loss in over three weeks, and spoke just a little more softly than usual.
"It just wasn't our day today," Mainieri said.
Maybe it was a lack of offense that stopped the winning streak at 17 games Tuesday night.
Maybe it was having played four games at three different venues in the past four days.
Heck, maybe it was the full moon that showed up late in the game.
Mainieri disagreed.
The Irish baseball world had a vibe to it that hadn't been seen in quite a while: responding to a home loss, its first defeat at Eck Stadium since last May, which snapped another impressive winning streak — 19 straight wins at home.
It didn't seem like Mainieri was in the mood to come up with excuses.
"One thing we know about our sport is that you just can't win `em all," he said. "Things happen during the course of games, and it's not like in football or basketball where usually the team that's the better team wins all the time."
Take heed, Irish fans. He knows what he's talking about.
Despite the fact that the Irish seemed poised to dominate yet another non-conference opponent, it just so happened that a sub-.500 team — an 11-17 Eastern Michigan squad — had plans other than just handing the game over to the Irish.
Despite the loss, Notre Dame still stands at a very impressive 26-7 on the year.
Put this into comparison with last year's College World Series squad.
After 33 games last year, the Irish stood at 21-12. Now, the Irish are 26-7.
Heading into the week, the Irish stood at No. 13 in the Collegiate Baseball poll.
A quick look at that poll shows you exactly where this year's Irish stand.
Out of the top 30 teams in the country according to the same publication, only four teams had fewer losses than the Irish.
A 26-7 record at this point in the season is nothing to sneeze at. Neither is a 17-game winning streak.
However, a loss is a loss, and the Irish need to respond accordingly when the Pittsburgh Panthers come to Eck Stadium for a key Big East doubleheader Thursday afternoon.
"If we become a little bit more determined because of [the loss], then it'll be a positive for us," Mainieri said.
Despite the fact that Mainieri realizes that his team can't win each and every game, he also pointed out that nonetheless, losing is still an event which he'd like to avoid if at all possible.
"You never like to lose," he said. "I'd rather win every game if we could, believe me."
The Irish will win again. In fact, the Irish have the ability, as well as the staff, to put together another impressive streak in the 20-plus games they have left.
The Eck Stadium public address announcer put it best after the game.
"You can't start a new streak before ending the old one first."
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer. Contact Bryan Kronk at bkronk@nd.edu.
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, April 16, 2003
