Matt Scioscia Class: Freshman Hometown: Westlake Village, CA High School: Encino Crespi Carmelite Height / Weight: 6-1 / 225 Position: Catcher/First Baseman Birthdate: 09/20/1988 Bats/Throws: R/R

Power-hitting addition who has family ties to the big leagues, as his father Mike Scioscia enjoyed a 15-year career as a catcher in the majors and is current manager of the Los Angeles/Anaheim Angels ... could play for the Irish at first base, DH or catcher ... earned 2007 high school All-America honors before being selected by the Angels in the 41st round of the Major League draft (like many of his classmates, he would have been drafted much higher if not for his strong commitment to play for Notre Dame) ... has a big, strong frame (6-2, 235), with good hands and ability to provide clutch hits ... a quality receiver behind the plate ... his transition to college baseball could be enhanced by his exposure from being around bigleague players in pressure situations ... played for victorious Gold team in Blue-Gold intrasquad series (0-for-5, R, BB, K) ... has been credited with having a sense of leadership that is similar to his father's ... the elder Sciosca was touted as one of the best defensive catchers ever to play the game and, arguably, the best ever at blocking home plate ... Mike Scioscia played with the Dodgers from 1980-92 (he later was named American League manager of the year while guiding the 2002 Angels to the World Series title) ... joins ND baseball program that includes 32 previous monogram winners from California, including 1964 All-America catcher Walt Osgood (Compton) ... first Irish player in recent memory to wear number 55.

PREP & PERSONAL: Two-sport standout (football/baseball) at Crespi Carmelite HS ... named to '07 Playstation All-America team and went on to collect pair of RBI in All-America game (Albuquerque, N.M.) ... wore his father's number (14) at All-America Game (Mike Scioscia played for the Albuquerque Dukes from '79-'80 and managed the team in '99) ... ranked third among league leaders in RBI (31) while helping lead Crespi to CIF state semifinals ... hit .323 with team-best 10 doubles and pair of home runs as a senior ... had three hits in Celts' semifinal loss to Loyola (3-2, in 8 innings), with Crespi finish 24-6-1 (league champs) ... Crespi beat West Covina in first round (3-2), Corona del Mar in second round (19- 4) and California in quarterfinals (8- 5) ... hit mammoth home run vs. Loyola earlier in '07 ... saw each of his fellow seniors be drafted and signed by major D-I programs ... hit .280 in summer of '07 with California Oaks wood-bat team ... played in '07 high school season alongside Nikolai Bonds, son of Barry Bonds ... ranked among league's top-10 in RBI and runs as a junior in '06, helping lead team to CIF state playoffs ... hit leader for Crespi team that won Southern California VIBL summer-league title ... selected to play on '06 L.A. Angels Elite baseball team and St. Louis Cardinal Elite ... named second team allleague as defensive end on '05 Crespi football team ... helped football team win '04 and '05 CIF divisional titles ... named to all-academic teams in football ('05) and baseball ('05, '06) ... member of National Honor Society and California Scholarship Federation ... received foreign language award for Latin and outstanding scholar award ... his greatuncle Lou Scioscia played football at Duke ('46-'49) ... hails from same hometown (Westlake Village, Calif.) as current ND women's soccer senior midfielder Ashley Jones and ND freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen ... Matthew Michael Scioscia ... son of Mike and Anne Scioscia ... born Sept. 20, 1988, in Claremont, Calif.